Hasil untuk "Philosophy. Psychology. Religion"

Heriberto Ramírez Luján

This paper explores how epistemic artifacts have transformed our understanding of scientific observation. It examines the historical evolution from basic instruments such as Mayan quadrants and Galileo’s telescope to today’s sophisticated electron microscopes. The study focuses on how these devices have reshaped the traditional concept of observation in the philosophy of science, particularly within the field of nanotechnology. Against the backdrop of historical figures such as Descartes, Hooke, Newton, and Leeuwenhoek, it highlights how each contributed to the development of the «microscopic artifactual tradition». The paper introduces the concept of nanoepistemology to describe how knowledge of the nano-world fundamentally depends on instrument-processed images rather than traditional direct observation. It concludes that these technological transformations have weakened the role of classical theories and have shifted the philosophy of science toward a philosophy of technology.

Сивкова Мария Юрьевна, Сенкевич Даниил Алексеевич

Флорентийская мозаика в силу высокой стоимости изготовления и трудоемкости исполнения менее распространена в монументальном искусстве по сравнению с другими техниками. Ее эстетические свойства позволяют решать очень разнообразные задачи: от монументального оформления станций метро до применения в храмовой архитектуре. В конце ХХ – начале ХХI вв. активное строительство культовых сооружений в Объединенных Арабских Эмиратах с участием художников, дизайнеров и архитекторов из Европы, Японии, США ознаменовало новый виток развития мозаичного искусства – создание крупных ансамблей объектов арабо-мусульманской архитектуры. Новаторский подход в плане композиционных решений рассматривается на примере мечети шейха Заеда, традиционный – президентского дворца Каср Аль-Ваттан. Выявлено, что флорентийская мозаика не только выполняет декоративную функцию, но и имеет идеологическое значение, поскольку в композициях, созданных в этой технике, флоральные и орнаментальные мотивы глубоко символичны и часто несут сакральный смысл. Заключается, что применение данной дорогостоящей техники в исламской архитектуре стало средством подчеркнуть статус Объединенных Арабских Эмиратов в исламском мире, а также подчеркнуть открытость страны для культурного диалога.

Muhammed Fatih Tabara, Murad Atmaca, Hanefi Yıldırım et al.

It has been shown that structural changes occur in the brain in many types of addiction and can have an impact on maintaining addictive behavior, which can be improved with treatment. The study aimed to iden- tify structural changes in the brain’s reward system in alcohol use disorder. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was employed to compare the volumes of total white matter and gray matter, as well as those of the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, amygdala, and hippocampus between 15 individuals diag- nosed with alcohol use disorder and 17 healthy controls. The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire, and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were administered to the participants to reveal the pattern of alcohol use and severity of dependence. The group with alcohol use disorder exhibited a significant decrease in the volume of the right hippocampus. No differences were found between the two groups in terms of other brain regions. In conclusion, this study revealed a decrease in hip- pocampal volume in patients with alcohol use disorder. It is an indication that structural changes play a role in the etiology of cognitive impairments commonly seen in alcohol use disorder.

U. Kim, Jisun Kim

The understanding of the nature and the software of the mind has generated immense debate in religion, philosophy, sciences and psychology. Drucker notes that the basic assumption about the reality is the foundation for science, axiom and algorithm adopted for the theory, concept and method. The assumption differentiates what is important from what is noise. In the medieval Europe, the Catholic Church provided a unified theory of the world as a reflection of God’s grand design and purpose. They held the power to define and thus had the power to control people’s lives. Their power was challenged during the Renaissance with the emergence of humanism. The Cartesian duality of separating the mind from body allowed the separation of church and state and science to flourish. In East Asia, Confucius articulated a different set of assumptions. Humans are defined as ingan 人間 (‘human between’) and assume relationship and compassion as the basic foundation. This is the basis of the cultural difference and theory of the mind. The Darwinian Evolutionary Theory replaced the religious definition, Cartesian duality, and empathy with the biological traits, instincts and natural selection. Psychology adopted the biological model to explain human behaviour. Research in paleoanthropology, genetics, and neurobiology outline the limitations of the biological model in explaining the human mind and behaviour. Bandura has documented the importance of human agency, consciousness, and self-efficacy in explaining human behaviour and provided empirical results with greater predictive and explanatory power than the traditional psychological theories. Indigenous and cultural psychology represents the continuation of the assumptions, theory and concepts outlined by Wilhelm Wundt and Albert Bandura. Kim outlines the transactional model of science, where human agency (measured by self-efficacy) can explain a person’s performance and outcome. Empirically, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the 85-year longitudinal study, found the unexpected results that challenge the previous held assumptions. Waldinger and Schulz have found that maintaining good relationship is the most important predictor of happiness, health and longevity and not high income, success, IQ and personality. Kim and Kim found that for Millennials and Gen Z, happiness is predicted by relational and social efficacy, positive outlook, and receiving social support from family, friends and online communities, replicating previous results found across three generations and for the past 25 years in Korea. These results point to the importance of examining the basic assumptions of the theories in psychology and the scientific foundation of indigenous and cultural psychology.

