托马斯的宗教语言哲学

中世纪语言哲学的普遍特征在于把语言现象置于基督宗教背景中进行考察,而不是在纯哲学意义上关注它。因此,它在本质上是一种宗教语言哲学,富有浓厚的神学意蕴。任何企图通过抹掉中世纪语言哲学的神学底蕴去构建所谓纯语言哲学的尝试都不过是一种解构性做法而已,必将导致整个中世纪语言哲学缺失特质而遭受否定。托马斯宗教语言哲学代表了中世纪基督宗教语言哲学的典型范式,它在基督宗教视野下通过整合亚里士多德主义和奥古斯丁主义两种不同语言哲学传统,提出了对语言的独特看法。本文试图呈现托马斯宗教语言哲学的整体架构,彰显其基本理论的…     

文化多元主义与人类团结的当代论证

立足于当前"少数群体"伸张自身权利的实际,"多元文化范式"才是契合时代要求的新哲学观念。这一范式是对传统形而上学"统一性"观念的解构而不是否弃。多元文化范式不再从绝对主义的立场来探寻社会统一性的价值根基,从而实现了哲学观念的重大变革。     

宗教传承的时空建构——“集体记忆”理论的能动性理解

宗教文化既有其生成的特殊机制,亦包含了所有文化得以传承的共同特征。哈布瓦赫基于涂尔干宗教社会学所开创的"集体记忆"研究,为解读宗教传承提供了一个有效的思考范式。然而,该范式对主体层面的能动性缺乏充分的认知。本文试图从两个层面解决该问题:在实践框架下,利奇与特纳的仪式研究表明,时空建构非但不是宗教传承的惰性环境,反而是其运作实现的积极条件;在文化框架下,康纳顿与阿斯曼的记忆研究则分别建构了基于具身实践的空间与生成于"卡农"的时间。这些探索既在时空建构层面有效延伸了集体记忆的能动性内涵,更进一步揭示了宗教赖以传承、更新的"历时性"机制。     

历史唯物主义在佛教研究中的实践——读杜继文先生《汉译佛教经典哲学》

《汉译佛教经典哲学》开创了佛教哲学研究的新范式。该书坚持"以历史解释宗教"的原则,通过感性和理性相结合,揭示了汉译佛经在佛教史上的地位,彰显了中国人对佛教文化的贡献。通过史料和思想相结合,以期最大可能地还原佛教史的真实图景和复杂面向。通过本源和流变相结合,实现了对佛教史的整体建构。通过历史和现实相结合,警醒我们要重视分析思维、科学理性的培养和提升。     

对抗价值虚无主义——别尔嘉耶夫宗教本体论的当代意义

价值虚无主义表现为宗教的衰微、信仰的丧失,否定一切绝对价值的功利主义、以及相伴而生的道德主义、反文化倾向的广泛潮流.别尔嘉耶夫作为俄罗斯精神的守护者,坚持一种完整的、包容一切的、具体的总体性,以及对终极价值与基础的意向追求,诉诸于最高的、神秘的"绝对存在"--精神的实在性,通过神秘的宗教体验、非理性的直觉主义,将宗教本体主义贯彻到底.同时还延续了黑格尔宗教本体主义的内在超越路向,在宗教本体主义的层面上使被遮蔽的"精神实在性",即人的最高价值和绝对自由显现出来.     

