G. K. Chesterton's fictional detectives stand in stark methodical contrast to scientific detectives such as Sherlock Holmes. While the scientific detective focuses on external reality, seeking to reconstruct the crime, Chesterton's detectives—and Father Brown in particular—are preoccupied with inner perceptions, devoting their energy to understanding other minds. While Holmes may be seen as a positivist driven by the physical sciences, Chesterton's detectives are exegetes, perceiving human beings as a unique species demanding a distinctive approach. They thus reflect Chesterton's (...) view that the modes employed to decipher physical reality are inappropriate for comprehending social reality.Chesterton's opposition... (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To study the ethical reasoning of nurses and physicians, and to assess whether or not modified focus groups are a valuable tool for this purpose. DESIGN: Discussion of cases in modified focus groups, each consisting of three physicians and three nurses. The discussion was taped and analysed by content analysis. SETTING: Five departments of internal medicine at Danish hospitals. SAMPLE: Seven discussion groups. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Ethical content of statements, style of statements, time used by each participant. RESULTS: Danish physicians (...) and nurses do not differ in the kind of ethical reasoning they use, but physicians use more of the discussion time than nurses, they use a more assertive style of argumentation, and the solutions chosen are usually first put forward by physicians. CONCLUSION: The results and informal comparisons with similar data from long qualitative interviews indicate that groups of this kind are a useful tool for gathering data on ethical reasoning. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To study the ethical reasoning of nurses and physicians, and to assess whether or not modified focus groups are a valuable tool for this purpose. DESIGN: Discussion of cases in modified focus groups, each consisting of three physicians and three nurses. The discussion was taped and analysed by content analysis. SETTING: Five departments of internal medicine at Danish hospitals. SAMPLE: Seven discussion groups. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Ethical content of statements, style of statements, time used by each participant. RESULTS: Danish physicians (...) and nurses do not differ in the kind of ethical reasoning they use, but physicians use more of the discussion time than nurses, they use a more assertive style of argumentation, and the solutions chosen are usually first put forward by physicians. CONCLUSION: The results and informal comparisons with similar data from long qualitative interviews indicate that groups of this kind are a useful tool for gathering data on ethical reasoning. (shrink)

¿Por qué decimos que la excepción «confirma» una regla? ¿No sería mejor decir lo opuesto, que las excepciones refutan que esa regla se cumpla? Partiendo de ahí este libro plantea, como afirma en su prólogo el filósofo italiano Mario Perniola, «un tema del todo actual». Empieza defendiendo que, por sorprendente que parezca, sí, una excepción confirma una regla. Ya Cicerón o Leibniz se dieron cuenta de ello. Pero no conviene exagerar con tales excepciones. De hecho, este ensayo aventura que en (...) nuestra cultura, durante los últimos siglos, se ha venido dando todo un ataque a la diferencia entre reglas y excepciones. Ataque que alcanzó su mayor virulencia entre los «maestros de la sospecha» del s. xix: Marx, Nietzsche y Freud. ¿Qué hacer, pues? ¿Cabe creer aún en algunas reglas? El autor sostiene que para ello nos será fecundo aprender de fuentes tan variadas como Ludwig Wittgenstein, la filosofía hermenéutica y un detective de ficción creado por G. K. Chesterton: el padre Brown, mucho más razonable que el mismísimo Sherlock Holmes. (shrink)

Offering a detailed study of early 20th-century essayist, poet, novelist, political campaigner, and theologian G.K. Chesterton, author Stephen R.L. Clark ...

