«Rom» som metafor i utviklingen av (kritisk) tenkning: En diskusjon av begrepene «kritisk tenkning» og «etisk bevissthet» i læreplanens overordnede del i lys av Hannah Arendt

This article aims to discuss the key notions ‘critical thinking’ and ‘ethical consciousness’ in the new national curriculum in the light of the philosopher Hannah Arendt’s work The Life of the Mind. Much has been said about being critical, but not so much about thinking. It is the claim of the author that it is unclear in both the national curriculum and some of the pedagogical literature as to what characterizes thinking, and that this stems from a theoretical deficit for understanding the activity of thinking. The consequence is that concepts such as thinking and judgement are confused and thinking is instrumentalized. Hence the article proposes to see Arendt’s use of the metaphor ‘space’ and other spatial metaphors to determine hallmarks of the activity of thinking. A vital hallmark of Arendt’s work is the radical autonomy of thinking partly detached from judgment and instrumental purposes. The author thus attempts to give a critical but constructive contribution to the national curriculum’s description of thinking as ‘giving room for uncertainty and unpredictability’ which could be understood in light of Arendt’s thought.

Sted og lokalitet i transnasjonale empiriske kontekster

This chapter discusses how transnational fields are understood, defined, and negotiated both by those who participate in them and the researchers who study such fields. Two very different empirical cases are presented. The cases actualize the concept “transnational” in quite distinctive ways, reminding us that transnational is not a given size and that the meaning put into the concept is dependent on the situations one aims to comprehend. The chapter argues for the importance of understanding the processes of production of locality, and how participants work to localize experience, without a-priori assuming that geography is the primary dimension for sense-making. The discussion shows how global connections arise and dissolve through interaction, and that the dimensions relevant for meaning-making are situationally given. Locality is continually produced, both by participants and researchers. The chapter reflects on the implications of how “transnational” is actualized in different ways, due to the mutually constitutive relationship between our questions and the field sites chosen to study them.

Grip kirkes veggmalerier: 1600-tallskirken som møtested og grensepost for teologi og kongemakt

On the island Grip in Western Norway there is a stave church with wall paintings from 1621. The motives are from both the Old and the New Testament, and as the paintings were made in the period of Lutheran orthodoxy, their message has been understood to support the central Lutheran ideas concerning grace and faith. However, the 17th century was also the period when absolute monarchy developed, and some church historians claim that the church was the area where this form of government first was realized. Based on the assumption that the church can be seen as a meeting place of heavenly and earthly power, this article discusses whether it is likely that the wall paintings could be read by the congregation in a way that also supported the power of the actual king in Denmark-Norway. If that should have been the case, the interpretation would rely on a much older tradition of reading, the medieval quadriga.

Fra det religiøse og sekulære til det hellige og profane: «Det religiøse», «det sekulære» og «det hellige» som romlige kategorier sett i lys av begrepshistorie og filosofisk arkeologi

The aim of this article is twofold. In the first part, I aim to show how the categories ‘religion’ and ‘secularity’ are separated by being connected to different spheres or spaces. The separation of a ‘religious sphere’, a ‘secular sphere’, a ‘political sphere’, etc. is the ideological outcome of a period in the history of thought we call modernity. Through the tradition of ‘conceptual history’ this separation can, however, be deconstructed. The modern break with the premodern past was less radical than its ideological representation. As I try to show, the works of Reinhart Koselleck and others have demonstrated that the concepts and logics of modernity were partly inherited from what modernity rejected. Thus the modern separation of politics as a specific ‘secular sphere’ (secularism) was just a reversal of Christian political theology. The question is, however, whether beneath the level of conceptual history there is another historical strata that conceptual history cannot deal with. In the second part of the article, I discuss through the work of Giorgio Agamben and his ‘philosophical archaeology’ how ‘any’ logics of separation stems from archaic religion. The distinction between ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’ sphere thus seems to be a less fundamental one than the archaic distinction between ‘the sacred’ and ‘the profane’. My claim is then not ony that the separation of spheres in modern thinking is conceptually connected to and dependent on Christian theology, but that it also reproduces archaic thought.

«Det er så koselig her at jeg tar av meg skoene»: Om betydningen av sted i en flerkulturell barne- og ungdomsfestival

In this article, we explore how children and youth participating in a multicultural festival in Norway construct space and place. Such events respond to the call to action for reducing prejudice and stereotypes, and they aim to promote inclusion, participation and community. Nonetheless, researchers have criticized such events for instead promoting categorical understandings of cultural identities; as such, some researchers regard multicultural festivals as counterproductive to the aim of promoting inclusion. However, previous research has directed scarce attention to the participants’ perspective, in particular viewpoints of children and youth. Inspired by perspectives on spatial justice (Soja, 1996, 2010), we interpret young people’s experiences and meaning making while attending a multicultural festival. We collected data through an app, which allowed us to conduct structured interviews with children and youths on site. The findings bring out the significance of space and place when interpreting young people’s participation and meaning making at such events. We conclude the article by reflecting on the potential of perspectives on space and place to nuance an often one-sided criticism of multicultural events.

