China's Policy on Freedom of Religious Belief

Intheworldtoday,religiousmotivated,related,factorsarecausingsomecountriesandregionsintoturmoilandgivingrisetoregionalstrife.Thisunfortunatesituationhasdrawntheattentionoftheinternationalcommunity.Inordertofindwaystoresolutiontheseproblems,wemustnotonlydrawlessonsfromtheseconflicts,butalsodrawontheexperiencesofourlong-standingexampleofpeacefulcoexistenceamongreligiousbelievers.China,attheothersideofthePacific,hasneverexperiencedlarge-scalereligiousconflict.Thisisaremarkablesituation.Ifyouhavea…     

Radical Pragmatism in the Ethics of Belief

Philosophia - In this paper, I defend the view that only practical reasons are normative reasons for belief. This requires viewing beliefs as the predictable results of our actions. I will show how...     

The Role of Christian Belief in Public Policy

It seems intuitive to the believer that God intended throughinstruction in the Law to define morality, intended to leadhumankind to "the right and the good." Further, God's love forhumankind, exemplified by the incarnation, atonement and teachingsof Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, should lead to abetter world. Indeed, the Christian worldview is a coherentand valid way to look at bioethical issues in public policyand at the bedside. Yet, as this paper explores, in a pluralisticsociety such as the United States, it is neither possible nordesirable for Christians to try to force their views on others.Still, it is obligatory for Christians to stand up and articulatetheir views in the public square. We should try to persuadeothers using either prudential or moral arguments. While wemust be willing to live with "the will of the people," at thesame time, we must not be intimidated into accepting the positionthat our voice is not valid because it has a religious basis.     

Doxastic Compatibilism and the Ethics of Belief

Philosophical Studies -     

The Role of Philosophy in Academic Ethics

This paper seeks to provide some of the roles of philosophy in the field of academic ethics.     

The Dialectic Role of the Flickers of Freedom

One well-known incompatibilist response to Frankfurt-style counterexamples is the ‘flicker-of-freedom strategy’. The flicker strategy claims that even in a Frankfurt-style counterexample, there are still morally relevant alternative possibilities. In the present paper, I differentiate between two distinct understandings of the flicker strategy, as the failure to differentiate these two versions has led some philosophers to argue at cross-purposes. I also explore the respective dialectic roles that the two versions of the flicker strategy play in the debate between compatibilists and incompatibilists. Building on this discussion, I then suggest a reason why the compatibilism/incompatibilism debate has reached a stalemate.     

萨特伦理学中的绝对自由与绝对选择

萨特的自由观是存在主义自由观的一个重要组成部分。根据其“存在先于本质”的著名论断 ,萨特得出了人的真实存在是绝对自由的结论 ,这构成了他整个伦理学的基石。寻求个人的绝对自由成为萨特伦理学的出发点和归宿。本文对萨特的个人绝对自由进行分析阐述 ,并围绕由此引发出的人的自由选择、责任以及绝对自由的界限等问题进行探讨     

消除宗教信仰自由的某些误区

过去20多年中,在纠正“文化大革命”左的错误倾向时,忽视了对广大群众进行科学世界观、人生观、价值观的教育;强调了保障公民有信仰宗教的自由,却在一定程度上忽视了保障公民有不信仰宗教的自由。在一段时间里,在一些地区出现了事实上的“宗教热”。在宗教领域里出现了不少非法违法活动,出现了不少非法宗教活动点,出现了新建、滥建宗教活动场所甚至并非用于宗教活动的庙宇、露天大佛;一些不法分子利用宗教借机大搞     

Ethics, Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure

Universities can and have existed without academic freedom and academic tenure. But academic freedom is necessary for a university dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge in a democratic society. Both academic freedom and academic tenure are not only rights but also carry with them moral obligations. Furthermore academic tenure is the best defense of academic freedom that American universities have found. Academic tenure can be successfully defended from the many contemporary attacks to which it is being subjected only insofar as it is necessary to defend academic freedom, and only if all involved in the system of tenure observe the ethical requirements that the system demands.     

