Religion and the Philosophy of Life

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Flood
Keyword(s):  
Religious Ritual ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Philosophy Of Life ◽  
Current State ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evolutionary Science ◽  
Life Force ◽  
The One ◽  
Narrative Account

This book considers how religion as the source of civilization transforms the fundamental bio-sociology of humans through language and the somatic exploration of religious ritual and prayer. It offers an integrative account of the nature of the human, based on what contemporary scientists tell us, especially evolutionary science and social neuroscience, as well as through the history of civilizations. Part I contemplates fundamental questions and assumptions: the current state of knowledge concerning life itself, the philosophical issues in that understanding, and how we can explain religion as the driving force of civilizations in the context of human development within an evolutionary perspective. Part II offers a reading of religions in three civilizational blocks—India, China, and Europe/the Middle East—particularly as they came to formation in the medieval period. It traces the history of how these civilizations have thematized the idea of life itself. It then takes up the idea of a life force in Part III and traces the theme of the philosophy of life through to modern times. On the one hand, the book presents a narrative account of life itself through the history of civilizations and, on the other, it presents an explanation of that narrative in terms of life.

Jan Hardy versus Likwidator. Comics als Medien der gesellschaftlichen Spaltung Polens

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Agnieska Balcerzak
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Culture War ◽  
Current State ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Projection Surface ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The One ◽  
Second World

This article at the intersection of cultural studies of popular and memory culture deals with the genre of comics as an identity-forming (protest) medium and projection surface for the ideologised “culture war” between traditionalists and modernists in contemporary Poland. The analysis focuses on two historical comics that combine facts and imaginary and refer back to the Second World War, the communist period and the recent history of the Republic of Poland after 1989. The article juxtaposes two title heroes and their comic worlds, which represent opposite ends of the political spectrum and reveal the problem areas of Poland’s dividedness along the underlying canon of values and symbolic worlds: Jan Hardy, the national-conservative “cursed soldier”, and Likwidator, the relentless “anarcho-terrorist”. The characters and their adventures exemplify fundamental memory cultural, religious, nationalist and emancipatory discourses in Poland today. The focus of the analysis lies on the creation context and the (visual) language with its narrative-aesthetic intensifications, which illuminate Poland’s current state of conflict between national egoism and traditional “cultural patriotism” on the one hand and liberal value relativism with its progressive-emancipatory rhetoric on the other.

Philosophies of Life

2019 ◽  
pp. 275-298
Author(s):  
Gavin Flood
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Dynamic Process ◽  
The Other ◽  
Romantic Poetry ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

On the one hand, we have the development of science from the seventeenth to nineteenth century, while on the other, we have a focus on life in philosophy at the dawn of the nineteenth century. Here, life is understood in terms of nature as a dynamic process linked to impulse or drive. Partly stemming from a mystical discourse in the seventeenth century, the concern for life comes to be disseminated through the history of both Romantic poetry and Romantic philosophy. This vitalist spirit can be traced through to the twentieth century. Life itself comes to be articulated through a mystical theological discourse that ends in Romantic poetry and through a philosophical discourse that ends in phenomenology.

scholarly journals Once again: Investigating the identity of the three figures mentioned in Malachi 3:1

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 1031-1044
Author(s):  
S D Snyman
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
History Of Research ◽  
Current State ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
The One

The identity of the three figures mentioned in Malachi 3:1 remains an intriguing question for scholars. In this article an overview of the current state of research on this problem is given highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the different solutions while yet another proposal is made adding some new arguments to existing answers. An overview on the history of research done on this problem can be categorised into three groups: the three figures refer to three different personalities or they all refer to the same person or they refer to two different persons. The conclusion reached is that the three figures mentioned are references to two persons, the one human and the other divine.  The messenger  is identified as the prophet Malachi. 

The Philosophy of Life as the Field of Immanence

2019 ◽  
pp. 299-321
Author(s):  
Gavin Flood
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Philosophy Of Life ◽  
Modern View ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
History Of ◽  
Weak Claim

The philosophies of life that emphasize life as a plane of immanence, in which there is no outside and no transcendence beyond the world, have expressed a modern non-dualism that is compatible with contemporary developments in neuroscience, social cognition, and evolution. A strong philosophical claim is that the immanence view expresses a truth about life itself, supported by science, against which the history of religions can be measured. A weak claim is that modern articulations of life itself are no more adequate than those of tradition, but the modern view is simply another approximation in expressing the field of immanence. The chapter argues for the weak view.

