RELIGION AND THE MODE OF PRACTICE IN MICHAEL OAKESHOTT

Michael Oakeshott's religious view of the world stands behind much of his political and philosophical writing. In this essay I first discuss Oakeshott's view of religion and the mode of practice in his own terms. I attempt next to illuminate his idea of religion by describing it in less technical language, drawing upon other thinkers such as Georg Simmel and George Santayana, who share similar views. I then evaluate Oakeshott's view as a whole, considering whether his ideas about religion can stand up to careful scrutiny and whether they have value for present-day reflection on religion.     

OAKESHOTTIAN MODES AT THE CROSSROADS OF THE EVOLUTION DEBATES

I examine Michael Oakeshott's theory of modes of experience in light of today's evolution debates and argue that in much of our current debate science and religion irrelevantly attack each other or, less commonly but still irrelevantly, seek out support from the other. An analysis of Oakeshott's idea of religion finds links between his early holistic theory of the state, his individualistic account of religious sensibility, and his theory of political, moral, and religious authority. Such analysis shows that a modern individualistic theory of the state need not be barrenly secular and suggests that a religious sensibility need not be translated into an overmastering desire to use state power to pursue moral or spiritual ends in politics. Finally, Oakeshott's vision of a civil conversation, as both a metaphor for Western civilization and as a quasi-ethical ideal, shows us how we might balance the recognition of diverse modal truths, the pursuit of singular religious or philosophic truth, and a free political order.     

INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM

This paper introduces a symposium discussing Michael Oakeshott's understanding of the relationship of religion, science and politics. Essays by Elizabeth Corey, Timothy Fuller, Byron Kaldis, and Corey Abel are followed by a review of Corey's recent book by Efraim Podoksik.     

理雅各宗教思想中的中西融合倾向

伦敦会传教士、汉学家理雅各(1815-1897)受其家乡苏格兰的神学思想和非国教家庭背景的影响而产生了独立、开放的宗教意识。尽管他以自身的信仰为本位,但在对中国文化的诠释和评价上表现出了明显的中西宗教融合的倾向,这使他在西方传教士中处于颇为孤立的境地。     

ʿAbdolkarim Soroush’s Approach to ‘Experience’ as a Basis for His Reform Project

During the past few decades, many Muslim scholars and reformers have established new principles of reform through various hermeneutical approaches towards primary sources of Islam. Thus, Islamic thought, like any other religious tradition, has undergone a process of development in the modern period and will surely continue to do so in the future. ?Abdolkarim Soroush (b. 1945) is undoubtedly one of the most influential religious reformers in contemporary Iran and he has gained an international reputation. One of the central ideas that consistently appear throughout Soroush’s writings is that religion can be linked to a type of human ‘experience’, a theme that has long been the concern of Western scholars of religion. This article argues that the theme of experience became the fundamental element in two aspects of Soroush’s reform project, namely his approach to qur’anic rulings and his philosophy of religious pluralism. Indeed, the article shows that Soroush’s conception of revelation as a religious experience of the Prophet Muhammad is not only confined to a theological depiction of God’s relation to humanity, but also has legal and social implications for approaching Islam in the context of the present time.     

On True Friendship and on the Anthropological Relevance of Freud’s The Future of an Illusion

In this response article to Isabelle Noth and Christoph Morgenthaler’s text on the correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Oskar Pfister, the author reflects on two issues: first, Freud’s theoretical ideas on friendship and, second, his essay The Future of an Illusion as a text in which Freud abandons his general theoretical starting point, namely the analysis of the human condition, normality, and cultural and religious phenomena from the perspective of clinical anthropology.     

A Muslim response to Harnack

Mohamed Ali, an Indian Muslim political activist of the 1920s, hoped to articulate an empowering perspective for his generation of Indian Muslims. He found Harnack's critique of the history of Christian dogma a suggestive basis for a new image of the relation of Islam to the religious life of the centuries before the Prophet Muhammad. He wanted to create a scheme for a ‘Federation of Faiths’ which would enable Indian Muslims to co‐operate in the new India with persons of other traditions. The article explains the context of Mohamed Ali's thought. Although his perspective lost momentum in India after the collapse of the non‐cooperation and Khilaft movements, it may be that a reconsideration of his ideas would be useful in the context of inter‐religious dialogue.     

