Customer Reviews

Ethics (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 6)

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I can attest that this is an excellent book, however the "Look Inside" view is NOT of 'Ethics'. The 'Look Inside' view is of Vol. 10.

If you want to see the basic content of 'Ethics' I suggest you look in the Touchstone edition of the book.

Ethics is a difficult work to encounter, largely because the work was unfinished when Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned. Most versions of Ethics require an editor to arrange the manuscripts into a coherent whole - but this being the "Works" edition includes all of the information (including notes about context and translation from German) surrounding the writing of the Ethics manuscript.

This is the version to get if you want "completeness", in-depth discussion, or research purposes (the volume contains an exhaustive bibliography) but it might not be for the casual reader that wants an overview of Bonhoeffer's formulation of ethics. (Otherwise, you might not understand why you are reading a chapter titled "History and Good" twice!)

Bonhoeffer fleshes out the theology of what the responsible person is. He makes the argument that we cannot compartmentalize our faith and our lives in reality--something we all too readily do. He believes that we must not only live as good people individually (or, as he rephrases the issues, trying to do what God wants) but that we are social creatures and therefore must try to live within a good society that we help create. Interestingly, he ties this to the state. A breathtaking passage involves his invoking the void which threatens all of us (I take it to mean that he is referring not just to evil, but also to materialism/secularism) and that it is the state--flawed as it is--which acts as a "restrainer" on evil. This section alone is worth the price of the book.

In the fist chapter Bonhoeffer argues against the notion that what is spiritual is good and what is physical is evil. In the second he turns our focus from asking what is good to asking what is the form of Christ in the church today. He than gives a short history how the West has become godless

This book represents my first encounter with Dietrich. At this point, I have no wish to read his works further. The author's writing has a tendency to ramble as Nietzche did. Dietrich repeats himself innumerable times throughout the text regarding topics such as: being one in Christ, Christ in God, or God is love. I was expecting more from a revered philosopher than what was written.
Erich Fromm did a better job at including Christian ideologies in his preliminary works without being repetitive, or exclusive of other belief systems. He was not even a mere philosopher, but he was a psychoanalytical scholar. Fromm's works, such as "The Art of Loving" or "The Dogma of Christ", provide descriptive analyses without repeating themes or recurring statements.
Nietzche's writing was very similar in that he also rambled with repeated phrases under different headlines. Nietzche's only differences were that he was mentally ill, his writings were mainly antagonistic, and he wrote a fictional work to illustrate his viewpoints on male roles in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". But, Nietzche rambled incoherently and even poorly named some of his works. For example, "The Antichrist" was actually a protest against the Catholic priesthood. Very little was discussed about God's adversary. "Ecce Homo" and "Beyond Good and Evil" all had parallel messages which would make their individual significance small.
In essence, these two guys, although whose topics were polar opposites, actually shared commonalities in their writing styles. If you can handle it, then buy it! But, do not expect traditional ethicist-style writing. You will be disappointed!