Comparative Religion

This article explores the use of Meister Eckhart in both classical phenomenology (Husserl, Scheler, Stein, Heidegger) and more recent post-phenomenologists, Reiner Schürmann, Jacques Derrida, and Jean-Luc Marion, who wrestle with the meaning of negative theology in the tradition of Dionysius the Areopagite. Eckhart conceives of both God and human nature as ›nothingness‹ in different ways. I explore the Eckhartian notion of nothingness and connect it with that of Eriugena. I suggest that phenomenology could benefit from a more thorough appreciation of the Dionysian tradition of negative theology and its account of being and nothingness.

This paper intends to study the role of Dr. B.R Ambedkar in the emancipation of women in the Indian society. It would highlight and analyze the status of women in the social context from the ancient to contemporary period. Women empowerment is a process in which women gain greater share of material, finances, knowledge and decision making in the society. From time immemorial, women have been subordinated and oppressed by man in the patriarchal Indian society. He has always been known as a messiah for Dalit community. As the chairman of Drafting Committee of the Constitution he left a deep imprint on the Indian polity by laying a kind of social foundation that is sensitive to disadvantaged and weaker sections of the society. He had the highest academic credential for an Indian of his time, and his work and scholarship have been widely acknowledged. He rejected Brahmanism for one major reason which was the fact, that, women were put to the lowest rung of humanity and were treated as objects of entertainment. His everlasting devotion towards securing equal status for women is commendable and admired. Section I of the paper deals with the literary contribution of Ambedkar and historical problems faced by women in different phases of time. The paper further discusses the role of Ambedkar for the betterment of women's condition in Indian society.

This chapter discusses the unsettling issue of how investigation processes in pursuit of uncovering the most horrifying terror plots in the history of Bangladesh are politicized in order to bring opposition party members into the spotlight, and how inefficient trial processes lead to innocent people getting harassed. Even more troubling, the anti-terrorism laws that were enacted, the counterterrorism agencies that were put in place, and the surveillance technologies acquired in the last two decades in the name of fighting terrorism have eventually helped normalize violations of privacy rights and human rights. Moreover, the ruling regime attempts to portray the main opposition party as a mere terrorist group but declares itself as the only reliable partner in the global war on terror in order to maintain support from regional powers like India and Western powers in general. It is therefore impossible to ignore the links between the politics of counterterrorism and Bangladesh’s authoritarian rule. Accordingly, the laudatory discourse about Bangladesh’s apparent success in combatting terrorism ought to be studied with caution.

This paper endeavors to excavate Cioran's metaphysics of time as emerging from a critique of Nietzsche's view(s) of eternal return. Thereby, I argue against reducing Cioran to a self-contradictory and destructive thinker with stylistic qualities but on the margins of philosophical debates, particularly those on the question of time. To retrieve Cioran's understanding of time, my innovative method is to assemble his disordered aphorisms under the light of Nietzsche's angle in order to unearth Cioran intimate spiritual journey on the question of time. I conclude that if Cioran's coherence has eluded scholarly investigation it is because his identified stance is intricately intertwined with his secretive and agnostic theological quest. I introduce and advocate for a "wandering paradigm" on Cioran metaphysics in order to deconstruct what I refer to as the "sedentary paradigm" derived from the nihilist or Nietzschean interpretation.

The difference between classes has a long history. India is not like this, regardless of the outcome. This is evidenced by the historical records of the evolution of the social lives of the people in every country. It is not incorrect to conclude from this that it arises out of need and is then worn as a stigma by the people. The Aryans' Varnavyawashtha (Class differentiation) also demonstrates this. Once constructed by Aryans for the benefit of their civilization and as a means of security against "Anaryans," the system of class differentiation has taken on the form of a monstrous evil. On the one hand, Aryans continued to consume local and foreign Anaryans indiscriminately, while on the other hand, their own organ began to deteriorate. As a consequence, the style of life of the country's citizens and the mixing of castes continued.

Книгата Топогравија, тактика во природни услови првенствено е наменета за обука на „припадниците на безбедносните сили: припадниците на армијата на Република Македонија, полициските сили на МВР, припадниците на агенциите за обезбедување на имоти и лица како и на студентите за детективи и безбедност со цел запознавање со основи на топографијата и географски информациски систем како и сите припадници на безбедносните сили, студентивда се квалификуваат за основните вештини за извршување на специјални задачи и да се изврши квалитативна проценка на психовизичката способност и подобност за извршување на специјални операции. Со проучувањето на содржината на оваа книга и практично вежбање во природни услови треба да стекнат познавање од: Топографија, со што ќе научат да се ориентираат во просторот како и да се движат по познато и непознато земјиште, киристејќи карта, бусола и GPS. Тактика на мали единици, со што ќе се обучуваат и оспособуваат во тактиките, техниките и процедурите на мали ед...

