The Restoration of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision

Description

In 1913, Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) left his internationally renowned career as a theologian, philosopher, and organ player to open a hospital in the jungles of Africa. There he developed in theory and practice his ethics of reverence for life. When he published his most important philosophical work, The Philosophy of Civilization, few people were serious about treating animals with dignity and giving any consideration to environmental issues. Schweitzer's urge was heard but not fully appreciated. One hundred years later, we are in a better position to do it. Predrag Cicovacki's book is a call to restore Schweitzer's vision. After critically and systematically discussing the most important aspects of the ethics of reverence for life, Cicovacki argues that the restoration of Schweitzer does not mean the restoration of any particular doctrine. It means summoning enough courage to reverse the deadly course of our civilization. And it also means establishing a way of life that stimulates striving toward what is the best and highest in human beings.

Predrag Cicovacki is Professor of Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross, MA, USA. He has published over fifty philosophy papers published in English, Serbian, German, Russian, Chinese, and Slovenian and is the author or editor of nine books, including Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision: A Sourcebook (with Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2009).

"This book is a major achievement with its systematic and creative analysis of the main ideas of a neglected thinker. Predrag Cicovacki carefully and elegantly dwells amidst Schweitzer's thought while evaluating its strength and enduring relevance. This is a passionate call for reflection and action, and deeply satisfying to read and absorb." -- A. G. Rud, Dean of the College of Education at Washington State University, USA, and author of Albert Schweitzer's Legacy for Education: Reverence for Life "In The Restoration of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision, Predrag Cicovacki presents a smart, informed, wide-ranging critical assessment of the ethic of reverence for life in the thought and life of Albert Schweitzer and beyond. Here Schweitzer the philosopher, musician, and jungle doctor with the bushy mustache and pith helmet emerges as a gifted and complex individual who argues for an ethical religion of love and tries to make his life his argument. Cicovacki's approach is both scholarly and appreciative, and the resultant book offers a timely invitation to consider reverence for life-reverence for all of life, human, animal, and plant-as an ethical vision and a way of living for today." -- Marvin Meyer, Director of The Albert Schweitzer Institute at Chapman University, USA. "As Victor Hugo taught, 'There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.' In this remarkable and timely book, Predrag Cicovacki convincingly shows that Dr. Albert Schweitzer's moral vision of humanity united in a Reverence for all Life provides the unifying ethical 'idea' that the world so badly needs today. Even more, it is a potential reality within our grasp. Dr. Schweitzer himself showed this by example - insisting that 'my life is my argument'-at his African Hospital in Lambarene, Gabon. Now it is up to each of us to join together, through our own lives, in building the world we all yearn for-a world we all need, and a world we can have if we simply try." -- Lachlan Forrow, MD, President of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Director of Ethics Programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA. "In this stimulating and thoughtful work, Predrag Cicovacki helps to resurrect Albert Schweitzer as a moral philosopher and religious thinker, demonstrating how Schweitzer's 'reverence for life' is an ethical vision that can serve as an exemplar for the twenty-first century." -- Ara Barsam, Associate Research Professor, Arizona State University, USA, and author of Reverence for Life: Albert Schweitzer's Great Contribution to Ethical Thought