Beyond the Pale

“There is always going to be a canon of some kind, but how should it be taught beyond 'add and stir' improvements? This splendidly conceived reader superbly analyzes and assesses how ethics today should deal with its inheritance in the light of liberationist and postcolonial developments. It is a valuable contribution on a crucially important topic.”
—Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University, author of Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition

“Beyond the Pale gives us a new angle of vision on familiar texts in theology, philosophy, and social thought. By helping us to see that ideas have consequences as well as content, Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas and Miguel A. De La Torre and their colleagues widen the discussion of Christian ethics and bring new voices into the conversation. Students and scholars alike will find these essays essential reading.”
—Robin W. Lovin, Professor of Ethics, Southern Methodist University, and author of Christian Ethics: An Essential Guide

“A rare and important achievement. This work demonstrates both the hard work and hard play of philosophical argument. Not only will it invite a new generation of thinkers to discover the power of western philosophy but it could open new and liberating dialogues with and among communities that have been marginalized and oppressed.”
—Robert Michael Franklin, President, Morehouse College

“Beyond the Pale is like Jesus, calling us all to repent. It strengthens our self-critical understanding of the heritage that has shaped us. You will find something to defend or to criticize, but you will have your eyes opened in new ways to see changes we all need for our historical time of tectonic shift.”
—Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance

“Beyond the Pale is a provocative book that raises thoughtful and challenging questions. It offers salient starting points for the critical reexamination of many of the foundational ideas (and the men who wrote them) that continue to shape the (post)modern world.”
—Rebecca Todd Peters, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Elon University, and author of In Search of the Good Life: the Ethics of Globalization

“This provocative book is a critical inquiry into the values and presuppositions of twenty-four major philosophers and theologians concerning racism, sexism, colonialism and other forms of oppression. Clearly, there is much in this book that can and should be challenged by ethicists, philosophers, and theologians. Hopefully, it will generate a lively debate.”
—Peter J. Paris, Professor Emeritus of Christian Social Ethics, Princeton Theological Seminary, and author of The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse