World events have made clear that liberal society must become more resilient in the face of totalitarian challenges. But how is liberal society to do that? In this groundbreaking work, social ethicist Elmar Nass presents the ethical and anthropological foundations of a liberal social order within a Christian conception of humanity and society in an ecumenical spirit. In doing so, Nass revives the long-neglected discussion on the ethics of order. Christian foundations and claims are currently confronted with alternative social-ethical concepts from other religions, traditions, and social philosophies. Nass argues that Christian social ethics has a critical role to play as it engages the world. Nass vividly discusses fundamental and concrete social challenges for human dignity, freedom and justice (such as peace, integrity of creation, euthanasia, family, social justice, digitalization, behavioral economics, and many more) in the light of the threefold Christian responsibility (before God, before oneself, before one another). He articulates ethical orientations derived with clarity from a Christian foundation of values. The Christian social ethics system presented by Nass is a transparent value template that can be applied to ever new challenges in the present and in the future. With this understanding of social responsibility, questions of racism, migration, gender and sexuality, the environment, and public health and pandemics, among many others, can thus be addressed and answered. Nass offers a full-throated and robust Christian position for the value discussions of our time.
Elmar Nass holds the chair of Christian Social Sciences in Cologne. He was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome in 1994, holds a doctorate in theology and social economics, and completed his Habilitation (postdoctoral thesis and postdoctoral lecturing qualification) in social philosophy. He is an external scientific expert on welfare issues for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and scientific advisor to the CDU workers' wing. He is a board member and advisor to numerous socio-ethical societies and publishes on value issues of the social order.
Chapter 1. The Search for Good Chapter 2. Sanctification of the World Chapter 3. Ecumenical Perspective Chapter 4. Mission in Crisis Chapter 5. Theological Humanism Beyond Christianity Chapter 6. Normative Humanism Beyond Theology Chapter 7. Ethics Beyond Normative Humanism Chapter 8. World Authority for Unconditional Human Dignity Chapter 9. Creation, Justice and Peace Chapter 10. Life, Work and Death Chapter 11. Economy and Economic Order Chapter 12. Leadership and Organisational Culture Chapter 13. Future Questions
