The Patterns of Democracy in Context of Historical Political Science

The patterns of democracy are related to the success or failure of national governance; hence, they are a key topic in the theoretical research of political science. It is difficult to comprehend the worldwide political conflicts caused by the promotion of liberal democracy in the study of democratic models that have liberal democracy as their core. The emphasis of historical political science on the genes of civilization provides an opportunity to reinterpret the patterns of democracy. Relying on specific civilization genes, the patterns of democracy can be divided into the “value pattern”, which is shaped by historical civilization genes, and the “practice pattern”, which is based on the “value pattern”. Based on Christian concepts, Western civilization produced liberal democracy as the value pattern, and the value is inherited through the practice pattern of party democracy. Chinese civilization has continued the tradition of people-orientation and consultative practice, establishing socialist democracy in value and consultative democracy in practice. Theoretically, the analytical framework of the value pattern and the practice pattern of democracy illustrates the source of the diverse patterns of democracy, which helps demonstrate the limitations of liberal democracy and points out the possibility of developing a non-liberal democracy pattern.

Edward Wilmot Blyden. The African Personality and Early Intellectual Work in the Gold Coast (Ghana)

There is a commonly held view that African nationalism took shape out of contacts of African intellectuals with twentieth century Pan-African leaders. Yet, this interpretation lacked concrete evidence, as many of these intellectuals owed their ideological formulation to Nineteenth century teachings of Edward Wilmot Blyden. In his writings, Blyden articulated a thorough understanding of African’s strengths and weaknesses. For Blyden, Western civilization intended to make the African a caricature of European society. As a result, the situation of the African became one of chaos as he lived in strict psychological conflicts. A revival of the African personality rested as a solution to the distorted manhood of the African and a path to his future progress. This article examines Blyden’s theory of the African personality as revealed in early intellectual work in the Gold Coast (Ghana). Drawing on Blyden’s African personality theory, the article revealed that these intellectuals begun a vigorous campaign to oppose Europeanization of the African system of life and took an uncompromising stand against ideas of black “inferiority” and “backwardness”.

Revival of Islamic Civilization: Strategies for the Development of Muslim Society in the Thought of Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (Kebangkitan Tamadun Islam: Strategi Pembangunan Masyarakat Islam dalam Pemikiran Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi)

This study attempts at analysing Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi’s suggestions towards a revival of Islamic civilization as an alternative to the Western civilization. It is based on library research and is qualitative in nature as it basically focuses on textual analysis. Moreover, the major approaches are descriptive, analytical and evaluative. This study found that Nadwi believed in the capacities of Islamic civilization to be revived if the existing challenges are overcome. For him, despite its tremendous breakthroughs in the fields of science and technology, Western civilization is bound to fail due to its moral decline. Therefore, it is only an Islamic civilization which is overtaken by the Western civilization should lead the humanity. In light of his argument, this study explores the strategies provided by Nadwi for the development of Muslim society as a revival of Islamic civilization. It focuses on three basic domains, namely, intellectual, political, and institutional aspects of reform. Keywords: Western civilization, Muslim leadership, Ijtihad, Jihad, Intellectual reform, Political reform, Institutional reform. Abstrak Kajian ini cuba menganalisis cadangan Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi ke arah kebangkitan tamadun Islam sebagai alternatif kepada tamadun Barat. Ia berdasarkan penyelidikan perpustakaan dan sifat kualitatif di mana ia pada dasarnya memberi tumpuan kepada analisis tekstual. Selain itu, pendekatan utama adalah deskriptif, analisis dan penilaian. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa Nadwi percaya kepada keupayaan tamadun Islam untuk dihidupkan semula jika cabaran sedia ada dapat diatasi. Baginya, walaupun kejayaannya yang luar biasa dalam bidang sains dan teknologi, tamadun Barat sebenarnnya gagal kerana kemerosotan moralnya. Oleh itu, Nadwi menegaskan bahawa hanyalah tamadun Islam yang harus memimpin manusia. Kajian ini meneroka hujah Nadwi tentang strategi untuk pembangunan masyarakat Islam sebagai usaha ke arah kebangkitan semula tamadun Islam. Ia memberi tumpuan kepada tiga domain asas, iaitu, intelektual, politik, dan aspek institusi pembaharuan. Kata Kunci: Tamadun Barat, Kepimpinan Islam, Ijtihad, Jihad, Pembaharuan Intelektual, Pembaharuan Politik, Pembaharuan Institusi.

PEMBAHARUAN HUKUM ISLAM DI MESIR DAN SUDAN: STUDI KOMPARASI

This paper discusses how the renewal of Islamic law occurred in Egypt and Sudan. This study uses a qualitative research method with a normative approach. The data source used in this study is a secondary data source, because it only examines the literature or literature. From the results of this study, it can be understood that the role of the countries of Egypt and Sudan in fighting for qanunization (taqnin) and the formalization of Islamic law is very large. Even though they have to go through the challenges of Western imperialism and secularism, so that Islamic societies and countries have variations in responding to Western civilization today. The renewal of Islamic law in Egypt and Sudan occurred because of the struggle of Muslims in Egypt and Sudan with the rulers of the Islamic world, between secularism and Islamic law.

