In these essays, J.L. Mehta, Indian philosopher in whose life and work East and West met profoundly, reflects on the origins and potency of modern hermeneutics and phenomenology, and applies the principles of interpretation to Hindu traditions. These farseeing essays show a hopeful way for non-Western cultures to gain insight into the basic presuppositions of the Western world, and to reclaim their own origins and ways of thinking, and to participate in an emerging planetary thinking.

We should approach this topic with great fear and respect. It is not a merely “academic” issue. Human rights are trampled upon in the East as in the West, in the North as in the South of our planet. Granting the part of human greed and sheer evil in this universal transgression, could it not also be that Human Rights are not observed because in their present form they do not represent a universal symbol powerful enough to elicit understanding and (...) agreement? (shrink)

Medical practitioners have always been expected to abide by certain standards of conduct and uphold certain values, more or less throughout the world. In this book, besides discussing specific ethical issues, the author ponders questions such as the right to life and the integrity of the human person. Ethics in medicine takes account of the principles that underlie the best decisions, particularly in unusual circumstances – such as a pandemic. Many of these are enshrouded in the oaths most doctors take (...) – the Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the best known, and has influenced numerous others over the centuries. However, these principles and the resulting conduct have taken different directions at various moments in history and in different parts of the globe, though always primarily oriented to the protection of human health. The author compares some interesting similarities and differences, tracing the main social, legal and religious attitudes, in what has come to be known as "medical ethics", with all its benefits to Mankind. Alongside basic human dignity, four main values have been pivotal in medical ethics: Caring for sick people, putting their well-being at the center of concern, and doing good. Not causing harm: never making a patient take risks, and never prescribing a doubtful treatment. Fairness: treating all patients in accordance with their health needs, never favoring or neglecting anyone on the basis of background, occupation, etc. Self-determination: the patient can be informed about treatments and, when possible, should approve the prescriptions. The doctor must show empathy, respect for confidentiality, and responsibility. Briefly, this overview of the medical profession’s ethics focuses on experience, principles, aims, virtues and above all the basic rules which in various places through the centuries have governed the tortuous paths of Mankind. Written by an acclaimed expert in the field, this book is of value for all those working in healthcare, and people interested in its ethics. (shrink)

This second volume of Raimon Panikkar's Opera Omnia offers Panikkar's reflections on religion in our era as well as in many other historical epochs. Because no particular religion can claim to exhaust the universal range of human experience, Panikkar argues that in a globalized world, a kind of religious pluralism is a necessary reality, and dialogue between different religions, cultures, and worldviews is an imperative of our time. The first section of this volume expands on the concept (...) of religion from different viewpoints and develops some of the most universal aspects of religiosity. The second deals with comparative religion and with the religious philosophy of encounter, while the third section includes more specific topics, among which are the body and medicine, because religion reconnects not just humanity to God, but also the spirit to the body. Raimon Panikkar (1918-2010) made pioneering contributions to interreligious dialogue, comparative theology, and the phenomenology of religion while bridging different religions and cultures (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism), and advanced the global conversation between the so-called sacred and secular worlds. These diverse contributions were tied together in a unifying vision he called his cosmotheandric intuition, the deep interconnection of the Divine, the Cosmic, and the Human. (Publisher). (shrink)

Die Beschäftigung mit der Hand des Theodoros Skutariotes wird durch das Fehlen eines von ihm subskribierten Exemplars erschwert. Über seine Tätigkeit als Patriarchatsbeamter, Metropolit von Kyzikos und Chronist hinaus ist Theodoros der Forschung jedoch als Handschriftensammler und -besitzer bekannt. Ausgangspunkt jeder Untersuchung zu seinem Schriftstil sind deshalb die Marginalien der Kodizes, die sich in seinem Besitz befanden. Durch seinen autographen, monokondylischen Besitzervermerk †σϰουταϱϊώτου λευίτου θεοδώϱου† konnten bisher sechs Kodizes seiner Bibliothek zugeordnet werden: 1. Marcianus gr. 450, 9./10. Jh., Photius, Bibliotheca. (...) 2. Parisinus gr. 1741, 10. Jh., Sammlung rhetorischer Traktate. 3. Oxoniensis Cromwell 19, 11. Jh. 2. H., Ioannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae 1–45 in Matthaeum. 4. Athous, Kutlumusiu 15 , 12. Jh., Gregorius Nazianzenus; Ioannes Chrysostomus. 5. Parisinus gr. 1234, 13. Jh. 2. H., Nicetas Choniates, Panoplia Dogmatica. 6. Vaticanus gr. 636, 13. Jh. 2. H., Euthymius Zigabenus, In s. Pauli epistulas. (shrink)

Unser Wissen über Theodoros Skutariotes, den Autor der Σύνοψις χϱονιϰή und Metropoliten von Kyzikos (1277–1283), stützt sich im wesentlichen auf sein literarisches Werk, überliefertes Urkundenmaterial und wenige Erwähnungen des Geschichtsschreibers Georgios Pachymeres. Aus diesen Quellen erhalten wir neben biographischen Informationen zu seiner Person auch Anhaltspunkte, die eine Charakterisierung des Kirchenpolitikers Theodoros ermöglicht haben.

