The article analyses the process of forming basic approaches to understanding "freedom". Established: The results of the philosophical analysis of this phenomenon can be accepted as a methodological principle for interpreting "ethno-religio-genesis" in Religiology (Knowledge of Religion).

This paper outlines a sociological model of the conditions of possibility of the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European Union in 2016. Drawing on the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu and those inspired by him, it synthesises and goes beyond the partial and fragmentary accounts offered so far to offer a more comprehensive narrative implicating the interrelation of multiple fields, with agents’ evolving strategies within the different fields being the major fulcra. To be specific, the conditions of possibility for (...) the referendum result were provided by mutations within the global field of nation states ricocheting through the UK’s political field, ethno-racial field and class structure. (shrink)

In 2013-2022, the Ukrainian ethnic group faced numerous external and internal challenges, which were largely the result of its previous historical development and profound transformations in the public consciousness.These changes, in turn, have become a natural reaction to a number of historical processes and phenomena that have taken place in the territory of the people from ancient times to the present. In this article, the author aims to analyze some factors of stress genesis of the ethnic legal mentality of (...) the Ukrainian ethnic group and show their impact on the content of its behavioral stereotypes. The methodology of this study is comprehensive and is based on socio-philosophical and philosophical and legal analysis of behavioral attitudes of Ukrainians in the field of legal understanding.Results. In the course of analyzing the scientific works of a number of researchers, we found that during its historical existence, the Ukrainian ethnic group has experienced a number of events, phenomena and processes of objective reality, which led to the transformation of the content of its behavioral stereotypes. Factors of stress genesis can be divided into endogenous and exogenous. Exogenous sources of Ukrainian ethnopsychologists include, for example, continuous invasions of various aggressors (Tatar, Polish, Russian, German) and various attempts to acculturate Ukrainians.According to them, endogenous factors include various migration processes that have generated marginality and betrayal by Ukrainian leaders of their people. In the future, the established guidelines play or may play a destructive role in the process of nationbuilding.Conclusions. We found that the stress genesis of domestic political and legal can be defined as the process of creating political and legal mentality of the Ukrainian ethnos under the influence of events, phenomena, processes of its sociohistorical development, as well as factors of geographical location and environmental conditions. community and, as a consequence, cause transformations in the content of its guidelines. In addition, the border situation of Ukrainian lands, long statelessness of the ethnic group, serfdom in the homeland and other factors of socio-historical development of the national ethnic group have led to the emergence or deepening in the people’s consciousness such destructive stereotypes as anarchism, legal nihilism, freedom “, absenteeism and civic passivity, deep corruption traditions and nepotism, low status of state property, etc. (shrink)

Face-to-face meetings are often preferred over other forms of communication because meeting in person provides the “richest” way to communicate. Face-to-face meetings are so rich because many ways of communicating are available to support mutual understanding. With the progress of digitization and driven by the need to reduce personal contact during the global pandemic, many face-to-face work meetings have been shifted to videoconferences. With webcams turned on, video calls come closest to the richness of face-to-face meetings. However, webcam use often (...) remains voluntary, and some participants choose not to turn their cameras on. In order to find ways to support webcam use—when desired—we analyzed how social norms in groups affect the decision to activate a webcam in a specific meeting. Based on an online survey with N = 333 participants, we found that social norms are related to an individual’s decision to turn on the webcam, even when controlling for group size. If the number of participants with activated webcams in a university meeting increased by 25%, it was 5.92 times more likely that an individual decided to turn their webcam on, too. Furthermore, 81.84% of respondents indicated they would turn on their webcam if participants in a meeting were explicitly asked to do so. The results demonstrate a strong relation between social norms and the decision to activate a webcam in online meetings. They build a basis for enhancing webcam use and enable a greater richness of communication in online meetings. (shrink)

Aim: Explore nurses’ values and perceptions regarding the practice of medical aid in dying. Background: Medical aid in dying is becoming increasing legal in the United States. The laws and American Nurses Association documents limit nursing involvement in this practice. Nurses’ values regarding this controversial topic are poorly understood. Methodology: Cross-sectional electronic survey design sent to nurse members of the American Nurses Association. Inductive thematic content analysis was applied to open-ended comments. Ethical Considerations: Approved by the institutional review board (#191046). (...) Participants: 1213 nurses provided 3639 open-ended comments. More than 80% of participants self-identified as white 58% held a graduate degree; and half were of Christian faith. Results: Values ranged on a continuum expressed through four themes: “Honoring Patient Autonomy without Judgment,” “Honoring with Limitations,” “Not until...,” and “Adamantly against.” Some felt it was a duty to honor the patients’ wishes, set aside own beliefs, and respect patients’ choices often with a spiritual connotation. Nurses held concerns about the process, policy, potential psychological harm, legal risk, and the need to learn more about MAID. Nurse who were adamantly against MAID associated the practice with murder/suicide and against religious beliefs. Disparate values were expressed about changing the MAID legislation to allow patient support with taking MAID medications and allowing MAID via advance directive. Conclusions: Nurses desire more education on MAID. There is not one universally held position on the nurse’s role during MAID. Healthcare policy/standards need to accommodate the wide variation in nurses’ values. Implications: Nurses desire education regarding their role in MAID. Nurses are encouraged to participate in policy discussions as the practice becomes increasingly legal. Managers need to expect that nurses, patients, and families will need psychological support to participate in MAID. Careful construction of policy/standards is needed to minimize conflict, moral distress, and psychological harm amongst nurses. Further research is needed. (shrink)

