Kierkegaard's and Nietzsche's Theories of the Transition from One Value System to Another
Influences
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Thomas Berry (spiritual ecology);[1] Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Elie Wiesel, Joanna Macy, Gautama Buddha, Jewish tradition (the prophets of the bible), feminism (feminist theorists), the New Left, and environmental ethicists[2][3]
Roger S. Gottlieb (born October 20, 1946) is professor of philosophy and Paris Fletcher Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.[5][6][7] He has written and edited 21 books, including two Nautilus Book Awards winners, and over 150 papers on philosophy, political theory, environmental ethics, religious studies, religious environmentalism, religious life, contemporary spirituality, the Holocaust, and disability.[8][9][10] He is internationally known for his work as a leading analyst and exponent of religious environmentalism, for his passionate and moving account of spirituality in an age of environmental crisis, and for his innovative and humane description of the role of religion in a democratic society.[11][12][10]
Roger S. Gottlieb was born on October 20, 1946, in White Plains, New York,[2][3][13] where he grew up in a middle-class suburban family.[14] He graduated from White Plains High School in 1964.[15][16] From there he went on to Brandeis University intending to become a psychologist, but after one course found it "unbelievably dull" and soon became hooked on philosophy.[14] He earned a BA (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Special Honors) in philosophy in 1968 and a Ph.D. 1975.[4]
He was a visiting assistant professor from 1974 to 1977 at University of Connecticut and 1978 to 1980 at Tufts University. In 1980–1981, he was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and in 1981 was hired as a professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he was granted tenure in 1985, and appointed Paris Fletcher Distinguished Professor from 1995 to 1997. Since 2006, he has also been a visiting professor of Jewish studies at Wake Forest University divinity school.[7]
Gottlieb lives in Boston with his wife, noted psychotherapist and author Miriam Greenspan,[17][18] and shares in the care of his daughters, Anna and Esther.[19] Their first child (a son) was born with brain damage, living only five days without coming home from the hospital. Three years later they had a third child, Esther, who was born with multiple handicaps. Gottlieb recounts how these events had a profound impact on him and forced him to grow spiritually.[14][20] The spiritual and political dimensions of his relation to Esther, who has multiple disabilities, forms part of Chapter 8 of Joining Hands.[21]
The Ecological Community: Environmental Challenges for Philosophy, Politics, and Morality. Routledge, 1996.
A Spirituality of Resistance: Finding a Peaceful Heart and Protecting the Earth. Crossroad, 1999; Paperback edition, with a new ‘Afterword.’ Rowman and Littlefield, 2003.[a]
Joining Hands: Religion and Politics Together for Social Change. Westview Press, 2002, Paperback edition, 2004.
Liberating Faith: Religious Voices for Justice, Peace, and Ecological Wisdom. Rowman and Littlefield, 2003.
This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. Second Edition. Routledge, 2003.[b]
A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and our Planet’s Future. Oxford University Press, 2006; paperback edition, with a new preface, 2009.[c]
The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Oxford University Press, 2006; paperback, 2010.
Religion and the Environment, Volumes 1-IV. Routledge, 2010
Engaging Voices: Tales of Morality and Meaning in an Age of Global Warming. Baylor University Press, 2011.[d]
Spirituality: What It Is and Why It Matters. Oxford University Press, 2012.[e]
Political and Spiritual: Essays on Religion, Environment, Disability, and Justice. Rowman and Littlefield, 2015.[f]
Morality and the Environmental Crisis. Cambridge University Press, 2019.[g]
^Won praise from Elie Wiesel and Protestant theologian John B. Cobb who called it "a true spiritual guide for our day," and was excerpted in Tikkun and Orion Afield.[11]
^Nautilus Book Award and called “best book of the year” by Spirituality and Practice[9]
^Collection of selected past essays as well as new essays on technology, death, and a fascinating intellectual autobiography.[11]
^Received the “book most likely to save the planet” award from Independent Publisher and was semi-finalist for the Siskiyou Prize for new environmental literature.[9] It was also praised by political theorist Paul Wapner and environmental ethicist Larry Rasmussen, who called it “The best book on the subject.”[11]
