Utopia and responsibility. On animal ethics in protestant theology

Basic data for this project

Description

For some time now, there has been a growing interest in animal ethics in theology. Especially in Protestant theology, responsibility plays a central argumentative role. It is striking that the reference to responsibility is often linked to a rejection of 'radical' positions of animal ethics that are criticized for being too far from reality and for ignoring freedom as a central part of the human condition. The research project analyses this argumentation against the background of the fundamental ethical question whether and how utopian thinking can be integrated into Protestant ethics. The hypothesis of the project is that utopian thinking is important to ethics because it opens up new ways of thinking and provides significant impulses for action. At the same time, it seems necessary to distinguish ethical utopia from concrete moral norms and to pay attention to the challenges pointed out by the theologians of the responsibility perspective (‘Verantwortungsethik’). Especially in the case of animal ethics, such an integration of utopia and responsibility is needed: On the one hand, it is important to imagine radically different, utopian-looking worlds in contrast to the established and traditional human-animal relationships; on the other hand, to get closer to an animal-ethical utopia it is necessary to pursue an approach of gradual changes. The aim of the project is, first, to provide a theological foundation for an ethical approach that integrates utopian thinking as well as central concerns from the Protestant responsibility perspective. On that basis, the project aims, second, to develop ‘basic coordinates’ within which a convincing draft for animal ethics in the Protestant tradition can emerge. To this end, the project examines the Protestant theological debate on utopia (e.g. Helmut Gollwitzer, Hartmut Kress, Dorothee Sölle, Paul Tillich) and discusses the criticism of utopian thinking from the responsibility perspective. Building on this, the project identifies reference points for utopian thinking with regard to animal ethics and examines different concepts of responsibility.