OAKESHOTT ON SCIENCE AS A MODE OF EXPERIENCE

I offer a critical exposition and reconstruction of Michael Oakeshott's views on natural science. The principal aim is to enrich Oakeshott's modal schema by throwing light on it in terms of its internal consistency and by bringing to bear on it recent developments in philosophy in general and the philosophy of science in particular. The discussion brings out the special place reserved for philosophy, the crucial tenet of the separateness of these modes seen as Leibnizian monads as well as the special status allowed to science. It considers the possibility of combining one moment of philosophical thinking, namely ethics, with science in the midst of such modal separateness. I first offer a general introduction of how to approach Oakeshott's views on science. The next section stresses philosophy and its relation to science. This is followed by an elaboration of what the modes of experience are meant to be and how science is placed among them. An examination of Oakeshott's more particular views on science concludes the essay.     

Primitive religious thought and the evolution of religion

In an article in this journal about the ideas of Levy-Brühl, Don Wiebe reviewed ideas from anthropology to argue that there is indeed a primitive mentality, and that mythopoeic religious thought is an instance of this mentality. Wiebe ends by declaring religious thought generally to be mythopoeic. The anthropological literature does support well Wiebe's thesis that primitive thought is primitive, in particular those studies which use Piaget's theory of cognitive development as a guide for interpreting primitive and other thought styles. But Piaget's theory can be extended to interpret other stages of culture and thought. This aids in recognizing that religious thought develops in stages also, from primitive folktales to archaic complex myths, and then to classical rationalized theologies and most recently to symbolic theologies.     

Revisiting Sartre on the question of religion

Jean-Paul Sartre's position on religion has traditionally been reduced to variations of his well-known atheism. This is a result of collapsing the distinction between religion and theism, as both critics and supporters of Sartre have commonly done. Consequently, attention to Sartre's persistent and pervasive concern with religious ideas, symbols, and experiences has been neglected. While the religious implications of Sartre's thought have mostly been considered in relation to Christian theology, other newer areas of religious studies suggest additional avenues for considering Sartre. Sartre's possible connections to four such areas are discussed: 1) Eastern religions; 2) Jewish studies; 3) feminist theology, and 4) the psychoanalysis of religion.     

J. Robert Oppenheimer: A Faith Development Portrait

J. Robert Oppenheimer was among the most important and enigmatic figures in 20th century science. He is best known for successfully directing the Manhattan Project that produced the first atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. Subsequently, he became a scientist and statesman who advised the United States government in the areas of atomic weapons development and public policy. He later became subject to an investigation in 1954 into his previous political affiliations and his personal behavior that ended in the revoking of his security clearance. This essay seeks to chronicle Oppenheimer’s coming of age as a public intellectual with a view toward his own psychological history and most especially in relationship to the stages of faith development articulated by James Fowler and colleagues. Moreover, though not conventionally religious, Oppenheimer’s life and thought were permeated with themes and ideas of a religious and ethical nature that shaped his adult character and informed his view of the world. This essay was originally presented at The Richardson History of Psychiatry Research Seminar at Weill Cornell Medical College.     

RALPH WENDELL BURHOE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract. Ralph Burhoe has sought to preserve “traditional religious wisdom,” but he emphasizes science as a new revelation. His relation to philosophical positivism and his insistence on including in a scientific theology only views that reflect the scientific worldview constitute major philosophical and theological problems. This essay considers the influence of several historical precursors—Francis Ellingwood Abbot, George Burman Foster, and Shailer Mathews of the “Chicago School” of theology, Douglas Clyde Macintosh, and, especially, Henry Nelson Wieman—which has contributed to a favorable reception of Burhoe's ideas. Social problems such as the youth revolution of the 1960s and indifference to the lack of intellectual credibility of religious beliefs have, however, hindered reception of his ideas. The conclusion notes some tasks that must yet be accomplished in order to continue Burhoe's work, particularly that of increasing the general level of education in the sciences.     

