Umwelt-Theory, Self-Transcendence, and Openness-to-God: Attending Theologically to Human Animality
Dylan S. Belton
Theological Studies May 26, 2023 DOI: 10.1177/00405639231170327 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Christian theological anthropology's habit of sharply distinguishing humans from nonhuman animals has often led to a vision in which less animality means more self-transcendence and God-openness. Proposes that Jakob von Uexküll's Umwelt-theory can help theologians articulate human self-transcendence and God-openness without depreciating human animality. |
Abstract
Christian theological anthropology has been critiqued for its habit of sharply distinguishing the human from the nonhuman and for thereby depreciating human animality in one form or another. Within the context of modern theological anthropology, the result of this habit has often been a vision of the human according to which the less animal we are, the more self-transcendent and God-open we are. In light of recent theological and interdisciplinary interest in the Umwelt-theory of Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944), I indicate how Uexküll’s influential account of animal Umwelten can be a resource for theologians seeking to articulate human self-transcendence and God-openness in a manner that avoids the depreciation—whether explicit or implicit—of our animality.