Individual, the Social, and the Not Yet Being: Ecstatic Naturalism and a Metaphysics of Responsibility

Abstract

The mission of this essay is to outline the conditions for a metaphysics of responsibility—an ontology which encourages the morally and politically active form of life. The ecstatic naturalism of Robert Corrington, a contemporary development in American philosophy, is employed as a means of highlighting these conditions. As the work of Corrington integrates numerous influences from classical American thought, along with several Continental and Asian philosophies, a broad variety of figures and traditions are introduced throughout. The essay concludes with a comparison between ecstatic naturalism and process theology over a topic which surfaces repeatedly throughout the discussion: the question of evil.