The religious hermeneutics of Gerhard Oberhammer and the investigation of the philosophical traditions of India

Gerhard Oberhammer (1929-), austriacki indolog i filozof religii, stworzył systemowy wykład transcendentalnej hermeneutyki religii, służący dogłębnym analizom i interpretacjom tego zjawiska. Wypracowana przez Oberhammera sieć pojęć współtworzących teoretyczne podstawy hermeneutyki religii/religijności, służy fenomenologiczno-egzystencjalnym analizom tak zuniwersalizowanego fenomenu religijnego doświadczenia, jak i sposobu, w jaki się on "wydarza" w swoich konkretyzacjach w określonych tradycjach religijnych. W trzech częściach niniejszego artykułu znalazły się, odpowiednio: intelektualna biografia Oberhammera, zarys systemu transcendentalnej hermeneutyki religii oraz możliwe pola jej zastosowania w odniesieniu do filozoficznych tradycji Indii.Gerhard Oberhammer (1929-), the Austrian Indologist and philosopher of religion, developed the transcendental hermeneutics of religion as an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of religiosity. One of its themes is a religious experience in a comparative perspective. In order to conduct the phenomenological-existential analysis of what religious experience is and how it happens, Oberhammer develops a network of notions, which jointly create a coherent system of religious hermeneutics. The notion of the “encounter” (Begegnung), interpreted as a universally essential dimension of religious experience, explains the event of experiencing transcendence by the subject and is pivotal to the system. The introductory part of the article is meant to sketch the intellectual biography of Gerhard Oberhammer, with the aim to provide concise information about the profile of the thinker. In the second part the outline of the system of the transcendental hermeneutics of religion will be introduced, in a wider context of possible affinities to other thinkers. Lastly, the applicability of the hermeneutics to philosophical traditions of India will be considered

Learning English pronunciation in and outside the classroom: Psychopedagogic considerations

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Mary Grace and the Warthog from Hell: Violent Redemption in Flannery O’Connor’s “Revelation”

Scholarship on the works of Flannery O’Connor is divided concerning her depiction of divine grace as a violent force. Some scholars worry that her insistence on the violence of grace makes God a violent God or excuses the pain and brokenness of the world. Despite the arguments of those who oppose O’Connor’s view of violent grace, this paper will argue that O’Connor is right to depict violence in her short stories because, although it might be counterintuitive to think of divine grace wounding before it heals, being torn from an old life of sin is painful. While not excusing violence or the perpetrators of violent acts, O’Connor’s theology shows how God uses violence for God’s purpose, making the effects of brokenness in this imperfect world into conduits for divine perfection and wholeness. This paper makes this argument through a close reading of O’Connor’s short story “Revelation,” along with examinations of O’Connor’s essays. O’Connor not only shows violence in her stories, but enacts a mimicry of violence upon the reader through her use of the grotesque. The idea of violence therefore permeates the shape of the narrative and the relationship between writer and reader

Training of the Educators of Preschool Educational Institutions to the Authenticity Formation of the Preschoolers

The development of the personality-oriented model of the Ukrainian education system based on the principle of child-centeredness, maximum consideration of the abilities, needs and interests of each child, its age-specific features of physical, mental and mental development actualizes the problem of the formation and development of authenticity of preschoolers. The essence of the author's technology of authenticity facilitation of the preschooler's personality as a system of scientifically substantiated procedures for the gradual development of the educational process in the unity of content, principles, methods, forms, organizational and pedagogical conditions for the interaction of its subjects, the purpose of which is the ability of the preschooler's personality to live in harmony with its inner world, to act without changing your true "I". The technology is aimed at helping each child to realize itself as a self-worth, knowledge of its capabilities and natural potential in all spheres of life. The totality of the motivational-value, cognitive, operational and reflexive-personal criteria and their corresponding indicators for diagnosing the level of readiness of teachers of pre-school education institutions to form the authenticity of pupils are presented. The results of approbation of the author's elective course for the system of postgraduate pedagogical education "Theoretical and practical bases for the authenticity formation of preschoolers" are presented for the training of teachers of pre-school institutions for the effective implementation of this process

Opioid Receptors in Immune and Glial Cells-Implications for Pain Control

Opioid receptors comprise μ (MOP), δ (DOP), κ (KOP), and nociceptin/orphanin FQ (NOP) receptors. Opioids are agonists of MOP, DOP, and KOP receptors, whereas nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) is an agonist of NOP receptors. Activation of all four opioid receptors in neurons can induce analgesia in animal models, but the most clinically relevant are MOP receptor agonists (e.g., morphine, fentanyl). Opioids can also affect the function of immune cells, and their actions in relation to immunosuppression and infections have been widely discussed. Here, we analyze the expression and the role of opioid receptors in peripheral immune cells and glia in the modulation of pain. All four opioid receptors have been identified at the mRNA and protein levels in immune cells (lymphocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, macrophages) in humans, rhesus monkeys, rats or mice. Activation of leukocyte MOP, DOP, and KOP receptors was recently reported to attenuate pain after nerve injury in mice. This involved intracellular Ca2+-regulated release of opioid peptides from immune cells, which subsequently activated MOP, DOP, and KOP receptors on peripheral neurons. There is no evidence of pain modulation by leukocyte NOP receptors. More good quality studies are needed to verify the presence of DOP, KOP, and NOP receptors in native glia. Although still questioned, MOP receptors might be expressed in brain or spinal cord microglia and astrocytes in humans, mice, and rats. Morphine acting at spinal cord microglia is often reported to induce hyperalgesia in rodents. However, most studies used animals without pathological pain and/or unconventional paradigms (e.g., high or ultra-low doses, pain assessment after abrupt discontinuation of chronic morphine treatment). Therefore, the opioid-induced hyperalgesia can be viewed in the context of dependence/withdrawal rather than pain management, in line with clinical reports. There is convincing evidence of analgesic effects mediated by immune cell-derived opioid peptides in animal models and in humans. Together, MOP, DOP, and KOP receptors, and opioid peptides in immune cells can ameliorate pathological pain. The relevance of NOP receptors and N/OFQ in leukocytes, and of all opioid receptors, opioid peptides and N/OFQ in native glia for pain control is yet to be clarified