Digitalization and the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will bring about substantial changes in all aspects of life. This happens in a world marked by the poisonous synergy of five Ps, polarization, populism, protectionism, post‐truth, patriarchy, as well as an ambiguous interplay of secularization and new visibility of religion.If development of AI is to be beneficial for people and planet a number of challenges must be met. In this regard, religion‐and‐science dialogue needs improvement in making things not only intellectually but (...) also spiritually fit. Ethics should be involved from the beginning rather than being called upon first when problems arise. Faith communities have a prophetical, diaconal, ethical, and theological role.Based on the characterization of life as a fourfold web of relationality, personal, social, political, as well as global issues are identified and discussed. These include mental health disorders, addiction, manipulation, and self‐exploitation. Reflections on leadership suggest resilience, coexistence, and hope as theological key components for navigating the uncharted realms of the digital age. (shrink)

This article is discussing the possibilities of new media technologies in the context of transmitting ancient spiritual traditions in various cultural and religious backgrounds. The use of internet as a means to preserve the orally transmitted knowledge of the Aboriginals and Maoris, and in doing so transferring their cultural heritage to their younger generations and interest groups. Following is an extended case study of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order and its specific compatibility of a traditional orientation towards spiritual work among people (...) rather than monastic seclusion and its recent application of digital media resources. Therefore, new technology is being discussed as a logical extension, not without attention being drawn to possible limitations, however. (shrink)

Discipleship is a responsibility of the Church. It is an outlet in which the regeneration of Church leadership to the younger generation is conducted. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, discipleship and mentoring of youth leaders, especially key persons of GKII (Gereja Kemah Injil Indonesia) youth were provided by means of in-person activities. During the pandemic, digital media has been utilised for various church activities, including mentoring these key persons. Hence, this research intends to explore: (1) the method by which key (...) persons practise digital discipleship and (2) the benefits of digital media in youth discipleship to facilitate faith growth. This research is a qualitative research. Data were collected by means of interviews and observations on several key persons’ digital media accounts. The research shows that social media significantly benefits the discipleship process. It was found that digital discipleship was quite often carried out during the pandemic, especially in urban areas, with WhatsApp and Zoom meetings as its two primary means. However, it slightly declined along with the lifting of social gathering restrictions. The main themes explored in the mentoring sessions were discipleship, soteriology, spiritual life, motivational and digital media materials, and youth ministry in the digital era. The discipleship practice used was the NM-SM (Nurtured, Matured, Served, Mission) pattern.Contribution: The results of this research contribute to the development of knowledge, especially in the field of youth discipleship, and digital media-based discipleship. This research also shows that digital media has become an effective theological space during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. (shrink)

The research is devoted to a discussion of social and humanitarian problems associated with tectonic changes in human life against the backdrop of total digitalization. The author's attention is focused on the uniqueness of the modern situation: never before have innovative technologies had the ability to penetrate so rapidly and deeply into the foundation of modern society, have they become so widespread and accessible to almost all peoples and cultures. At the same time, the undeniable public good and the most (...) serious threats to society that digital reality technologies bring with them are in a very close relationship. This is especially true for artificial intelligence systems. Innovations transform the entire world order, bringing radical changes not only to the material sphere of life, but also to the spiritual and moral state of a person. The research notes that the introduction of information and communication technologies into the life of modern society occurs without reliable support on the results of preliminary experimental research, without taking into account a deep professional and responsible assessment of the social and psychological consequences of their impact on the individual and on society as a whole. As a result, at this stage, society is constantly faced with many negative aspects of the impact of high-tech means. The work examines some of them: a decrease in cognitive and analytical abilities, the devaluation of human labor, the criminalization of cyberspace, the spread of Deepfake technology. Particular attention is paid to the problem associated with the possibility of using information technology as a tool of psychological influence. Information and psychological warfare is implemented on the basis of social networks and artificial intelligence technologies, which provides the enemy with the opportunity to achieve superiority without the use of military force. Information and humanitarian actions in cyberspace, carried out by Western countries in order to destabilize our society, destroy its value foundations, reformat the consciousness, worldview and spiritual and moral qualities of citizens, are becoming increasingly large-scale and aggressive. The work notes that digitalization is gaining momentum, plunging society deeper into new circumstances and requiring decisive action aimed at overcoming the many threats specific to the modern high-tech era. (shrink)

Excerpt from Spiritual Experiences: Including Seven Months With the Brothers Davenport About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our (...) edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

It is a reality experienced by almost everyone that digitalization completely encompasses life with its positive and negative aspects. This makes it necessary to examine digitalization in the field of religion, especially in religious education and religious services. Thus, in this paper, it is aimed to examine the idea of transferring religious services to digital platforms and what can be done in this regard through the example of Germany. Germany is a country that follows the developments in the field (...) of digitalization closely, and carries out important studies in this direction. In this study, in which the qualitative research method was adopted, the document review method was preferred and the German Protestant Church was chosen as the sample. Official website of the Church and the links on the website were taken as documents which were analyzed with descriptive analysis. As a result of the study, it has been determined that the Protestant Church of Germany uses many tools of new media in its digital religious services. These tools were classified and examined under eight headings: Web sites, social media platforms, digital communication platforms, YouTube channels, smartphone applications, podcasts, audiobooks and virtual trips. The Church offers 12 types of religious services on these platforms, and the two most intense services are in the categories of “Prayer services” and “Bible readings/sections from the Bible”. Although the two most intensive services offered by the Church are within the scope of traditional religious services, its services appeal to many segments of the society with wide variety of topics in different program formats such as culture, art and music, chat/conversation, social/cultural/actual contents. One of the most striking aspects of the Church’s digital religious services is the effort to gain especially the younger generation through digital areas they socialize with. In addition, the effort to support people psychologically and spiritually with prayer services and the holy text is another notable aspect. At the end of the study, it is made an overall evaluation of the services of the Presidency of Religious Affairs and gave general suggestions to improve the services. (shrink)

The spiritual crisis of the twenty-first century is overload boredom. There is more information, content, and stimulation than ever before, and none of it is waiting passively to be consumed. The demands exceed our capacities. The Spiritual Significance of Overload Boredom makes the case that withdrawal and resistance are not our only options: we can choose kēdia, an ethic of care. Rather than conceiving the world of information as external, Sharday Mosurinjohn turns to the sensational and emotional, focusing on the (...) ways the digital age has radically reconfigured our interior lives. Using an innovative method of affective aesthetic speculation, Mosurinjohn engages the world of art, literature, and comedy for a series of unexpected case studies that make strange otherwise familiar scenes of overload boredom: texting, browsing social media, and performing information work. Ultimately, she shows that the opposite of boredom is not interest but meaning, and that we can only make it by curating the overload. The Spiritual Significance of Overload Boredom is a bold and original intervention for the present condition, unsettling the framing of existing work around technological modernity and its discontents. (shrink)