I have only begun to sketch out some of the differences between the work of Harold Garfinkel and Alfred Schutz. As the work of ethnomethodology accumulates and as other commentators begin to explore their similarities and differences, a clearer picture will, I am certain, emerge. For now, I shall only conclude with the following brief summary.As Natanson (1966, p. 152) has noted, “for Schutz, mundane existence is structured by the typifications of man in the natural standpoint. Common sense is then (...) an achievement rather than something simply given.” The main issues with which Schutz was concerned were how to investigate social reality and comprehend it (Natanson, 1966): …in terms which do not violate its character. How is warranted knowledge possible of the experiential world defined by the natural standpoint? The answer Schutz offers is by way of a reconstruction of the typifications of mundane life, but the underlying theme he is exploring is the intentional nature of consciousness in its abstractive and ideational modalities. Typification as such, rather than types and constructs, is the underlying concern. By tracing out the phenomenological genesis of typification from its prepredicative grounds to its self-conscious activity in generalization, he has provided an approach to an epistemology of the social world. [p. 154]Garfinkel, on the other hand, seeks to trace out the genesis of the perception, interpretation, and accomplishment of social occasions and their settings by members of society as they live and operate within the natural attitude in the world of everyday life. Their activities are taken without question as whatever social reality is for them. The processes whereby they accomplish these activities so as to make them recognizable become his main concern and it is the discovery and reconstruction of these processes, under the ethnomethodological reduction, of which his findings consist. By describing the methods used by members, he provides an approach to the methodology of the social world, that is, an ethno or members' methodology, for the construction, interpretation, and recognition of the social world. (shrink)

Taking a critical perspective on the loss of analytical categories, this article discusses the enormous proliferation of Diaspora concepts in social sciences at large, and in particular with regard to discourses on Muslims in Europe. In the era of international migration, the experience of homelessness, deriving from the loss of the myth of religio-cultural and ethno-linguistically singularity in contemporary societies, seems to become an universal phenomenon. Questions of home and belonging are key issues in the current discourses on (...) Diaspora which, since the turning point of 1989, developed aggressively beyond those academic disciplines concerned with religion. (shrink)

The article continues and develops the experience of actual reading of one of the significant, but littlestudied works of the prominent Kyiv Hebrew scholar and biblical scholar of the last third of the XIX – early XX century, professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Yakym Olesnytsky. Through the religious study reinterpretation of the structural elements of Talmudic mythology discovered by Olesnytsky, the peculiarities of the evolution of the agadic picture of the world were revealed. Being quite structurally heterogeneous, this phenomenon (...) is characterized by “human dimension”, which is the leitmotif of universal natural harmony, social order, moral balance of good and evil. Both the actions of God, and the elements of nature, and the norms and requirements of society are full of mental, psycho-emotional tension, placed in a situation of moral choice and action, appear in fact anthropological projections, the image of human abilities. Therefore, the anthropological aspects of the transformations of agadic consciousness have been studied from the standpoint of religious studies. The transformation of psychological and anthropological motives in agadic angel and demonology and ideas about the human soul is singled out; revealed dimensions of the sacred symbolization of the unity of man with nature, humanity and the universe in the agadic doctrine of metempsychosis; anthropological and socio-political projections of agadic sacred geography and ritualized practices of contact with the afterlife as with the “Other Reality” are demonstrated; the sacred dimensions of ethno-, cultural- and religious-genesis engraved in the agada are traced. (shrink)

Every religion in its origins and in Genesis is identified with a particular culture. Adequate understanding of the nature and nature of any religion is possible only through the prism of the cultural area in which it was formed and under the influence of its peculiarities. This can be traced to the history of the origin, formation and development of all religions - ethno-national and world, polytheistic and monotheistic.

