Има ли Разум във вселената?

Author(s): Hristo Gagov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

Some issues of the theory of Intelligent Design (ID) are discussed in detail. The possibilities and limits of empirical science in proving claims related to the origin of life and macroevolution are analyzed. A few examples of data interpretations supporting the theory of evolution are examined. The metaphysical nature of ID is clarified. Living organisms are compared to non-living thermodynamic systems. Finally, the article looks at some implications of the theory of evolution for social processes.

Съвременното изкуство и идеята за визуалното безсмъртие

Author(s): Peter Tzanev / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 4/2017

The idea of “the human soul” is usually seen as a proto-psychological concept, and not as a basic aesthetic category. From the perspective of psychology, we find it quite natural that the idea of the soul is destined to die with the demise of the idea of immortality. In art, however, in the modern era, the idea of immortality remains fundamental. The modern idea of art is built on the idea of visual immortality. It can speculate that art is a historically variable concept which functions as a substitute term for visual immortality of the soul. In the 20th century, the conversion of the soul into a complex image of human inner mental life led to a radical change in the attitudes, expressed in the visual arts, towards immortality. The demand for a new unifying center that replaces the notion of soul is driving modern and contemporary art to visualize new ideas regarding modern man’s personality structure and distinct types of consciousness.

Образът на мъртвия Христос в романа „Идиот“ и религиозният светоглед на Фьодор Достоевски

Author(s): Igor Evlampiev,Inga Matveeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2020

In the article, on the basis of the analysis of the pictorial image of the Dead Christ present in the novel “The Idiot”, it is concluded that the novel refers not only to the work by Hans Holbein “The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb”, but to the whole tradition of representation of Christ dead and alone, and in particular to Titian’s later work “Pietà”. Holbein’s painting probably caught Dostoevsky’a attention with the fact that it depicts a dead Christ, who still has signs of life. It is the “inconclusiveness” of Christ’s death that gives rise to doubts in his resurrection, because during that period Dostoevsky considered the resurrection of Christ not as a new existence in the form of an independent person, but as an entry into the “general Synthesis” and a merger with all the humanity and even with the entire universe. The analysis of the meaning of Titian’s canvas “Pietà” leads to the idea (probably shared by Dostoevsky) that our world was created by an evil God and is ruled by the forces of evil; this allows us to speak of an affinity of the points of view of the two artists-thinkers with Gnostic Christianity.

Zmiana w Kościele

Author(s): Filip Łapiński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 16/2019

Nowoczesność i zbawienie

Author(s): Tomasz Herbich / Language(s): Polish Issue: 16/2019

Vyākaraṇa and the Mathurā Stele

Author(s): Giovanni Verardi / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

In a former life Śākyamuni received the investiture of future historical Buddha (vyākaraṇa), which made his praṇidhāna irreversible and caused in him a deep change of state, no longer that of a bodhisattva understood as a person aspiring to the bodhi, but rather that of a Buddha. This is the state of the bodhisattva in the inscribed Kuṣāṇa stele of Mathurā, some of which designate him as buddha, tathāgata or samyaksambuddha. This latter role is clearly highlighted, and the bodhisattva appears not only as an awakened being, as shown by the pipal tree under which he is seated, but as one who has taken the decision to teach. Several iconographical clues can be noticed, among which the cakra on the throne, on the palm of his right hand and on the soles of his feet. The cakra is the first of the seven jewels of the cakravartin, and in fact the Mathurā iconographies foreshadow Śākyamuni’s future state as the only, true king of the world. This figural conception remained restricted to Mathurā, whereas in Gandhāra Śākyamuni’s inherent nature of cakravartin, though present, was not as prominent.

The Chariot allegory in the Phaedrus of Plato, the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, and the Milindapañho

Author(s): B.N. Hebbar / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

This paper links three traditions, i.e., ancient Greek, Hindu and Buddhist, through the renowned chariot allegory. The paper’s main purpose is to show that this is not a coincidence but part of a common cultural heritage, i.e., the Indo-European, where the chariot and the horse were important in more ways than one. In the process of uncovering the common Indo-European legacy, the paper looks into certain shared but latent leitmotifs such as the Dumezilian trifunctional hypothesis, cultural beliefs, moral values, spiritual views and metaphysical ideas. The paper also points out the similarities and differences in the three chariot allegories.