I have been reading Nursing Philosophy since its inception in 2000. Indeed, the journal has played an important role in the development of my thinking—from a doctoral student in philosophy to the pres‐ent day. The invitation to write an article commentary as an editorial board member presented an opportunity to look over previous issues (including well‐worn paper copies from the years before it became a digital‐only publication), a task I have relished over the first months of 2019. Despite my (...) long relationship with the journal, selecting a focus for my commentary was not difficult; two articles on spiritual‐ity in nursing, by John Paley (2008a) and Barb Pesut (2008a), respec‐tively, are touchstones to which I have returned many times in the 11 years since their publication. In this commentary, I present a brief summary of the articles followed by a reflection on their value for nurses and philosophers of nursing. (shrink)

PurposeHappiness has been the most important goal for humans throughout history and is a significant issue among university lecturers facing a rapid digital technology change. It is usually described as a well-being state, feeling satisfied and contented, consisting of positive happenings in an individual’s life concerning the social, spiritual, economic, psychological, and physiological spheres. This research examines the relationship between happiness, attitudes toward technology, and lecturers’ job performance in higher education.Design and MethodologyThis research design was a cross-sectional design that (...) asked the respondents from lecturers of Institut Teknologi Bandung, one of the best universities with technology-based education in Indonesia, to complete a group of well-validated questionnaires. The questionnaires mentioned earlier include the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and three other newly constructed questionnaires, made to measure attitude toward digital technology, job satisfaction, and job performance.FindingsThis research confirmed that happiness fully mediated the relationship between attitude toward digital technology and job performance. Additionally, this research also confirmed that happiness partially mediated the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. These results implied that a positive attitude toward digital technology and higher job satisfaction would lead to happier lecturers who increase their job performance.OriginalityThis study suggests that a positive attitude toward technology has a higher impact than job satisfaction as determinant factors of happiness and its association with lecturers’ job performance such as universities, especially Institut Teknologi Bandung as a technologically advanced workplace environment. Additionally, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire framework, frequently used in studies of other countries, is now being used in the context of an Indonesian case study, precisely to measure happiness among lecturers in Indonesian higher education. (shrink)

In this paper I propose a cognitive interpretation of the emergence of monotheism. I first distinguish between two fundamentally different conceptions of representation: one intuitive, which favors an analog model of rational cognition, and one discursive, which favors a digital model. While both Hellenism and Judaism may have been instrumental in setting civilization on the path to reason and law, it is the discursive or digital conception of God as a single universal Judge, I argue, that provides the (...) foundational axiom of the moral logic of the Hebrew Scriptures. That is, in monotheism, God came to be represented differently. (shrink)

In this technology-driven Digital Age, Management Education is primarily engaged in development of skills and techno-economic competence of students with dominant thrust on sharpening their rational faculties and quantitative ability. Deeper questions and nobler qualittative issues like Spirituality, Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics are naturally assigned low priority in the rush for money, career, fame, power and position both at the individual and organizational levels. The present paper engages in a Qualitative Research by conducting Focus group Interviews among Participants (...) at the Undergraduate level who had taken up Management Education. After content analysis of the responses the authors highlight their observations on the existing gaps in prevailing management education leading to failure of the present system in charging the students with a deeper Meaning of Work and a higher Purpose of Life. The paper then delves into exploration in pertinent tenets of Classical Indian Wisdom to enrich the spectrum of Management education with insights on Humanistic Philosophy, Holistic Learning, Enlightened CSR and Ethics, and Inspirational Leadership towards creating a better and more humane future for modern organizations. (shrink)

Human civilization is moving into the digital age. Many believe that total digitalization is bringing humanity closer to the dream age of general wellbeing and happiness. However, although there is a real revolution in the knowledge and mastering of the world, the tension and conflicts within human society do not stop, and people do not feel happier. This determines the aim and the tasks of the research, which are based on the analysis of deep contradictions and conflicts existing in (...) modern society, including military conflicts, to find out the factor of consciousness in their emergence and development, as well as the role and significance of information and communication technologies in formation of positive or negative trends. The research methodology has a complex nature and is based on a philosophical and cultural analysis of the problems of the influence of digitalization on the formation of the consciousness of our contemporary, which leads to constructive or destructive directions of the development of society. To solve the specific tasks of the research, the principles of historicism, systematicity, objectivity, the connection of the historical and the logical were also used.Research results: The reasons for deep contradictions tearing modern societylie, first of all, in the material sphere. However, the possibilities of the extensive path are practically exhausted today, it is necessary to go in the direction of improving the mental sphere, to look for new ideas that could help to find new opportunities for the further development of human civilization. However, this is where one of the main conflicts of our time arises, namely: the human consciousness, which is intended for the production of constructive ideas and solutions, is often directed in the exact opposite direction, towards destruction and violence. The search for reasons and discussions on this matter have not stopped for many decades and are becoming increasingly acute.Discussion. The most contradictory human consciousness manifests itselfin the conditions of war. One of the main causes of wars and military conflicts is the deformation of people’s consciousness, the mental sphere at the local and global levels. Modern information and communication technologies create great opportunities to shape human consciousness with given properties, to direct it in one direction or another. Modern highly developed societies, where democracy reigns and the Global Network plays a huge role, seem to be the territory of freedom and pluralism. However, precisely thanks to digital technologies, the satisfaction of spiritual needs has turned into a kind of mass production, when tastes are lowered below the lowest level, and worthy things are replaced by informational surrogates.Conclusions. In order to be able to distinguish a high-quality informationproduct from a fake, veiled or outright lie, a fairly high level of intellectualdevelopment of the individual is required. It is necessary to form an own information environment, where priorities will be clearly defined, as well as curtains and mental filters will be installed, which do not allow the penetration and accumulation of unnecessary and harmful information. The triumph of man in the modern information and digital age lies in the fact that we have reached the level of a society of mass information consumption. But the tragedy is that people were not ready for such a rapid turn in the development of our civilization. There is a real risk of losing one’s humanity, turning not into spiritual beings, but into something similar to machines, homo technologicus, for whom not only higher spiritual needs disappear, but also the value of life in general. In order to avoid a negative scenario, it is necessary to seriously revise the attitude to information, to make information hygiene at all levels the norm of our life. (shrink)

