Philosophy and Religion (R0)

The North American Wildlife Conservation Model (NAM) is the driver of a strong anthropocentric stance, which has legalized an ongoing, annual exploitation of hundreds of millions of wild animals, who are killed in the United States through trapping, hunting and other lethal practices. Increasingly, the American public opposes the killing of wild animals for recreation, trophies and profit but has little—if any—knowledge of the Model. The purpose of this book is to empower the public with knowledge about the NAM’s insufficiencies and to help expedite the shift from lethal to compassionate conservation, an endeavour urgently needed particularly under the threats of climate change, human population growth and accelerating plant and animal species extinctions.

With a focus on trapping, this book exposes the NAM's belief in human supremacy and its consequences for wild animals and their ecosystems, the same value that is driving the ongoing global destruction of nature and accelerating species extinction. Motivated by a deep concern for wild animals who suffer and whose lives are extinguished each year by 'sportsmen and women', this book exposes the violent treatment of wild animals inherent in governmental-promoted hunting and trapping programs, while emphasizing the importance of empathy and compassion for other animals in conservation and in our lives.

In this book, Ben Lazare Mijuskovic uses both an interdisciplinary and History of Ideas approach to discuss four forms of intertwined theories of human consciousness and reflexive self-consciousness (Plato, Augustine, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel; Schopenhauer’s subconscious irrational Will; Brentano and Husserl’s transcendent intentionality; and Freud’s dynamic ego). Mijuskovic explores these theories within the context of psychological issues, where the discussion is undergirded by the conflict between loneliness and intimacy. He also explores them in the context of ethics, where the dynamic is between the values of good and evil. The book historically traces these issues in both a personal as well as a political framework. 

This book uses Karl Barth’s Der Römerbrief (1922) as a prism through which to explore the role of religion and its interactions with cultural and political thought in the turbulent interwar period in Europe. One of the most influential books in twentieth-century protestant theology, Der Römerbrief found Barth arguing that the crisis of the time was grounded in an even more profound crisis that pertained to the human condition as such. While much research has been conducted on Der Römerbrief, most of it has focused on the book’s explicit theology. The aim of the present volume is to mark the centenary of this seminal book with a broader investigation into the movements of thought within Der Römerbrief and its reception and impact within its cultural and intellectual context. This broader approach by a range of Northern European researchers brings attention to interconnections between cultural and theological movements intimes of crisis.

At this moment of extreme political polarization in the U.S. which has the potential to threaten the very foundations of the state, Professor Michael DeArmey proposes a revised and updated Constitution. This enriched, reborn Constitution retains much of the current Constitution but also seeks to meliorate and indeed resolve entirely many of the seemingly intractable problems in American democracy. The rights of American citizens are revisited and expanded, and for the first time a wholly new Bill of Goods sets out government’s role in assisting in the necessities for life.

The book contains a careful defense of the proposed changes, including individual chapters focusing on the most controversial topics. Other chapters explore why a constitution is needed and survey the Federalist papers on Constitutional structure.  The book also examines the writings of Aristotle, John Adams’ Defence, and the correspondence of Madison and Jefferson.

Should religion and politics be kept apart? What should be the relationship between the church and the state? M.Y. Ciftci answers these questions by studying the most important event in the recent history of the Catholic Church: The Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

The book provides a new interpretation of the Council’s teaching on church-state relations to better appreciate its flaws and need for reform. By paying attention to the (often overlooked) importance given by the Council to the lay apostolate, it reveals how the Council did not reform, as is often thought, but retained a flawed conception of the laity’s role in politics. 

It then proposes a new framework for understanding church-state relations using the ressourcement method of returning to scripture and tradition, and by a critical dialogue with Oliver O’Donovan and various Protestant biblical scholars of the Powers in the New Testament. Ciftci shows how fruitful an self-consciously ecumenical approach can be for political theology. As most ressourcement theologians have overlooked political issues, and since ecumenical theology rarely touches on issues of church-state relations, this work makes an original contribution to the ressourcement project and to ecumenism. 