Komplekse rom og mangeartede steder: Religionsfaglige og interdisiplinære kontekster

This article maps out the complexity of the phenomena and concepts space and place, with a special focus on religious studies and related disciplines. We start by identifying core elements in the so-called ‘spatial turn’ within the humanities and the social sciences, originating from developments in the field of geography. Next, we identify ontological and epistemological challenges related to space and place, and argue for constructive-critical realism as a point of departure in theory of science. Further, we advocate interdisciplinarity as a way to address such a topic, followed by a short analysis of the ‘spatial turn’ within the context of religion, theology and philosophy. Finally, we offer a presentation of the remaining articles of the volume.

Naturen som sted: En eksplorativ studie av økofilosofi, økoteologi og kristen økospiritualitet

In which sense can we make sense of nature as place? This question is discussed in the context of eco-philosophy, eco-theology and Christian eco-spirituality. In particular, the article aims to explore how nature as place can be understood in the context of Christian eco-spirituality. Both eco-philosophy and eco-theology is prior to the latter. They provide resources for how to understand Christian eco-spirituality in general and nature as place in particular. However, Christian eco-spirituality develops its own distinct character by emphasizing the role of aesthetics. The article identifies in two aspects of nature as place for further exploring as they give insight of how to understand nature as home. One aspect is the relational and dynamic character of nature and the another is nature as home. These two aspects echoe in recent theories of place. Underlying both, we find aesthetics as a common ground for coping with nature as place in Christian eco-spirituality where bio-centrism, aesthetics, spirituality and nature experience are interwoven.

Rommet for interaksjon om eksistensielle spørsmål i barnehagen

This article is a contribution to empirical practice research in the field of kindergarten, studying how a part of the subject area Ethics, Religions and Philosophy in the Framework Plan for Kindergartens – Content and Tasks plays out in the field of practice. In this article the concept “space” will – in addition to being a concept of different social practices that take place in kindergartens – be an expression of the space created in interaction between agents acting with different artefacts, in this case a book about birth rites connected with births in different religions. The data is established through video recording of a planned conversation between a kindergarten teacher and four children in a multicultural kindergarten. Sociocultural theory is used for the analysis of the conversation, interpreted as a trialogical process. The interactions and negotiations between children and staff create “a space of possibilities”. The preschool teacher’s use of tools seldom creates “a space of wondering” that leads to dialogue about existential questions, which was the initial purpose of the planned conversation. Religion in kindergarten is in this article understood as part of the social practice in kindergartens and in this context it belongs to the field of education, as opposed to religious practice in for example churches and mosques.

Kirkeasyl og kirkebygg som hellig rom og tilfluktsted

The article has its starting point in church asylum as a phenomenon in Norway in the 1990s. It focuses on police practice related to church asylum and the rationale for this practice by state authorities in Norway. It also looks at the theological argumentation for church asylum in official church statements at that time in Norway. Both state authorities and the Church of Norway agree that church buildings do not have a special legal status and that church asylum is not a legal right. But the state authorities respect church asylum because of the understanding of churches as sacred places and protected areas. To better understand this view, the article also looks at the history of church buildings as sacred places. From a theological point of view, church asylum has its foundation historically both in the church building as a sacred room (loci reverentia) and in the Christian duty of helping people in need (intercessio). But the article also points out that the theological argumentation of church asylum based on the understanding of churches as sacred and protected places is no longer used, neither in Catholic nor in Protestant theology. The article concludes that the understanding of churches as sacred and protected places has its foundation in a long tradition that still exists in the population. This is also regarded as the reason why state authorities in Norway do not enter church buildings with police force.

Naturen som rom: Filosofisk samtale gjennom erfaring i natur

In this text, nature is explored as a space for recognition, seen from an outdoor pedagogical perspective. Through guidance in outdoor living (friluftsliv) in small groups, a working form is presented that aims to inspire nature-friendly value orientation. This method of work is primarily known as an experience-based practice and is only partially articulated as a philosophical project. Inspired by Arne Johan Vetlesen’s demand for a paradigm shift in environmental ethics (Vetlesen, 2015), outdoor recreation pedagogical practice may be an answer to an interpretation of how “experiential ecocentric ethics” may be an alternative to exceeding the recognition of nature’s inherent value. Special qualities in the perception of place and space are central to understanding the uniqueness of outdoor living for the philosophical conversation. By analysing various characteristics of outdoor pedagogical practice, the value of this practice is discussed to develop a philosophical conversation. Finally, a proposal for virtues is presented to bridge the gap between philosophy, psychology and know-how.