Is Paul's vision of life in the Spirit still relevant for the digital age, or was it an experience of Jesus’ power unique to Paul and his ministry? A critical analysis of the spirituality that Paul practiced will help answer this question. A brief introduction to the true nature of “spirituality” is followed by an examination of the routine spiritual practices Paul engaged in that fostered the power of the Spirit in his life and ministry. This article concludes with (...) a reassessment of the relationship between experience and praxis in an authentic Pauline spirituality. (shrink)

The article examines the situation of the presence of virtual voices in modern reality. The voices of virtual assistants model a new relationship between voice and face, with anonymity and depersonalization being a priority. The closeness of the face from the voice peculiar to virtual assistants, the detachment of the voice from the facial "accompaniment", the fundamental possibility of the existence of a voice without a face — all this gives the voice as an anthropological and cultural phenomenon of modernity (...) fundamentally new parameters. Digital "logic" implies a departure from the human logos, which can be clearly seen in the example of the problem of "gender" of artificial assistants. Special attention is paid to the problem of correlation of voice and artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence as an organizational form of cognition acquires a voice, merges with a voice, becomes a voice. The universal scale of the claims of virtual voices requires theological reflection, because the religious experience of "working" with voices, represented in a wide range of world religions, is able to offer a unique interpretation of the role of the voice in modern times. Internet voices can be called into the liturgical space, where they will be asked to sound in new registers and keys. Digital religion appears as a new liturgical reality, a new common cause. It is significant that the non-spiritual technogenic environment can only offer emptiness — the emptiness of digital dehumanization. Digital-humanitarian unity can be built on the adoption of a spiritual foundation, based on the conclusion of a "pact" on cooperation between the spiritual experience of mankind and cyber-information perspectives. (shrink)

In 1996, the number of religious communities, united in about 70 denominations and religious areas, continued to grow and at the beginning of 1997 reached 18482. Their property or There are 11897 religious buildings. There are currently 172 monasteries in obedience to 3892 monks and nuns, 26 brotherhoods, 104 missions, 68 religious schools, 5032 Sunday schools and catechesis centers, 122 spiritual p periodicals, many of which, unfortunately, for one reason or another, only come out a few numbers a year. The (...) religious needs of believers are satisfied with 16,429 priests, of whom 507 are foreigners, and we will consider these data in a confessional way. (shrink)

This study aims to explore a demoethical model for sustainable development in modern society. It proposes an approach that focuses on organizing activities to improve sustainable development. Specifically, it presents a demoethical model relevant to Society 5.0 and Industry 5.0 organizations. The objective is to identify demoethical values that can drive sustainable development in the era of digitalization. Through a literature review and analysis, this study identifies key components of the demoethical model and provides practical recommendations for stakeholders involved in (...) digital transformation. The analysis of demoethical norms and phenomena, such as education, nurturing, mind, knowledge, science, and honest work, has enabled the identification of values that align with sustainable development in society. The results of the study demonstrate that the notion of a demoethical foundation for sustainability is rooted in the concept of spirituality as the basis for a new societal development scenario and its relationship with nature. The study shows that ideas about the demoethical basis of sustainability are based on the priority of spirituality as the basis of a new scenario for the development of society, as well as the integration of demographic, socio-economical, and ecological components in system-wide modeling. (shrink)

This edited volume is designed to explore different perspectives of culture, identity and social development using the impact of the digital age as a common thread, aiming at interdisciplinary audiences. Cases of communities and individuals using new technology as a tool to preserve and explore their cultural heritage alongside new media as a source for social orientation ranging from language acquisition to health-related issues will be covered. Therefore, aspects such as Art and Cultural Studies, Media and Communication, Behavioral Science, (...) Psychology, Philosophy and innovative approaches used by creative individuals are included. From the Aboriginal tribes of Australia, to the Maoris of New Zealand, to the mystical teachings of Sufi brotherhoods, the significance of the oral and written traditions and their current relation to online activities shall be discussed in the opening article. The book continues with a closer look at obesity awareness support groups and their impact on social media, Facebook usage in language learning context, smartphone addiction and internet dependency, as well as online media reporting of controversial ethical issues. The Digital progress has already left its dominating mark as the world entered the 21st century. Without a doubt, as technology continues its ascent, society will be faced with new and altering values in an effort to catch-up with this extraordinary Digitization, adapt satisfactorily in order to utilize these strong developments in everyday life. (shrink)

To what extent is the contemporary world still aware of the risks of excessive technologicalization? Does the warning of the ancient Greeks who announced, through the Promethean and age myth, the danger of detachment from sacredness and the fatality of man's damnation to his own annihilation under the mirage of unbridled exploitation of nature still reach us? Is it still possible to re-evaluate the progress of modern man, in his negative, destructive aspects? Are not we currently witnessing, in the age (...) of digital communication, the distancing of the human being from his own existential-spiritual foundations by assuming a model of machinal Super-man, technical in the operations of the mind but also of affectivity? Perhaps a reconsideration of the ontological and gnoseological position of modern man, anchored in the age of high-tech constructions and digital communications, could be inaugurated starting from the reinterpretation of the mythical-symbolic warnings of ancient meditation. (shrink)

What happens when our digital sacred spaces become violent and incite trauma or trigger reminders of traumatic experiences? This project will delve into these questions as we begin to think about trauma in digital spaces for the Lesbian-Feminist. For example, we scroll through Facebook and see that an uncle has posted a homophobic article. The logical response to this, the response that our spiritual selves tell us to follow through on, is to delete this person from our Facebook (...) friends. Clicking the delete button is a virtual action, yet a very real and physical manifestation of losing family and friends because of their homophobia or sexism. In digital sacred spaces in particular, there is a tension between self-preservation and engaging so as to educate and bring about understanding. If we cannot even occupy the same digital spaces, how can we ever grow to occupy the same physical spaces? (shrink)

The inner ecology: Buddhist ethics and practice -- A Buddhist perspective on animal rights -- Pollution and the environment: some radically new ancient views -- Animals for dinner: a Karmic tale -- Our relationship with nature: a Buddhist exploration -- Environmental issues: a Buddhist perspective -- Human spiritual potential and the environmental crisi -- The need for ethical guidelines to protect us from the very real dangers of a technological world -- Looking at hi-tech through the lens of the five (...) moral precepts -- Science and Buddhism: a critical comparison -- Genetic engineering: a Buddhist assessment -- Redesigning the world: ethical questions about genetic engineering -- Some ethical challenges posed by the Internet and digital social media: a Buddhist perspective -- Where are we going - digitally? (shrink)

