Fieldworkers (FWs) are community members employed by research teams to support access to participants, address language barriers, and advise on culturally appropriate research conduct. The critical role that FWs play in studies, and the range of practical and ethical dilemmas associated with their involvement, is increasingly recognised. In this paper, we draw on qualitative observation and interview data collected alongside a six month basic science study which involved a team of FWs regularly visiting 47 participating households in their homes. The (...) qualitative study documented how relationships between field workers and research participants were initiated, developed and evolved over the course of the study, the shifting dilemmas FWs faced and how they handled them. Even in this one case study, we see how the complex and evolving relationships between fieldworkers and study participants had important implications for consent processes, access to benefits and mutual understanding and trust. While the precise issues that FWs face are likely to depend on the type of research and the context in which that research is being conducted, we argue that appropriate support for field workers is a key requirement to strengthen ethical research practice and for the long term sustainability of research programmes. (shrink)

Asking students to generate a prediction before presenting the correct answer is a popular instructional strategy. This study tested whether a person’s degree of confidence in a prediction is related to their curiosity and surprise regarding the answer. For a series of questions about numerical facts, participants (N = 29) generated predictions and rated their confidence in the prediction before seeing the correct answer. The increase in pupil size before viewing the correct answer was used as a physiological marker of (...) curiosity, and the increase in pupil size after viewing the correct answer was used as a physiological marker of surprise. The results revealed that the pupillometric marker of curiosity was most pronounced if students were slightly more confident in their prediction than usual, and it was lower for predictions made with either very high or very low confidence. Furthermore, the results showed that high-confidence prediction errors and low-confidence correct responses yielded a pupillary surprise response, suggesting that highly unexpected results evoke surprise, independent of the correctness of the prediction. Together, results suggest that confidence in a prediction plays an important role in the occurrence of epistemic emotions such as curiosity and surprise. (shrink)

This article presents the working hypothesis which guided my research on the Reception of the Second Vatican Council, based on the partial results published in a first volume and in anticipation of a second. The principal arguments supporting this hypothesis are presented and possible objections are entertained. Having accounted for the presentation of the results in two volumes, details about the underlying notions informing this overall approach to Vat II follow, including a treatment of the concepts “corpus” and “pastoral style” (...) — the notion of “the pastoral” (la pastoralité) being precisely the principle which allows us to bring together two different approaches to the Council, one inspired by the tenets of church historiography and the other by reception criticism. Given that the first volume is interested in the Council’s practice of hermeneutics, a description of the reception theory suggested by this hermeneutical practice is offered. From this vantage point the inner logic of the entire project should become clear. (shrink)

L'esthétique moderne, tout éloignée qu'elle est de la conception religieuse de l’œuvre d'art dominante jusqu'à la Renaissance, reste traversée par une sourde inquiétude au sujet du sacré, qu'on est autorisé à interpréter comme une quête spirituelle, comme une ouverture vers une altérité innommée. Quelques théologiens contemporains, de leur côté, souvent influencés par la fréquentation des beaux-arts, tendent à substituer aux stratégies apologétiques ou dogmatiques du passé une approche esthétique du mystère du monde, de l'homme et de la révélation. La notion (...) de « style », entendue comme « manière d'habiter le monde » , semble propre à exprimer l'appréhension à la fois esthétique et théologique du mystère chrétien.Modern aesthetics, which is quite distant from the religious conception found in art until the Renaissance, remains effected by a deaf uneasiness towards the sacred. One can interpret the sacred as a spiritual quest, as an opening toward an unnamed alterity. Some contemporary theologians, on the other hand, who are often influenced by frequenting the fine arts, tend to substitute, in place of apologetic and dogmatic strategies, an aesthetic approach to the mystery of the world, man, and revelation. The notion of « style », understood as « manner of inhabiting the world » , seems proper for expressing an apprehension, at the same time aesthetic and theological of the Christian mystery. (shrink)

In a recent contribution to this journal Professor A. Argandona explored the general characteristics of corruption and their implications for the corporate sector. Against this background this paper examines one specific form of corruption: the payment of bribes usually by agents of private firms to civil servants and politicians overseas. The paper focuses specifically upon current attempts by western states to criminalise overseas bribery and the problems such efforts are likely to face. Emphasising the centrality of the demand for corrupt (...) payments as well as their supply, the paper concludes by highlighting a pivotal relationship between bribery on the one hand and the abuse of human rights on the other. (shrink)

