Moral Dilemmas and the Environment: The Hebrew Bible and the Literature of Industry

David  Aberbach

doi:10.26443/jcreor.v2i1.37

Moral Dilemmas and the Environment: The Hebrew Bible and the Literature of Industry

Authors

Professor David Aberbach McGill University / Oxford University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/jcreor.v2i1.37

Abstract

Moral dilemmas are central in the literary genre of protest against the effects of industry, particularly in Romantic literature and “Condition of England” novels. Writers from the time of the Industrial Revolution to the present – William Blake, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, T.S. Eliot and John Steinbeck – follow the Bible in presenting environmental pollution and calamity in moral terms, and as a consequence of human agency. Dire implications for the environment are equally evident in literature of national rivalry and the misanthropic tradition.

Author Biography

Professor David Aberbach, McGill University / Oxford University

Areas of Interest
Hebrew and Comparitive Studies

Academic Qualifications
B.A. Honours, English Literature, University College, London, 1975; M.Litt., Oxford University, 1977; D.Phil., Oxford University, 1980; training in child psychotherapy, The Tavistock Clinic, London, 1979-1982; B.Sc., Social Sciences, Open University, 2000.

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Published

2020-12-30

How to Cite

Aberbach, David. 2020. “Moral Dilemmas and the Environment: The Hebrew Bible and the Literature of Industry”. Journal of the Council for Research on Religion 2 (1). Montreal, QC, Canada:41-58. https://doi.org/10.26443/jcreor.v2i1.37.