Relational Interreligious Dialogue: Interdisciplinary Arguments from Creator/Creature Theology and Quantum Entanglement

Globalization, technological advances, and worldviews that perceive religious others with suspicion, all intensify society’s awareness of religious plurality and the subsequent necessity for effective interreligious dialogue. Engaging in interreligious dialogue through daily encounters, conversations, common concerns, and shared religious experiences advances religious pluralism. Nevertheless, the current state of interreligious dialogue is at an impasse; its existing substantive ontological approaches introduce, perpetuate, or worsen challenges of hegemony, elitism, and marginalization, as well as tensions between the diametric goals of religious unity versus unique religious identity. Substantive ontological models emphasize religious autonomy instead of any relational connections between religious traditions. These prevalent methods hinder effective interreligious dialogue. In response, this project proposes relational ontology as a constructive method to address existing issues within interreligious dialogue. Relational ontology asserts that reality is being as being–in–relation. By employing relational ontology, interreligious dialogue participants recognize their fundamental interconnected unity while respecting each religious tradition’s particularity. Moreover, relationality assists in neutralizing power inequalities and marginalization. To illustrate relational ontology and explain its advantages for interreligious dialogue, this project evaluates the models of quantum entanglement and Christianity’s Creator/creation relationship. Placing interdisciplinary perspectives from science and religion in dialogue essentially instantiates the project’s methodology, it validates relational ontology as an effective method for improving the effectiveness of interreligious dialogue

Autocoscienza, stati di cose, fondazionalismo e descrittivismo

Riassunto: Un’ontologia di stati di cose come quella difesa da Armstrong, che gode di largo credito in filosofia analitica, può facilmente condurre a (i) una nozione del sé come ente che un soggetto può cogliere direttamente, e (ii) una forma di fondazionalismo epistemologico che permette giudizi in prima persona privati e incorreggibili. A prima vista tuttavia vi è tensione tra questa combinazione di dottrine e un approccio descrittivista alla semantica degli indicali, in particolare del pronome “io”. Il fondazionalismo non è forse la teoria epistemologica maggiormente seguita e lo stesso può dirsi del descrittivismo riguardo agli indicali. Ciò nondimeno entrambe hanno i loro sostenitori e molte ragioni per farsi preferire. Vale la pena quindi di indagare se la tensione in questione è reale o solo apparente. Si argomenta a favore della seconda opzione, sfruttando la distinzione di fregeana tra il pronome “io” della comunicazione e il pronome “io” del soliloquio.Parole chiave: Autoriferimento; Autocoscienza; Stati di cose; Descrittivismo; Fondazionalismo Self-consciousness, States of Affairs, Foundationalism, and DescriptivismAbstract: An ontology of states of affairs such as that defended by Armstrong is currently very fashionable since it can easily lead (i) to an ontologically robust notion of the self as an entity that a subject can directly apprehend and (ii) to a form of epistemological foundationalism that allows for private and incorrigible first-person judgments. At first glance however there is a tension between this combination of doctrines and a descriptivist approach to the semantics of indexicals, in particular the indexical pronoun “I”. Foundationalism is not perhaps the standard approach in epistemology. Similarly, Descriptivism is not nowadays the standard account of indexicals. Nevertheless, both doctrines have their own supporters and many good reasons to be preferred. It is thus worth investigating whether the tension in question is real or only apparent. This paper argues in favor of the latter option, by taking advantage of a Fregean distinction between the “I” of communication and the “I” of soliloquy.Keywords: Self-reference; Self-consciousness; States of Affairs; Descriptivism; Foundationalis

Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy [ISSEI – XVI International Conference]

This digital publication consists of a selection of 56 papers presented at the 16th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI), held at the University of Zaragoza, 2-5 July 2019, the general theme of which was ‘Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy’. Sponsored by The Aragonese Association of Sociology, the conference was well-attended – 170 participants from 28 countries met to discuss a wide variety of topics in 29 workshops. The feedback we received from participants confirmed that they had greatly enjoyed the venue of the conference, that they appreciated the warm welcome they had received and the congenial social atmosphere and opportunity to attend workshops on subjects that were not only in their own field of expertise. No one, of course, could have predicted that our world – our work and life as individuals, as communities and as nations – would change so suddenly and radically eighteen months after the conference, with the rapid and devastating spread of the Convid-19 pandemic. The current deepening global crisis along with the challenge of climate change and growing international tensions are a stark reminder of how vulnerable our societies, our civilization, and our species are. The shocks and aftershocks of these crises are felt today in every corner of the world and in every aspect of our global and local economies, and most obviously in the sociopolitical arena. As several of the conference workshops on the multiple crises Europe and the world face today – from the migrant crisis to the rise of populism and deepening inequality between rich and poor – showed – and as the Covid-19 pandemic has so cruelly brought home to us – we simply cannot take the achievements of human civilization for granted and must find ways to meet the fundamental social and political needs of human beings not only in our own neighborhoods, cities and countries, but ultimately in the world as a whole: their living conditions, livelihoods, social services, education and healthcare, human rights and political representation. Several of the workshops, as I mentioned, directly addressed these issues and emphasized the need for building social resilience based on tolerance, solidarity and equity. This too is why, as academics, we should continue to initiate and engage in collective reflection and debate on how to foster and strengthen human communities and human solidarity. Finally, I want to thank the participants and workshop chairs for their contribution to the success of the conference. It was a pleasure for me to work with the university organizing team and with ISSEI’s team in bringing this about, and I am particularly proud that my university and the city of Zaragoza hosted this conference