Katarza u kontekstu kazališta i znanosti

Author(s): Nadira Puškar Mustafić / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian Issue: 14/2018

Grčki filozof Aristotel definirajući tragediju u svojoj Poetici naveo je katarzu kao pročišćavanje emocija sažaljenja i straha njihovom eksteriorizacijom kroz recepciju tragedije. S vremenom je pojam katarza prešao iz filozofi je u brojne druge znanosti poput psihologije, sociologije, književne teorije i sl. U općem kontekstu, katarza označava iskustvo pozitivne psihičke preobrazbe koja može nastati iz naših pozitivnih ili negativnih iskustava, pri čemu se pozitivni ili negativni osjećaji dovode u emocionalnu ravnotežu. Aristotelova teorija o katarzi nadahnjuje do danas, iako su se javljala i oprečna mišljenja (od Platona do Brechta) da su emocije opasne te ih treba držati pod nadzorom, a ne izražavati i pročišćavati. Aristotel je o katarzi govorio u sklopu definicije tragedije, ali ju nije definirao, pa su se kroz stoljeća javile brojne interpretacije.

Între rai și iad. Angelologie și demonologie hristică

Author(s): Petru Adrian Danciu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 11/2020

The Jewish demonology during Christ's coming corresponds to a warrior messianism, capable of defeating the Roman occupation, seen as a divine punishment for unbelief. Jewish monotheism is subject to a foreign and unwilling power, another world that overlaps any desired politics and religiosity superior to any type of paganism. The world is ruled by warrior angels. They know the ascent and descent according to the divine will, Israel cannot escape the magnetic force they exert on the politics and religiosity of their peoples. If in Babylon Judaism developed its demonological beliefs, under the domination of the Roman Empire, Messianism knows its staging by asserting several personalities, one of them being Jesus Christ, son of Mary. His prophecy revolves around the idea of the divine Kingdom descending to earth, as well as the inherent opposition of the devil, manifested by the presence of false Christs. This belief is almost foreign to the Jewish demonology of the time. The idea of the coming Kingdom creates a strong confusion, the theologians of the time (scribes and Pharisees) associating the event with an open conflict against the Roman occupation, the Jews being seconded by the power of God, respectively by angels. Christ must respond differently to the need for freedom, and the claim to bear the divine appellation (Son of God) does not make sense, moreover, it is a blasphemy. The need for a divine sign, often required from Jesus, has its logical basis on this messianic, warrior expectation. The confusion grows all the more because, of not understanding its message, the purpose of the antichrists appears inexplicable. The research follows exactly these aspects, of the split parallel worlds, from the perspective of the crisis of Jewish monotheism and a demonology that makes it impossible to frame the saving model of Jesus in the politico-religious reality of the time. Although Christian theology holds that the time of Christ's coming was well chosen, He being the divine answer to this very crisis, the Judaism’s demonological view of the world corresponded less and less to the biblical prophecy. If its beginnings were situated in Babylonian captivity, the effects are seen in the distance given by the model of theological interpretation of the deeds of Christ, accused of working with the devil. Perhaps the historical moment was well chosen, but it did not correspond to the demonological mentality of the Jewish theology. Thus the Judaism is abandoned by the divinity, through the interposition of the Roman presence, facing an always announced divine kingdom. Moreover, the forgiveness of the enemy, his love does not correspond to the existing reality. Therefore, the utopian Christ's message is perceived as a blasphemy rather than an exhortation, hence the unilateral rejection of the idea that Christ is the king of the Jews.

Prilog proučavanju ikonografskog motiva stabla svijeta/života na mirilima južnog Velebita

Author(s): Mirjana Trošelj / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1/2017

Presented in the paper is the iconographic-symbolic structure of the ideogram of the arbor mundi (cosmic tree, tree of the world/life) on the mirilište (resting place) of Kosa Renjovačka halfway between the settlement of Reljinovac/Renjovac and the Ljubotić cemetery. The ideograms are analysed stylistically-morphologically on the mirilo monuments and in the funeral art on one headstone of a drystone wall type mirilo grave at the Ljubotić cemetery, and on two grave slabsat the Lun cemetery on the island of Pag. They are analogously compared with the motifs of the same or similar iconographic characteristics from the wider geographic area. The questionof the image of the tree of the world in Podgorje primarily sets the question of the reconstruction of its traditional religious-symbolic meaning, both on the mirilo monuments and on the funeral monuments. Being that the aim of this paper is to show the ideogram of the tree of the world as one of the visual motifs which to date has not been documented in literature about the visual representations of the southern Velebit mirilište (resting places), it is not possible to give a final answer to the question of understanding its image until the beginning of the 20th century.

