Can non-theists appropriately feel existential gratitude?
Does it make sense for non-theists to feel gratitude for their existence? The question arises because gratitude is typically thought to be directed towards a person to whom one is grateful. Hence the theist may be grateful to God for their existence, experienced as a gift. But can the non-believer f...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Religious studies |
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| 1. VerfasserIn: | |
| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2016]
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| In: |
Religious studies
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| normierte Schlagwort(-folgen): | B
Theismus
/ Dasein
/ Dankbarkeit
/ Atheismus
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Religionsphilosophie; Religionskritik; Atheismus |
| Online Zugang: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Zusammenfassung: | Does it make sense for non-theists to feel gratitude for their existence? The question arises because gratitude is typically thought to be directed towards a person to whom one is grateful. Hence the theist may be grateful to God for their existence, experienced as a gift. But can the non-believer feel something similar without being irrational? Can there be gratitude for existence but not to anyone? After analysing gratitude and how we can best understand the idea of non-directed gratitude, I discuss the conditions that need to apply for non-directed gratitude to be appropriate. I end by discussing whether theism provides a psychologically richer and more satisfying framework for understanding existential gratitude. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-901X |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: Religious studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0034412515000037 |