Reinhold Niebuhr in Contemporary Scholarship

Recent studies of Reinhold Niebuhr's life and work demonstrate his continued importance in theology, ethics, and political thought. Historical studies by Heather Warren, Mark Kleinman, and Normunds Kamergrauzis provide new assessments of Niebuhr's role as a political and religious leader in his own time and trace the consequences of the movements in which he participated. They also show us more clearly how his work was connected to the ideas and programs of his contemporaries. Colm McKeogh offers a more systematic treatment of Niebuhr's political realism in relation to just war theory. Niebuhr's intellectual legacy remains disputed, with Stanley Hauerwas and Langdon Gilkey offering radically different assessments of his theology. Hauerwas sees in Niebuhr a close connection to the religious liberalism of William James that precludes any authentic Christian witness. Niebuhr's empiricism reduces God to a necessary feature of human consciousness. Gilkey notes Niebuhr's early use of James' psychology, but discerns a theology of history that is central to Niebuhr's mature work. In that theology, the ground of hope necessarily lies beyond human consciousness, and indeed beyond history itself.     

Quest for divinity: a critical examination of the thought of Mahmud Muhammad Taha

Quest for Divinity makes an intriguing contribution to explain the debatable thought of Mahmud Muhammad Taha. The author analyzes competently different complexities, inter-relatedness, and comprehensiveness of the thinker's doctrine, which articulates the unique accomplishment of his individuality. The author's fluent style, comparative research, and serious attempt to scrutinize the Jumhuri thought and reform project based on academic sources, in addition to personal acquaintance with the movement, provide an opportunity to both scholars and students of religious studies to understand closely major similarities, differences, and spiritual linkages that tie up the Jumhuris with both Sufi spiritualities and orthodox Muslim faith. Still, there is essential need to comprehend the thinker's stands and ideas in their pure originality and totality, as a full package of his doctrinal commitments, rather than tearing them apart by a piece-meal approach, with due consideration to the significant analysis the author offers.     

六祖惠能的偈语中的心学思想探究

六祖的偈语是其禅学思想的肇始和集中体现,其中蕴含着丰富的心学思想。概括起来,它所蕴含的心学思想主要表现在以下几个方面:心的本体性与修心; 心无与心存; 心悟; 静心等。这些思想既是一种哲学思想,也是一种宗教思想,同时也是一种人们修心处世之道。它们给予当代人以很大的启迪作用和借鉴价值,在当今社会仍有重要的现实价值。     

Theology, History, and Religious Identification: Hegelian Methods in the Study of Religion

This essay deals with the impact of Hegel's philosophy of religion by examining his positions on religious identity and on the relationship between theology and history. I argue that his criterion for religious identity was socio-historical, and that his philosophical theology was historical rather than normative. These positions help explain some historical peculiarities regarding the effect of his philosophy of religion. Of particular concern is that although Hegel’s own aims were apologetic, his major influence on religious thought was in the development of various historical and critical approaches to religion.     

Islamic scholar and religious leader: A portrait of Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al‐Būti

In the light of his outstanding reputation and great influence on life in modern Syria, it is amazing that Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al‐Būti's work and thought are under‐represented to the extent of being almost unknown in European academic literature. This article is a first attempt at a broader European appraisal of al‐Būti's life and work. It paints a portrait of a thinker who represents the majority of Sunni Islam or the ‘middle path Islam’ in Syria, finding its place between the current realities of a secular state and an ideal Islamic society. The article first introduces the biographical details of al‐Būti's life and the main intellectual influences of people and events around him, then his ?uvre, style and personality. Secondly, it explores his main ideas and views, taking into account the fact that he writes and speaks in two different roles: as an Islamic scholar and as a religious leader, which is perhaps a unique position in modem Syria.