2011 Reprint of 1943 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "St. Thomas Aquinas" is enriched by the author's unique ability to see the world through the saint's eyes, a fresh and animated view that shows us Aquinas as no other biography has. Acclaimed as the best book ever written on Aquinas by such outstanding Thomists as Jacques Maritain, Etienne Gilson, and Anton Pegis, this brilliant biography will completely capture the reader and leave him (...) desirous of reading Aquinas' own monumental work. (shrink)

In 1933, Bonhoeffer delivered some lectures on Christology at the University of Berlin. They were later reconstructed by his students and finally published in 1960 in Germany. This book is the English translation of that reconstruction. The book contains an introduction and sections on "The Present Christ--The 'Pro me'," and "The Historical Christ." Underlying these are the valid questions Bonhoeffer thought Christology should answer: who? and where? rather than the invalid traditional question: how? Who is Jesus Christ? These questions lead (...) to the answer of His presence in the Church in his pro me structure as Word, as sacrament, and as community. The question, Where is Jesus Christ? receives three answers: Jesus Christ is at the border of my existence; Jesus Christ is the center and meaning of history; Jesus Christ is the heart of nature. Somewhat difficult, the book is not for those uninitiated in theology. Yet, since Christology is the key to Bonhoeffer's whole thought, the translation is an important contribution to Bonhoeffer scholarship in the English-speaking world.--R. G. K. (shrink)

This is a collection of four essays by Tillich emphasizing in various ways the basic point that the future of man must involve the religious dimension and perspective. It includes his last public lecture, "The Significance of the History of Religions for the Systematic Theologian," in which he rejects the reductionism both of orthodoxy, which locates revelation only in its own religion, and of a theology of the secular, which has no room for the sacred. He favors instead a "dynamic-typological" (...) approach to the theology of the history of religions that discovers elements in the experience of the Holy in all religions, whose unity and telos will be in a "Religion of the Concrete Spirit." The three other lectures complement the thrust of this lecture. In "The Decline and Validity of the Idea of Progress," Tillich finds the proper perspective toward history and progress in kairoi, moments of partial but creative fulfillment. In "Frontiers" he speaks of crossing and reversing boundaries as the way to peace. And in "The Effects of Space Exploration on Man's Condition" he notes the emergence of a new ideal of human existence and affirms it doesn't change the divine-human relationship. The book also includes tributes by Jerald C. Brauer, Wilhelm Pauck, and Mircea Eliade, and a set of photographs by Archie Lieberman.--R. G. K. (shrink)

The central issues of regnum versus sacerdotium have been obscured by a concentration on personalities and a murder in a cathedral. Cantor is also concerned with personalities, but in this thorough study of church-state relations in Anglo-Norman England, he goes behind the legend and ably demonstrates that the controversies which were dramatized in blood in 1170 had already been settled by politico-ecclesiastical negotiations more than half-a-century earlier. The main interest of the study is in Cantor's discussion of St. Anselm as (...) an aging ecclesiastical statesman trying to avoid the extremes of that "fanatical high Gregorian" Paschal II, while insisting on the ending of lay investiture despite Henry I's opposition.--H. G. K. (shrink)

One of the areas of concern raised by cross-border reproductive travel regards the treatment of women who are solicited to provide their ova or surrogacy services to foreign consumers. This is particularly troublesome in the context of developing countries where endemic poverty and low standards for both medical care and informed consent may place these women at risk of exploitation and harm. We explore two contrasting proposals for policy development regarding the industry, both of which seek to promote ethical outcomes (...) and social justice: While one proposal advocates efforts to minimize cross-border demand for female reproductive resources through the pursuit of national self-sufficiency, the other defends cross-border trade as a means for meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Despite the conflicting objectives of the proposed strategies, the paper identifies common values and points of agreement between the two, including the importance of regulations to safeguard those providing ova or surrogacy services. (shrink)

This book consists of a significant and valuable reappraisal of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit by a number of outstanding, international Hegel scholars. Key questions and issues are discussed. No other book on the Phenomenology brings together penetrating articles by renowned Hegel scholars, and no previous book has included responses to articles by equally celebrated scholars. The result is that this book is unique in providing a wealth of insights into the Phenomenology of Spirit from a variety of perspectives. Among the (...) crucial issues of interpretation which are tackled in this book are Hegel's concept of truth, the relationship between the Phenomenology and Hegel's system, the master-slave dialectic, the unhappy consciousness and conscience. Experienced Hegel scholars and students new to Hegel will benefit from the format of the book in which distinguished scholars comment upon the key and contentious aspects of the main articles. Crucial issues of interpretation are highlighted clearly. (shrink)