La théorie des tropes comme solution au problème de l'exclusion causale

Dans ce mémoire il est question d'une position ontologique, la théorie des tropes, et de son application à une question centrale en philosophie de l'esprit : l'efficacité causale du mental. Nous présentons d'abord le problème de l'exclusion causale formulé par Jaegwon Kim afin de mettre en évidence les enjeux liés à cette question. L'argument a la forme d'un ensemble de thèses jugé inconsistant, et l'idée est de comprendre et de résoudre cette inconsistance, en rejetant l'une ou l'autre des thèses ou encore en clarifiant certains concepts mobilisés dans celles-ci. Une fois les thèses présentées et la contradiction expliquée, nous procédons à un tour d'horizon des solutions possibles, et nous nous arrêtons particulièrement sur la famille de solutions qui nous intéresse : le réductionnisme. Dans le second chapitre, nous présentons la théorie de tropes, position ontologique qui propose de désambiguïser le terme « propriété » afin de montrer qu'il est fréquemment utilisé pour désigner deux concepts différents. La propriété comme particulier d'une part, vue comme une entité unique, caractérisant une chose (la forme de cette pomme) ; et la propriété comme universel d'autre part, c'est-à-dire comme élément faisant le lien entre plusieurs choses semblant partager une même caractéristique (la couleur de ces deux livres, par exemple). La théorie des tropes affirme que le premier concept réfère aux tropes, des particuliers abstraits qui constitueraient l'ensemble de la réalité, et le second aux classes de ressemblance - des ensembles de tropes remplissant des rôles causaux identiques. Nous présentons donc ces deux concepts en détail. Enfin, dans le dernier chapitre, nous discutons les succès et les limites de cette approche. Nous commençons par montrer qu'il s'agit d'une position ontologique pertinente et légitime, puisqu'elle répond aux critiques métaphysiques qui lui sont adressées, et qu'elle est compatible avec une position cohérente en philosophie des sciences. Nous montrons ensuite comment David Robb et John Heil proposent d'utiliser la théorie des tropes pour formuler une position réductionniste en philosophie de l'esprit. Il s'agit de clarifier l'utilisation du terme « propriété » au fil de l'argument de l'exclusion, afin de résoudre la contradiction à laquelle il mène. Nous voyons ensuite que la théorie des tropes permet au réductionnisme d'échapper à l'une de ses plus vives critiques (l'argument de la réalisabilité multiple). Finalement, nous répondons à une critique de cette solution, qui suggère un retour du problème de l'exclusion au niveau des classes de ressemblance

The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement

This pioneering handbook proposes an approach to pluralism that is relational, principled, and non-relativistic, going beyond banal calls for mere ""tolerance."" The growing religious diversity within societies around the world presents both challenges and opportunities. A degree of competition between deeply held religious/worldview perspectives is natural and inevitable, yet at the same time the world urgently needs engagement and partnership across lines of difference. None of the world’s most pressing problems can be solved by any single actor, and as such it is not a question of if but when you partner with an individual or institution that does not think, act, or believe as you do. The authors argue that religious literacy—defined as a dynamic combination of competencies and skills, continuously refined through real-world cross-cultural engagement—is vital to building societies and states of neighborly solidarity and civic fairness. Through examination, reflection, and case studies across multiple faith traditions and professional fields, this handbook equips scholars and students, as well as policymakers and practitioners, to assess, analyze, and act collaboratively in a world of deep diversity. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

Towards establishing an epistemological position for library and information science

Bibliography: leaves 497-531.This study examines the need for and value of a theory of knowledge for library and information science that would account for the 'Ways in which given philosophical assumptions lead to certain modes of professional practice and styles of academic research. Since given theoretical standpoints influence the nature of library practice and tend to structure the way in which library and information science research is conducted, this investigation focuses on an analysis of the fundamental conceptions of knowledge, information, truth and reality in the context of the unique complex of functions of this profession. The main method applied in this study is a representative consultation and review of the literatures of library and information science, and of a few cognate or classical fields of study. A special focus is the examination and analysis of the writings of more than 40 selected library and information science theorists, as well as those of non-librarians. The inductively-derived results of this examination are reflected in analytical typologies. The holistic intellectual tradition that underlies the presumed continuities and commonalities in the typologies is developed as a framework for developing suitable criteria to establish and evaluate an appropriate epistemological position for library and information science. An epistemological position called holistic perspectivism is proposed as one which satisfies the postulated criteria. A graphic model of this position is explained as a means of demonstrating the application of holistic perspectivism in given areas of the knowledge-transfer role of library and information science

