Development thinking in the field of ethics

Abstract

For the sake of brevity this essay concentrates on Christian theological ethics. Academic endeavours, official stances of major church bodies and the practical policies of development agencies are relevant. Geared to a holistic view of the well‐being and suffering of man, this essay will try to achieve a comprehensive picture of the development syndrome in all its dimensions. Central concerns are the survival of man and the preservation of his ecological habitat, the effects of affluence and poverty and the demands for social justice. Other considerations are incidental to the foregoing. The following dimensions of the problem emerged in historical sequence: colonial domination and decolonisation, growth and modernisation, dependency and liberation, the limits to growth (both of the population and the industrial economy), competition between technology and employment, and the arms race. In South Africa racial policies constitute a further fundamental category. The subject of theological ethics has addressed itself with varying degrees of dedication and competence to all these issues. Its major contribution is to create an awareness of the conviction that to attain to our full humanity and regain the initiative in view of the imminent breakdown of the presuppositions of life on our planet, we need to rediscover our divine mission.

Notes

Department of Systematic Theology, Unisa.