Being an Authentic Christian: an Analysis Based on The Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard emphasis the importance of each individual being an authentic person. In his works, he gives an overview and direction to become an authentic person. Realizing whether someone authentically is not easy. Nowadays, I see many Christians who do not really live their lives as a Christian. The focus of this research is to present Kierkegaard's view on the criteria of an authentic Christian. The method used is a critical reading analysis of Kierkegaard's works (particularly Purity of Heart and The Sickness unto Death), previous research studies, observations, and interviews with several individuals. The author finds six criteria about authentic Christian individuals, namely: (1) Living in repentance, (2) Personal relationship with God, (3) Fear of God, (4) Willingness to suffer, (5) Being a loving person, and (6) Living in silence.

Dispossessed, without place and face. The plight of elders

Purpose Have we grown closer and closer apart? Imagine the plight of our elders. Their history is linked with their geography, where they lived, loved and labored. The purpose of this paper is to explore how, though they have earned their “place” in the world, a world now under the hegemony of accelerated time and blurring of distance, many of them feel displaced, “unseen” and irrelevant. Design/methodology/approach The paper’s methodology is in narrative structure, at times referring to contemporary philosophical and art sources. The author’s commentary addresses this loss of place and face for today’s elders within the context of our failure, in the USA and much of the West, to construct a consistent, coherent philosophy of life stages. Put simply, the thoroughly pragmatic and future-driven culture of youth and productivity assigns no intrinsic value to getting old. Findings Place unfolds in particularities – my place, our home, etc. – and is critically distinct from space. As we squeeze together time and space through worldviews and technologies, we have erased the importance of place. This poses unique problems for elders for whom place, in particular home, carries special meaning involving time and relationships. Originality/value For elders, in particular, meaning comes through lived, embodied experiences. The author argued that our embodied encounters enable moral meaningfulness, and that it is the face which is the centerpiece of such engagement. Face reveals a moral invitation to authentic person-to-person communication. And in light of this communication, understanding the importance of place and need for face-to-face interaction helps to ground us in our conversations with elders. With our seniors, for whom the greatest gift is our time and attention, it is not only what we say, but how we are with them, through our presence, that matters.

The Spiritual Disciplines as Practices of Transformation

Spiritual disciplines are practices of transformation intentionally pursued through the day-to-day actions of deeper living. The spiritual disciplines are conceptualized here in their relationship to profound learning. The authors contend that profound learners exhibit certain dispositions, such as curiosity, that facilitate continual growth. These dispositions, when developed, become practices, habits, or routines which result in continual exploration, skill development, growth in understanding and, over time, transformation of the individual. Spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, fasting, and worship, which move the individual toward the divine, are experienced in all the traditional religious traditions. This is an intentional process of personal transformation, evolving over time, and not contingent on serendipitous circumstance. Transformational learning within this framework is a process of individual conversion from shallowness toward becoming an ever deeper, more authentic person.

Sense of Self: Its Place in Personality Disturbance, Psychopathology, and Normal Experience

Sense of self (SOS) is a cornerstone of psychological inquiry and therapy and is a defining feature of a range of psychological conditions including borderline personality disorder, yet it is poorly understood. SOS is that continuous experience of being a complete and authentic person who feels in control of their own activities. It is a part of normal development of the self and, when weakened by trauma or developmental neglect, is a vulnerability for developing many different disorders, including depression and dissociative, personality, and eating disorders. This review aims to provide a working definition and description of SOS and to summarize its transdiagnostic role in contributing to psychological disorders. To achieve this aim, the article encompasses and unites the literature from various theoretical domains including developmental psychology, identity theory, cognitive psychology, personality disorders, and psychodynamic theories. Implications are raised for psychological therapy and research into psychopathology and its underpinnings.

Spiritualitas dan Transformasi

Spirituality is a virtue of being men and women. It is a significant sign to distinguish human from nonhuman. In this sense, spirituality is a particular drive to motivate people to enter their true self and to explore their inner talents. A person needs spirituality in order to be considered as an authentic person, because spirituality is basically an integral part of his or her existence. Spirituality enables people to explore, develop, and transform their talents to be an excellent contribution for humanity. It is not only associated with humans’ internal desires, but also something that leads them to use, develop, and optimize various other materials and cultures that could be treasured around them. Spirituality is a power to create a better life. Although spirituality is varied and at the same time unique because it is fundamentally and intrinsically local and localized, one must understand that spirituality is always an identity in action. It shapes and transforms human’s life as well as the world.