苏菲主义的“四分法”——以鲁米为例CSSCISSCI

"四分法"是伊斯兰教苏菲主义的核心概念之一;该概念在一种古代波斯宗教哲学和新柏拉图主义思想相调和的背景下,结合认主学而形成了一种哲学,也可以叫宗教哲学。苏菲主义的"四分法"在伊斯兰教历史不同阶段的命运不同。笔者认为,中国学界尽管对苏菲主义有详尽的研究,但对苏菲主义的"四分法"介绍的并不多。     

生命伦理学的中国话语及其“形态学”视角

中国生命伦理学的理论和方法在中国话语的学术脉络上受到西方普遍主义和中国传统文化的双重压迫,亟须从形态学视角上进行转化。普遍主义理解范式遵循"普遍理论—中国应用"之进路,陷入应用难题。"建构中国生命伦理学"的研究范式遵循"中国传统—当代建构"之进路,陷入建构难题。普遍主义理解范式与建构论文化信念之阐释之间的话语断裂,割裂了中国生命伦理学的形态过程中的普遍性和特殊性。"形态学"视角敞开了"跨学科条件、跨文化条件、跨时代条件"的形态学视界,它强调从形态过程的关联性视阈把握人类道德生活和伦理关系的整体、类型和结构化趋势。我们只有创造性地融入"形态学"视角,特别是马克思社会经济形态的研究视角,才能整体把握生命伦理学的道德形态过程,真正开出中国生命伦理学的"第三条道路"。     

苏菲主义的“四分法”——以鲁米为例

"四分法"是伊斯兰教苏菲主义的核心概念之一;该概念在一种古代波斯宗教哲学和新柏拉图主义思想相调和的背景下,结合认主学而形成了一种哲学,也可以叫宗教哲学。苏菲主义的"四分法"在伊斯兰教历史不同阶段的命运不同。笔者认为,中国学界尽管对苏菲主义有详尽的研究,但对苏菲主义的"四分法"介绍的并不多。     

历史·理论·实证:概念研究的三种范式

概念是承载人类知识大厦的基石。构建中国特色的哲学社会科学必须从"概念"着手。综览国内外概念研究之现状,可以把概念研究划分为历史、理论和实证三种范式。历史范式体现为"概念史"范式,即通过研究概念的历史演化来理解概念后面的历史变迁规律;理论范式或者体现在对人物思想中的概念的研究上,或者体现在对特定概念所做的系统理论构建上,旨在建立起体系化的"概念理论";实证范式则体现为依托文献数据库来实现对概念的研究,旨在对概念在广袤历史时空中的变化情况形成准确的理解。三种范式均具有各自的优点与不足,体现了概念研究中范围精度、内容深度和理论高度等三种不同要求。建构中国特色的哲学社会科学,必须兼采三种范式之所长,避其所短。     

"宗教多元性"、"宗教多元观"与"宗教多元论"——试论"Religious Pluralism"的三重含义

目前国内学界通常将"Religious pluralism"一词译作"宗教多元论"或"宗教多元主义"。本文通过对其内涵的深入分析,揭示出该术语三重含义:"宗教多元性"、"宗教多元观"与"宗教多元论"。文章进一步提出判断某种理论是否属于宗教多元论的标准可概括为"以相对化为途径,祛除宗教自我中心主义,在新秩序内实现宗教平等"。由此揭示出当代宗教多元论的目标在于通过建构宗教共同体建立宗教平等的"新秩序"。     

HOW RELIGIOUS PRACTICES MATTER1: PETER OCHS' “ALTERNATIVE NURTURANCE” OF PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

This article engages the work of Peter Ochs from the perspective of philosophy of religion. In particular, I consider Ochs' work on Scriptural Reasoning and Jewish Morning Prayer as articulating a unique emphasis on religious liturgical practices that hints at a much needed paradigm shift in philosophy of religion, which has tended to focus on the cognitive aspects of religion (beliefs and doctrines) or the merely static artifacts of religious traditions.     

