THE POWER OF RELIGIOUS NATURALISM IN KARL PETERS'S DANCING WITH THE SACRED

Abstract. This essay is an appreciative engagement with Karl Peters's Dancing with the Sacred (2002). Peters achieves a naturalistic theology of great power. Two themes are covered here. The first is how Peters gives ontological footing for a naturalistic conception of God conceived as the process of creativity in nature. Peters achieves this by conceiving creativity in terms of Darwinian random variation and natural selection combined with the notion of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. He gives ontological reference for a conception of God similar to Henry Nelson Wieman's idea of creative transformation. The second theme is how Peters succeeds in translating this nonpersonal conception of God into a powerful view of naturalistic religion that can shape a religious form of life. The key is that Peters's God can be understood as present in experience. Peters provides naturalistic interpretations of grace and the cruciform structure of creativity; the latter addresses the problem of evil in a nuanced fashion. I conclude with three critical comments about Peters's environmental ethics, his use of the notion of mystery, and his failure to have a robust conception of human fault or sin.     

1996-2004年中国大陆儒学研究的新进展

1996-2004年,中国大陆的孔子、儒学研究持续繁荣发展,在以下八个方面上,取得了新的进展: (1)儒学与世界和平; ( 2 )儒家人文精神; ( 3 )简帛儒家文献; ( 4 )儒学宗教性问题; (5)儒学与生态伦理; (6)儒学与普世伦理; (7)儒学与文化保守主义; (8)儒学与自由主义; (9)儒学与民主、人权; (10)儒学与全球化。     

慢性肾衰竭患者的人文关怀

慢性肾衰竭是一种长期的消耗性疾病,随着医学的进步,患者的生存时间明显延长,死亡率显著下降,但其并不能完全用以衡量医疗效果,保持良好的生理,心理及社会功能才是治疗的理想目标。这需要医务人员对患者实行有效的人文关怀,积极的心理治疗,提高患者的心理承受力和适应力,在延长患者生命的同时,改善和提高其生存质量。     

人文关怀在喉癌治疗和康复中的重要意义

临床医生在治疗疾病的过程中,需要医学人文精神。这种精神提倡对人的理解和关怀,以人为中心的医学人文理念。这一精神尤其体现在喉癌的治疗中。在提高生存率的同时,改善患者的生活质量显得尤其重要。人文精神要求医生有针对性地做好喉癌患者的健康指导,让患者从医生的言谈举止中感受到人道主义的关怀。     

另一种声音：现代新儒学与中国人文主义心理学

与西方心理学以科学主义为主体的“由下至上”的研究思路不同,中国传统心理学探究走的是“由上至下”的研究路线,即从心理及精神层面最高端入手,强调心理的道德与理性层面,故其实质是人文主义的。现代新儒学作为人文主义心理学研究典范,具有心理学研究“另一种声音”的独特价值与意义。现代新儒学研究背景及思路的展开,呈现出以传统心理学思想为深厚根基的中国近代心理学的独特个性与自信。这是现代新儒学对中国心理学的最大贡献     

人文精神是医学科学的旗帜

人文精神是人类文明的精华,是医学科学的旗帜,主导和把握着医学科学的发展方向。在现代社会各种复杂的因素影响下,医学与人文的关系受到严峻挑战,出现了医学脱离人文的倾向。纠正这种倾向,重新建立医学与人文之间和谐互动的关系,实现人文对医学的引领和把握,是现代医学面临的重要课题。     

A transition of Chinese humanism and aesthetics from rationalism to irrationalism

Chinese people attach importance to intuition and imagery in ways of thinking that are quite sensible, but the result, i.e. the thoughts that are popularized in virtue of political power, are rather rational. These rational thoughts, which were influenced by Buddhism and continually became introspective, had been growing more irrational factors. Up to the middle and late Ming Dynasty, when the economy was developed, they merged with the growing emphasis on daily needs of food and clothes and the envisagement to the utilitarian circumstances, and finally broke through the threshold of rationalism. Under the attack of Geng Dingxiang, Li Zhi who emphasized these thoughts was forced beyond his previous boundaries and led a whole variation in how he viewed a series of issues including values, humanity, ethics and aesthetics. This indicated a historical change from rationalism to irrationalism in Chinese humanism and aesthetics thoughts. Translated by Huang Deyuan from Xueshu Yuekan 学术月刊 (Academic Monthly), 2006, (11): 103–112     

Things Old and New: Tradition and Innovation in Constructing Reformation Theology

In respect of the Reformation this study considers the interaction between the retrieval of ancient Christian texts, humanist methods and scholasticism in their various forms, citing illustrative examples. It argues that Reformation interpreters have traditionally tended to privilege the impact of the first two on the new religious developments. As a corrective to this common perception, the essay recalls and highlights the continuing and increasing positive influence of modified scholastic methodological norms and forms on evolving Reformation theology in order to meet both pedagogical and apologetical requirements. It is also pointed out that the specific humanist programme for the revamping of biblical study along linguistic and literary lines and facilitating access to the Church Fathers, accompanied with notions of tackling abuses in the Church, predated the Reformation.     

``L'homme et la société embêtent la philosophie ...' Bocheński on the limits of `philosophy'

Following his retirement fromUniversity teaching in 1972 Bocheski focusedincreasingly on metaphilosophical issues. Someof these he considered in occasional papers,autobiographical essays, as well as interviews,often giving expression to views that are asrefreshing as they are – sometimes –surprising. Bocheski in his later years becamesomething of an iconoclast, sharply criticalof, indeed hostile to, much of what isparadigmatically taken to be `philosophy'. Inthis paper, I draw out and examine some aspectsof Bocheski's virtually anti-philosophicalattitudes and try my hand at an analysis ofwhat appears to have become the Bocheski'smain underlying motivation in this respect: theless than happy interplay of religious faith,Weltanschauungen, and philosophy caughtbetween two seemingly persistent butconflicting inclinations of the human spirit tosubmit to the authority of some `total' picture.     

The roots of empathy and aggression in analysis

Empathy and interpretation have complementary roles in analysis. Empathy diminishes psychological arousal, ego-defences, and promotes the therapeutic relationship. Interpretation, when adopted in the service of character analysis and the uncovering of unconscious conflict, represents one element of a larger set of interventions termed analytic aggression, whose primary goal is to promote insight. Psychoanalysis has been increasingly influenced by derivative theories that promote the therapeutic relationship. Clinical observations suggest that the application of analytic aggression has diminished and that many modern treatments may have become overly skewed towards empathic approaches. This paper explores ethical humanism, Jamesian typology, and feminine psychology, as factors that have contributed to the diminished emphasis on analytic aggression in practice. Eastern myth and Buddhist psychology are used to explicate the core features of narcissistic mental structuring and to support the continued importance of analytic aggression in its treatment. Case material is examined to elucidate the benefits and limits of analytic aggression.