Este artigo propõe uma leitura da relação entre a cidade, a morte e algumas das religiões que presidiram ou consolidaram a formação das cidades. Tendo por objetivo investigar paradigmas que nortearam a criação e habitabilidade de cidades em diferentes lugares e períodos históricos, pressupõe que uma reflexão sobre esses paradigmas, ainda que breve, fornecerá algum subsídio para uma leitura da cidade contemporânea e da crise que atravessa. Nesse intuito, propõe o cotejamento de textos históricos e míticos, atribuindo igual valor ao (...) que se tem registrado sobre a gênese das cidades, à luz dos estudos culturais. Destacam-se a presença da morte e a maneira como propiciou o desejo de união dos grupos. Nesse contexto, diferentes religiões incidiram como laço e lastro do espaço público, condição necessária para a manutenção da ética. Exerceram seu papel de religar vivos e mortos, a realidade natural e a sobrenatural, mesmo quando manipuladas em busca de poder. Isso se dá, de diferentes maneiras, até o século XIX, quando cedem lugar a outras instituições e novos pressupostos. No século XXI, assistimos a uma crise das cidades, o que, se bem valiado, pode propiciar a construção de outros paradigmas, em consonância com as aspirações contemporâneas. Palavras-chave: Cidade; Morte; Religião. ABSTRACT This article presents a reading of the relation between the city, death and some of the religions that presided over or consolidated the development of cities. Aiming at investigating the paradigms that oriented the creation and viability of cities in various places and historical periods, it assumes that a reflection on those paradigms, however brief, can provide subsidies for a reading of the contemporary city and the crisis it is facing. In that sense, it focuses on historical and mythical texts, attributing equal value to what is recorded concerning the genesis of cities, in the light of cultural studies. Emphasis is given to the presence of death and the way it propitiated an urge for union in groups. In that context, different religions were the bonds and the reservoir of public space, a necessary condition to preserve ethics. They played the role of re-connecting the living and the dead, natural and supernatural reality, even when they were manipulated in the search for power. This happened, in different ways, until the 19th century, when new institutions and presuppositions emerged. In the 21st century, we witness a crisis in the cities, which, if properly assessed, may lead to the construction of other paradigms, in harmony with contemporary expectations. Key words: City; Death; Religion. (shrink)

This article exposes comparable social mechanisms that have generated the social construction of threatening immigrants in Europe in the thirties and in the eighties. The analysis is building on Bourdieu 's theory of the construction of social space and the genesis of social groups. This semiotic-praxiological approach is used to explain why the specific historical and socio-economical conditions in the thirties and eighties have lead to the construction of Jews and Muslims as threatening immigrants. Our discussion focuses on the (...) exemplary caseof the 'migrant problem' in historical and actual political discourse in Flanders. Where at the end of the thirties the notion 'immigrant' referred exclusively to Jews, in the eighties it is used for Turkish and Maroccan 'guestworkers'. In spite of the specific historical and social situation of Jewish and Muslim immigrants parallel social mechanisms and discourses emerge in the redrawing of the social space by creating 'theatening' immigrants/strangers. These mechanisms are a religious anti Judaism/anti-Islamism, rapid social economie change fueling an economical argumented antiJew/anti-muslim and racism legitimized by an internationally disseminated ethno-nationalism. (shrink)

This volume features new perspectives on the implications of cross-linguistic and cultural diversity for epistemology. It brings together philosophers, linguists, and scholars working on knowledge traditions to advance work in epistemology that moves beyond the Anglophone sphere. The first group of chapters provide evidence of cross-linguistic or cultural diversity relevant to epistemology and discuss its possible implications. These essays defend epistemic pluralism based on Sanskrit data as a commitment to pluralism about epistemic stances, analyze the use of two Japanese knowledge (...) verbs in relation to knowledge how, explore the Confucian notion of justification, and surveys cultural differences about the testimonial knowledge. The second group of chapters defends "core monism"--which claims that despite the cross-linguistic diversity of knowledge verbs, there is certain core epistemological meaning shared by all languages--from both a Natural Semantic Metalanguage and skeptical perspective. The third cluster of essays considers the implications of cultural diversity for epistemology based on anthropological studies. These chapters explore real disparities in folk epistemology across cultures. Finally, the last two chapters discuss methods or perspectives to unify epistemology despite and based on the diversity of folk intuitions and epistemological concepts. Ethno-Epistemology is an essential resource for philosophers working in epistemology and comparative philosophy, as well as linguists and cultural anthropologists interested in the cultural-linguistic diversity of knowledge traditions. (shrink)

This volume features new perspectives on the implications of cross-linguistic and cultural diversity for epistemology. It brings together philosophers, linguists, and scholars working on knowledge traditions to advance work in epistemology that moves beyond the Anglophone sphere. The first group of chapters provide evidence of cross-linguistic or cultural diversity relevant to epistemology and discuss its possible implications. These essays defend epistemic pluralism based on Sanskrit data as a commitment to pluralism about epistemic stances, analyze the use of two Japanese knowledge (...) verbs in relation to knowledge how, explore the Confucian notion of justification, and surveys cultural differences about the testimonial knowledge. The second group of chapters defends "core monism"-which claims that despite the cross-linguistic diversity of knowledge verbs, there is certain core epistemological meaning shared by all languages-from both a Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) and skeptical perspective. The third cluster of essays considers the implications of cultural diversity for epistemology based on anthropological studies. These chapters explore real disparities in folk epistemology across cultures. Finally, the last two chapters discuss methods or perspectives to unify epistemology despite and based on the diversity of folk intuitions and epistemological concepts. Ethno-Epistemology is an essential resource for philosophers working in epistemology and comparative philosophy, as well as linguists and cultural anthropologists interested in the cultural-linguistic diversity of knowledge traditions. (shrink)