WILLIAM JAMES: ON THE BORDER BETWEEN SCIENCES AND RELIGION

Author(s): Mirela Radu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

"The American philosopher and psychologist William James (1842-1910) is known to the world of medicine for being the first psychologist in his country. But his influence on universal culture was much deeper. Together with the mathematician and philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) he laid the foundation for pragmatism. James considers the human mind as a dynamic concept. James also contributed to functional psychology by attempting to define the subconscious in relation to the perception of personal existence. His medical studies led him to perceive psychology as a branch of biology. In the book he published only a year before he passed away, The Meaning of Truth (1909), James postulated radical empiricism. According to the American psychologist, human consciousness is a complex process, not just a data flow, but also the creation of networks and connections between these fragments, and human experience is a cumulative, non-random connection process. Numerous philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, logicians, mathematicians, and even literary writers are indebted to William James for his innovative ideas. The multidisciplinarity of this visionary man’s theories is unquestionable. He managed to create a system of thinking which blended all the aspects encountered when studying human mind.”

Ontogeneza glavnog junaka u Ibn Ṭufaylovom Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓānu

Author(s): Samedin Kadić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 24/2020

This text presents the development of the main character in the work Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān from his birth, through the processes of learning and (self)cognition, to his encounter with civilization. The text examines the possibilities of Islamic anthropology within the frame of the mentioned development. In order to confirm the premise that all people are by nature good and, therefore, believers, Ibn Ṭufayl decides to make an experiment of isolated fiṭrah in the natural environment in order to protect it from any cultural influence. The isolation is radical. Ḥayy is no genius, he is an ordinary man. His faith is preserved fiṭrah. Religion, on the other hand, is a routinized faith. Religion, as an immanent social phenomenon, has the potential to corrupt faith, because culture distorts the fiṭrah. Hence, Ibn Ṭufayl’s text reveals some of the most intrinsic tensions of the muwaḥḥidūn project itself: the fear of trivializing and deforming living faith in a social conglomerate of various religious forms.

BIO-BIBLIOGRAFIJA MUHAMMEDA IQBALA

Author(s): Amrudin Hajrić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 17/2013

Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) is one of the most brilliant minds that have emerged in the modern East. He wrote some of the best poems in the Urdu and Persian languages expressing in them a unique worldview that combines matter and spirit and providing an opinion on political issues of far-reaching significance. The message and insights that Iqbal offered in his works are as relevant today as they were at his time. This work is actually a reference on his life and his most important works, and also treats his political activities which have resulted in separating Pakistan from India and led to its independence. That is why Iqbal’s birthday is now celebrated as a National holiday in Pakistan.

La poétique de la simplicité et le sens philosophique de la providence divine dans le récit La Jeune Sibérienne de Xavier de Maistre

Author(s): Łukasz Świercz / Language(s): French Issue: 12/2018

The article aims to present and analyse main problems of the novel of Xavier de Maistre La jeune sibérienne. Four main questions are taken under consideration: the poetics of the novel, relations between the philosophy of Joseph de Maistre – brother of Xavier – and the novel in question, problem of sentimentalism in La jeune sibérienne, and the category of simplicity in the text. The novel of Xavier de Maistre is compared to Sophie de Cottin’s fiction, presenting the same story in a more sophisticated way. The article also presents the theological and philosophical problems posed by the text, most of all the question of the providence and grace divine.

AnthroHeinrich Beck, Dialogik – Analogie – Trinität: Ausgewählte Beiträge und Aufsätze des Autors zu seinem 80. Geburtstag

Author(s): Bogoljub Šijaković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2014

Essential Characteristics of Ideal Society From The Perspective of Religions

Author(s): Muhittin Akgül / Language(s): English Issue: 10/2020

The history of humanity shows that there is no period on earth which is far from religion, and truly superstitious societies absolutely believe in a religion / religions. This is because believing is a necessity and a need of the fitra. Besides, when we look at religions that have been accepted throughout history, we see the existence of some other primitive religions. When we look at the nature of religions that are accepted as authentic, it can be deduced that they are basically one. It is seen that the prophecy institution that started from Adam has same basic rules, even if the conditions change. These rules are universal and basically have the characteristic that leads people to happiness. The differences in the rules brought by the prophets are in the subjects of details. The rules related to belief and morality, whose validity have never been lost, have not changed since the time of Prophet Adam, down to Prophet Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and consequently up to the last Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). These rules have an indispensable place in forming a proper and happy society. Because any society where these rules are invalid ultimately becomes problematic and the members of such a society are in trouble.