The Theory and Philosophy of Life

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-65
Author(s):  
Gavin Flood
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Life ◽  
China And India ◽  
The World ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
Life Force

The idea that there is an animating principle, a life force, that drives the living, that life itself comes to form through the manifold appearances of the world, is very ancient and can be found in Greece, China, and India. We also have more recent philosophical arguments that have understood life in terms of a vital principle or essence. Philosophies rooted in biology have tended to be sceptical of vitalist philosophies, while vitalist philosophies have rejected eliminative, materialist explanations. With reference to these concerns, the chapter examines the question of whether we are to understand life primarily in terms of human purposes, desires, fears, and hopes; or are we to explain life primarily in terms of impersonal, biological drives?

Homelessness in the Czech Republic

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-130
Author(s):  
Aleš Strnad ◽  
Jakub Marek
Keyword(s):  
Homeless People ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Era ◽  
Current State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Narrative Account

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state of provision for homeless people in Prague. Design/methodology/approach – This is primarily a narrative account, though supported by and referenced with contemporary Czech social policy scholarship. It first traces the roots of the current situation through the history of the Czech legal framework for citizenship; the effects of communist-era ideology, when homelessness was simply hidden; and the post-communist (new-era) economic and political climate. The range of existing services is then described and analysed with respect to the difficulties in the demands posed for people in this situation. Findings – The paper outlines the current approach with outreach (“terrain”), engagement (“threshold”) and “accommodation” (support and rehab) services; and the challenges in transition from one to the next. Many systemic barriers remain for the re-integration of homeless people, stemming from attitudes within the community and amongst professionals, as much as a sheer lack of resources, or the psychological and emotional difficulties of the homeless themselves. Originality/value – There are few papers published internationally on homelessness in the new EU states. The similarity in the structure of services to what are sometimes called “staircase models” may therefore be instructive.

scholarly journals From education to welfare – A historical-exploratory approach for examining the role of madrassas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
zahid Mumtaz
Keyword(s):  
Golden Age ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Current State ◽  
Exploratory Approach ◽  
Repeated Calls ◽  
History Of

Abstract Much is written on the history of madrassas and their contributions to scholarship. In addition, several scholars have done considerable research to identify the causes of madrassas' growth, determine the linkage of madrassa education with breeding extremist ideologies and suggested possible areas for reforms. This particular aspect has been the topic of scholarly debates and a policy problem faced by many governments and international agencies, i.e., how madrassas can be reformed. However, not much literature could be located that draws parallels and dissimilarities between the madrassas of the golden age and the current era. This is important because any reform or policy is unlikely to succeed without considering a problem's historical and contextual factors. Hence this study adopts a historical-exploratory approach to identify the similarities and differences between the madrassas of the golden age of Islam and present times and explore the causes of such differences by utlising the case study of madrassas in Pakistan. Addressing these issues will make the following contributions: First, identifying the similarities and dissimilarities between the madrassas of the golden age and modern times requires a detailed exploration of madrassas' current state and their role, of which little is known. Second, identifying the factors responsible for the differences in madrassas' role from the golden age to modern times will help understand the implications of such differences on madrassas and society. Lastly, such implications will answer the repeated calls in the literature of formulating policies for reforming the madrassas that have been a significant policy problem faced by many countries.

scholarly journals El sepulcro del Venerable Domingo Anadón en el convento de Santo Domingo de Valencia (1609), obra genovesa encargo del Conde de Benavente = The Tomb of the Venerable Domingo Anadon in the Dominican Convent of Valencia (1609), A Genoese Work Commissioned by the Count of Benavente

2020 ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Mercedes Gómez-Ferrer
Keyword(s):  
Santo Domingo ◽  
Saint Louis ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
San Luis ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

El presente texto confirma que el monumento funerario encargado en 1609 por Juan Alfonso Pimentel, conde-duque de Benavente a los genoveses Giuseppe Carlone y Oberto Casella fue para la sepultura del fraile Domingo Anadón en el convento de Santo Domingo de Valencia. Se analizan las vicisitudes de este sepulcro junto al de fray Juan Micó en la capilla de San Luis Beltrán del convento, en el marco de la llegada de piezas genovesas a España en época Moderna.AbstractThis text confirms that the funerary monument commissioned in 1609 by Juan Alfonso Pimentel, count-duke of Benavente to the genoese sculptors Giuseppe Carlone and Oberto Casella was for friar Domingo Anadon in the dominican convent of Valencia. The history of this sepulchre linked to the one of friar Juan Micó in the chapel of Saint Louis Beltran of this convent is taken into account  focusing on the arrival of genoese sculptures to Spain in Modern Times. 