This article focuses on the ethno-biological expedition to the Amazon headed by Ettore Biocca between November 1962 and July 1963. Biocca, a parasitologist by training, assembled a multidisciplinary team to carry out an ethno-biological study of Amazon natives. The expedition work covered the natives' customs, myths, chants, diseases and the hallucinogenic compounds and curare they used, and took into account plants and animals common to the Amazon environment. This article aims to contribute to the understanding of the 20th-century (...) Western approach to the Amazon people and its cultural importance. It sets out to show how Biocca's encyclopaedic work related to the centrality of Amazonia and its peoples in scientific and cultural debates on modernity and Western culture in the 1960s, and how it connects to Cold War anxieties about the disappearance of ‘uncorrupted’ peoples. (shrink)

The arguments are exhibited in favour of the necessity to modify the history of the genesis and advancement of general relativity (GR). I demonstrate that the dynamic creation of GR had been continually governed by internal tensions between two research traditions, that of special relativity and Newton’s gravity. The encounter of the traditions and their interpenetration entailed construction of the hybrid domain at first with an irregular set of theoretical models. Step by step, on eliminating the contradictions between the (...) models contrived, the hybrid set was put into order. It is contended that the main reason of the GR victory over the rival programmes of Abraham and Nordström was a synthetic character of Einstein’s programme. Einstein had put forward as a basic synthetic principle the principle of equivalence that radically differed from that of rival approaches by its open, flexible and contra-ontological character. (shrink)

For most of the twentieth century, anthropologists understood themselves as ethnographers. The art of anthropology was the fieldwork-based description of faraway others—of how social structures secretly organized the living-together of a given society, of how a people had endowed the world surrounding them with cultural meaning. While the poetics and politics of anthropology have changed dramatically over the course of a century, the basic equation of anthropology with ethnography—as well as the definition of the human as a social and cultural (...) being—has remained so evident that the possibility of questioning it occurred to hardly anyone. In After Ethnos Tobias Rees endeavors to decouple anthropology from ethnography—and the human from society and culture—and explores the manifold possibilities of practicing a question-based rather than an answer-based anthropology that emanates from this decoupling. What emerges from Rees's provocations is a new understanding of anthropology as a philosophically and poetically inclined, fieldwork-based investigation of what it could mean to be human when the established concepts of the human on which anthropology has been built increasingly fail us. (shrink)

The study is a response to the call for papers on African issues and discusses the notion of leadership in the Zimbabwean context. Based on material drawn through an interdisciplinary research process, this article argues that the phenomenon of fear emanating from a Zimbabwean religio-culture cuts across the country’s socio-political structures and affects its different forms of leadership. Therefore, by drawing on primary and secondary as well as literary and non-literary, sources, the article examines how and why religio-culture (...) and especially its elements, such as the phenomenon of fear, continue to influence the people’s understanding of leadership. The quest for a cross-cultural perspective leads to the consideration of both African and non-African scholarly views. In order to draw on concrete data, I focus on the perceptions and experiences of ordinary citizens whether professionals or non-professionals. Furthermore, the study considers arguments and propositions from disciplines such as history, political science, religious studies, anthropology, and African philosophy, among others. (shrink)

Identyfikacja z grupą etniczną lub narodową jest o tyle skomplikowanym zagadnieniem, że obejmuje szereg zjawisk decydujących o różnorodności kultur. Szczególnie istotny jest mechanizm oddzielający „swoich” od „obcych”, a więc konstytuujący wszelkie sfery aktywności, które z jednej strony są oczywistością kulturową, a z drugiej mogą być przyczyną wartościowania innych przez pryzmat tego, co jest możliwe do zaakceptowania. Stawiam tezę, że o tożsamości kulturowej decyduje ethnos, a dokładniej jego cztery elementy strukturalne : język, obyczaje, historia oraz religia. Stanowią one odrębne systemy, których (...) porządek wynika z korelacji zachodzących na poziomie interpretacyjnym. Szczególnie ważna w tej strukturze jest religia, która zabarwia emocjonalnie pozostałe elementy wierzeniami w istnienie rzeczywistości pozaempirycznej, a sądy i przekonania obowiązujące w grupie etnicznej lub narodowej czyni podstawowymi dla ukonkretnienia tożsamości kulturowej. (shrink)

In this philosophically sophisticated and historically significant work, John H. Zammito reconstructs Kant's composition of The Critique of Judgment and reveals that it underwent three major transformations before publication. He shows that Kant not only made his "cognitive" turn, expanding the project from a "Critique of Taste" to a Critique of Judgment but he also made an "ethical" turn. This "ethical" turn was provoked by controversies in German philosophical and religious culture, in particular the writings of Johann Herder and the (...) Sturm und Drang movement in art and science, as well as the related pantheism controversy. Such topicality made the Third Critique pivotal in creating a "Kantian" movement in the 1790s, leading directly to German Idealism and Romanticism. The austerity and grandeur of Kant's philosophical writings sometimes make it hard to recognize them as the products of a historical individual situated in the particular constellation of his time and society. Here Kant emerges as a concrete historical figure struggling to preserve the achievements of cosmopolitan Aufkl-rung against challenges in natural science, religion, and politics in the late 1780s. More specifically Zammito suggests that Kant's Third Critique was animated throughout by a fierce personal rivalry with Herder and by a strong commitment to traditional Christian ideas of God and human moral freedom. "A work of extraordinary erudition. Zammito's study is both comprehensive and novel, connecting Kant's work with the aesthetic and religious controversies of the late eighteenth century. He seems to have read everything. I know of no comparable historical study of Kant's Third Critique."-Arnulf Zweig, translator and editor of Kant's ;IPhilosophical Correspondence, 1759-1799;X "An intricate, subtle, and exciting explanation of how Kant's thinking developed and adjusted to new challenges over the decade from the first edition of the Critique of Pure Reason to the appearance of the Critique of Judgment. "--John W. Burbidge, Review of Metaphysics "There has been for a long time a serious gap in English commentary on Kant's Critique of Judgment Zammito's book finally fills it. All students and scholars of Kant will want to consult it."--Frederick Beiser, Times Literary Supplement. (shrink)