It is more than a century since what we call the ‘history of religions’ was discovered and has been studied. But only recently have we realized that the ‘geography of religions’ is just as important. East and West are essential geopolitical categories, determined by cultural, historical and even religious differences: an Indian and a Swedish Catholic (both of them members of a minority) display notable religious differences, as great as those that separate an Indonesian from a Saudi Muslim (both members (...) of a majority). The ‘geography of religions’ cannot be ignored. Differences exist but simplifications must be avoided: we have to go beyond the cliché according to which the Orient is mystical and the West pragmatic. Logical thought is no more eastern than western. There is scholastic philosophy in the East as well as the West, magic and rationalism are found everywhere. But as human beings are intrinsically earthbound beings, even though they are more than ‘of this world’, East and West are categories that are not only geographical and historical but also anthropological. There is an East and a West in each of us. That is why it is possible for us to understand each other. (shrink)

Explores the notion of "sacred secularity," a non-dualistic concept of reality in which everything is interrelated.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, draconian countermeasures forbidding nonessential human activities have been adopted in several countries worldwide, providing an unprecedented setup for testing and quantifying the current impact of humankind on climate and for driving potential sustainability policies in the postpandemic era from a perspective of complex systems. In this study, we consider heterogeneous sources of environmental and human activity observables, considered as components of a complex socioenvironmental system, and apply information theory, network science, and Bayesian inference to analyze their (...) structural relations and nonlinear dynamics between January 2019 and August 2020 in northern Italy, i.e., before, during, and after the national lockdown. The topological structure of a complex system strongly impacts its collective behavior; therefore, mapping this structure is essential to fully understand the functions of the system as a whole and its fragility to unexpected disruptions or shocks. To this aim, we unravel the causal relationships between the 16 environmental conditions and human activity variables, mapping the backbone of the complex interplay between intervening physical observables—such as NO2 emissions, energy consumption, intervening climate variables, and different flavors of human mobility flows—to a causal network model. To identify a tipping point during the period of observation, denoting the presence of a regime shift between distinct network states, we introduce a novel information-theoretic method based on statistical divergence widely used in statistical physics. We find that despite a measurable decrease in NO2 concentration, due to an overall decrease in human activities, locking down a region as a climate change mitigation is an insufficient remedy to reduce emissions. Our results provide a functional characterization of socioenvironmental interdependent systems, and our analytical framework can be used, more generally, to characterize environmental changes and their interdependencies using statistical physics. (shrink)

In recent years, the Austrian School has been an influential contributor to the social sciences. Yet most of the attempts to understand this vital school of thought have remained locked into a polemical frame. The Philosophy of the Austrian School challenges this approach through a philosophically grounded account of the School's methodological, political, and economic ideas. Raimondo Cubeddu acknowledges important differences between the key figures in the School--Menger, Mises and Hayek-- but also finds important parallels between these thinkers. The (...) theory of subjective value and the theory of spontaneous order, which both rest on ideas about the limitations of human knowledge, are the most important of these parallels. Drawn together, these theories represent one of the most original avenues of research in the social sciences and a major reformulation of liberal ideology. (shrink)

L’analyse économique des Autrichiens se fonde aujourd’hui comme hier sur la notion de subjectivisme, dans les deux voies économique et méthodologique héritées de Carl Menger. Aujourd’hui le débat s’est déplacé vers l’analyse des rapports entre éthique et catallaxie, sujet d’autant plus important pour juger des aspects normatifs de la position Autrichienne que les différents représentants de l’école n’y ont pas des positions homogènes. L’auteur se concentre sur les développements de Carl Menger et Friedrich Hayek. Il se fonde sur l’existence de (...) résultats involontaires connexes des actions individuelles volontaires, qui interdisent de statuer sur la justification éthique des institutions à partir du caractère éthique des motivations initiales des agents. In fine l’éthique n’est pas pertinente pour traiter du problème. Marché et éthique interagissent de facon indissoluble et ne se trouvent plus dans une opposition factice, dès lors qu’avec les Autrichiens on délaisse la vision strictement instrumentaliste du marché.The analysis developed by the Austrian school is rooted in subjectivism as expressed by Carl Menger at the twin levels of economics and methodology. Nowadays the debate shifted towards the relationship between ethics and catallactics, a strategic issue conceiving of the normative aspects of classical liberalism where the Austrian themselves do not defend an homogeneous position. The author refers only to Carl Menger and Friedrich Hayek in the paper. He explains that the very existence of unintended consequences of voluntary actions does forbid any ethical analysis of the institutions on the basis of ethical considerations of individual motivations. In fine, ethics is irrelevant to address the question. Market and ethics cannot remain in a kind of opposition, and their relationship can be understood on the basis of their interaction instead, as soon as the instrumentalist vision of the market has been left away. (shrink)