Introduction

The year 2021 has come exactly 700 years after the death of Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest authors of world literature. The Polish Classical, Romantic and Catholic traditions had been drawing from his works by the handful, and especially from the Divine Comedy. Dante was near and dear to many generations of our ancestors, accompanying them on the various levels of education, throughout middle school, high school and university. For the learning youth, he was a mentor and teacher who presented human nature in its all dimensions, from atrocity to heroism and holiness. In times of confusion that we are living through, when not only as individuals and communities, but as the entire Western civilization we have found ourselves in the “dark woods” (una selva oscura) to be preyed upon by the three beasts (le tre fiere): pride, greed and lust, Dante remains a beacon and inspiration for all those who believe that there is an objective truth and universal values that apply to all people regardless of race, nationality or social status.

GARDEN AND PARK ENSEMBLES IN THE TOWNS’ HISTORY

The narrative motive of the study is the fact of the infl uence of the garden and park ensembles’ construction on the development of cities. The historical periods of the highest fl owering of culture, philosophy, aesthetic ideas, and the development of construction skills have been selected for the work. The authors of the article draw att ention to the theoretical works of the 20th century in Western civilization, considering the city as a natural system. Their connection with the concepts of the 16th- 19th centuries in England, France, Italy, and France is affi rmed. The idea of the city as a natural system is revealed through images and metaphors, which help to understand the place of public landscapes in the history of civilization. The article presents the garden-park complexes, the creation of which changed the urban planning paradigm, initiated the construction of new cities, promoted the replacement of obsolete or lost elements of urban structure. The author suggests the classifi cation of landscape complexes according to their role in the development of urban planning and their infl uence on the artistic culture, architecture and morphology of the city.

The Genealogy of Civilization

Civilization is a concept that ontologically defines the individual and the communities in which it develops. The most global civilization is the one that has emerged in the West. Civilization is not something static, but an organism that draws its roots from the distant past. In this sense, it is fundamental to answer the question of what are the constitutive elements that define Western civilization. This question only makes sense if it is asked in a historical perspective. In this direction the Freemasonry, A Very Short Introduction is a crucial one. It presents the analysis revealing how the history of freemasonry is related to the evolution of Western identity. It has to be read in the light of Niall Ferguson’s monograph The West and the Rest. The present text does so. The book then brings to light the contribution of the brotherhood to the intellectual habitus of what is called the Judeo-Christian civilization, at the present time still predominant on the Planet. The intellectual apparatus of the Freemasonry, A Very Short Introduction permits to elucidate the history of the masonic movement and its influence on events that seem unconnected and coincidental. Thus, this article tries to explain certain historical turning points in South-Eastern Europe, precisely in the light of the masonic alliances, in particular the case of the Illyrian Provinces and the first Slovenian poet, Valentin Vodnik, and secondly, what concerns the emergence of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which the author of the article defines as the result of the masonic strategy (the Grand Lodge of France and the Grand Orient of France).

Introduction

The graphic design of this issue of The Ignatianum Philosophical Year- book front cover includes the entrance gate to the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow. The gate itself is transformed into a triumphal arch opening towards the road recognizable to every person who feels a bond with the cultural heritage of the Western world. This road is the via Appia, once built by the will of Appius Claudius Caecus, and considered one of the oldest Roman tracts. Called “the queen of all roads” by the Romans them- selves, it is inseparable from the Eternal City for everyone raised on the values of Western civilization. Mikołaj Sęp-Szarzyński wrote about it in his famous epitaph: “today in Rome defeated, Rome invincible,” express- ing this way the overwhelming awareness of connecting the past with what we experience as the present. It was on this road that the legendary scene recalled by Henryk Sienkiewicz took place, in which the question: quo vadis, Domine? is asked by the apostle Peter, fleeing from the Eternal City, to Christ he meets on the Appian Way. The power of this question is understood by anyone who is able to see in the roots of Classical and Christian culture all that is the most important for the Western culture not only in terms of its past, but also in terms of its future.

POSTMODERN AND NIHILISM (STRATEGIES OF CRITICISM OF NIHILISM IN THE PHILOSPHY OF J.-F. LYOTARD)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the theme of nihilism in postmodern philosophy on the example of one of its main representatives J.-F. Lyotard. Since F. Nietzsche, the term «nihilism» has been used by various theorists to describe the intellectual and spiritual situation of Western civilization in the era of modernity. The last decades of the twentieth century marked by the transition to a new cultural paradigm of postmodernity. But even in postmodernist theories, the topic of nihilism did not disappear, but gave rise to new strategies of comprehension and criticism. J.-F. Lyotard, a key theorist of postmodernity, at all stages of his work tried to understand how the nihilistic logic of the development of civilization in the «postmodern condition» has changed. The article reveals the philosophical and political response proposed by Lyotard to the challenge of the nihilistic suppression of life by the systems of capital, technoscience and repressive rationality.