Structural Pluralism

The chapter introduces and defends structural pluralism: the view that there is a plurality of ways of carving nature at the joints. The first part of the chapter argues that structural pluralism is able to meet a challenge to Ted Sider’s monism about joint-carving. The second part spells out the metaontological consequences of adopting structural pluralism, and shows that the view is compatible with a moderate form of deflationism about ontological disagreement. The third and last part fleshes out a number of consequences of adopting structural pluralism, and suggests further applications of that view, including a reassessment of an influential argument against vague existence.

Rethinking the India-Bharat Divide vis-à-vis COVID-19: Implications for a Sociolinguistics of Health Communication

Language plays an important role in the dissemination of critical health information across human societies. Taking a cue from the sociolinguistic nuances of the role of language in society, this study probes the India-Bharat divide in the COVID-19 scenario as a potential hurdle to the sense making practices necessary for successful health communication. By delving into the dichotomous linguistic relationship between India and Bharat, this study contends that in order for this sociolinguistic dichotomy to be resolved and health communication to be effective, it is important that all concerned must be in control of the same code. The study raises questions ranging from challenges for health communication with respect to the linguistically diverse population in the country, access to reliable health information, to the problem of incomprehensibility as a barrier to the availability of proper health information. Through qualitative content analysis of the COVID-19 health information terminology mediated through popular Hindi news channels during the first phase of lockdown in India and the corresponding outcome reports across digital platforms, the study analyses the India-Bharat divide and suggests sociolinguistic strategies that can tacitly turn the structural pluralism into an organic pluralism making heath communication in India smooth and discernible.

Sphere Sovereignty according to Kuyper

This article systematically describes the principle of sphere sovereignty according to Abraham Kuyper. Four themes are critically examined: the sovereignty of Christ as the main basis of Kuyper’s principle and its relation to creation, fall, and redemption; structural pluralism as the way of understanding social structure; the notion of religious and confessional pluralism; finally, the role of the state as the sphere of spheres. A positive critique of Kuyper’s principle is given in conclusion. KEYWORDS: Sphere sovereignty, sphere of spheres, structural pluralism, confessional pluralism, creation, fall, redemption, faith, public justice

The Chief Fallacy: A Commentary on Hostility to Hospitality

This commentary takes issue with three central themes contained in Michael and Tracy Balboni’s Hostility to Hospitality: the argument against a ‘spirituality of immanence’ prevalent in biomedicine, the proposal for ‘structural pluralism’ as a model of institutional reform that addresses the alleged deficiencies of immanence, and the role of ‘chief love’ in the conceptualisation of a spirituality suitable to this form of pluralism. Drawing on a brief discussion of spiritualities which do not fit into the hermeneutic of ‘chief love’, we suggest that the Balbonis’ argument contains largely unexamined assumptions coloured by the authors’ own theological commitments. We contend that the success of ‘structural pluralism’ hinges on the extent to which the authors can credibly disentangle particular religious interests from their proposal for institutional reform, and that this requires broad consultation of spiritual experiences beyond ‘chief love’ and the critique of immanence. The World Health Organisation’s cross-cultural methodology employed in the development of a quality of life measure that incorporates “religiousness, spirituality and personal beliefs” (‘WHOQOL-SRPB’) is briefly discussed as an example of such consultation.