Análisis de las experiencias filosóficas centrales de la civilización de la India clásica. ¿Cómo han «experienciado» el sentido de la vida, de la existencia, o de la realidad, los siglos creadores de aquella cultura? ¿Qué experiencias originarias han dado lugar a la cultura sánscrita? En la respuesta a estas preguntas encontramos la invitación de Panikkar a emprender la más urgente tarea de nuestra época: un cambio radical de civilización o, más aún, antropológico.

The paper suggests that Bastiat’s theory of interests, harmony, and the State is rooted in a particular conception of Natural Right, in which the Lockeans and thomistic streams of thought meet. But it also suggests that Bastiat’s interpretation of the role that Providence plays in human events is not able to give a sustainable theory of liberal order. The paper also considers the criticisms to Bastiat’s economic and political theory coming from exponents of classical liberalism, from the Austrians, and from (...) Catholic thinkers of that time, such as L. Taparelli d’Azeglio and M. Liberatore.The conclusion is that although the economic theory of Bastiat is by now obsolete from the conceptual point of view, his political theory and his criticism of the state do remain extraordinarily topical.Cet article suggère que les théories des intérêts, de l’harmonie et de l’Etat de Bastiat sont ancrées dans une conception particulière du droit naturel au confluent des pensées lockéenne et thomiste. Cependant, il suggère aussi que l’interprétation que donne Bastiat du rôle de la Providence dans les affaires humaines ne débouche pas sur une théorie recevable de l’ordre libéral. L’article examine aussi les critiques qu’adressent les partisans du libéralisme classique-tels que les économistes autrichiens, les penseurs catholiques de l’époque comme L. Taparelli d’Azeglio et M. Liberatore-à l’égard des théories économiques et politiques de Bastiat. L’article conclut que le caractère obsolète des théories de Bastiat d’un point de vue conceptuel ne remet pas en cause la singulière actualité de sa théorie politique et de sa critique de l’Etat. (shrink)

One of the world's most important philosophers of religion reveals the unity of cosmic Mystery in this distillation of the wisdom of the East and West, North and South.

Con l'espressione persiana "i sei lati del mondo" l'autore allude al modello psicologico 'universale' che caratterizza l'uomo. Come esso filtra nelle parole che usiamo per descrivere la nostra esperienza? È il linguaggio che influenza il nostro modo di vedere il mondo o è la realtà a influire sul nostro modo di esprimerci? Affascinante alternativa che Cardona analizza in pagine ricchissime di suggestioni, dove si incrociano linguistica e psicologia, etnologia e semiologia. Giorgio Raimondo Cardona ha insegnato Glottologia nell'Università di Roma (...) La Sapienza. (shrink)

In this study, we examine cases of food insecurity and food justice issues in Vermont’s environmentally vulnerable communities. Using a structured door-to-door survey (n = 569), semi-structured interviews (n = 32), and focus groups (n = 5), we demonstrate that: (1) food insecurity in Vermont’s environmentally vulnerable communities is prominent and intersects with socioeconomic factors such as race and income, (2) food and social assistance programs need to be more accessible and address vicious cycles of multiple injustices, (3) an intersectional (...) approach beyond distribution is required to address food justice issues in environmentally vulnerable communities, and (4) paying attention to broader contextual and environmental factors may provide a more nuanced approach to understanding food justice. (shrink)

Raimon Panikkar és, sens dubte, un dels pensadors que més ha contribuït a la reflexió sobre el pluralisme i la interculturalitat, uns conceptes que van molt més enllà de la mera tolerància, d’un relativisme banal o d’un multiculturalisme fàcil. Malgrat la set de comprensió universal, Panikkar considera que no hi ha ni pot haver-hi una única perspectiva humana universal: hi ha invariants humanes, però no hi ha universals culturals. És a dir: tothom menja, és actiu i descansa, però (...) el sentit que es dóna a l’aliment, a la feina i al repòs és molt diferent segons les cultures. I és que tota cultura humana representa d’una manera peculiar i limitada la possible gamma sencera de l’experiència humana en determinades condicions concretes. La persona pluralista fa falsos tots els absolutismes, tots els fanatismes i tots els reduccionismes. (shrink)