Abstract

This dissertation traces the historical development and gives systematic theological expression to the fundamental ethics that is implicit in the writings of Edward Schillebeeckx since his turn to hermeneutics in 1967. lt argues that Schillebeeckx's fundamental ethics, like his later political theology generally, is "liberationist" in its perspective, insofar as it has been influenced by Latin American liberation theology and more recently, although to a much lesser extent, by European and North American feminist theology. ;The first three chapters involve a critical exposition of Schillebeeckx's hermeneutics and theological method, anthropology, and christology. Chapter 1 presents Schillebeeckx's hermeneutics and theological method, highlighting in particular the contributions of Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jurgen Habermas, Paul Ricoeur, Jurgen Moltmann, and Clodovis Boff to his thought. Chapter 2 explores Schillebeeckx's anthropology, underscoring especially the influences of Ian Barbour, Thomas Kuhn, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, Theodor Adorno, and Norbert Elias on his reflections. Chapter 3 presents Schillebeeckx's christology, stressing in particular his engagement with contemporary biblical scholarship. ;The final two chapters make explicit the contribution that Schillebeeckx's theology can make to the construction of a fundamental liberationist ethics. Chapter 4 explores the ethical implications of Schillebeeckx's hermeneutics and theological method, anthropology, and christology--in other words, his fundamental Christian ethics--highlighting especially the contributions of Roman Catholic social teaching, Johann Baptist Metz, Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel Levinas, and Thomas Aquinas to his work. Chapter 5, the concluding chapter, discusses the contribution that Schillebeeckx's theology and ethics can make to contemporary North American discussions regarding the ethical norm of political justice, using the applied ethical issue of international debt as a test case for how his hermeneutical and methodological insights might work out in practice