Human services planning for crews who go to Mars is in its earliest phase, but the modalities for service delivery are well worth anticipating because they could involve some of the first innovations that merge physical, biological, and digital capacities on the new planet. This chapter examines the constraints of the planet Mars, itself, on all humans. It anticipates how “exogenous stressors” might affect the psychological, social, and cultural capacities and conflicts of the earliest crews. Several types of service (...) modalities are explored: hibernation; medication management; traditional psychotherapy; long-distance modalities to approximate the “talking cure”; digitized, keyed psychology workbooks; robotics, or service delivery without verbal feedback; AI technologies, or service delivery with verbal feedback; problem-solving at the cultural level; digital bulletin boards to substitute for journaling; and a special section on the issue of privacy. The chapter rounds out with a section, on types of spiritual services that may be beneficial even for those who profess no faith. We focus on “sacred space,” and on death and burial ritual on Mars. Factors explored here reflect the backgrounds of the two authors: one, a cultural anthropologist and biologist, and the other, an astronomer who is also a Catholic priest. (shrink)

Excerpt from The Religion of the Future, or Outlines of Spiritual Philosophy 1. A new and glorious science of man, of his origin and destiny, has been developed within the last few decades. A new philosophy has been evolved of human life here and hereafter, based upon demonstrated facts and data accessible to all. Stupendous as the science of objective nature has become, it is as the mere shadow thrown upon the canvas of time and matter by the radiant light (...) of immortal spirit. Modern agnosticism had set up a way-mark on the road of human progression, inscribed: "No thoroughfare!" "Unknowable!" The truths most indispensable for man to know, the destiny of man and the immortality of the soul, were declared absolute mysteries. What ought to have merely been designated as unknown was declared to be unknowable. This way-mark has to be removed. It is now seen that the doctrine of the Relativity of Knowledge, as formulated by the Kantian school of modem philosophical thought, misled men into too hasty generalizations and unwarrantable conclusions. It needed only the right method to find the way out; it required only the right key to open wondrous realms to the astonished gaze. Again the supremacy of mind is restored; the saying is verified that "there is nothing on earth great but man, and in man there is nothing great but mind." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

With the expansion of consciousness comes new ways of seeing reality. The hypercontextual pretexts, contexts and subtexts created by the new technologies of virtual, immersive and cyber realities create boundaryless experiences that are analogous to the archaic techniques evolved through shamanic journeys designed to transcend all human boundaries. The magico-spiritual imagination, far from disappearing in our supposedly secular age, continues to feed the utopian dreams, apocalyptic visions, digital phantasms, and alien obsessions that populate today’s ‘technological unconscious’. The language and (...) ideas of the information society have slipped into and even transformed the myriad worlds of contemporary spirituality. What is emerging is a networked framework for grappling with some of the impulses that are currently tearing us apart: spirit and the machine, modernity and nihilism, technology and the human. ‘We find ourselves trapped on a cyborg sandbank, caught between the old, smouldering campfire stories and the new networks of programming and control’ (Davis 1998: 131). We are ‘beached’ between the archaic sea of our magico-spiritual ancestors, freshly emerged from our proto-modern past, and spawned into the postmodern reality of fragmented selves, networked options, downloadable digitized consumerware and ‘technologies of ecstacy’. (shrink)

This thesis attempts to address the philosophical implications of the N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) research of Dr. Rick Strassman. Strassman concludes that the psychedelic properties of DMT represent a proper biological starting point for discussing spiritual and near-death experiences. My research attempts to incorporate philosophical elements from the philosophy of mind and philosophy of religion/mysticism to give an accurate account of some of the philosophical issues worth exploring for future research. One of the essential patterns in this thesis is to trace (...) the research and conclusions of Strassman, compare them with the philosophical issues in the contemporary philosophy of mind and to address the problems of spiritual qualia and mystical experience. Part of the issue stems from understanding a theoneurological (brain mediated prophetic/spiritual communication) account for spiritual experiences within the framework of naturalism/supernaturalism philosophy. Here, I decipher the problems of qualitative distinctions amongst spiritual and nonspiritual experiences and how consciousness plays an essential role in this process. (shrink)

There is unquestionably a plethora of details and mysteries regarding the mind and the body. However, with the advent of psychopharmacology (the study of how psychedelics inform or alter brain states) there are more issues at hand. Do psychedelics allow us to access deeper areas of our consciousness? Are we having a spiritual experience under the influence of psychedelics? Dr. Rick Strassman does not want to continue asking these rather conspiratorial-like questions. Instead, Dr. Strassman believes that there is one special, (...) endogenous psychedelic, synthesized within the human physiological framework: N, N-Dymthethyltryptamine. Dr. Strassman concludes that this chemical is produced within and around the pineal gland, and is often the catalyst for spiritual and religious experiences. I will explore this topic further under the framework of discovering whether a naturalistic type explanation of spiritual experiences accounts for all types of spiritual experiences and whether one may be rational or justified in believing in God if a naturalist could explain spiritual experiences. (shrink)

RESUMEN El presente artículo pretende ofrecer un breve recorrido por algunos aspectos del pensamiento filosófico y teológico de Abraham Heschel, un rabino polaco del siglo XX, conocido por ser asesor y maestro espiritual de Luther King. El texto inicia presentando algunos aspectos biográficos y contextuales de la vida de Heschel. Luego de ello se aluden las pautas centrales de su crítica a la religión, resaltando la intención auténtica de la misma y mostrando los peligros de separarla de la razón. Se (...) denuncia la simulación de Dios en las religiones y el daño social que estas ocasionan cuando no favorecen la autocrítica y eluden su colaboración en el desarrollo social. ABSTRACT This article aims to provide a brief summary of some aspects of the philosophical and theological thought of Abraham Heschel, a Polish rabbi of the 20th century, known for being an advisor and spiritual teacher to Luther King. The text begins with some biographical and contextual aspects of Heschel's life. After that, the central guidelines of Heschel's critique of religion are alluded to, highlighting the authentic intention of religion and showing the dangers of separating it from reason. The simulation of God in religions and the social damage that these cause when they do not favor self-criticism and avoid their collaboration in social development are denounced. (shrink)