L. Kalinnikov

Ernst Cassirer in his The Philosophy of the Enlightenment writes of Kant’s overcoming of the Enlightenment yet giving its deepest justification. This justification came in the form of epistemology which transformed the modern worldview, handing its form and content over to science. The medieval theistic worldview had to be cleansed from miracles and mysticism and give way to a scientific worldview. However, the Enlighteners, though initiating this movement, could not follow it through and failed to break the ties to theology. This was true in psychology, epistemology, philosophy of history and religion, law and the state. Kant’s role was to complete this task. His philosophy is built upon the principle of the material unity of the world. This required the creation of transcendental anthropology which resolved the problem of the human being and the natural foundations of reason – the problem that had puzzled the most prominent thinkers of the Enlightenment. The principle of the material unity of the world is consistently maintained from the first Critique to the Opus Postumum, making Kant’s system monistic. In order to maintain this unity, Kant had to subordinate formal logic to transcendental logic which made extensive use of the antinomical dialectic, the principle of the relativity of rational thinking, including the relativity of such ideas of reason as object and subject. Kant’s effort resulted in human nature’s being presented as part of the whole of nature, and so the limit of Enlightenment thinking was overcome.

Phillip Cam

While the Community of Inquiry centres on a form of discussion that is meant to improve the ability of students to think, only a fraction of the thinking that occurs in a discussion makes its appearance in speech. We therefore need to consider students’ mental acts in addition to their speech acts to understand how the Community of Inquiry is meant to function. This paper explores the connections between speech acts and mental acts in the Community of Inquiry and the broader classifications of these acts of thought. It also considers the role of teacherly interventions in promoting appropriate acts of thought and the ways in which teachers can improve students’ metacognitive awareness of them.

Dennis P. Bray

Abstract This article explores the intersection of two developing fields of study: the psychological field of shared intentionality and the philosophy of religion field of ramified natural theology. In shared intentionality, agents share mental states and cooperate to achieve a common goal. Many psychologists in this field believe that of all the primates, only humans share intentionality – humans alone form a ‘we’. Ramified natural theology is the project of presenting philosophical evidences for core doctrines of the Christian faith. In this article I investigate some applications of shared intentionality for Christian natural theology. In the Anselmian tradition I offer two deductive arguments that deploy shared intentionality to argue that there are multiple divine persons. I then suggest that analogical arguments – often overlooked by philosophers of religion – provide a better fit for psychological findings, such as shared intentionality. After sketching some fundamental features of analogical arguments, I advance two arguments by analogy for the conclusion that God, like humans, shares intentionality. These arguments show that the psychology of shared intentionality, and empirical psychology more generally, is a promising source for theological reflection.

Nur Hadi Ihsan, Muhammad Alif Rahmadi, J. Jamal

Abraham Maslow’s theory discredits the existence of religion and substitutes it with secular spirituality. It provides a space for anthropocentrism and materialism philosophy, freedom, authorization, and a single human potentiality. On the other hand, Said Nursi’s Sufi Psychology sets religious teachings as the radiance of spirituality. It identifies the genuineness of human beings as creatures who are obedient to God. This study aims to reveal how humanistic psychology and Sufi psychology perceive the need for spirituality by referring to Abraham Maslow and Said Nursi. Researchers identify, select, and formulate relevant and constructive narratives to support each theory stated. They then conducted a deductive content analysis of the references using the available variables, categories, and content tabulations. This research finds that Maslow's spirituality relies on subjective human experience, and life satisfaction can be achieved by maximizing one's potential. On the other hand, Nursi's spirituality is based on the Shari'a and leads to fundamental happiness. For Maslow, the existence of God has been alienated from the human mind, and religion has become a secondary component. At the same time, Nursi has a Tauhidic perspective on reality and believes that religion is the primary guidance of life. Meanwhile, secular spirituality promises nothing but illusory pseudo-happiness. This concept originated from the confusion of Modern Western Psychology on the nature of God, religion, and human psychology. This confusion will vanish if it refers to religious teaching as the ultimate truth. Although both have differences in their ontological nature and conceptual psychological foundations, they both present a similar understanding of recognizing a Higher Entity capable of controlling human life. This entity is called God. In conclusion, Nursi's concept of Tawhid-based spirituality offers a solution to modern man's anxiety, emptiness, and powerlessness of their life problems.