Stupanje u razgovor religije s prirodnom znanošću i teorijom evolucije: primjer Katoličke crkve

Author(s): Nusret Isanović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2021

The first part of the paper is about the challenges that modern natural sciences, the theory of evolution and their increasingly numerous technological ecstasies pose before religion, about the attempts of religion to recognise them, make itself aware of their meaning and to respond to them, which is shown here on the example of the Catholic Church. The rest of the paper develops a discourse about the process of opening and the effort of entering the dialogue on the part of the Catholic Church with natural sciences and the theory of evolution, as well as about its offcial positions released from the mid-20th century, or from the papacy of Pius XII, till this day. At the same time, this period saw the rise of religious theistic evolutionism, recognised as one of the most appropriate forms of bringing religion closer to natural sciences and the theory of evolution, as well as a certain compromise between them, which this paper also tries to make transparent.

Смирение и оправдание или бунт и борба – философски бележки за отношението към страданието в религиозната вяра и обичайната нравственост

Author(s): Nikolay Turlakov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2021

In this paper, I consider an essential difference between religious faith and morality with regard to their respective attitudes towards suffering. Humility and justification or rebellion and struggle against suffering – this is the framework in which I try to outline the difference in question and to trace the choices made by heroes such as Sisyphus, Abraham and Job, and literary characters such as Zossima, Father Ferapont, Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov, Dr. Rieux and Jean Tarrou. Based on the example of these characters, I find that certain acts of unconditional religious faith dismiss the bad human conditions and earthly purposes (pain, suffering, bodily need, etc.), in contrast to the norms and maxims of morality deriving from people in their joint human existence and struggle. Insofar as religious faith is first and foremost turned to itself (it is a personal feeling that relates to the individual in his individuality) and is intended to achieve salvation (deliverance, healing, the attainment of Nirvana, etc.) of the believer’s soul, it can be said that faith in one’s attitude to life is ultimately a personal attitude (stemming from fear, reverence, or love) of man towards God or towards the divine. By contrast, acts of morality stem primarily from a perspective on human existence as coexistence with others, from empathy for others based not on the faith they share with us, but on the fact that they feel, understand and share with us the common destiny of vulnerable but authentic human beings.

review at Dev Nath Pathak, In Defence of the Ordinary: Everyday Awakenings, Bloomsbury Publications, New Delhi, 2021.

Author(s): Arunima Bhowmick / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

review

Otwartość Boga. Wieczność i wolna wola

Author(s): Eleonore Stump / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2020

This article is an analysis of the doctrine of divine eternity. The sources for this doctrine can be traced back to the philosophy of Boethius or Thomas Aquinas. According to the doctrine of divine eternity, the existence of God is not determined by the linear passage of time – God exists in the eternal present. From an eternal perspective, God has simultaneous access to all moments of nature’s linear time. The doctrine of divine eternity is meant to be an antidote to the alleged contradiction of God’s omniscience with the freedom of human will. However, the doctrine of divine eternity has been criticised. Recently, its effectiveness in solving philosophical problems has been undermined by Alvin Plantinga or William Hasker, among others. This work is an attempt to creatively argue against the Hasker’s position. Hasker sees his position as an alternative to classical theism as represented, for example, by Thomism. Hasker rejects Thomism for two reasons. First, the Thomistic God cannot be intimate with human beings or responsive to them. Secondly, the Thomistic view of God as timeless solves the problem of God’s foreknowledge and of the existence of free will only at the cost of making God’s timeless knowledge useless to him in interaction with the temporal world. This paper analyses Hasker’s reasoning leading to the conclusion that free will and timeless knowledge are compatible and gives reasons for concluding that his argument is itself incompatible with the doctrine of eternity. Subsequently, it has been shown that the same conclusion is made even more clearly on the basis of considerations derived from the concept of eternity. Finally, these considerations are used to challenge Hasker’s conclusion that timeless knowledge might be useless to God in directing his actions over time.