This contribution discusses the agricultural units defined as gardens (giš-kiri 6 or giš-nu-kiri 6) in the archive of Palace G at Ebla. Here, gardens can be understood as consisting of fruit tree groves, although the available documentation does not offer many hints at the kinds of crops cultivated in these plots. Indeed, most evidence rather concerns the relevant workers, among which can be distinguished proper "gardeners" (giš-nu-kiri 6), that is, adult male skilled workers; "apprentice gardeners" (dumu-nita giš-nu-kiri 6), who could be the sons of gardeners; and, sporadically, also women (dam). Individuals from both foreign and local centers are classified as gardeners. Indeed, garden produce was not simply conceived as foodstuffs for consumption, but also as delicacies employed within diplomacy between states.

Mindfulness practices adapted from Theravada Buddhism have become widespread among many in Western societies who seek stress reduction and greater present-centeredness. Less well-known is the mindfulness practice in Sufism-the mystical path of Islam-known as meditative remembrance (dhikr). While mindfulness is often understood as a self-help technique, the aim of Buddhist and Sufi meditative paths is not limited to enhancing the well-being of a self that is envisioned as strictly bounded. Rather, both meditative paths aim at unitive mystical experience, which is held to profoundly transform the meaning of the practitioner's selfhood as such. Whereas Buddhism's non-self-doctrine is generally understood to hold that personal selfhood is an illusion, this is not the case for Akbari Sufism. This inquiry takes a phenomenological approach, exploring the varied meanings of being or "having" a self in the context of mindfulness, and contrasting these with the humanistic psychology of Abraham Maslow. I contrast Theravada and Akbari Sufism's understandings of the aim of meditation and the meanings of selfhood and compare both traditions with Abraham Maslow's view of self-transcendence.

The Old Testament projects not only a Deity that created the world and human beings but also one that is violent and male. The debate on the depiction of the God of Israel that is violent and male is far from being exhausted in Old Testament studies. Thus, the main question posed in this article is: If re-read as ‘Humans created God in their image’, would Genesis 1:27 account for the portrayal of a Deity that is male and violent? Feuerbach’s idea of anthropomorphic projectionism and Guthrie’s view of religion as anthropomorphism come to mind here. This article therefore examines, firstly, human conceptualisation of a divine being within the framework of the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism. Because many a theologian and philosopher would deny that God is a being at all, we further investigate whether the God of Israel was a theological and social construction during the history of ancient Israel. In the end, we conclude, based on the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism, t...

Among the most noteworthy practices in Buddhist temples in China today are yuan or wish-vow actions. Wish-vows encompass both wish-making (xuyuan 许愿) and vow-giving (fayuan 发愿), with both modalities embraced by average temple-goers from a general population. Chinese Buddhist liturgies encourage ritual performers to adopt a bodhisattva stance, wishing/vowing for the well-being of all beings. This introduces an ethical dimension to yuan performances. This paper analyzes the continuity in practice between wish-making and vow-giving, exploring how popular and Buddhist understandings of ritual entangle and how ritual generates meaningful narratives for practitioners. The article shows how the human pursuit of ritual effects and ethical self-transformation are not contradictory but rather complementary processes. Considering this Chinese ritual situation deepens our comprehension of votive practices in syncretic religious traditions. Additionally, it offers a new direction for considering religious potentialities in late socialist societies. Furthermore, it usefully challenges the use of the term “prayer” in Chinese contexts. In this way, the article bridges anthropology, Chinese studies, and religious studies and enhances our conceptual toolkit for studying ongoing human transformation.

Perkembangan dunia dengan sistem teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi menjadikan pembelajaran bahasa Arab lebih fleksibel dan mudah. Walaubagaimanapun, ianya boleh menjadi isu apabila kelebihannya tidak dimanfaatkan sebagai metod pembelajaran yang berkesan. Begitu juga pembelajaran secara tradisional boleh menyebabkan pelajar bosan dan tidak bermotivasi. Sehubungan dengan itu, satu inovasi komik digital pertama dengan penggunaan dwibahasa iaitu bahasa Arab (secara transliterasi) dan bahasa Melayu diketengahkan dengan tujuan menambahbaik proses pembelajaran, khususnya bahasa Arab. Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk meninjau sejauhmana penggunaan Komik Kaifa Haluka berupaya dijadikan medium mempelajari Bahasa Arab. Berdasarkan tinjauan, komik ‘kaifa haluka’ ini berupaya memberikan impak yang baik kepada para pelajar untuk mempelajari bahasa Arab terutamanya terminologi dan frasa asas dalam pertuturan. Penggunaan transliterasi sebagai panduan bacaan serta imbasan Qr-Code untuk mengakse...