Roe Fremstedal

Many of Søren Kierkegaard's most controversial and influential ideas are more relevant than ever to contemporary debates on ethics, philosophy of religion and selfhood. Kierkegaard develops an original argument according to which wholeheartedness requires both moral and religious commitment. In this book, Roe Fremstedal provides a compelling reconstruction of how Kierkegaard develops wholeheartedness in the context of his views on moral psychology, meta-ethics and the ethics of religious belief. He shows that Kierkegaard's influential account of despair, selfhood, ethics and religion belongs to a larger intellectual context in which German philosophers such as Kant and Fichte play crucial roles. Moreover, Fremstedal makes a solid case for the controversial claim that religion supports ethics, instead of contradicting it. His book offers a novel and comprehensive reading of Kierkegaard, drawing on important sources that are little known.

M. H. Shah

In this article, I discuss the implications of postmodernism on religious thought, with special reference to Islamic thought. Firstly, I discuss the nature and characteristics of postmodernist thinking, and the different schools of thought/’postmodernisms’ that fall under that rubric. My contention is that postmodernism is a response to modernism rather than religion, although it has implications on religious thought. Secondly, I examine and compare the points of contention between modernism and post-modernism. I then argue that the differences are largely due to the privileging of nature and reasoning of modernists and the privileging of human/social and psychology of postmodernists. These, in turn, have implications on their metaphysics and epistemology, respectively. Thirdly, I provide an Islamic perspective on the modernist-postmodernist discourse, showing that the Islamic perspective transcends the natural-social divide, and how the tripartite relationship between God, man and nature, informs the discourse. The philosophy of language is also brought up in the discussion, where I suggest that Islam accepts the dual role of languages, that is, conveying the meaning in its literal sense (aka modernist), as well as being a symbol and an indirect reference (aka postmodernist). Finally, a close comparison is made between postmodernism and Islam, where both their incompatibilities as well as possible points of convergence are discussed.

Tim Schulz van Endert, Peter N. C. Mohr

Humans discount rewards as a function of the delay to their receipt. This tendency is referred to as delay discounting and has been extensively researched in the last decades. The magnitude effect (i.e., smaller rewards are discounted more steeply than larger rewards) and the trait effect (i.e., delay discounting of one reward type is predictive of delay discounting of other reward types) are two phenomena which have been consistently observed for a variety of reward types. Here, we wanted to investigate if these effects also occur in the context of the novel but widespread reward types of Instagram followers and likes and if delay discounting of these outcomes is related to self-control and Instagram screen time. In a within-subject online experiment, 214 Instagram users chose between smaller, immediate and larger, delayed amounts of hypothetical money, Instagram followers and likes. First, we found that the magnitude effect also applies to Instagram followers and likes. Second, delay discounting of all three reward types was correlated, providing further evidence for a trait influence of delay discounting. Third, no relationships were found between delay discounting and self-control as well as Instagram screen time, respectively. However, a user’s average like count was related to delay discounting of Instagram likes.

Jolani, Shahab, Weinstein, Pawel

This vignette presents the missing indicator method for handling missing data in covariates. The method unfolds through two activities, guiding students in the practical implementation of the method and comparable alternatives using statistical software. We further evaluate these activities and discuss conditions under which the missing indicator method yields valid results. We conclude that the missing indicator method can be safely used in experimental studies characterized by randomization protocols.

Shuguang Zhao, Wenjian Zhang

The link between gaming and negative outcomes has been explored by previous research and has led to the widespread adverse attitude toward gaming (ATG) and gamers, especially from those who are unfamiliar with this activity. By implementing an audit study with gamers and non-gamers as participants (N = 1,280), we found that non-gamer participants rated gamers less as similar to their ideal marriage partners compared to non-gamers, while gamer participants did not differentiate between gamers and non-gamers in the ideal marriage partners similarity rating (IMPSR). The findings also revealed that the difference in IMPSR between gamer and non-gamer participants toward gamers was completely mediated by their ATG. These results imply that non-gamers consider gaming as an undesired characteristic, and this is due to the relatively negative attitude of non-gamers toward gaming. Current study provides a new perspective on exploring the effect of gaming by investigating the social interaction between gamers and non-gamers in real-world and suggests that the unfamiliarity of gaming can lead to the negative ATG, which may, ultimately, place gamers at a disadvantage in the context of mate selection.

