Ethics for the Coming Storm: Climate Change and Jewish Thought

Laurie Zoloth
© 2023 | 272 pages

Synopsis

In Ethics for the Coming Storm, Zoloth reexamines the usual narratives of Eden to consider how Biblical narratives and rabbinic commentary create a new language to understand and act in times of crisis. She considers how the classic analysis of creating doubt—seen as the ultimate sin in the Hebrew Bible—helps us to understand and critique the extraction industry. Zoloth argues for a creative exploration of philosophic and historical arguments for social ethics and social action, seeking a collective and not only an individual solution to global warming.

About the author

Laurie Zoloth is the Margaret E. Burton Professor of Religion and Ethics; also in the College; The Program in Jewish Studies; and the MacLean Center for Biomedical Ethics at the Pritzker School of Medicine. A leader in the field of religious studies with particular scholarly interest in bioethics and Jewish studies, Zoloth’s research explores religion and ethics, drawing from sources ranging from Biblical and Talmudic texts to postmodern Jewish philosophy. Her scholarship spans the ethics of genetic engineering, gene drives, stem cell research, synthetic biology, social justice in health care, and how science and medicine are taught. She also researches the practices of interreligious dialogue, exploring how religion plays a role in public discussion and policy.

Zoloth currently serves on the national Ethics Advisory Board of NASA and the national steering committee of The Engineering Biology Research Consortium. She has served as the dean of the Divinity School and as the Senior Advisor to the Provost on Social Ethics at the University of Chicago.

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