The Population Ethics of Belief: In Search of an Epistemic Theory X

Consider Phoebe and Daphne. Phoebe has credences in 1 million propositions. Daphne, on the other hand, has credences in all of these propositions, but she's also got credences in 999 million other propositions. Phoebe's credences are all very accurate. Each of Daphne's credences, in contrast, are not very accurate at all; each is a little more accurate than it is inaccurate, but not by much. Whose doxastic state is better, Phoebe's or Daphne's? It is clear that this question is analogous to a question that has exercised ethicists over the past thirty years. How do we weigh a population consisting of some number of exceptionally happy and satisfied individuals against another population consisting of a much greater number of people whose lives are only just worth living? This is the question that occasions population ethics. In this paper, I go in search of the correct population ethics for credal states.     

Augustine's Ethics of Belief and AvoidingViolence in Religious Disputes

This article is a study of how Augustine's ethics of belief shaped his arguments against unbelief and its legacy in using coercion to settle disputes. After considering the arguments for belief presented by Augustine, the article studies how these were shaped by his understanding of the problem of evil and how the Fall influenced free will. What is noted to be of benefit in Augustine is that he offers arguments in favor of belief, and is convinced that he has shown unbelief to be based on unsound reasoning. By way of contrast, a number of theologians (such as Tertullian, John Calvin, and those under the heading of Reformed Epistemology) are considered who do not believe that arguments are necessary to support belief or reject unbelief. These are contrasted with Augustine and it is argued that they have significant shortcomings in this respect. However, the article concludes that Augustine could have gone farther in supporting the claim that it is clear that God exists, and his own shortcomings have been used to justify coercion in religious belief. If common ground is to be achieved this problem must be corrected and an adequate foundation for clarity must be established.     

Simone de Beauvoir's Ethics of Freedom and Absolute Evil

Simone de Beauvoir held that human experience is intrinsically ambiguous and that there are no values extrinsic to experience, but she also designated some actions as absolute evil. This essay explains how Beauvoir utilized an intrinsic absolute value to ground an action‐guiding principle of freedom that justifies her notion of evil. Morgan's analysis counters Robin May Schott's objections that Beauvoir failed to systematically justify her notion of absolute evil and that Beauvoir shifted from a “logic of action” to a “logic of history” when she utilized the concept.     

Descartes' Theory of Universals

Philosophical Studies -     

Freedom of Religion or Belief in the Jurisprudence of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court1

Abstract

This article discusses the evolution of the jurisprudence of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court (BCC) in the area of freedom of religion or belief by reference to its most recent judgment, which among other things considered the legality of a provision of establishment ex lege of the majority religion. While the court was unable to reach the majority needed for a decisive judgment, the elaborations of the two groups of judges illustrate two distinctive trends in BCC jurisprudence in the area of freedom of religion or belief. At one end of the spectrum the dissenting judges presented very detailed elaborations for the justification of establishment ex lege against the background of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, with notions similar to the Hartian rule of recognition, using sources such as canon law and Ottoman law as legally relevant facts for the constitution of a ‘background culture’ (via establishing the majority religion ex lege). At the other end of the spectrum dissenting judges presented a more sceptical approach to establishment ex lege through a very literal interpretation of the principles and some of the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence dealing with Article 9. While the decision was not conclusive it flagged a new dimension to the BCC's approach in the area of human rights and freedom of religion or belief – the blending of political and legal analytical philosophy with a detailed analysis of European Court of Human Rights case law.     

宗教道德对建设社会核心价值体系的作用

一个人的行为能否合乎道德标准,是通过外在的社会条件和内在的道德意识来确保其实现的。这里所谓的社会条件,涉及社会经济发展、民主与法制的建设、社会和家庭的教育以及社会道德整体的水平等等;而内在的道德意识,有一个基本内涵,就是人们内在的道德意识的自觉和信仰。     

论笛卡尔的形而上学观

笛卡尔以前的形而上学(包括神学)是存在论的形而上学,即为自然现象、社会现象寻找超自然、超社会的最终根据、本原的理论。笛卡尔实现了形而上学的转向:从存在论转向了知识论,他为意识现象、认识现象寻找到了最终根据或本原:我思。本文系统论述了笛卡尔的形而上学观点。首先,论述了存在论形而上学的含义及其演变;其次,论述了笛卡尔的形而上学观点;再次,论述了笛卡尔的形而上学的内容。