This thesis, which is based on six peer-reviewed publications, is a theoretical and qualitative treatment of the ways in which social and contextual factors serve as a resource for understanding the particularities of ‘cybercrime’ that emanates from Nigeria. The thesis illuminates how closer attention to Nigerian society aids the understanding of Nigerian cybercriminals (known as Yahoo Boys), their actions and what constitutes ‘cybercrime’ in a Nigerian context. ‘Cybercrime’ is used in everyday parlance as a simple acronym for all forms of (...) crimes on the internet, whereas ‘cybercrime’ in a Nigerian context is rooted in socioeconomics and determined by it. In particular, the defrauding of victims for monetary benefit is the most significant theme that emerged from the analysis of Yahoo Boys. While all six publications are situated at the intersections of multiple fields of study, they all share a common endorsement of the constructionist/interpretivist position. The six published works comprise: [a] three conceptual publications; and [b] three empirical publications. The conceptual publications deconstruct the meanings of multiple taken-for-granted concepts in cybercrime scholarship and develop more robust conceptual lenses, namely: (1) ‘Digital Spiritualization’; (2) ‘The Tripartite Cybercrime Framework – TCF’; and (3) ‘The Synergy between Feminist Criminology and the TCF’. These new conceptual lenses represent the candidate’s contribution to developing theory in the field. Alongside this, the empirical section includes three sets of qualitative data, which include: (1) interviews with seventeen Nigerian parents; (2) lyrics from eighteen Nigerian musicians; and (3) interviews with forty Nigerian law enforcement officers. These diverse sources of qualitative data provide a more fully-developed understanding of ‘cybercrime’ in the Nigerian context (and elsewhere). All six-published works, while individually contributing to knowledge, collectively shed clearer light on the centrality of cultural context in the explanation of ‘cybercrime’. (shrink)

This article highlights the contemporary relevance of Macmurray’s work for the turn in philosophy of religion towards living religion. The traditional academic focus on belief analyses cognitive dissonance from a distance, and misses the experience of being religious. Alternatively, in an astute move ahead of his time, Macmurray emphasized emotion and action over theory and cognition; he examined religion as the creation and sustenance of community, over and above doctrinal division and incompatible beliefs. From an understanding of humans as embodied (...) and relational, Macmurray critiques individualism and self-sacrifice for failing to result in othercentred action and the promotion of social justice and equality. Using Macmurray as a springboard, this article considers the new speech acts of digital media and the possibility of community in online religion, finding that the virtual world holds both the risk of threats of violence and hate, as well as advantages for women and other marginalized groups to have a voice and explore diverse religious practices and identities, including reimagining metaphors and symbols to have relevance and meaning in changed social circumstances. In conclusion, this article finds that online communities are significant for the spiritual practice of the religiously affiliated and religious ‘nones’, as such, online religion is relevant to the understanding of living religion aimed at in philosophy. (shrink)

The spiritual torsion and material complexity so characteristic of Baroque aesthetics is something that extends to (or perhaps, better, issues from) the intension of the term itself. This much is evident in the sense that, since the twentieth century, various projects have proposed such notions as a medical-baroque, a postcolonial-baroque, and a digital-baroque. Beyond any given object of analysis, then, in this way the Baroque adduces the concepts by which any inquiry into objects might take place. As such, the (...) Baroque can be said to be that which signals the ongoing relation of thought to the world, of ‘the inside’ to ‘the outside’ (while at the same time problematising the priority of either side over the other). Indeed, following certain post-Kantian readings of Leibnizian philosophy, the Baroque is to be regarded not so much as something to be understood but rather as a frenzied development of the understanding itself. (shrink)

The Digital Revolution is transforming the way in which we interact with one another and relate to experience. The superabundance and superfluity of the virtual world, the fleeting moment and instantaneous pleasure it provides, begin to prevail as a cultural value and determine an attitude of detachment and indifference that extends to all aspects of our life. For Søren Kierkegaard this is a “demoniacal temptation” that leads to a life devoid of spiritual depth. In the midst of the undeniable (...) bounties of technology, reflection on this paradoxical nature of the technological in our lives becomes an urgent task. (shrink)

By the year 2000, the management of education in England had lost much of its capacity to ensure the commitment of headteachers and teachers. As market forces engendered competition among schools, the bureaucratic monitoring of schools by agencies of government increased on the grounds that objective and comparable data about schools should be made public so that parents could express a rational choice of school. Levels of stress increased; workloads intensified. Thereafter, a series of ‘softer’ approaches emerged in order to (...) deal with this. They have coalesced around the concept of ‘leadership’, particularly distributed leadership and, more recently, emotional leadership and spiritual leadership. Distributed leadership draws on socio-cultural activity theory; emotional leadership is informed by positive psychology; spiritual leadership by eastern mysticism. Each has its advocates and its critics. At issue, however, is not so much their relative effectiveness but rather it is to relate them to the economic, cultural and political trends which have allowed them to emerge. These ‘soft’ normative leadership approaches have not supplanted a digitally-informed rational bureaucratic form in education; they are supplementing it. The theoretical stance taken falls within the field of critical theory. (shrink)

In Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials , Wendy Kaminer argues that we are a society intoxicated by the irrational: religion, spirituality, and popular therapies threaten to replace rational thought with supernaturalism and impassioned but unexamined personal testimony. Ranging from our fascination with angels, aliens, and near- death experiences to the rise of junk science, the recovery movement, and the digital culture, Kaminer points out the amusing and ominous effects of our deference to spiritual authorities and resistance to critical thinking. She questions (...) conventional wisdom about the association of religious belief with virtue, identifying the sectarianism of efforts to establish religion in the public square. With both wit and empathy, Kaminer takes on what many people hold sacred. Kaminer is an eloquent and incisive critic and rationalist living in a superstitious, evangelical age. In Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials she challenges us to exercise skepticism, reason, and irreverence and to appreciate the pleasures of free inquiry. (shrink)

