(M,R)-Systems and their Realizations

Robert Rosen’s (M,R)-systems are a class of relational models that define organisms. The realization of relational models plays a central role in his study of life, itself. Biology becomes identified with the class of material realizations of a certain kind of relational organization, exhibited in (M,R)-systems. In this paper I describe several realizations of (M,R)-systems, and in particular alternate realizations of the replication component.     

The Trinity in Christian‐Muslim Conversation

Abstract :  Christians need to recognize more fully the force of Muslim arguments on behalf of the oneness of God against the doctrine of the Trinity. Christians could benefit from the Islamic concept of shirk , proscribing the association of something that is not God in the honor and respect due to God alone. Christian trinitarian theology may be improved thereby; and certainly Christian‐Muslim conversation will be enriched.     

The Extended Mind Rehabilitates The Metaphysical Hegel

The nonmetaphysical interpretation of Hegel's philosophy asserts that the metaphysical reading is not credible and so his philosophy must be rationally reconstructed so as to elide its metaphysical aspects. This article shows that the thesis of the extended mind approaches the metaphysical reading, thereby undermining denials of its credibility and providing the resources to articulate and defend the metaphysical reading of Hegel's philosophy. This fully rehabilitates the metaphysical Hegel. The article does not argue for the truth of the metaphysical Hegel's claims. Rather, it defends the correctness of reading his philosophy as metaphysical.     

ON McCAULEY'S WHY RELIGION IS NATURAL AND SCIENCE IS NOT: SOME FURTHER OBSERVATIONS

Robert McCauley's Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not provides a summary interpretive statement of the standard model in cognitive science of religion, what I have previously called the HADD + ToM + Cultural Epidemiology model, along with a more general argument comparing religious cognition to scientific thinking and a novel framework for understanding both in terms of the concept of the maturationally natural. I here follow up on some observations made in a previous paper, developing them in light of McCauley's own response to my previous arguments.     

Materials on Christianity

Religion is a semiotic phenomenon par excellence. Without signs and signification processes there could not ever have been any religion, and so semiotics should play a prominent role in the investigation of religion(s). However, this has not been the case. Yelle deserves praise for reminding scholars of religion of the research potentials of semiotic theories and methods. This volume is not an introductory manual for beginners, but they will get an impression of the value of semiotic analysis through a number of case studies. Yelle treats his topics in their ostensible specificity so as to trace more general and significant issues concerning signification, communication, ideology, and agency in the construction of social worlds. Semiotics is especially important for theorizing about religion in terms of social constructionism and discourse theory. Finally, a few notes on the available literature are offered.     

Christ and the Homosexual: An Early Manifesto for an Affirming Christian Ministry to Homosexuals

In his book Christ and the Homosexual (1960), Rev. Robert Wood presented American Christians with a view of homosexuality that was revolutionary: in short, he argued that homosexuals held a rightful place in church and society and that they should abandon neither Christianity nor the church. More specifically, the author called for the advancement of civil rights for homosexuals; the construction of pro-homosexual theologies; the education, ordination, and career placement of “out” homosexuals; and marriage equality for same-sex couples. This article situates these topics within Wood’s lifelong (and ongoing) ministry of promoting the full acceptance of homosexuals in American society and in The United Church of Christ, his own denomination. The following sources from the Robert Wood Archive at The Congregational Library in Boston, MA, USA, have been used in this article: the author’s notes and early drafts of Christ and the Homosexual; his voluminous correspondence from the 1940s through the 1990s; and an unpublished biography of Wood. In addition, this article’s author draws upon an oral history interview conducted with Robert Wood in July 2012.     

A kinky doctrine of sin

ABSTRACT

Religious and secular groups alike have long marginalized those who practice “kinky sex.” These discourses of bodily control have been deconstructed and proven faulty. However, this proposal goes further than mere deconstruction and exposes the gaping hole under this new deconstruction: what does a doctrine of sin look like for kink practitioners? This gaping hole is lubed and ready to be filled. According to a kinky doctrine, sin is violating consent and obstructing escape, the failure to accept limits, and the external essentialism of identity. This kinky theology of sin will not only be useful for members of the kink community but also for individuals from a wide range of identities and practices.     

Histories and Landscapes: Two Categories of Artwork Suitable for Reformed Churches

Abstract

There are few examples of paintings or sculptures in churches of the Reformed tradition today. I argue that, despite this, it is in fact consonant with the writings of early Reformed thinkers, such as John Calvin, Martin Bucer, and Huldrych Zwingli, to allow for the use of certain types of artwork in these churches. I make a start by arguing that each of these thinkers affirmed works of art that may be described as histories. I then go on to look at how we can use ideas central to the theology of John Calvin to argue for the use of landscapes in Reformed churches. Finally, I consider how we might use such works of art in churches in order to address concerns about their use that members of the Reformed community may have.     

Religion,the Royal Society,and the Rise of Science1

Accounts of the role of religion in the rise of modern science often focus on the way in which religion provided the intellectual foundations for scientific enquiry, motivated particular individuals, or provided the substantive content of approaches to nature. These relate to the origins of science and assume that, once established, modern science becomes self-justifying. However, seventeenth-century criticisms of science—attacks on the Royal Society being one example—suggest that science remained a marginal and precarious activity for some time. The rise of science to cultural prominence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was possible only because science was eventually able to establish itself as a religiously useful enterprise. Religion thus played a key role not only in the origins of modern science, but in providing the ongoing social sanctions that ensured its persistence and rise to prominence.     

A triarchic theory of intellectual development during adulthood

A triarchic theory of intellectual development during adulthood is proposed. The theory comprises three parts: a contextual part that emphasizes the role of intelligence in successful adaptation to the environment; a componential part that specifies the mental mechanisms and processes underlying intelligent behavior; and an experiential part that indicates that intelligence is best manifested in instances in which the task or situation requiring the application of these processes is relatively novel or is becoming automatized. A selective and brief review of the literature on adult intellectual development is provided as evidence for the triarchic theory. The triarchic theory is then compared with four other theoretical approaches to adult intellectual development. It is argued that the triarchic theory provides new insights regarding the ways in which intelligence changes from early to middle to late adulthood and suggests certain properties of tasks and situations that make them more or less useful as measures of intelligence at various points in adult intellectual development.