scholarly journals Misreading and re-reading: interpretation in comparative religion

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
René Gothóni

Religion should no longer only be equated with a doctrine or philosophy which, although important, is but one aspect or dimension of the phenomenon religion. Apart from presenting the intellectual or rational aspects of Buddhism, we should aim at a balanced view by also focusing on the mythical or narrative axioms of the Buddhist doctrines, as well as on the practical and ritual, the experiential and emotional, the ethical and legal, the social and institutional, and the material and artistic dimensions of the religious phenomenon known as Buddhism. This will help us to arrive at a balanced, unbiased and holistic conception of the subject matter. We must be careful not to impose the ethnocentric conceptions of our time, or to fall into the trap of reductionism, or to project our own idiosyncratic or personal beliefs onto the subject of our research. For example, according to Marco Polo, the Sinhalese Buddhists were 'idolaters', in other words worshippers of idols. This interpretation of the Sinhalese custom of placing offerings such as flowers, incense and lights before the Buddha image is quite understandable, because it is one of the most conspicuous feature of Sinhalese Buddhism even today. However, in conceiving of Buddhists as 'idolaters', Polo was uncritically using the concept of the then prevailing ethnocentric Christian discourse, by which the worshippers of other religions used idols, images or representations of God or the divine as objects of worship, a false God, as it were. Christians, on the other hand, worshipped the only true God.

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 351-375
Author(s):  
Mateusz Rafał ◽  
Dominik Borek

This article takes up the innovatory subject of cooperation in the field of football and the tourism sector by the Visegrad Group states. The subject matter of this study has not been widely discussed in the literature, hence most of de lege ferenda postulates are open to further discussion. The current Visegrad Group was created as a political project, not an evolutionary social initiative. This does not mean, however, that the societies of its member states are significantly different from each other, and the structure itself is exotic. The benefits of an extended cooperation, which seems not to have an alternative, for all the participants are fully understood. Therefore, the direction of common thinking about maximizing profits in the developing sector of tourism, and making the most of the social potential of football, can be an attractive platform for international dialogue and extended cooperation among the V4 countries. The baggage of history, geographic and cultural proximity, the migration crisis, as well as the imperialist policy of the neighbouring Russia effectively motivate to strengthen cooperation and create stronger mechanisms with each other. It is indisputable that the tendencies for cooperation in the Visegrad countries are not a novelty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 11-33
Author(s):  
Janusz Mariański

In this article, the issue of structural individualisation, which is one of the results of social modernisation, is adopted as the subject-matter. In the processes of individualisation, it is, first and foremost, the importance of an individual human being and matters relevant to their life, including the obligation to make constant choices in all the aspects of life, that is placed emphasis upon. In the aspect of values, the process of individualisation means transfer from values seen as responsibilities (related to duties) to values connected with self-fulfilment (self-development). The consequence of individualisation is the significant changes in the realm of morality: departing from traditional moral values and standards, permissivism and moral relativism, the destruction of normativity, and the secularisation of morality. On the other hand, it creates the opportunity to determine one's own moral choices and shapean autonomous moral personality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Joanna Wardzała

The young generation in terms of work, consumption and success  The subject matter of the young generation in the social context has been repeatedly examined and many studies have been prepared on this topic, for example the works of K. Wyka and earlier K. Manheim. Increasingly, the issue of the younger generation is discussed in the area of issues related to consumption and work. The article is of a theoretical and empirical nature; it is an attempt to portray the young generation in its two most important roles on the market — the consumer and the entrepreneur. It is an introductory element to the problems of consumer behaviors and entrepreneurial behaviors of the young generation. The publication draws attention to the expectations of the young generation about the applicable law and the economy. The first part of the article is characterized by sociological considerations and serves to determine the meaning of the young generation in consumer society, in particular, to outline the framework of youth, which in literature is sometimes defined not only by age categories. It is also an interdisciplinary review of theories, both those created in the past and those quite contemporary. In the second part, it refers to the results of qualitative research relating to the opinions and expectations of the young generation about consumption, work and success.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-437
Author(s):  
Sarah Gambo ◽  
Woyopwa Shem

Background: Amidst the recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems to be an avalanche of conspiracy theories that abound on social media platforms, and this subject attracted a lot of research interest. This study aimed to examine the "social media and the spread Covid-19 conspiracy theories in Nigeria" in light of the above.  Methods: The study adopted a qualitative design in order to explore the subject matter thoroughly. Thirty-five participants were conveniently sampled, and interviews were conducted to retrieved data from the participants. Results: Findings of this study revealed that there is a prevalence of conspiracy theories that have saturated social media ever since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also found that ignorance, religious fanaticism, lack of censorship, and insufficient counter information on social media platforms are some of the possible factors that aided the spread of Covid-19 conspiracy theories among Nigerian social media users. Conclusion: This study recommends, among other things, that there is a swift need to curtail the spread of conspiracy theories through consistent dissemination of counter-information by both individuals and agencies like the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC).