As the post-digital organic landscape evolves through the rapid hybridization of ­practices, from genetic engineering to the creative use of nano technologies and syncretic approaches that are made easier by an always growing number of ­planetary connected telematic networks, and as we face, as a species, increasing environmental problems that more and more people and organizations plan to fix through geoengineering and terraforming solutions, the divide between the engineered and the organic tends to blur… At the same time various (...) contemporary intellectual trends and path of research in philosophy, anthropology, or even archeology and geology lead to reconsider the place of human in the Universe, the anthropocentred perspective or even the concept of Nature itself. Be it through concepts as diverse as Next nature, Anthropocene, Spaceship Earth, the Laboratory Planet or symmetrical archeology. Through the democratization of access to various tools like 3D printers, bio experiment kits or free software communities, the number of transdisciplinary experiments and research projects is growing, which by feedback is accelerating the processes of merging between disciplines. Those different factors are accelerating the hybridization of disciplines and intellectual trends the same way the re-engineering of nature from the nano to the geno level are blending the border between natural and artificial. How are those technoetic approaches and their interconnection a game changer of the geo-eco-nano-politico-philosophico-spiritual landscape on Earth in the twenty-first century? I will discuss these questions in this article while showing the differences and similarities between some of the main philosophical concepts that are currently applied to those questions. By recontextualizing those various philosophical approaches maybe we can draw a map of the future evolutions and mutations that will influence learning, research and creativity in the coming years and decades. (shrink)

Excerpt from The Harmonial Philosophy: A Compendium and Digest of the Works of Andrew Jackson Davis, the Seer of Poughkeepsie His Natural and Divine Revelations, Great Harmonia, Spiritual Inter course, Answers to ever-recurring Questions, Inner Life, Summer. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing (...) imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

This article is a theoretical treatment of the ways in which local worldviews on wealth acquisition give rise to contemporary manifestations of spirituality in cyberspace. It unpacks spiritual (occult) economies and wealth generation through a historical perspective. The article ‘devil advocates’ the ‘sainthood’ of claimed law-abiding citizens, by highlighting that the line dividing them and the Nigerian cybercriminals (Yahoo-Boys) is blurred with regards to the use of magical means for material ends. By doing so, the article also illustrates that the (...) intersectionality of the spirit world and the acquisition of wealth (crime or otherwise) is connected with local epistemologies and worldviews, and its contemporaneity has social security benefits. Therefore, the view that the contemporary manifestations of spirituality in cyberspace signify a ‘new-danger’ and an ever-increasing outrage in the Nigerian society is misplaced. I conclude that if people believe all aspects of life are reflective of the spiritual world and determined by it, the spiritual realm, by implication, is the base of society, upon which sits the superstructure comprised of all aspects of life, especially wealth. Inferentially, this conceptual position that the spirit world is the base of society is an inversion of Orthodox Marxist’s theory of economic determinism. (shrink)

Machine-generated contents note: Unlearn me, please! (a commissioned poem by Lucy Jarasius) -- Art-making -- Arts, Artists and Art-making -- Art-making as a Way of Knowing -- Identification of Art-making as a Way of Knowing -- FP-I and Art-making as a Way of Knowing -- A Participatory Link: Presentational Knowing -- Art-making and Spirituality -- Raranga (Maori Weaving) -- Graphic and Digital Design -- Dance-making -- Art-making and Spirituality in my Study -- Art-making and Creative Process -- An Interwoven (...) Way of Knowing -- Training and Practice in Art-making -- Examples of Art-Making --Dance -- Choreographed performance -- Improvisation -- Dance-making Preparation -- Performance and Audience -- Creative Processes -- Changing Attitudes -- Changes from One Performance to Another -- Dance-making in My Study -- Raranga (Maori Weaving) -- Dance-making and Raranga as Ways of Knowing -- Examples of Other Art-making Areas -- Acting -- Fiction-writing -- Graphic and Digital Design -- Music-making -- Photography -- Poetry -- Poetry as a Way of Knowing: Lucy's Experience (Lucy Jarasius 2015) -- Dance and Poetry as Ways of Knowing: My Experience.Machine-generated contents note: Unlearn me, please! (a commissioned poem by Lucy Jarasius) -- Art-making -- Arts, Artists and Art-making -- Art-making as a Way of Knowing -- Identification of Art-making as a Way of Knowing -- FP-I and Art-making as a Way of Knowing -- A Participatory Link: Presentational Knowing -- Art-making and Spirituality -- Raranga (Maori Weaving) -- Graphic and Digital Design -- Dance-making -- Art-making and Spirituality in my Study -- Art-making and Creative Process -- An Interwoven Way of Knowing -- Training and Practice in Art-making -- Examples of Art-Making --Dance -- Choreographed performance -- Improvisation -- Dance-making Preparation -- Performance and Audience -- Creative Processes -- Changing Attitudes -- Changes from One Performance to Another -- Dance-making in My Study -- Raranga (Maori Weaving) -- Dance-making and Raranga as Ways of Knowing -- Examples of Other Art-making Areas -- Acting -- Fiction-writing -- Graphic and Digital Design -- Music-making -- Photography -- Poetry -- Poetry as a Way of Knowing: Lucy's Experience (Lucy Jarasius 2015) -- Dance and Poetry as Ways of Knowing: My Experience. (shrink)