In a recent contribution to this journal Professor A. Argandona explored the general characteristics of corruption and their implications for the corporate sector. Against this background this paper examines one specific form of corruption: the payment of bribes usually by agents of private firms to civil servants and politicians overseas. The paper focuses specifically upon current attempts by western states to criminalise overseas bribery and the problems such efforts are likely to face. Emphasising the centrality of the demand for corrupt (...) payments as well as their supply, the paper concludes by highlighting a pivotal relationship between bribery on the one hand and the abuse of human rights on the other. (shrink)

Pour l'auteur, la Lettre représente un seuil décisif dans l'évolution de la théologie fondamentale moderne. Partant des trois acquis majeurs du projet blondélien , l'auteur propose une voie de réinterprétation dans une perspective culturelle nouvelle de ces acquis, notamment en raison du pluralisme qui semble d'abord s'opposer à la structure fondamentalement chrétienne du discours de Blondel, ce qui contraint à infléchir la définition blondélienne du surnaturel. Enfin, l'esquisse d'un argument apologétique valorise l'ensemble du processus circulaire de l'argument apologétique dans la (...) mesure où cet ensemble est constitué par vérité, justesse et authenticité : ce processus prend aujourd’hui son départ dans la consistance du comportement de celui qui engage l’argumentation en faveur de la foi chrétienne.For the author, the Lettre represents a decisive threshold in the evolution of fundamental modern theology. Starting with the three major accepted propositions of Blondel’s project , the author proposes a way of reinterpretation in a new cultural perspective of these propositions, notably because of a pluralism that seems at first to be opposed to the fundamentally Christian structure of Blondel’s discourse, which forces one to bend Blondel’s definition of the supernatural. Finally, the outline of an apologetical argument valorises the whole of the circular method of the apologetical argument in so far as this whole is constituted by truth, soundness, and authenticity. Today this method being with the consistency of the comportment of he who engages the argumentation in favour of the Christian faith. (shrink)

Résumé L’auteur de cet essai bio-bibliographique retrace son itinéraire de théologien en évoquant les différentes étapes de sa formation et de sa recherche, sa manière de faire de la théologie, ses collaborations, enracinements et convictions, situant ainsi ses publications majeures dans un ensemble en construction.The author of this bio-bibliographical essay redraws his theologian’s route by evoking the various stages of his formation and research, the way he practices theology, his collaborations, roots and convictions, situating his major publications in a whole (...) under construction. (shrink)

In this paper I attempt to explore the significance of the terms ‘accident’ and ‘chance’ when they are used in connection with events that are sometimes said to happen ‘by accident’ and sometimes ‘by chance’. The significance of these terms is not always made clear in everyday conversation, and here I shall try to discuss the distinction between them and the sorts of situation therefore to which they properly apply. Perhaps an example will show that these expressions are different. Thus (...) ‘I met Smith in the library by chance’ is different from ‘I met Smith in the library by accident’, different because these statements reflect different interpretations of the events referred to. We see accidental and chance events in a different light. And this is the point; ‘accident’ and ‘chance’ are terms of interpretation, not of description. And I hope to show that the expression ‘by chance’ is appropriate in contexts which develop as a result of human decisions and intentions in a way in which the expression ‘by accident’ is not appropriate. (shrink)

The construction of models plays a vital part in scientific thought.And many questions about the characteristics demanded of a good model, and the implications of using models are often asked by philosophers of science. Although models are frequently and successfully used in scientific explanation, this does not imply that they are a necessary feature of such explanation, though it does provide some justification for their use. However, any attempt to provide a model for a scientific theory undoubtedly leads to a (...) clearer understanding of that theory. Models and theories are often considered as separate features in a scientific explanation, but a theory is not usually devised and then consciously provided with a model. (shrink)

The year 2010 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the Recherches de Science Religieuse and provides an opportunity for the journal to explore its past, present, and prospects for the twenty-first century. In order to celebrate the event, this special commemorative issue calls upon authors from many different fields. "Commemoration" involves not only examining the past, however rich it may be, but also taking up the challenge of analyzing the present and reflecting upon the future. In the first section, diverse approaches (...) -- theological, sociological or historical -- are applied to an in-depth diagnosis of the present. The second part is dedicated to memory: the founding years during the modernist crisis and the major stages in the development of the journal under various directors until today, among them, Henri de Lubac and Joseph Moingt. Finally, this special issue is rounded off by a series of broad perspectives tracing out paths for the future of the disciplines at the heart of theology and religious science today, thus remaining faithful to the journal's original mission of "research in movement". (shrink)

A documentary photographer captures the glory and decay of one of rural America's most elemental icons in this collection of images that encapsulate the dramatic transformations that have overtaken the Iowa countryside. Original.