1942 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 614-620
Author(s):  
William Marion Gibson

In explaining the nature of international law, each of the two major schools of thought draws upon legal philosophy and practice for evidence in support of its interpretation. It is not the purpose of this note to offer any conclusions or proofs as to the validity of the reasoning of one or the other of the two schools. It would require more than the subject-matter here considered to prove the “Monist” position, or to detract from that of the “Dualist.” However, inasmuch as state practice is one of the guides to the resolution of the debate on the nature of international law, it is hoped that an explanation of the attitude of the Colombian Supreme Court concerning the relationship of pacta to the national constitution and legislation of that state may merit mention.


1970 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 293-294
Author(s):  
Stanisław Kowalczyk ◽  
Jan Kłos

Sport plays today an eminent role in man's life and in societies. Various sciences have made it the subject-matter of their reflection, i.e. psychology, sociology, the natural and humanistic sciences, art, philosophy, and theology. The present work seeks to answer some fundamental questions connected with the phenomenon of sport: what is it for man (part one)? whether and when does it serve the social integration of a community (part two)? what are the premises and principles of the ethics of sportive activity (part three)? what is the aesthetic dimension of sport (part four)? what are the relations between sport and religious faith (part five)? The philosophical profile is dominant in the book, taking into consideration various aspects of sport: anthropological, social, axiological, and theological.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 243-268
Author(s):  
Julie M. Johnson

AbstractThis article positions multidisciplinary artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis at the center of a web that spans Vienna 1900, the Weimar Bauhaus, and interwar Vienna. Using a network metaphor to read her work, she is understood here as specialist of the ars combinatoria, in which she recombines genre and media in unexpected ways. She translates the language of photograms into painting, ecclesiastical subject matter into a machine aesthetic, adds found objects to abstract paintings, and paints allegories and scenes of distortion in the idiom of New Objectivity, all the while designing stage sets, costumes, modular furniture, toys, and interiors. While she has been the subject of renewed attention, particularly in the design world, much of her fine art has yet to be assessed. She used the idioms of twentieth-century art movements in unusual contexts, some of these very brave: in interwar Vienna, where she created Dadaistic posters to warn of fascism, she was imprisoned and interrogated. Always politically engaged, her interdisciplinary and multimedia approach to art bridged the conceptual divide between the utopian and critical responses to war during the interwar years. Such engagement with both political strains of twentieth-century modernism is rare. After integrating the interdisciplinary lessons of Vienna and the Weimar Bauhaus into her life's work, she shared these lessons with children at Terezín.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 898-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Albert ◽  
Barry Buzan

AbstractThis article deals with the subject matter of International Relations as an academic discipline. It addresses the issue of whether and how one or many realms could legitimately be claimed as the discipline’s prime subject. It first raises a number of problems associated with both identifying the subject matter of IR and ‘labelling’ the discipline in relation to competing terms and disciplines, followed by a discussion on whether, and to what degree, IR takes its identity from a confluence of disciplinary traditions or from a distinct methodology. It then outlines two possibilities that would lead to identifying IR as a discipline defined by a specific realm in distinction to other disciplines: (1) the ‘international’ as a specificrealmof the social world, functionally differentiated from other realms; (2) IR as being about everything in the social world above a particularscale. The final section discusses the implications of these views for the study of International Relations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-165
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Hernández Quezada

In this article we take a general look at four Mexican authors who have tackled the subject of animal sacrifice: Ramón Rubín, Juan José Arreola, Héctor Aguilar Camín and Alberto Chimal. Our broad approach is that one way or the other harmful and disadvantageous situations are expressed for the non-human entity, considering the social implications of the role which has been assigned to it across time, be it in the symbolic act or in today’s production logic. Departing from such Derridean considerations about the existing relationship between humans and fauna, it is evident that in the works of the authors analyzed, the topic or use of animals presents the material reach of their sacrifice, especially when the matter of the literary representation of pain or physical suffering comes into play. It is relevant at the same time to affirm that in this work we consider the reflections of several authors who, from a philosophic or anthropologic perspective, have delved into the fundamental aspects of the sacrificial act, pointing out the evocative role of the animal, rightly conceived as an important cultural event, wherein are manifested transcendental ceremonies (René Girard) or the rites of passage which strengthen the group’s ties (Clifford Geertz).


Prospects ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 231-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne L. Kinser

It came as no surprise to John Sloan when in 1910 the National Academy of Design refused to exhibit his painting 3 a.m. (Fig. 1). Its subject matter must have appeared to the academy jury, as Sloan later said, rather “like a pair of men's drawers slipped into an old maid's laundry.” It is apparent that the critics of the day, who deemed the work “too frank and vulgar,” could hardly have overlooked the fact that the seated woman, sipping a cup of tea, is a prostitute. Indeed, the other woman, who is busily engaged in cooking her a meal, would appear to be one also. During the Progressive Era, it was common for prostitutes to share tenement flats like the one in 3 a.m., as numerous muckraking newspaper articles and tracts on the social evil were beginning to make plain. The reformist zeal for which the period is presently noted may have succeeded in closing down a number of brothels; but the world's “oldest profession” continued to flourish, as journalists were constantly reminding an apprehensive but nevertheless titillated American public. In 1910 prostitutes were more visible than ever. Operating independently out of tenements like the one in 3 a.m., they worked on the streets and out of dance halls, saloons, and cheap restaurants.


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