Despite being far higher than, for example, Christianity, the claims of cosmopolitanism and universality, the desire to disassociate from national factors, Islam is still fully embedded in the conventional system of ethno-confessional syncretism, which, without disclosing in detail processes can be reduced to the following main components.

ABSTRACT As bioethics emerged in the 1960s and 1970s and began to have enormous impacts on the practice of medicine and research – fuelled, by broad socio‐political changes that gave rise to the struggle of women, African Americans, gay men and lesbians, and the antiauthoritarian impulse that characterised the New Left in democratic capitalist societies – little attention was given to the question of the ethics of public health. This was all the more striking since the core values and practices (...) of public health, often entailing the subordination of the individual for the common good, seemed opposed to the ideological impulses of bioethics. Of what relevance is autonomy‐focused bioethics for public health, with its mix of justifications including those that are either implicitly or explicitly paternalistic or that seek to impose strictures on individuals and communities in the name of collective welfare? To examine the deep divide between the central commitments of bioethics and the values that animate the practice of public health, we focus on a series of controversies implicating the concepts of privacy, liberty, and paternalism. Recognising the role of moral values in decision‐making was a signal contribution of bioethics in its formative period. Over the past three decades a broad array of perspectives emerged under the rubric of bioethics but individualism remains central. As we commence the process of shaping an ethics of public health, it is clear that bioethics is the wrong place to start when thinking about the balances required in defence of the public's health. (shrink)

Neo-Kantianism was an important movement in German philosophy of the late 19th century: Frederick Beiser traces its development back to the late 18th century, and explains its rise as a response to three major developments in German culture: the collapse of speculative idealism; the materialism controversy; and the identity crisis of philosophy.

Die religios-weltanschauliche Neutralitat ist der "Schlusselbegriff" des deutschen Religionsverfassungsrechts. Trotz seiner zentralen Stellung bestehen erhebliche Unsicherheiten uber den genauen Bedeutungsgehalt dieses Verfassungsgrundsatzes. Um eine moglichst ganzheitliche Betrachtung zu ermoglichen, nahert sich Elias Bornemann dem Neutralitatsgebot von mehreren Seiten. Er erarbeitet die historischen Grundlagen des Rechtsbegriffs, beleuchtet Bezuge zur politischen Philosophie und schafft rechtsdogmatische Anknupfungspunkte. Hierauf aufbauend werden in Rechtsprechung und Wissenschaft verschiedene Konzepte religios-weltanschaulicher Neutralitat identifiziert und sowohl auf ihre Verfassungsmassigkeit als auch ihre Leistungsfahigkeit hin untersucht. Die Ordnungs- und Analyseleistungen (...) dieser Arbeit sind damit Struktur und Anleitung fur die kunftige Diskussion uber das verfassungsrechtliche Verhaltnis von Staat und Religion. (shrink)

​This book focuses on the formation of human social consciousness and develops a naturalist approach to social normativity. Beginning from Marx's uncompleted concept of social consciousness, the book retrospects the studies about collective intentionality in the area of philosophy of mind and social ontology. Specifically, a reinterpretation of social consciousness with respect to collective intentionality can offer us a new, naturalistic approach to the social formation and normativity. According to the naturalistic approach, we can discern the inner structure of social (...) consciousness as a systematic pattern of Intentionality. Social consciousness involves three levels of development: subjective, objective and absolute. With this new pattern of social consciousness, the “naturalism” of the young Karl Marx can be revived. And by grasping the most essential ability of human Intentionality as the source of social formation, it also makes an interdisciplinary study of social philosophy and philosophy of mind possible. (shrink)

