The Family In Christian Social And Political Thought

Download or read book The Family in Christian Social and Political Thought written by Brent Waters and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-07-19 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brent Waters examines the historical roots and contemporary implications of the virtual disappearance of the family in late liberal and Christian social and political thought. Waters argues that the principal cause of this disappearance is late liberalism's fixation on individual autonomy, which renders familial bonds unintelligible. He traces the history of this emphasis, from its origin in Hobbes and Locke, through Kant, to such contemporary theorists as Rawls and Okin. In response, Waters offers an alternative normative account of the family's role in social and political ordering, drawing upon the work of Althusius, Grotius, Dooyeweerd, and O'Donovan.