Coming out of the Hasidic closet: Jiří Mordechai Langer (1894–1943) and the fashioning of homosexual-Jewish identity

This essay inaugurates the historical study of the modern homosexual Jewish experience before Stonewall. I begin with a historiographic introduction to the emerging subfield of gay Jewish history. I then turn to reintroduce Jiri Langer, a homosexual and Hasidic writer affiliated with the interwar "Prague circle" (and friend of Franz Kafka and Max Brod) into the purview of modern Jewish Studies. I take up two questions: first, how Langer reconciled his homosexual and Orthodox religious identity; and second, why Langer"s homosexuality became exigent as a Jewish question at this particular historical moment. In his key text, Die Erotik der Kabbala, Langer engages with the dominant interwar debates on homosexuality, but most directly with the work of Hans Blüher, the major theoretician of the German Wandervogelbewegung. In the course of correcting Blüher's antisemitic claims about Jews and homosexuality, Langer managed to delineate a specifically homosexual Jewish identity by renegotiating the relationship between homosexuality and Judaism and by adumbrating a history of "gay" Jews. I contextualize this long-neglected text within Langer's fascinating biography; the debates in the early homosexual rights movement; the particular cultural features of the "Prague circle" in which Langer wrote; and the dislocation and devastation of Langer's beloved eastern-European Hasidic communities caused by World War I—communities that Langer experienced as deeply homoerotic.     

Health Care Behaviours and Beliefs in Hasidic Jewish Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Cultural issues impact on health care, including individuals’ health care behaviours and beliefs. Hasidic Jews, with their strict religious observance, emphasis on kabbalah, cultural insularity and spiritual leader, their Rebbe, comprise a distinct cultural group. The reviewed studies reveal that Hasidic Jews may seek spiritual healing and incorporate religion in their explanatory models of illness; illness attracts stigma; psychiatric patients’ symptomatology may have religious content; social and cultural factors may challenge health care delivery. The extant research has implications for clinical practice. However, many studies exhibited methodological shortcomings with authors providing incomplete analyses of the extent to which findings are authentically Hasidic. High-quality research is required to better inform the provision of culturally competent care to Hasidic patients.     

Replenishing the “Fountain of Judaism”: Traditionalist Jewish Education in Interwar Poland

The unexpected revitalization of Polish Jewish traditionalism—Hasidic and non-Hasidic—is particularly visible in the realm of education. During the interwar period, a combined influx of pious refugees from the Soviet Union and generous American Jewish philanthropy bolstered traditionalist Jewish elementary schools (hadarim) and yeshivot. At the same time, traditionalists reformed those hitherto sacrosanct institutions in hopes of competing with emergent secularist Jewish movements while preserving an ostensibly authentic cultural core. Polish Jewish traditionalism was subtly transformed in the process, presenting a striking contrast with its more rigid “ultra-Orthodox” counterpart in neighboring Hungary and offering a viable alternative to secularist Jewish subcultures within Poland. This article highlights the surprising durability and flexibility of Poland’s traditionalist Jewish communities during a period usually conceived as one of secularist Jewish growth and traditionalist decline.     

A CRITIQUE OF BOROWITZ'S POSTMODERN JEWISH THEOLOGY

Abstract. Borowitz's book is primarily a systematic response by a liberal Jewish theologian to his perceived challenges from rationalism on one hand and postmodernism on the other. It is within this context that Borowitz discusses issues of the relationship between modern science and Judaism. The first part of this essay is a summary of Borowitz's book. Here I locate Borowitz's place in the general discipline of Jewish philosophy and theology. The second part of the paper is a critique of Borowitz's discussion of postmodernism and liberalism. It is in this concluding section that the issues raised by contemporary science for Jewish religious thought are discussed.     

Religion and the morality of mentality

Christian doctrine considers mental states important in judging a person's moral status, whereas Jewish doctrine considers them less important. The authors provide evidence from 4 studies that American Jews and Protestants differ in the moral import they attribute to mental states (honoring one's parents, thinking about having a sexual affair, and thinking about harming an animal). Although Protestants and Jews rated the moral status of the actions equally. Protestants rated a target person with inappropriate mental states more negatively than did Jews. These differences in moral judgment were partially mediated by Protestants' beliefs that mental states are controllable and likely to lead to action and were strongly related to agreement with general statements claiming that thoughts are morally relevant. These religious differences were not related to differences in collectivistic (interdependent) and individualistic (independent) tendencies.     