The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement

This pioneering handbook proposes an approach to pluralism that is relational, principled, and non-relativistic, going beyond banal calls for mere ""tolerance."" The growing religious diversity within societies around the world presents both challenges and opportunities. A degree of competition between deeply held religious/worldview perspectives is natural and inevitable, yet at the same time the world urgently needs engagement and partnership across lines of difference. None of the world’s most pressing problems can be solved by any single actor, and as such it is not a question of if but when you partner with an individual or institution that does not think, act, or believe as you do. The authors argue that religious literacy—defined as a dynamic combination of competencies and skills, continuously refined through real-world cross-cultural engagement—is vital to building societies and states of neighborly solidarity and civic fairness. Through examination, reflection, and case studies across multiple faith traditions and professional fields, this handbook equips scholars and students, as well as policymakers and practitioners, to assess, analyze, and act collaboratively in a world of deep diversity. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

Quantum-Mechanical Statistics and the Inclusivist Approach to the Nature of Particulars

1There have been attempts to derive anti-haeccetistic conclusions from the fact that quantum mechanics (QM) appeals to non-standard statistics. Since in fact QM acknowledges two kinds of such statistics, Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac, I argue that we could in the same vein derive the sharper anti-haeccetistic conclusion that bosons are bundles of tropes and fermions are bundles of universals. Moreover, since standard statistics is still appropriate at the macrolevel, we could also venture to say that no anti-haecceitistic conclusion is warranted for ordinary objects, which could then tentatively be identified with substrates. In contrast to this, however, there has been so far no acknowledgement of the possibility of inclusivism, according to which ontological accounts of particulars as widely different as those can possibly coexist in one world picture. The success of the different statistics in physics at least calls for a revision in this respect.reservedF. ORILIAOrilia, Francesc

Open to Suggestion: Ordering, Risk and Invention in Community Mental Health Work

Accounts of contemporary mental health policy and practice are contested and diverse. Yet they tend to share an implicit ontological commitment to a logic or 'register' of specialism. That is, they fundamentally assume the existence of a range of professional and disciplinary activities designated by 'mental health work' may be unproblematically divided off from other areas of social activity and relations. In this thesis I contrast the register of specialism to a register of suggestion. Firstly, this notion evokes comparatively neglected aspects of the histories that condition present-day practice. More importantly, making primary recourse throughout the thesis to the work of A.N. Whitehead as inspiration and lure, I argue that suggestion offers a fertile conceptual device that problematises subject-predicate modes of thought underpinning 'specialist' accounts. Moreover my approach opens up inter-connections and contingencies between mental health work and the affective as well as socio-technical dimensions of everyday life. The thesis draws on empirical material gathered during a six-month ethnographic study of a multidisciplinary Community Mental Health Team in London. Using the contrast between suggestion and specialism as a key conceptual device I focus on team members' experience of risk and of the tension between crisis and routine and on the ways in which they participate in the constant reconfiguration of order within their day-to-day work. I will argue that regarding workers as constantly and fundamentally 'open to suggestion' not only allows otherwise neglected and creative aspects of practice to emerge to the fore. It also raises important methodological and epistemological questions concerning processes of social change and (insofar as adoption of the register of suggestion bears implications for the notion of an ethnographic sensibility) for the enterprise of social research itself. Thus the thesis reaches beyond the remit of mental health work as conventionally interpreted. It resonates with established and contemporary controversies within social theory around methodological challenges and limitations and within the sociology of health and medicine around the nature of therapeutic change. It is posited simultaneously as directly relevant to practitioners and policy-makers working in the mental health field and as an intervention in these ongoing social-theoretical debates

Embracing Maturity: An Ignatian Christian Leadership Formation Model for Emerging Adults

The research of this project is concentrated on the integration of the disciplines of leadership, developmental psychology, and spiritual formation to inform a nine-month Christian leadership formation process for postmodern emerging adults. As the Staff Development Facilitator for an Outdoor Science Camp ministry (OSS), my task is twofold: (1) In regards to our mission, I aspire to help staff members develop leadership skills that prepare them to be excellent experiential educators; (2) in regards to formation, I desire to facilitate relevant spiritual growth for emerging adults. I believe the overlapping and pragmatic connection between these two goals is the art of discernment. While attempting to engage in a discussion on discernment, I have found that emerging adults struggle with proverbial “rocks” of plurality, development, and disconnection in the “soil” of their hearts in a cultural context that differs from the one that shaped my own formation process. This has provoked the question of, “How do I facilitate Christian leadership formation of emerging adults in a way that communicates to their postmodern context?” I believe the answer to this question can be found in the monastic methodology synthesized in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius provides an image of embracing life rather than resisting it and a means based upon an experiential pedagogy that draws upon both the rational and experience for meaning making. Its ecumenical approach provides a way for emerging adults to participate in a commitment to theosis, explore communal Scripture reading, and grow in maturity as participants learn to pray through both exterior and interior means, and in time, will discern who they are and where they belong together in the embodied, shalom- filled, and freedom giving, mission of God. In the following pages, I will extrapolate these concepts and indicate how they can be utilized for the leadership formation of emerging adults in a Western American and postmodern context