Raul Max Lucas da Costa, Yan Ferreira de Alencar

O presente artigo discute a função da identificação na terapêutica do alcoolismo proposta pela Irmandade Alcoólicos Anônimos (AA). Como procedimento metodológico, realizamos um estudo bibliográfico da literatura de AA e entrevistas com dez membros de AA na cidade de Juazeiro do Norte-CE. Para a análise dos resultados, realizamos uma articulação entre a teoria psicanalítica, análise de discurso e as contribuições da filosofia foucaultiana sobre discurso e poder. Em psicanálise, a identificação é definida como o laço afetivo mais remoto que o sujeito estabelece com o objeto. Freud se vale do referido conceito em seu estudo sobre as formações grupais e das massas destacando três modos de identificação: com o pai, a sintomática e a histérica. Constatamos que para o membro de AA, a prática do programa terapêutico espiritual dos doze passos exige uma identificação sintomática com a “doença alcoólica” e com o outro membro “alcoólico”. A coesão grupal da Irmandade ocorre a partir do ideal do eu de “sobriedade”. A experiência dos fundadores registrada na literatura oficial da Irmandade serve como traço identificatório para os membros até hoje. Nas falas dos participantes, foi destacada a necessidade do vínculo grupal, comparado ao laço familiar, e do exercício de lideranças nos grupos, apesar da Irmandade não estabelecer líderes oficialmente. Concluímos que para os AA a terapêutica do alcoolismo equivale ao processo gradual de construção identitária do “alcoólico anônimo”, cujos efeitos subjetivos são de massificação em detrimento da singularidade.

D. G. Robertson, Asbjørn Dyrendal, E. Asprem

Conspiracy theories are a ubiquitous feature of our times. The Handbook of Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Religion is the first reference work to offer a comprehensive, transnational overview of this phenomenon along with in-depth discussions of how conspiracy theories relate to religion(s). Bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to political science and the history of religions, the book sets the standard for the interdisciplinary study of religion and conspiracy theories.

Rosina Pavlivna Shevchenko

David Cunning

A review of Deborah Boyle's recent book The Well-Ordered Universe: The Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017).

Urbano Valero SJ

La Compañía de Jesús ha estado empeñada en la acomodación del régimen original de pobreza religiosa a las nuevas circunstancias históricas a través de nuevas estructuras. Este tema se trató especialmente  en las Congregaciones Generales 31 y 32. Se expone en este estudio la génesis de esta reforma y sus líneas esenciales examinando el grado y modo de su coherencia con el espíritu y régimen original de la pobreza de la Compañía. El tema consiste en un esfuerzo en expresar un mismo espíritu en normas parcialmente distintas de las originales. Se trata de hacer servir siempre las normas al espíritu que se pretende encarnar. Las conclusiones de esta acomodación apuntan a vivir en la práctica en circunstancias históricas y socioculturales muy distintas de las primitivas, la exigencia nuclear de la pobreza de los orígenes.

Editorial boards

R. Saputra

This work is based on the assumption that modern human has undergone a multidimensional crisis. This crisis needs a timely response and an urgent solution, for if we neglect it, it will become worse and can destabilize the life of mankind globally. I refer to the work of Huston Smith on perennial philosophy to find its essence as an attempt to find solution for overcoming the modern men`s crisis. This is a library research using the philosophical hermeneutics method. The paper shows that, firstly , perennial philosophy has a characteristic of metaphysics, which try to find a fundamental basis for both immanent and transcendent of all things, psychology which depicts the common sameness in human and ethics as a goal in human life. Secondly , what is meant by human spiritual crisis is a condition where human neglected even destroyed the godhead character within themselves. Thirdly , the answer made by Huston smith`s Perennial Philosophy concerning human spiritual crisis include that the spiritual crisis of modern human being are seen from the tunnel metaphore, in which the basement is scientism, the left wall is education, media as the roof, and the right wall the law. The spiritual crisis of modern human being as a failure of post-modernism has a similiraty with modernism way of seeing this world as the only true reality, although there is different in approach between the two. Religious mysticism that was offered by Huston smith has a perenialistic tone. The pluralistic attitude found among humankind has to be rooted in an esoteric level within each religion. Smith`s perennial philosophy is very relevant to the condition of Indonesia, which therefore has sackeled by a rigid theological dogmatism. Religion should be an endeavor for human being to find a more exalted living.