Higher-order evidence appears to have the ability to defeat rational belief. It is not obvious, however, why exactly the defeat happens. In this paper, I consider two competing explanations of higher-order defeat: the “Objective Higher-Order Defeat Explanation” and the “Subjective Higher-Order Defat Explanation.” According to the former explanation, possessing sufficiently strong higher-order evidence to indicate that one’s belief about p fails to be rational is necessary and sufficient for defeating one’s belief about p. I argue that this type of explanation is defective or at best collapses into the other type of explanation. According to the latter explanation, Believing that one’s belief about p fails to be rational (in response to higher-order evidence about p) is necessary and sufficient for defeating one’s belief about p. I argue that this type of explanation is better suited to explain higher-order defeat given that what one is rational to believe partly depends on the relat...

🔷 دستور اشغال «الارض المقدّسة» را نخستین بار چه کسی داد؟ 

🔶 آیا هیچ سرزمینی بر روی زمین هست که بتوان گفت هرگز «اشغال» نشده است؟ آیا هیچ سرزمینی هست که «اشغالگران» در آنجا زاد و ولد نکرده باشند و ماندگار نشده باشند؟ آیا هیچ سرزمینی هست که بتوان گفت مردمان آنجا همچون گیاهان خودرو زادهّ همان سرزمین‌اند و از جایی دیگر به آن سرزمین نیامده‌اند؟ آیا چنان‌که امروز برخی فتوا می‌دهند که همهٔ اشغالگران و غاصبان، از کودک و کهنسال تا زن و مرد، کشتنی‌‌اند، می‌توان گفت که اکنون نسل تازیان و ترکان و مغولان که به ایران یا دیگر کشورها تاخته‌اند و آن را اشغال کرده‌اند و در آن زاد و ولد کرده‌اند می‌باید از ایران پارسی بیرون رانده شوند یا همگی کشته شوند؟ آیا ساکنان امروز کشورهایی که زمانی به دست مسلمانان فتح شدند می‌توانند مسلمانان امروز را به عنوان بقایای «اشغالگران» دیروز بکشند یا از سرزمین خود به سوی عربستان برانند؟ آیا شاهنشاهی‌های ایران و امپراتوری‌های اسکندر و روم و خلافت‌های اسلامی اموی و عباسی و عثمانی و امپراتوری‌های اسپانیا و پرتغال و هلند و ....

Ranajit Guha, the founder of the subaltern school in history not only emphasized the  collaboration between history and anthropology but Guha also underlined the importance of fieldwork as practiced by the anthropologists.In this paper I have placed Guha and his subaltern school within the context of Indian anthropology.

Presentación (y algunas conclusiones) del monográfico "El ciervo, el caballero, el hada y el santo" de la Revista de Poética Medieval (37, 2023): Las interpretaciones míticas de los ciervos se suceden desde las religiones primitivas y, más concretamente, desde los vestigios arqueológicos y los primeros testimonios literarios conservados: sumerios, indoarios, hititas, la Biblia... A partir de estos datos y, particularmente, de las investigaciones realizadas por los participantes en este monográfico, se traza el itinerario esquemático de lo que puede ser una historia de sus adaptaciones hasta el siglo XVI.

La Pontificia Universidad Gregoriana invita a participar a la comunidad académica a la convocatoria de artículos inéditos para el libro colectivo "Catolicismos y Política en América Latina" coordinado por los docentes Diego Meza y Alessandra Ciurlo de la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales.

El objetivo de esta publicación comprende los siguientes ejes temáticos pero no está limitado a ellos:

Religiosidad popular y política; Nuevos movimientos católicos, despolitización y fundamentalismos; Violencia política, catolicismo y construcción de paz; Formación política de laicos, religiosas, religiosos y sacerdotes; Feminismos, nuevas agendas de políticas públicas y Catolicismo; Populismos y Catolicismos; Comunicación, política y el discurso religioso; Etnicidad, política y Catolicismo; Medio ambiente y Laudato sì; Papa Francisco y la agenda política latinoamericana; Fascismos y Catolicismos; Relaciones Estado e Iglesia católica.

Bagian etnis Tionghoa yang masih kental dengan unsur budaya ialah etnis Tionghoa penganut agama Konghucu. Feng Shui merupakan salah satu warisan budaya yang masih tetap eksis hingga saat ini. Pemanfaatan Feng Shui kian diterapkan oleh penganut Konghucu dalam menjalankan sektor kehidupan dalam hal memperoleh keharmonisan dan kemakmuran hidup. Dibalik kepercayaan penganut Konghucu terhadap Feng Shui, penganut Konghucu mengenal budaya Ciong yang niscaya dapat membawa mara bahaya dalam hidup. Budaya Ciong kerap ditakuti oleh penganut Konghucu. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui budaya Ciong pada penganut Konghucu. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teori komunikasi dan budaya. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode penelitian kualitatif fenomenologi secara deskriptif. Data yang akan dianalisis diperoleh dari hasil wawancara mendalam dengan tujuh narasumber. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah penganut Konghucu di Jakarta sejak dahulu telah meyakini bah...