Introduction. The development of legal culture and a culture of human rights in the modern world through media technologies, is acquiring special significance in connection with the processes of globalization and the spread of media in recent decades. The purpose of the article is to study the prospects for the use of media education in the formation of the legal social culture and a culture of human rights. Materials and methods. Based on a study of domestic and foreign sources, issues (...) of media education, media literacy, spiritual and moral education, the legal culture of society, the phenomenon of post-truth and ways of forming critical, creative thinking are considered. The use of general scientific, philosophical, and socio-pedagogical methods has made it possible to study media education as a dialogue of learning, stimulating the development of rational, critical thinking, focused on the search for the value foundations of intellectual and social activity. Results. The development of the field of information and communication technologies determines the principles for the formation of the content and orientation of modern education. Media education is interlinked with the development of democracy and human rights. It influences the formation of a culture of citizen participation, their active social position, civic and political culture. Media education plays a significant role in shaping the legal culture of society since critical media research and information research focuses on the analysis of power structures and structures of dominance in the media. A study of the interpretations of the concepts of "media education" and "media literacy" made it possible to show that media education focuses a person on a critical approach to media content. One of the main issues of media education is teaching a person the skills to critically study media and media technologies, which involves addressing the technological, cultural and historical specifics of specific media used at a specific time and place. Information and communication technologies have changed the way of life, work, communication, and ways of selfpresentation, the formation of values, participation in socially significant events. Therefore, a critical approach to mass media should be based on knowledge of socio-philosophical theories, ethics and research in the field of mass media. Discussion. Mass media are constructing a history of human rights, which updates the topic of the media policy of human rights, combining socio-legal, cultural and media theories. Education in the field of acquiring information perception skills, the ability to correctly understand the importance of audiovisual images, to competently handle and navigate information flows are necessary for the life of a modern person in society. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:History of Philosophy and the Reflective Society by Riccardo PozzoRobert R. ClewisPOZZO, Riccardo. History of Philosophy and the Reflective Society. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2021. vi + 231 pp. Cloth, $94.99In a forward-looking proposal, Pozzo lays out his vision for a multidisciplinary history of philosophy "from a global perspective." This book is "a long position paper, an extended essay dedicated to twenty-first century policies of philosophical research from (...) a global perspective." The chosen format is a Denkschrift, that is, a memorandum in the sense of a document that experts lay out for their government to ponder. Perhaps, Pozzo suggests, the history of philosophy could even have an impact on economic authorities and policymakers. Indeed, the work seems driven by the laudable aim of promoting access and equality around the world. The author reveals a just concern for migrants in particular, since they bring [End Page 156] with them their intellectual traditions and philosophical texts, which can be translated and thereby foster intercultural dialogue.The book consists of an introduction (chapter 1) followed by nine chapters. It has a thirty-page references list as well as subject and name indexes. In part one, Pozzo argues for the need for new narratives in the history of philosophy (chapter 2), in order to establish its role in addressing migration (chapter 3). The second part concerns reflective society (chapter 4). It considers societal readiness (chapter 5) and cultural innovation (chapter 6). Part three explores the paradigm shift from a close reading of texts to a "distant" reading of corpora (chapter 7), a shift Pozzo endorses. It examines implications for the translation of languages (chapter 8) and the translation of studies (knowledge) and competencies (chapter 9). Chapter 10 concludes by briefly reflecting on the notions of the "fluidity" of peoples and their ideas, biodiversity (and food), and spiritual humanism based on dignity.Scholars in the history of philosophy "should be open to the idea of a pluriversum of a history of facts and places, whereby history of philosophy finds its grounding in spatial heterogeneity." Nowadays, when people migrate and transfer competencies at increasing velocity, the "history of philosophy can be usefully reinvented on the basis of its consideration of intercultural dialogue." Pozzo considers the World Digital Library to be "one of the most exciting examples of corpora that talk to each other"—an idea he uses not merely metaphorically. By "corpora" is meant not just the sum of separate books, but XML-accessible complete collections of traditions of texts, with corresponding dictionaries, thesauri, and reference works, which make it possible to analyze a number of original texts as well as transliterations into other alphabets or hanzi characters. The result would be a "data-driven" history of philosophy.Given that history of philosophy is a product of culture, it is influenced by migrating peoples, who bring philosophical ideas and religious traditions with them. Research on migration thus ought to also consider translations of texts and competencies from one to another context, be it linguistic, economic, political, or cultural. The humanities, and a reflective society more generally, might provide a partial basis for intercultural dialogue. The history of philosophy might even thereby improve the quality of life of citizens.Pozzo rightly emphasizes that we need multilingual philosophers and historians of philosophy. History of philosophy ought to also be based on robust lexical and historical considerations, and historians of philosophy should be trained in a number of the world's languages as well as face the challenge of dealing with multilingualism and with validating translations. Pozzo's proposed methodology, informed by computational techniques, relies on tools such as vocabularies, ontologies, concordances, frequencies, or the analysis of texts and corpora, which integrates quantitative and formal methods into the portfolio of the methods of history of philosophy and intellectual history. Since Pozzo has published [End Page 157] widely on Kant, it is fitting that he explores Kant on migration as well as the editorial contexts and translation projects concerning the philosopher's writings.As for aesthetics, Pozzo notes that the history of philosophy can reflect on migrants' cultural and artistic creations. Historians of philosophy should thus start observing and interpreting phenomena created by... (shrink)

The author first used the neologisms mediot and mediotism in a series of 1973 essays. Both anagrams of “media idiot”, they base on the Greek idiotes in its meaning of “non-specialist” or “ignorant” rather than mentally backward. The terms basically refer to recipients of printed, electronic and digital media-press readers, TV viewers, radio listeners and internauts. Mediots uncritically accept all the media say, will-lessly allowing them to mould their minds and souls like plasticine. As if hypnotized, they readily submit (...) to every fashion, stereotype or snobbery the media propagate.Mediotism is a limitation and sign of contemporary humanity’s spiritual and intellectual weakness. At the same time, it constitutes an enormous challenge. Mediotism symptoms are easy to spot—they appear in all social classes and professions and on all education levels; its closest relatives are functional illiteracy and Erich Fromm’s “consumer idiot”.It is worth noting that mediotism and mediot have become commonly used terms in public (especially political) debate thanks to author’s two book publications and radio appearances. (shrink)

The epidemic outbreak of the coronavirus has meant a sudden, temporary ceasing of activities as we knew them. The health crisis has led to a social and economic crisis, and these circumstances have revealed solidarity on a global scale. In moments of separation, when culture has brought us closer together, the global phenomenon of charity songs has emerged, generating financial aid for scientific research and care for the most vulnerable people. This work focuses on a charity song turned into a (...) hymn, a narrative poem in the first person that tells everyone's common story, “Aves enjauladas” by the Spanish singer-songwriter Rozalén. This paper carries out a linguistic, stylistic and audiovisual analysis of this multimodal event, which has been transmitted through a ‘lyric video’ and spread in a vertiginous way on digital platforms and social networks, reaching millions of views. Ultimately, the paper analyses the spiritual and material impact, the body and soul of this living poem, taking a still photograph of the artistic recreations and musical, visual, pictorial and pedagogical ‘echoicities’ of this work, as well as appreciating its material socio-economic repercussions in the real lives of families at risk of exclusion. (shrink)

Gandhi scholars agree that he was a critic of capitalism, if not capital or capitalists. Nevertheless, they disagree about his relationship to socialism. Some emphasize Gandhi’s claim that the modern Western canon of socialism is incompatible with the philosophy of nonviolence. Others emphasize his occasional affirmation that he is a socialist, regarding socialism as a beautiful ideal of equality. Gandhi moves back and forth between conditional endorsements of capitalists and socialism’s beautiful ideal. In this article, I ask why Gandhi never (...) specifies any clear economic preference for the philosophy of nonviolence. Is he confused and incapable of reaching practical judgments about what nonviolence demands in terms of economics? I answer this question in two ways. First, I argue that passing back and forth over the partial and fallible viewpoints of capitalists and socialists of various stripes is consistent with Gandhi’s method of experiments in truth. The passing-over method extends from experiments in devotion to constructive experiments in economics, laying the foundation for integrating distinctively human life goals or puruṣārthas. Second, and perhaps more surprisingly, I consider the background to Gandhi’s use of this method as applied to economics in Kauṭilya’s classical Arthaśāstra. Scholars often characterize Kauṭilya as both a socialist and a realist. While establishing the world’s first welfare state, his Arthaśāstra is also tied deeply into the material-spiritual concerns of the puruṣārthas, combining economics with duty, earthly pleasure, and transcendence. In this latter respect, however, Kauṭilya’s realism concedes too much to the contextual realities of his time concerning imperial conquest and caste. Gandhi emerges from this inquiry as another kind of realist in his constructive experiments with diverse economic perspectives, equally attuned to the contextual realities of his age. Gandhi succeeded—where Kauṭilya failed—to integrate economics with the spiritual goals of the puruṣārthas. I contend that Gandhi’s back and forth method in economics provides contemporary Gandhians with a way to address new contextual realities of the digital or “gig” economy through techno-satyagraha. (shrink)

