Subtitulo : The Ambivalence of Science

Description:
In this dissertation, Eduardo Cruz offers a brilliant and original study of science in Latin American culture that is a quintessential example of the ‘theology of culture’ methodology that Paul Tillich and Langdon Gilkey have bequeathed to us. Cruz stands as a third-generation representative ofthis way ofdoing theology -all the more suggestive because he extends their program to cultural phenomena with which they were unacquainted, his own culture of Latin America, and he works from his own Roman Catholic theological resources, thus augmenting their neo-orthodox protestant tradition.

What the author has produced stands as the most forceful and comprehensive theological interpretation of science as a cultural force in Latin America yet to appear. Furthermore, although it grows specifically out of his own cultural experience, and even though it is not directly transferable to other cultures, its investigations and conclusions transcend their Latin American roots. He propounds a thesis concerning the relationship between science and culture, namely that it is marked by ambivalence at a profound level, that can profitably be examined and elaborated with respect to other cultures, specifically those of North America and Europe.


CONTENTS:

Introduction to the Edwin Mellen Edition......i
Acknowledgments......ix
Preface......xi
List of abbreviations......xix

Introduction
‘On the Shoulders of Giants’......1

Chapter I. Of ambivalence and its manifestation in science......19
Introduction......19
Ambivalence: Preliminary Remarks......25
Interlude: Ambivalence in Science vs. Ambivalence of Science......30
Toward the Idea of Ambivalence of Science......40
Ambivalence of Science/Technology as Viewed by Theologians......55
Camposing the Picture: Ambivalence and Its Related Concepts......64
The Tragic and the ‘Solemnity’ of Ambivalence......76
Conclusion......80

Chapter II. Elements for a theological Understanding of Ambivalence, drawn Particularly from Paul Tillich......83
Introduction......83
Biblica Themes......86
Ambivalence (Ambiguity) in the Thought of Paul Tillich......106
Conclusion......147
Interlude: Christian Symbols that Indicate the Revealing and the Overcoming of Ambivalence......148

Chapter III. The Cross and the Overcoming of Ambivalence......151
Introduction: Some Remarks on the Cross vis-à-vis Tillich’s Thought and the Adamic Myth......151
Two Ways of Approaching the Symbol of the Cross......154
Revealing and Overcoming the Tragic Character of Human Greatness......156
Irony (Especially in John): Ambivalence Revealed and Overcomo......162
Interlude: Freedom, Fate, and the Jesus of History......168
The Reversal of Meaning in the Thought of Hegel......169
The Wisdom of God: Irony and Tragedy......180
Conclusion......183
From General Principles to Concrete Applications: The Ambivalence of Science......185

Chapter IV. Utopianism in Science and its Ambivalence......187
Introduction......187
Science and Utopianismo......188
Paul Tillich: Tuopianism Lost and Regained......213
Conclusion......238

Chapter V. Science in Latin America: ‘The Missionaries are Evangelized’......243
Introduction......243
The ‘Hostile Environment’: Resistance to Scientific Activity......246
The Ignored People and the Ambivalence of Science......262
The Dilemma between Identiy and Change, and the Prospects for Theology and Science......273
Conclusion......279

Conclusion......283
Selected bibliography......295
Additional references......317
Author index......325
Subject index......330