scholarly journals Mocroevolution, minimalism, and the paleobiological revolution

KÜLÖNBSÉG ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dániel Bárdos
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Modern Synthesis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Scientific Question ◽  
Long Run ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evolutionary Science ◽  
The One

It is a basic question of evolutionary theory what sort of connections there are between microevolutionary and macroevolutionary processes, i. e. between changes below the level of species in the present and changes above the level of a given species in the long run. The paper argues that this question about the structure of evolutionary theory cannot be answered just by comparing arguments by modern synthesis theory on the one hand and those of paleobiology on the other. Modern synthesis theory remains sceptical of the use of microevolutionary mechanisms, while paleobiology maintains their importance. The paper claim that the question can only be answered within the context of the history of science that has been shaping it since the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species. So the question about the use of microevolutionary mechanisms should be considered to be a struggle about the scope of evolutionary science and its methodologies rather than a scientific question about the reducibility of macroevolution.

scholarly journals Paradigmaváltás a cigány népismereti oktatásban

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klára Gulyás
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
School Students ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Decisive Importance ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Historical Periods

A cigányokról közvetített történelmi ismeretek alapvető nehézsége elsősorban abból adódik, hogy a cigányok, mint transznacionális csoport története különös történelem. A magyarországi cigányok története – a sajátos történelmi viszonyok miatt – kizárólag a többségi társadalom történetének részeként értelmezhető. A magyarországi cigányok történetét a többségi társadalom történetével párhuzamosan, annak szerves részeként való bemutatása módszertani indokoltsága mellett más, többek közt pedagógiai vonatkozásban is döntő jelentőségű. Egyrészt a többségi társadalomhoz tartozó diákok számára lehetőséget ad a roma társadalommal kapcsolatos nézetek/attitűdök formálására, megváltozására, továbbá nyomatékosan bemutatja azt is, hogy a magyarországi cigányok a többségi társadalommal az egyes történeti időszakokban szimbiózisban éltek. A roma történelem ilyen módon való reprezentációja a roma társadalomhoz tartozó diákok számára is előnyökkel jár: lehetőséget ad identitásuk felvállalásához és megerősítéséhez is. A magyarországi cigányok történetének a többségi társadalom történetének részeként, az együttélést középpontba állító bemutatása a pedagógiai gyakorlatban olyan új tudásterület, amely speciális pedagógiai módszertani megoldásokat is igényel. Tanulmányomban az elméleti keretek és a történeti kontextus rövid felvázolása után a mai kor igényeit kielégítő tudásátadásnak és szemléletformálásnak azokat az új módozatait veszem számba, amelyek elősegítik a magyarországi romákra vonatkozó történelmi ismeretek középiskolások felé való hiteles közvetítését. ----- Paradigm shift in the Gypsy ethnography education ----- The fundamental difficulty of the historical knowledge conveyed about gypsies stems mainly from the fact that the history of the gypsies as a transnational group is a rather peculiar history. The history of the gypsies in Hungary – due to the specific historical conditions – it can only be interpreted as part of the history of the majority of the society. The presentation of the history of the Hungarian Gypsies in parallel with the history of the majority society, as an integral part of it, is of decisive importance in addition to its methodological justification, including pedagogical aspects. On the one hand, it gives students belonging to the majority of the society the opportunity to form and change their views / attitudes towards Roma society, and it also emphatically shows that the Hungarian Gypsies lived in symbiosis with the majority of the society in certain historical periods. Representing Roma history in this way also benefits students belonging to Roma society: it also provides an opportunity to assume and confirm their identity. The presentation of the history of the Gypsies in Hungary as part of the history of the majority society, focusing on coexistence, is a new area of knowledge in pedagogical practice that also requires special pedagogical methodological solutions. In my study, after outlining the theoretical framework and the historical context, I enumerate the new ways of knowledge transfer and attitude formation that meet the needs of modern times and that facilitate the credible transmission of historical knowledge about Roma to high school students.

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