Karl Barth's anthropology in light of modern thought : the dynamic concept of the person in Trinitarian theology and object relations psychology
This study exposits Karl Barth's theological anthropology, and asks some leading questions regarding the relation of Barth's doctrine of the human person to the human sciences. Specific comparisons are drawn between Barth's doctrine of the person and the anthropology of British object relations psychology --especially as it has been articulated by the Scottish psychoanalyst, W. Ronald D. Fairburn. After a historical survey of the problems with which Barth dealt in formulating his doctrine of humanity, I show why it is important to focus upon Barth's mature anthropology. An accurate assessment of Barth's anthropology and its relation to the human sciences can only be undertaken after one acknowledges the extent to which Barth has made some significant modifications of his earlier dialectical theology. In Barth's more mature anthropology contained in volume III/2 of the <i>Dogmatics</i> he formulates his anthropology upon his understanding of God as triune. Barth achieves a very 'dynamic' understanding of the human person, based upon the idea that the human person reflects the dynamic nature of the triune God. Therefore, rather than stressing bodily and soulish substances, or innately endowed faculties, Barth
Price, Daniel John
Philosophy
Karl Barth's anthropology in light of modern thought : the dynamic concept of the person in Trinitarian theology and object relations psychology. This study exposits Karl Barth's theological anthropology, and asks some leading questions regarding the relation of Barth's doctrine of the human person to the human sciences. Specific comparisons are drawn between Barth's doctrine of the person and the anthropology of British object relations psychology --especially as it has been articulated by the Scottish psychoanalyst, W. Ronald D. Fairburn. After a historical survey of the problems with which Barth dealt in formulating his doctrine of humanity, I show why it is important to focus upon Barth's mature anthropology. An accurate assessment of Barth's anthropology and its relation to the human sciences can only be undertaken after one acknowledges the extent to which Barth has made some significant modifications of his earlier dialectical theology. In Barth's more mature anthropology contained in volume III/2 of the <i>Dogmatics</i> he formulates his anthropology upon his understanding of God as triune. Barth achieves a very 'dynamic' understanding of the human person, based upon the idea that the human person reflects the dynamic nature of the triune God. Therefore, rather than stressing bodily and soulish substances, or innately endowed faculties, Barth
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