This volume is the first attempt to explicitly investigate how the multiplicity of religions and forms of spirituality interconnect with the multiplicities of language, such as digital lingo and the language of science. This book analyzes how religious and linguistic multiplicities become a pluralism, that is, how they enter into polyphonic relations, as well as how they interconnect, grow together, and why they often clash. The contributors are renown international scholars working in interreligious dialogue, philosophy and sociology of religion, (...) history of religious arts, and the crossroads of religion and science. This text provides the setting for a dialogue on a rich variety of religious languages and traditions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism, and Christianity. Each chapter connects these traditions either in profound interreligious means, or with linguistic codes such as: vernacular speeches, sacred dialects and technological language. Some linguist examples are the impact of Artificial Intelligence on religious beliefs, the synergy between science and religion in the alchemist tradition and in magic, as well as the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and current religious practices. This volume contributes to interfaith studies and teaching, to sociology and philosophy of religion, and finally to the history and anthropology of religion and the sacred arts. It is intended for students, researchers, instructors and professionals alike. (shrink)

This paper argues for the digital interactive installation artwork based on principles of complexity as an interface with the potential to evoke ekspansions in the subjective experience by confronting the user with an idea of abstract thought, created through a conceptual design, and experienced through bodily interaction and contemplative acts at symbolic levels. The claim is, that ideas presented through good artworks based on the coalision of science and technology can potentially create a synthesis between ideas inspired by the (...) philosophies and empiricisms of the physical-material world view, but also of a higher, spiritual dimension, in which new possibilities of knowledge are potentially to be found. The article accepts the thesis of cognition being the cause of evolution, rather than evolution of man being the cause of cognition. (shrink)

Morphogenetic fields of thought, flux and transformation, energy and light are the manifestations that inform a new sensibility for creating realities and exploring the world. We are seeing the emergence of a new moistmedia culture and the possibilities of a syncretic art that combines aspects of a vast transdisciplinary field. Historically, syncretism has destabilized political and religious orthodoxies, reconciling and harmonizing formerly discrete antagonists; its etymology derives from the coming together of opposed tribes to resist a common enemy. In contemporary (...) culture, the enemy is habit - the uncritical repetition of behaviours, perceptions, categories and values. Just as cybernetics analogizes differences between systems, so syncretism finds likeness between unlike things. If cybernetics underlies the technology of new media art, syncretism informs the psyche. In the context of telematics, it is a matter of heuristics and heteronymia. The digital moment in art is passing as it approaches the status of orthodoxy; the period of discovery through extreme speculation, invention and untrammelled creativity is in danger of giving way to academicism and commercialization, whether in cyberspace, on the Web or through the mobile. Art's twentieth-century preoccupation with the body is giving way to the technoetic exploration of new territories of mind. This may involve revisiting the pathways to personal transformation and transcendence of older cultures, where the syncretism of knowledge and beliefs, as for example in Brazil, is explicit. Art needs to adopt syncretic strategies to embrace emerging models of mind and matter, cyberception, living process and computational systems, moist-media, quantum reality, the nanofield, and ecological, social and spiritual issues. This may lead to significant changes in the way we regard our own identity, our relationship to others, the nature of memory, the exploration of consciousness, and the phenomenology of time and space. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence (AI) profoundly influences a number of societal structures today, including religious dynamics. Using Bernard Lonergan’s critical realism as a lens, this article investigates the intersections of AI and religious traditions in their shared pursuit of the common good. Beginning with Lonergan’s principle that humans construct their understanding through cognitive processes, we examine how AI-mediated realities align with or challenge traditional religious tenets. By delving into specific cases, we spotlight AI’s role in reshaping religious symbols, rituals, and even creating (...) novel spiritual meanings. Using Lonergan’s insights on the balance between subjectivity and objectivity, I analyze AI’s potential to both create new sacred spaces and challenge religious orthodoxy. The crux of the discussion centers on the negotiation between religious values and technological innovation, assessing how AI can bolster religious life while maintaining its core essence. Ultimately, this article underscores the importance of the common good in the age of AI-driven religious evolution. (shrink)

Revered as the ‘Queen of Qawwali’ and ‘Queen of Sufi music’, sixty-seven-year-old Abida Parveen is a spiritual phenomenon who transcends gender while performing. She is known for her signature fashion style of buttoned-up masculine-cut kurta with matching shalwar and an ajrak shawl. Her aesthetic circulates within transnational and national fashion media and popular cultural spaces through descriptors such as androgynous, masculine, modest, indigenous and sacred. As a highly respected figure with widely circulating performances on both the national and international stages, (...) as well through multiple media circuits, including television, social/digital media and broadcast concerts, Parveen's undeniable fame and her transgressive entry into an otherwise male-dominated music genre raises important questions about gender, embodiment, spirituality and the sacred. In analysing Parveen's body and dress in performance, I centre her sartorial style as sites of spirituality and affect to ask: what does it mean for Parveen to transcend gender through a performance of androgynous Sufism and mobilise it as an entry way into spiritual iconism? What imaginations around spirituality and the sacred become available through Parveen's sartorial practices? How does Parveen's style offer an alternative route to Muslim spirituality? Taking up Parveen's embodied coagulation between fashion and the sacred reveals an absence in feminist fashion studies on which subjects and styles are viewed as important, relevant, resistant or transgressive and thus worthy of theorisation. As a feminist scholar interested in the relationship between gender, power and self/representation, I see Parveen as a key global cultural and spiritual figure who necessitates transnational feminist analysis. This article is situated at the intersections of fashion and cultural studies, feminist, queer and trans spiritualities and South Asia studies. (shrink)