In the article, the vocabulary related to the wedding ceremony in the Pamiri languages is discussed. In particular, vocabulary reflecting the wedding ceremony in Ishkashimi language is almost unknown. In the Pamiri languages are still preserved all the traditional wedding ceremonies. The vocabulary associated with them is well-kept in full and is indigenous and sometimes borrowed. For the most, the terminology applied in the ritual is borrowed. Often the term is borrowed from Badakhshan dialect of the Tajik language. At the (...) same time, some Tajik words are used in specific meaning that is typical only to the dialect of Badakhshan and Dari language of Badakhshan in Afghanistan. This is mainly the vocabulary associated with traditional ways and procedures of the wedding ceremony. Some other words, such as sarbьzьrg ’to give respect, attention to mourners’, can be observed only in classical Persian literature. In view of the Islamization of the region the Arab terms are frequently used in rituals; they are associated with official terminology applied during the marriage process and designate its legal aspects. There are also Turkic lexis that was included into the dictionary because of language and cultural contacts in the region. It is significant that in the lexicon predominate metaphorical and descriptive ways of designation of the ceremonies. Remarkable specific vocabulary with original meaning is of particular use in the local minor Iranian languages in comparison with such major written national languages as Tajik language of Tajikistan and Dari Afghanistan. For example, in Ishkashimi language the word dumod is used only in the sense of ‘son-in-law‘, and in the meaning of ‘bridegroom‘ - only Å¡amard. Since the marriage and wedding ceremony has a special place in the spiritual culture of the people, the symbolic function is included into almost all the rites and ritual objects of it. During the ceremony, people wish of fertility, happiness, coming together and family well-being for the whole family and for the newlyweds. Thus, the terminology associated with these rites is preserved for a long time in the language; equally strong are numerous ritual prohibitions related to marriage. (shrink)

The sociological dimension of science is studied using the discovery of the Wasserman reaction and its accidental application as a test for syphilis as a basis, ...

Symbolic thought is what makes us human. Claude Lévi-Strauss stated that we can never know the genesis of symbolic thought, but in this powerful new study Alan Barnard argues that we can. Continuing the line of analysis initiated in Social Anthropology and Human Origins, Genesis of Symbolic Thought applies ideas from social anthropology, old and new, to understand some of the areas also being explored in fields as diverse as archaeology, linguistics, genetics and neuroscience. Barnard aims to answer (...) questions including: when and why did language come into being? What was the earliest religion? And what form did social organization take before humanity dispersed from the African continent? Rejecting the notion of hunter-gatherers as 'primitive', Barnard hails the great sophistication of the complex means of their linguistic and symbolic expression and places the possible origin of symbolic thought at as early as 130,000 years ago. (shrink)

În anul 1942 Pr. D. Stăniloae publica cartea Poziţia Domnului Blaga faţă de Creştinism şi Ortodoxie, o „reacţie” la ideile pe care filozoful Lucian Blaga le formulase în cărţile sale, mai ales în Trilogii. Atitudinea Pr. Stăniloae nu este singulară, dar este cea care a stârnit controverse dintre cele mai interesante. Ideile de bază ale acestei cărţi, ca şi ale articolelor ce s-au scris după, au în centrul lor definirea religiei şi caracteristicile fenomenului religios, poziţiile fiind diferite: teologică şi filozofică. (...) Deşi discuţiile nu au fost „prietenoase”, de multe ori ironia punându-şi pecetea pe scrisul celor antrenaţi în disputa de idei, consecinţele acestei controverse au avut o valoare pozitivă, punând faţă în faţă doi dintre cei mai mari gânditori români ce au creat în domenii diferite: teologic şi filozofic. (shrink)

'Io poi ho sempre pensato--scrive Henri Matisse nel 1935--che gran parte della bellezza di un quadro derivi dalla lotta impegnata dall'artista con i limiti del suo mezzo espressivo.'" Le sue parole riassumono bene il tema di questo libro, la lotta dell'artista con la materia dell'arte, dunque il ruolo fondamentale della costruzione concreta dell'arte rispetto all'idea. L'opera d'arte--una composizione, un romanzo, un dipinto, una scultura, un film--è il risultato di un atto intellettuale consapevole--dunque di un'idea--dove tuttavia entra in gioco l'azione concreta, (...) materiale del fare artistico, che inevitabilmente pervade e condiziona l'opera fin dal momento in cui essa inizia a prendere forma sul pentagramma, sulle righe, sulla tela, sulla pellicola. L'immagine iniziale o idea può mantenere inalterata la sua forza oppure trasformarsi nel corso del lavoro, ma il più delle volte serve soprattutto da stimolo, perché a poco a poco--come scrive Italo Calvino--la materia resta padrona del campo e offre il suo prezioso, indispensabile alimento all'immaginazione. È solo mentre si scrive o dipinge che la fantasia dona i suoi frutti, in astratto la materia è ancora troppo lontana per suggerire combinazioni, accostamenti, soluzioni, scoperte. Le testimonianze dei maggiori protagonisti delle arti del '900, qui ampiamente riportate, confermano nella sostanza la tesi del libro: anche il pittore più desideroso di trasmettere un messaggio e di contribuire attraverso la sua arte alla crescita civile della società, quando riflette sul proprio lavoro difficilmente può negare che l'opera sia il risultato talvolta inatteso di un percorso accidentato nel quale l'azione concreta, materiale del fare artistico entra in gioco giungendo in alcuni casi a modificare in modo radicale le intenzioni originali. L'arte--scrivono Fellini, Mirò, Calvino, Stravinsky e tanti altri--si fa facendola. Sul piano interpretativo ciò comporta un radicale ridimensionamento del ruolo messianico dell'artista, il quale spesso non ha alcuna intenzione o pretesa di comunicare qualcosa di fondamentale, è perso in questo mondo esattamente come tutti noi. 'Giornalisti curiosi e amatori di pittura'--scrive Picasso--vengono a vederci per trarre da noi verità dogmatiche o definizioni che potrebbero spiegare loro la nostra arte, mettendo in rilievo il suo valore pedagogico, valore che io nego categoricamente. Noi facciamo della pittura. Vorrebbero forse che, per aggiunta, noi fossimo fabbricanti di verità e di massime?'"--Back cover. (shrink)