Religious Perspectives on Abortion and a Secular Response

This paper concerns the medical, religious, and social discourse around abortion. The primary goal of this paper is to better understand how seven of the world’s major religious traditions (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Confucian, and Hindu) address abortion ‘in the clinic’. We do not aim to critique these commentaries but to draw out some of the themes that resonate through the commentaries and place these within complex social contexts. We consider the intersection of ontology and morality; the construction of women’s selfhood; the integration of religious beliefs and practices in a secular world. We suggest that for many women, religious doctrine may be balanced with secular logic as both are important and inextricably linked determinants of decision making about the termination of pregnancy.     

RELIGIOUS CULTURE AND HISTORICAL CHANGE: VATICAN II ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

At Vatican II and since Vatican II there have been Catholics who have held that the Council's teaching on religious freedom is in contradiction to the Church's earlier teaching and practice. The Council defended it as a legitimate development of doctrine in part through claiming that changing human experience in history shows us only gradually what human dignity entails, and the Church learns from this experience. True, the Council's teaching is in part a denial of its earlier teaching and practice. The present article defends the legitimacy of this development through showing that there is a change of paradigm by which the Church now views this issue, a change that includes both continuity and discontinuity. This reliance on what is revealed to us by changing human experience is accepted by the Church only when it sees it as critically evaluated by an adequate philosophy and as in accord with Christian revelation, but its acceptance moves us to a growth in our understanding of revelation itself.     

THE TIGHTROPE WALKER

Contrary to a widespread interpretation, Wittgenstein did not regard credal statements as merely metaphorical expressions of an attitude towards life. He accepted that Christian faith involves belief in God's existence. At the same time he held that although as a hypothesis, God's existence is extremely implausible, Christian faith is not unreasonable. Is that a consistent view? According to Wittgenstein, religious faith should not be seen as a hypothesis, based on evidence, but as grounded in a proto‐religious attitude, a way of experiencing the world or certain aspects of it. A belief in religious metaphysics is not the basis of one's faith, but a mere epiphenomenon. Given further that religious doctrine is both falsification‐transcendent and that religious faith is likely to have beneficial psychological effects, religious doctrine can be exempt from ordinary standards of epistemic support. An unsupported religious belief need not be unreasonable. However, it is hard to see how one could knowingly have such an unsupported belief, as Wittgenstein seems to envisage. How can one believe what, at the same time, one believes is not likely to be true? This, I argue, is the unresolved tension in Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion.     

Psychiatry,Cultural Competency,and the Care of Ultra-Orthodox Jews: Achieving Secular and Theocentric Convergence Through Introspection

Several socio-cultural factors complicate mental health care in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population. These include societal stigma, fear of the influence of secular ideas, the need for rabbinic approval of the method and provider, and the notion that excessive concern with the self is counter-productive to religious growth. Little is known about how the religious beliefs of this population might be employed in therapeutic contexts. One potential point of convergence is the Jewish philosophical tradition of introspection as a means toward personal, interpersonal, and spiritual growth. We reviewed Jewish religious-philosophical writings on introspection from antiquity (the Babylonian Talmud) to the Middle Ages (Duties of the Heart), the eighteenth century (Path of the Just), the early Hasidic movement (the Tanya), and modernity (Alei Shur, Halakhic Man). Analysis of these texts indicates that: (1) introspection can be a religiously acceptable reaction to existential distress; (2) introspection might promote alignment of religious beliefs with emotions, intellect and behavior; (3) some religious philosophers were concerned about the demotivating effects of excessive introspection and self-critique on religious devotion and emotional well-being; (4) certain religious forms of introspection are remarkably analogous to modern methods of psychiatry and psychology, particularly psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. We conclude that homology between religious philosophy of emotion and secular methods of psychiatry and psychotherapy may inform the choice and method of mental health care, foster the therapist-patient relationship, and thereby enable therapeutic convergence.