Marisa Diaz-Waian

Some recently articulated American Christian liberation theolo­gies maintain that they seek justice for the oppressed. But such “justice” fails to encompass the respecting of certain rights of the oppressed to compensation from their oppressors. The right of the oppressed to holistic (including compensatory) reparations from their oppressors is explored in terms of why liberation theologies ought to, among other things, respect and embrace such a right. For economic issues, both distributive and compensatory, are inseparable from oppression-based poverty and hence inseparable from the will of God insofar as it is the will of God to liberate the oppressed. By pressing the importance of reparations for oppressed groups, we seek to liberate liberation theologies from the shackles of a view that fails to recognize in a robust sense the law as a vehicle of rectification of oppression.

How might approaching loss philosophically help us grieve? What does it mean to approach something philosophically? Why might such an approach be advantageous to studies of grief? In my paper, I discuss the abovementioned queries and offer an example of how philosophy has helped me navigate the wakes of loss faced with respect to the passing of my father. In the process, I discuss the field of philosophical counseling, a specific brand of practice advanced by Dr. Elliot D. Cohen, and offer a brief account of the basic tenets and steps of its leading modality, Logic-Based Therapy.