Finite, Contingent, and Free is a Roman Catholic perspective that views acceptance as the proper response to the conditions of human existence, and the foundation for ethics.

The essays in this book take an exciting and creative approach to doing theology in the twenty-first century

As the existentialist philosophers of mid-twentieth-century Paris famously asserted, a life can only be assessed fully after it has ended. Fitting, then, that since her death in 1986, the philosopher and novelist Simone de Beauvoir has been the subject of numerous attempts to evaluate her contributions to intellectual thought. With the uncovering of her early diaries and the recent publication of her passionate letters to Nelson Algren, she has become more than a towering figure of twentieth-century feminism. She is at once an intensely human figure and a fertile field for application of various sexual constructs and for argument over feminist principles. Edited by Melanie C. Hawthorne, this volume brings into play a variety of fresh voices, from a Swedish novelist and advice columnist to an interdisciplinary theorist of decadence. The essays address the multitude of issues arising from the affective, personal, political, and sexual dimensions of Beauvoir's life and work. Fifty years after the publication of The Second Sex, Contingent Loves offers a wide-ranging discussion of the immeasurable impact Simone de Beauvoir has had on feminist discourse. Contents: - "Translation Effects: How Beauvoir Talks Sex in English," Luise Von Flotow, University of Ottawa - "Variations on Triangular Relationships," Serge Julienne-Caffie, Philadelphia, Pa. - "Lecon de Philo/Lesson in Love: Simone de Beauvoir's Intellectual Passion and the Mobilization of Desire," Melanie C. Hawthorne, Texas A&M University - "Sensuality and Brutality: Contradictions in Simone de Beauvoir's Writings about Sexuality," Asa Moberg, Sweden - "Simone de Beauvoir and Nelson Algren: Self-Creation, Self-Contradiction, and the Exotic, Erotic Feminist Other," Barbara Klaw, Northern Kentucky University - "Simone de Beauvoir on Henry de Montherlant: A Map of Misreading?" Richard J. Golsan, Texas A&M University - "'Le Prototype de la Fade Repetition': Beauvoir and Butler on the Work of Abjection in Repetitions and Reconfigurations of Gender," Liz Constable, University of California, Davis

Describes the first year of life of a polar bear born in captivity at the Atlanta Zoo.

The literary critic examines the love lives and career ambitions of some of the twentieth century’s greatest female authors—from Sylvia Plath to Anaïs Nin. Why did a gifted writer like Sylvia Plath stumble into a marriage that drove her to suicide? Why did Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) want to marry Ezra Pound when she was far more attracted to women? Why did Simone de Beauvoir pimp for Jean-Paul Sartre? In Between the Sheets, author and feminist scholar Lesley McDowell examines nine famously troubled literary romances to arrive at a provocative insight into the motivations of these and other great female writers. The list of the damages done in each of these sexual relationships is long, but each provokes the same question: would these women have become the writers they became without these relationships? Delving into their diaries, letters, and journals, McDowell examines the extent to which each woman was prepared to put artistic ambition before personal happiness, and how dependent on their male writing partners they felt themselves to be. “McDowell . . . has culled incredibly juicy details. With so many affairs and broken hearts, the most surprising thing may be that anything got written in the last 100 years.” —The New York Times Book Review

Does the current celibate, semi-monastic, and all-male seminary formation contribute to the persistence of clerical sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church? Applying sociological theories on socialization, total institutions, and social resistance as the primary conceptual framework, and drawing on secondary literature, media reports, the author’s experience, interviews, and Church documents, this book argues that the Catholic Church’s institution of the celibate seminary formation as the only mode of clerical training for Catholic priests has resulted in negative unintended consequences to human formation such as the suspension of normal human socialization in society, psychosexual immaturity, and weak social control against clerical sexual abuse. The author thus contends that celibate training, while suitable for those who do live in religious or monastic communities, is inappropriate for those who are obliged to live alone and work in parishes. As such, an alternative model for diocesan clerical formation is advanced. A fresh look at the aptness – and effects – of celibate formation for diocesan clergy, this volume is the first to relate the persistence of Catholic clerical sexual abuse to celibate seminary formation, exploring the structural links between the two using sociological arguments and proposing an apprenticeship-based model of formation, which has numerous advantages as a form of clerical training. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of religion, sociology, and theology, as well as those involved with seminary formation.

LIVING EACH DAY provides an inspirational message and an appropriate prayer for every single day of the year, in a convenient daily calendar format with room for daily notes. They are perfect companions for daily doses of strength and thought.