What Reveals the Taste of the City: The Ethics of Urbanity

Urbanity, a notion that originates in the discourses on rhetoric, designates an ethics proper to the city: a witty, distanced behaviour that replaces the authentic person by the playful enactment of a role. This involves - as every theatre - the presence of an illusion; a certain ‘as if’; a deception, yet one that does not deceive anybody. The belief in the illusion becomes interpassively delegated to a kind of virtual, naive observer. Postmodernity, with its obsession with questions of true identity, can be seen as the key enemy of this urban role-play. It thus contributes to the neoliberal privatization and destruction of urban, public space.

Dasein, personeidad, intersubjetividad y persona-núcleo (II). La estructura trascendental intelectiva después de Heidegger, en Zubiri, Apel y Polo. Dasein, personality, inter-subjectivity and nucleus-person (II). The intellective transcendental structure after Heidegger, in Zubiri, Apel and Polo

Se analiza el modo comprensivo de concebir el Dasein por parte de Heidegger al caracterizarlo como el principio relacional intelectivo de los entes en general. Especialmente cuando se le asignó una efectiva pertenencia a una estructura transcendental entitativa como “ser en el mundo”, sin por ello dejar de ejercer sus funciones intelectivas. Al menos así ocurrió en la forma como Zubiri, Apel y Polo concibieron sus respectivas nociones de personeidad, intersubjetividad o co-subjetividad y persona-núcleo, en estrecha dependencia respecto del modo como el primero interpretó, ya sea el hombre anónimo o la persona auténtica. Pero, a pesar de compartir este punto de partida, cada uno de estos filósofos siguió concibiendo de distinta manera la respectiva inteligencia intelectiva relacional, según se le atribuyeran una mayor capacidad de comprenderse con autenticidad a uno mismo y a los demás entes. Por su parte, el artículo pretende defender la complementariedad de las respectivas propuestas, aunque de momento sea un problema que se deja abierto. In this article Heidegger’s Dasain is analysed and characterised as ‘intelective relational principle’ of entities in general. This applies particularly when a factive belonging to a ‘transcendental entitative structrure’ is affirmed, though without stopping to exert intelectual functions. Such is the case for the philosophers Zubiri, Apel, and Polo, as the conceived their own notions of ‘personeity’, ‘intersubjectivity’ (or co-subjectivity) and nucleous-person, all these in close surrogacy to Heidegger’s anonymous man or authentic person. However, even if they shared this starting point, each of these philosophers kept conceiving in a different way the relational intellective intelligence, as they attributed a higher capacity of knowing oneself authentically as well as the other entities. In addition, the article aims to uphold the complementarity of each proposal, even though it leaves somehow the problem open to further discussion.

The Spiritual Disciplines as Practices of Transformation

Spiritual disciplines are practices of transformation intentionally pursued through the day-to-day actions of deeper living. The spiritual disciplines are conceptualized here in their relationship to profound learning. The authors contend that profound learners exhibit certain dispositions, such as curiosity, that facilitate continual growth. These dispositions, when developed, become practices, habits, or routines which result in continual exploration, skill development, growth in understanding and, over time, transformation of the individual. Spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, fasting, and worship, which move the individual toward the divine, are experienced in all the traditional religious traditions. This is an intentional process of personal transformation, evolving over time, and not contingent on serendipitous circumstance. Transformational learning within this framework is a process of individual conversion from shallowness toward becoming an ever deeper, more authentic person.

Strategies for Organizational Change from Group Homes to Individualized Supports

Organizations are increasingly looking to convert from facility-based services for adults with developmental disabilities to individualized supports. Such conversion involves not only a change in services but a transformation of organizational culture. This qualitative study involved four organizations that have made sustained efforts to transform. Although the approach taken by each organization was unique, there were also some common strategies, which included generating commitment to common values and mission, a turn or return to authentic person-centered planning, shifting power and control, using community supports and relationships, moving away from facility-based settings, and nurturing staff engagement. Ultimately, organizational change is an ongoing process that requires organizational perseverance and commitment.