Structural Pluralism in Gerald Finzi’s Earth and Air and Rain

The genre of song cycle is complex and heterogeneous. As well as attracting significant contention in relation to matters of typology, the inherent aesthetic issues that arise from any intermedial union of words and music are compounded in the potential narrative consequences of the song cycle. Advocating melopoetic practices, my research seeks to examine the different cycle structures that emerge within the twentieth-century, English repertory. Gerald Finzi’s Earth and Air and Rain, composed in 1936, has a somewhat ambiguous genesis and complex history in performance and publication. This article explores the work’s potential to be characterized by structural pluralism; that is, the possibility that there may be more than one way of understanding and navigating the cycle’s structure. The genre of song cycle is complex and heterogeneous. As well as attracting significant contention in relation to matters of typology, the inherent aesthetic issues that arise from any intermedial union of words and music are compounded in the potential narrative consequences of the song cycle. Advocating melopoetic practices, my research seeks to examine the different cycle structures that emerge within the twentieth-century, English repertory. Gerald Finzi’s Earth and Air and Rain, composed in 1936, has a somewhat ambiguous genesis and complex history in performance and publication. This article explores the work’s potential to be characterized by structural pluralism; that is, the possibility that there may be more than one way of understanding and navigating the cycle’s structure.

Fiduciary Law and Pluralism

This chapter introduces the idea of a plural legal category, namely, a legal category that is deeply heterogeneous and, nonetheless, legally meaningful. More specifically, it proposes structural pluralism as an alternative to the prevailing assumption of structural monism. It argues that a wholesale category should not be a category for deciding; pigeonholing a case within its ambit is not enough to justify any concrete decision. At times, however, holding on to such a category can still be useful because some heterogeneous legal categories can function as categories of thinking. Thus, a wholesale legal category is theoretically important if its subcategories raise questions that invoke similar normative concerns or imply some similarity in the means that inform their pertinent answers. This chapter offers an account of plural legal categories and demonstrates its promise regarding fiduciary law, which it analyzes as a classic example of a plural legal category. It also discusses autonomy-based pluralism in fiduciary law and shows how, despite the significant differences between various fiduciary types, their structural similarities could facilitate learning and cross-fertilization and thereby justify holding such diverse categories as money managers, parents, and sovereigns under the unified umbrella of fiduciary law. Furthermore, since many fiduciary types enhance autonomy, the pertinent subsets of fiduciary law dealing with the facilitation of various forms of money management and division of labor can and should be critically examined against this important function of liberal law.

Structural Exclusion and Just Development

The work of feminists and other critics of global development has successfully demonstrated the persistent failure of development to promote just and equitable social change. The author examines a central cause of this failure, which she refers to as the problem of structural exclusion. Structural exclusion occurs where participation in decision-making is restricted to a narrow range of structural perspectives and interests. The author provides a systematic account of structural exclusion as an epistemic obstacle to just and effective development policy. Drawing on this account, she then propose a principle of structural pluralism, which requires that all relevant structural perspectives be included on equal terms and have equal right and effective opportunity to contribute to or influence deliberations at all levels of decision-making about the appropriate vision and policies of development.

PLURALISME PRINSIPIIL DAN REFLEKSINYA TERHADAP PANCASILA

This article uses theological-ethical approach to focus on the presentation of the relationship of religion and state in the concept of principled pluralism and provides a reflection on the life of the nation and state in Indonesia which has Pancasila. The theological basis used as a reference is the Reformed theology of the Neo-Calvinism wing which was pioneered by Abraham Kuyper and forwarded by ideas from Kuyperians such as Gordon Spykman, James Skillen, Jonathan Chaplin. The author will argue that Pancasila is in harmony with principled pluralism. KEY WORDS: principled pluralism, structural pluralism, confessional pluralism, Pancasila.

Structural Pluralism for Medicine and Religion

A spirituality of immanence has privatized other spiritual traditions in the practice of medicine. This creates social structures that make it increasingly difficult for patients to receive spiritual care from within their own spiritual traditions. Structural pluralism identifies and challenges the hegemony of immanence by imagining an alternative way to practice medicine. This form of pluralism argues for an intermediate space for communal traditions to hold structural space within the deep practices of medicine, thus upholding the tradition-dependent nature of spirituality and spiritual care, maintaining that spirituality in medicine must protect religious freedom against all forms of spiritual coercion, and identifying an incremental and scientific manner to move from the structures of immanence to pluralism. This proposal calls for a gradual unfolding through scientific testing, trial, and public evaluation toward the common good to enhance spiritual care for patients facing serious illness without imposing religion on patients or clinicians.