Embodied Souls, Ensouled Bodies: An Exercise in Christological Anthropology and Its Significance for the Mind/Body Debate [Paperback]

The book explores the relationship between Christology and theological anthropology through the lens provided by the theology of Karl Barth and the mind/body discussion in contemporary philosophy of mind. It thus comprises two major sections. The first develops an understanding of Karl Barth's theological anthropology focusing on three major facets: (1) the centrality of Jesus Christ for any real understanding of human persons; (2) the resources that such a christologically determined view of human nature has for engaging in interdisciplinary discourse; and (3) the ontological implications of this approach for understanding the mind/body relationship.

The second part draws on this theological foundation to consider the implications that Christological anthropology has for analyzing and assessing several prominent ways of explaining the mind/body relationship. Specifically, it interacts with two broad categories of theories: 'nonreductive' forms of physicalism and 'holistic' forms of dualism. After providing a basic summary of each, the book applies the insights gained from Barth's anthropology to ascertain the extent to which the two approaches may be considered christologically adequate.

An exploration of the relationship between Christology and theological anthropology through the lens of Karl Barth's theology and the contemporary philosophy of mind debate.Marc Cortez (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is Assistant Professor of Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Chapter 1-Introduction: Recentering Theological Anthropology
This chapter frames the book by arguing for the importance of (1) a christological approach to understanding humans, (2) the mind/body question, and (3) Karl Barth's theology as a helpful way of engaging the first two issues.


Chapter 2-From Christology to Anthropology: The Ontological Determination of Humanity in Karl Barth's Theological Anthropology


This chapter surveys Barth's Christologlƒ8