Addressing agape in relation to humanity

Borstner, Bojan (author), Vrdoljak, Jana (author)

The paper explores the Christian notion of agape. The main thesis examines how love for one’s neighbour reflects one’s comprehension of humanity and highlights the limits of our understanding of humanity. Within the Christian tradition, agape is portrayed as a neighbourly love that transcends the social mores or rules of conduct within a given society. In this paper, agape is situated in the cognitive theory of emotions and is conceived as universal human love characterized by the preparedness to acknowledge the common shared humanity of fellow human beings and the manifestation of that acknowledgement. The limits of our understanding of humanity will be illustrated through examples of epistemic injustice that demonstrate the failure to recognize someone else’s humanity.

• Language: English
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 239-252
• Numbering: Letn. 84, [št.] 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-188959
• UDC: 177.61
• ISSN on article: 0006-5722
• DOI: 10.34291/BV2024/02/Borstner
• COBISS.SI-ID: 218769155
• Publication date in RUL: 30.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bogoslovni vestnik
• Shortened title: Bogosl. vestn.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 0006-5722
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8745472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Obravnava agape v odnosu do človeštva

Abstract

Prispevek se ukvarja s krščanskim pojmovanjem ljubezni tipa agape. V okviru glavne teze raziskujemo, kako ljubezen do bližnjega odraža pojmovanje človečnosti in hkrati tudi meje našega razumevanja človečnosti. Znotraj krščanske tradicije je agape predstavljena kot ljubezen do bližnjega, ki presega meje družbenih norm oziroma pravil vedênja znotraj določene družbe. Prispevek agape umešča v okvir kognitivne teorije čustev in jo razume kot univerzalno človeško ljubezen. Meje našega razumevanja človečnosti so ponazorjene s primeri, iz katerih je razvidna empistemična nepravičnost, ki izraža neuspeh v prepoznavanju človečnosti drugega.

• Keywords: moralna filozofija, ljubezen do bližnjega, ljubezen do sebe, univerzalnost ljubezni, človečnost, epistemična nepravičnost