In The Existential Philosophy of Etty Hillesum Meins G.S. Coetsier breaks new ground by demonstrating the Jewish existential nature of Etty Hillesum’s spiritual and cultural life in light of the writings of Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Hillesum’s diaries and letters, written between 1941 and 1943, illustrate her struggle to come to terms with her personal life in the context of the Second World War and the Shoah. By finding God under the rubble of the horrors, she rediscovers the divine presence between humankind, while taking up responsibility for the Other as a way to embrace justice and compassion. In a fascinating, accessible and thorough study, Coetsier dispels much of the confusion that assails readers when they are exposed to the bewildering range of Christian and Jewish influences and other cultural interpretations of her writings. The result is a convincing and profound picture of Etty Hillesum's path to spiritual freedom.

The Ethics and Religious Philosophy of Etty Hillesum contains the proceedings of the second international Etty Hillesum Congress at Ghent University in January 2014 and is a joint effort by fifteen Hillesum experts to shed new light on the life, works and vision of the Dutch Jewish writer Etty Hillesum (1914-1943), one of the victims of the Nazi-regime. Hillesum’s diaries and letters illustrate her heroic struggle to come to terms with her personal life in the context of the Holocaust. This volume revives Hillesum research with a comprehensive rereading of her texts. With the current rise of interest in peace studies, Judaism, the Holocaust, inter-religious dialogue, gender studies and mysticism, it is evident that this book will be invaluable to students and scholars in various disciplines.

Within this fascinating new book, Barbara Morrill analyses the journal writings of Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman in the 1940s, as she began analysis with a Jungian oriented practitioner in 1941. While Anne Frank is an inspirational figure, little is known about Etty Hillesum, also from Amsterdam, who kept a diary recounting her life and experiences during early World War II. This book is a compelling example of how we can use Etty Hillesum’s writings in the present to stand firm against the problems we’re currently facing globally. Being a Jungian oriented Integral psychologist and professor, the author examines what Hillesum recorded in her time, as well as employing Etty’s ideas to illuminate the chaos in our time. She explores Hillesum’s own process of individuation and realization, encouraging others to “develop yourselves!” This will be a unique volume of interest to Jungian analysts, analysts in training, as well as readers with an interest in the time period and concern about democracy and “our times.”

In Theology, Empowerment, and Prison Ministry Meins G.S. Coetsier offers a new account of Karl Rahner’s theological anthropology and the prison pastorate with a contemporary expansion for meaning, seeking an antidote to the suffering of those incarcerated with a “theology of empowerment.”

‘One of the greatest global creative change-makers and activists in the world right now brings his incredible charisma, provocation and personality into this important book.' Ruth Daniel, CEO and Artistic Director, In Place of War 'United Queerdom is a thing of beauty. Dan Glass has penned a memoir that pulsates with existential rage, solidarity, and tactical hope.’ Amin Ghaziani, author of There Goes the Gayborhood? Throughout the 1970s the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) initiated an anarchic campaign that permanently changed the face of Britain. Inspired by the Stonewall uprisings in the US, the GLF demanded a 'Absolute Freedom For All' worldwide. Yet half a century on, injustice is rife and LGBT+ inequality remains. Complete LGBT+ liberation means housing rights, universal healthcare, economic freedom and so much more. Although many people believe queers are now free and should behave, assimilate and become palatable – Dan Glass shows that the fight is far from over. United Queerdom evocatively captures over five decades of LGBT+ culture and protest from the GLF to 2020s. Showing how central protest is to queer history and identity this book uncovers the back-breaking hard work as well as the glamorous and raucous stories of those who rebelled against injustice and became founders in the story of queer liberation.

"This book provides an introduction to the importance of Levinas's work and an explication of the manner in which the practicality of his insights can assist ethical judgment within the human community"--

Much of the previous scholarship on Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) was done by individual scholars within the analyses of their fields. After the proceedings of the international Etty Hillesum Congress at Ghent University in November 2008, this Congress volume is the first joined effort by more than twenty Hillesum experts worldwide. It is an absorbing account of international scholarship on the life, works, and vision of the Dutch Jewish writer Etty Hillesum, whose life was shaped by the totalitarian Nazi regime. Hillesum’s diaries and letters illustrate her heroic struggle to come to terms with her personal life in the context of World War II. Building on new interest in theology, philosophy, and psychology, this book revives Hillesum research with a comprehensive rereading of both her published works and lesser-known secondary discourses on her life. The result is fascinating. With the current explosion of interest in inter-religious dialogue, peace studies, Judaism, the holocaust, gender studies, and mysticism, it is clear that this Congress volume will be invaluable to students and scholars in various disciplines.

Although she died cruelly at Auschwitz at the age of twenty-nine, Etty Hillesum left a lasting legacy of mystical thought in her letters and diaries. Hillesum was a complex and powerful witness to the openness of the human spirit to the call of God, even under the most harrowing circumstances. Her life was as much shaped by Hitler's regime as was that of philosopher Eric Voegelin, and as Meins Coetsier reveals, her thought lends itself to interpretation from a uniquely Voegelinian perspective. Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence analyzes the life and writings of Hillesum from the standpoint of Voegelin's views on consciousness-especially his philosophy of luminous participation in the transcendent ground of being. Through a careful reading of her letters and diaries, Coetsier reveals the inner development of Hillesum's mystically grounded resistance to Nazism as he guides readers through the symbolism of her spiritual journey, making effective use of Voegelin's analytics of experience and symbolization to trace her path to spiritual truth. Intertwining the lives, works, and visions of these two mystical thinkers, Coetsier demonstrates his mastery of both Voegelin's philosophy and Hillesum's Dutch-language materials. He shows how mystical attunement to the "flow of presence"-Voegelin's designation for human responsiveness to the divine-is the key to the development of Hillesum's life and writings. He displays a special affinity for the suffering and grace-filled transformation that she underwent as she approached the end of her life and gained insight into the ultimate purpose of each individual's contribution to the well-being and maintenance of the human spirit. Retrieving one of the lesser-known but most compelling figures of the Holocaust, Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence is an original contribution to both Voegelin and Hillesum scholarship that reflects these writers' strong valuation of the human person. It presents Hillesum's life and work in an original and provocative context, shedding new light on her experiences and their symbolizations while further broadening the application of Voegelin's thought

An investigation of what it means to have children—morally, philosophically and emotionally “Do you want to have children?” is a question we routinely ask each other. But what does it mean to create a child? Is this decision always justified? Does anyone really have the moral right to create another person? In Begetting, Mara van der Lugt attempts to fill in the moral background of procreation. Drawing on both philosophy and popular culture, van der Lugt does not provide a definitive answer on the morality of having a child; instead, she helps us find the right questions to ask. Most of the time, when we talk about whether to have children, what we are really talking about is whether we want to have children. Van der Lugt shows why this is not enough. To consider having children, she argues, is to interrogate our own responsibility and commitments, morally and philosophically and also personally. What does it mean to bring a new creature into the world, to decide to perform an act of creation? What does it mean to make the decision that life is worth living on behalf of a person who cannot be consulted? These questions are part of a conversation we should have started long ago. Van der Lugt does not ignore the problematic aspects of procreation—ethical, environmental and otherwise. But she also acknowledges the depth and complexity of the intensely human desire to have a child of our own blood and our own making.