Inequality and Christian Ethics [Paperback]

This 2000 book provides a moral and empirical analysis of contemporary social and economic inequality.The book draws on Christian ethics, philosophy, and economics. It considers the relation of inequality to various aspects of life--like income, health, and education--as well as to questions of race, gender, and nationality.The book draws on Christian ethics, philosophy, and economics. It considers the relation of inequality to various aspects of life--like income, health, and education--as well as to questions of race, gender, and nationality.Are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Inequality and Christian Ethics addresses this question at an international level and goes on to consider why such a phenomenon, to the extent that it is true, is morally troubling. In order to provide an ethical perspective on a social and economic problem such as inequality, the book draws on Christian ethics, philosophy, and economics. It considers the relation of inequality to various aspects of life--such as income, health, and education--as well as to questions of race, gender, and nationality.Part I. Contextualizing Inequality: 1. Introduction: inequality matters; 2. Inequality of what?: interdisciplinary perspectives; 3. International contexts of inequality; 4. Inequalities in the United States; Part II. Constructing a Christian Ethical Approach: 5. Christian ethics and theology in a pluralistic society; 6. Equality before God and the thought of H. Richard Niebuhr; 7. Equality before God and the thought of Gustavo Guti?rrez; 8. Solidarity, selfhood, and social goods; Part III. Transforming Discourse, Persons, and Societies: 9. Expanding public discourse on inequality; 10. An application: inequalities and human development; 11. Conclusion: implications for inequality and Christian ethics. Hicks has done an admirable job of making economic analysis accessible to the nonspecialist. The Journal of Religion Hicks provides a much needed framework for dialogue on thel£"