O texto apresenta uma perspectiva cristológica plural na relação interreligiosa, a partir da visão de que cada expressão religiosa tem a sua proposta salvífica e de fé que devem ser aceitas, respeitadas, valorizadas e aprimoradas a partir de um diálogo e aproximação mútuas. Tal perspectiva não anula nem diminui o valor das identidades religiosas - no caso da fé cristã, a importância de Cristo -, mas leva-as a um aprofundamento e amadurecimento, movidos pelo diálogo e pela confrontação justa, amável e (...) corresponsável. Assim, a fé cristã, por exemplo, seria reinterpretada a partir do confronto dialógico e criativo com as demais fés. O mesmo deve se dar com toda e qualquer tradição religiosa. Consideramos que tal visão, em certo sentido, supera outros modelos como aquele que considera Jesus Cristo e a Igreja como caminho exclusivo de salvação; o que considera Jesus Cristo como caminho de salvação para todos, ainda que implicitamente, o que se denominou inclusivismo; e a perspectiva relativista na qual Jesus é o caminho para os cristãos, enquanto para os outros o caminho é a sua própria tradição, sem maiores esforços de autocríticas, revisões e mútua interpelação. Na visão pluralista, os elementos chaves da vivência religiosa e humana em geral são alteridade, respeito à diferença e o diálogo e cooperação prática e ética em torno da busca da justiça, da paz e do bem-comum. A aproximação e o diálogo entre grupos de distintas expressões religiosas cooperam para que elas possam construir ou reconstruir suas identidades e princípios fundantes. Palavras-Chave : Teologia das religiões. Cristologia pluralista. Diálogo inter-religioso. Asbtract This essay presents a plural Christological perspective towards inter-religious relationships, from the perspective that every religious expression has its own faith and salvific proposal that should be accepted, respected, properly valued and improved through mutual approach and dialogue. Such perspective does not negate nor diminishes the value of religious identities – in the case of the Christian faith, the importance of Christ – but leads them to deepen and mature themselves, being moved by dialogue and fair confrontation, one that is loving and co-responsible. Thus, the Christian faith, for instance, would be reinterpreted by means of creative dialogical confrontation vis-a-vis other faiths. The same should take place with each and every religious tradition. We consider that this understanding, in a certain way, supersedes other models such as that which considers Jesus Christ and the Church as the only and exclusive means of salvation; the one that considers Jesus Christ as the way of salvation for everyone, even if implicitly stated, what has been termed as inclusivism; and the relativistic perspective, in which Jesus is the way for Christians, while for others the way is their own tradition, without greater efforts on self-criticism, self-revision and mutual interpellation. In the pluralist perspective, the key elements of religious life and human life in general are alterity, respect for differences, dialogue and mutual practical and ethical cooperation for justice and common well-being. The mutual approach and dialogue between groups belonging to distinct religious expressions cooperate in order for them to construct or reconstruct their identities and founding principles. Keywords: Theology of religions. Pluralist Christology. Inter-religious dialogue. (shrink)

La religión ha sido objeto de estudio por parte de distintas disciplinas. En examen crítico se presentan aquí aportaciones de ciencia al conocimiento de ella. El adepto de una religión rara vez la examina o se autoexamina. No suele conocer su propia religiosidad. Le asusta pensar que esta es un hecho humano, al igual que otros, no sobrenatural. Pero es así. Los hechos de religión pueden ser no solo descritos, sino también explicados, al igual que otros hechos sociales. Hubo y (...) hay factores históricos, sociales, psicológicos, antropológicos, que los han suscitado. El libro es un estudio no confesional de la religión, el cual difiere de la teología tanto como la química difiere de la alquimia; y en él se toma nota de la pérdida de relevancia de lo religioso en el Occidente moderno. (Fuente: La Casa del Libro). (shrink)

Apesar dos estudos sobre o tema das religiões de matrizes africanas já realizados no país, ainda subsiste o desconhecimento e a discriminação em relação a elas, por parte significativa da população brasileira. Não obstante a produção existente é imperativa a necessidade de novas abordagens e perspectivas de análise. Esse é o objetivo desta Comunicação: traduzir numa linguagem clara e fundamentada as práticas rituais, a configuração do espaço sagrado e o culto as divindades do panteão africano, especificamente do Candomblé. O texto (...) apresenta uma compreensão e interpretação do sistema religioso dessa religião, tendo como base pesquisa recente realizada nos terreiros do município de Contagem, região metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Finalmente, o trabalho reconhece a complexidade do universo simbólico ora apresentado, reafirmando a necessidade de novos estudos sobre o tema, a fim de tornar esse universo compreensível e cada vez mais familiar. Tarefa não muito fácil, mas necessária enquanto exigência legal e democrática do direito de culto de todos os cidadãos. Palavras-chave : Candomblé. Terreiro. Orixá. Iniciação. Mitos.Although studies on the subject of African Brazilian religions, there still remains the ignorance and discrimination towards them for a significant part of the population. Notwithstanding the existing production, new approaches and perspectives of analysis are needed. For this purpose, the present study translates into clear language some ritual practices, the configuration of the sacred space and worship performed to the deities of the African pantheon, specifically the Candomblé. The text presents an analysis and interpretation of the religious system of that religion, based on a recent survey conducted in the “terreiros” of Contagem, a metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Finally, the paper acknowledges the complexity of the symbolic universe of that region and reaffirms the need for further research on the topic, in order to make this reality understandable and increasingly familiar. This task is not easy, but it is necessary as a legal requirement and also as a democratic right of worship for all citizens. Keywords: Candomblé. Terreiro. Orisha. Initiation. Myths. (shrink)