L’hypothèse largement admise selon laquelle l’ecclésiologie des épîtres pastorales est marquée par l’expérience de l’oikos antique (« ecclésiologie de l’oikos ») est remise en question depuis peu, surtout pour deux raisons : premièrement, la terminologie de l’oikos ne serait déployée qu’en 1 Tm, la thèse selon laquelle les trois épîtres formeraient un corpus épistolaire pseudépigraphique ne résisterait pas à la spécificité de chacune des trois épîtres. Deuxièmement, ce n’est plus l’oikos, mais la polis qui servirait de contexte social aux trois (...) lettres qui se distinguent les unes des autres. Dans ce débat diffus, le présent article souhaite offrir une position plus nuancée. (1) Une analyse linguistique précise du champ lexical de l’oikos confirme son utilisation uniforme et métaphorique dans les trois lettres ; (2) entre-temps, l’Église locale est perçue publiquement comme une entité propre, distincte des synagogues, au sein de la polis ; (3) la référence à la polis de l’ekklèsia n’exclut pas que l’oikos agisse sur la vie de l’ekklèsia, tout comme celle-ci, à l’inverse, stabilise la vie dans l’oikos. Cette contribution propose trois exemples : le rôle des femmes, les représentations de la fonction de responsable d’église et le rapport à l’argent et à la richesse. (shrink)

Le but principal et premier de cette conclusion est de mettre en évidence le lien intrinsèque entre les récits de la « vie de Jésus » et le conflit d’interprétation au sujet du Nazaréen, tel qu’il résulte précisément de ses « actes de puissance » et de leur signification messianique ou non. Le deuxième but est d’expliciter l’analogie entre le conflit d’interprétation, tel qu’il se présente à l’époque néotestamentaire, et la figure qu’il prend aujourd’hui au sein du « forum-Jésus », (...) l’enjeu étant d’en dégager la signification proprement théologique. The objective of this conclusion is first and foremost to highlight the intrinsic link between the narratives of the “life of Jesus” and the conflict of interpretation concerning the Nazarene, which results from his “acts of power” and their messianic significance or lack of significance. The second objective is to make explicit the analogy between the conflict of interpretation, as it is to be found in the neo-testamentary period, and the shape it has taken on today within the “Jesus forum”, the challenge being indeed to bring out the specifically theological significance. (shrink)

Wie kann das Rätsel der Gewalt zwischen den drei Zeugen des einen Gottes, zwischen dem Judentum, dem Christentum und dem Islam gelöst werden? Um zu verstehen, wo die grundsätzlichen Schierigkeiten ihrer Begegnung liegen, geht der Author zunächst ihren subtilen Verwandschaftsbeziehungen nach und stellt die Asymmetrie zwischen ihren Traditionen heraus. Die Grundprinzipien moderner Gesellschaftswesen, die vergleichende Methode der Religionswissenschaften, die Utopie eines allgemeinen Frieden und die Notwendigkeit, Gewaltsituationen zu entschärfen veranlassen die drei Zeugen, ihr Erbe nach ihrem jeweils eigenen Kommunikationsstil zu (...) befragen, wobei sie auf die in allen Kulturen gegebene goldene Regel stoßen: 'Alles, was ihr von den anderen erwartet, das tut auch ihr für sie!' . Diese Regel löst heute einen langwierigen gegenseitigen Lernprozeß aus, der von jedem der drei Monotheismen auf seine Weise gestaltet wird. Der Autor vertritt die Hypothese, daß die Grunddifferenz des Christentums gegenüber dem Judentum und dem Islam, das Geheimnis der Inkarnation und der Trinität, gleichzeitig der Ort ist, an dem sich eine christliche Theologie der Begegnung definieren läßt. (shrink)