Loving Later Life: An Ethics Aging - Softcover

De Lange, Frits

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802872166 ISBN 13: 9780802872166

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2015

Synopsis

Is loving later life possible? In our youth-obsessed culture, nobody enjoys growing old. We normally fear our own aging and generally do not love old people — they remind us that death is inescapable, the body frail, and social status transitory. In Loving Later Life Frits de Lange shows how an ethics of love can acknowledge and overcome this fear of aging and change our attitude toward the elderly. De Lange reframes the biblical love command this way: "We must care for the aging other as we care for our own aging selves." We can encourage positive self-love by embracing life as we age, taking good care of our own aging bodies, staying good friends with ourselves, and valuing the last season of life. When we cultivate this kind of self-love, we are released from our aversion to growing old and set free to care about others who are aging — our parents, our relatives, and others in their final season of life.

About this title

About the Author

Frits de Lange is Professor of Ethics at the Protestant Theological University in the Netherlands and Extraordinary Professor in Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802872166
• ISBN 13: 9780802872166
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 169