This essay offers a critical reading of Japan’s attempt to craft a modern identity. Eschewing the conventions of most scholarly writings, however, the essay builds on a personal history of political and intellectual engagement with key figures in post-war Japan to outline a counter-narrative about the ethno-politics of contemporary Japan. In distinction to both Orientalist and Occidentalist versions of Japanese modernity, the essay draws attention to the invidious return of notions of ethnic supremacy in Abe Shinzo’s con­temporary state project (...) and the occlusion of a long-standing tradition in Japan of pluralistic co-existence among diverse communities. In drawing attention to the occlusions shaped by the entanglements of Japanese colonialism and state-building with American hegemony, this essay attempts to locate practices of exclusion within Japan (and vis-à-vis its Asian neighbors) in an account of what the essay contends is a civilizational project, best thought of as “Smart Occidentalism”, dominant in in contemporary Japan. (shrink)

This article examines the extent to which ethno-religious conflicts have affected sustainable development in Nigeria. The destruction of lives and property by reckless ethnic and religious extremists has been a challenging key factor to sustainable development in Nigeria. This article aims to reflect on the ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria from an epistemological point of view, ascertain the major causes of these conflicts and seek solutions to address the root causes. The article concludes that religious intolerance among Nigerians from (...) different religious groups is the result of the misinterpretation of religious teachings of the leaders of terrorist groups to their followers and that ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria affect sustainable development as they lead to loss of lives and destruction of property, among others. It is also indicated that the effects of ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria lead to an increase in the unemployment rate, withdrawal of foreign investments and education imbalance. The article concludes by arguing that ethnicity and religious crises are unhealthy for the nation’s sustainable development and that no price paid in the direction of resolving these conflicts can be considered to be too much. It is recommended that religious leaders form the minds of Nigerians with the teaching of love and peace, as it is proclaimed in their various religious books and beliefs.Contribution: This article brought to light the major factors instigating continuous ethno-religious conflict in Nigeria that has led to much social unrest. Theological reflection of the influence of religion in promoting peaceful coexisting environment was analysed. This work would be of immense benefit to religious bodies, government, civil society and students. (shrink)

Na atual discussão sobre a importância de equilibrar a necessidade humana de intervir sobre a natureza com a nossa responsabilidade na preservação da vida no planeta, as chamadas religiões da terra ou religiões da natureza aportam uma contribuição fundamental. Visando explorar essas relações, este artigo discute o impacto causado pelo processo de dessacralização do mundo na percepção do homem em relação ao mundo natural. Nesta linha, contrapõe a atitude teísta (característica das chamadas "religiões do livro") à perspectiva cosmobiológica presente nas (...) religiões da terra. Em seguida, o texto explora a concepção anímica de natureza e de mundo, compartilhada por essas últimas, destacando a sua concepção de uma natureza viva e a intuição de um parentesco entre o homem e os demais seres. Como exemplos desta postura, o texto apresenta algumas características presentes tanto nas religiões afro-brasileiras quanto nas tradições neo-pagãs. A guisa de conclusão apresenta uma reflexão sobre as relações entre religião e ambientalismo e sobre a possível contribuição que a cosmovisão presente nas religiões da terra pode trazer para o movimento ecológico. Palavras-chave: Religião; Natureza; Ecologia; Animismo.In the present discussion on the importance of balancing the human need for intervening in Nature with our responsibility to preserve life on the Planet, the so-called Earth Religions or Nature Religions play a fundamental role. With a view to exploring these relationships, this paper discusses the impact caused by the process of desacralising the human beings perception of the world in relation to Nature. Along these lines, the theistic attitude (characteristic of the so-called Book Religions) is opposed to the cosmobiological perspective, present in the Earth Religions. Following on this, the paper explores the animistic concept of Nature and the World shared by these religions. Furthermore, this work addresses to the animic conception of nature and world, shared by the cosmobiologic perspective, highlighting its conception of a live nature and the feeling of a bond between all live been as well as humans. With some example, the work shows some characteristics shared by the afrobrazilian religions and neopaganist traditions. To conclude, we present a reflection on the relationship between Religion and Environmentalism and on the possible contribution that the cosmovision present in the Earth Religions may bring to the Ecology Movement. Key words : Religion; Nature; Ecology; Animism. (shrink)