This book forms an important part of the current revival of the debate around the category of historical epistemology. The term “historical epistemology” designates a methodology or research program aimed at building a historically informed theory of knowledge and/or a history of science and technology that enhances its epistemological aspects. This book offers an original panorama of the French debate surrounding the emergence and consolidation of the intellectual program of historical epistemology over a period ranging from the end of the 19th century to the second half of the 20th century. The first section of this book sets out to reconstruct sociologically and historically the processes of circulation of ideas - both nationally and internationally - that constituted the conditions of possibility for the emergence of the very idea of historical epistemology in the French intellectual context. The second section aims instead to highlight the main theoretical positions - both epistemological and historiographical - that would make it possible to trace a relative unity of intent among the authors who make up the canon of historical epistemology (in their oppositional relationship to other intellectual trends). Particular attention is also paid to defining a “minor canon” of this tradition, represented by what is known as “mathematical thought”. The third part of the volume focuses instead on reconstructing the anthropological, sociological and political perspectives underlying the methodology employed by authors belonging to historical epistemology. The three parts combined make for a uniquely broad yet focused book that is of interest to historians, philosophers and scientists alike.

This volume is a multilevel and multidisciplinary study of radicalization in the Balkans and MENA regions. It takes a dynamic approach embracing the complexity of the social, political and economic contexts under study. Moving away from unidimensional and security-centred research on the topic, each chapter adopts a participatory and inclusive perspective, engaging communities, youth and women as significant stakeholders in building a better understanding of the dynamics of the radicalization of youth in these regions. The multiple case studies presented here cover several macro drivers of radicalization to reveal the interactions and interrelations of individuals with meso-institutions and backgrounds such as family, neighbourhood, school, peer groups, religious and ethnic communities, political parties, etc. Consequently, the volume addresses several gaps in the literature regarding radicalization and violent extremism: it is based on firm empirical evidence; it allows for comparisons between social contexts in one specific country and between countries sharing macro similarities but also differences; it proposes a fruitful dialogue and collaborations between academics, researchers and civil society experts; and, finally, it offers decentralized perspectives on extremism in the West.

This volume is an important addition to a topic that is of interest to researchers across the social sciences, and to think tanks and policy makers working on/in these regions.

This contributed volume presents eco-imagination as a new tool for knowledge and cultural, artistic, as well as scientific expression.  Herein eco-phenomenology becomes capable of opening a viable path towards a future of environmental and human sustainability. The contemporary urgency of sustainable configurations of the world and of life has made clear the inadequacy of the traditional phenomenological conception of imagination, understood in the mere relationship with perception. These chapters verify the ecological potential of the imagination, thanks to which the latent virtualities in the processes of self-individualization that constitute evolving life become visible. The book collectively argues that only if we use the eco-imagination can one introduce new forms of design thinking needed, since they are intrinsic to the ontopoietic progression of the logos of life.  This volume appeals to students and researchers in phenomenology and related fields.

This book provides a detailed overview of philosophical ramifications of the emerging area of plant behavior. It is also a response to some of the main criticisms of this heterogeneous discipline.  This volume is both a practical guide for those new to the subject, providing a historical reconstruction of the development of the topics, while at the same time an opportunity to allow for discussion at a more advanced level.  It is not a demonstrative text, but rich in insights to guide future theoretical and practical research.  This monograph appeals to interdisciplinary researchers and students working within the spectrum of life sciences to academic philosophy.

This open access book analyses the international data of the European Values Study (EVS 1990 - 2017), with a focus on the impact of religious on political values from empirical as well as theoretical perspectives, i.e. sociology, political and cultural studies, philosophy, ethics, theology and the law. It interprets results from interdisciplinary perspectives, including the viewpoints of social ethics, sociology and cultural studies, law and practical theology. In the political and public as well as media debates of the European Union, the recourse to (above all "European" and also "Christian") values has played a central and controversial role in the field of politics and religion for several decades. This collection is a contribution to a qualified discourse on values in Europe by providing empirical, hermeneutical and ethical criteria for a responsible use of the concept of values. In addition to a comparison of political value systems in Western and Eastern Europe and the possible role of religion in this context, the book also deals with topics such as, f.i., solidarity, economics and values, value formation, and law and values. Additionally, specific population groups such as the socio-culturally marginalized strata are examined more closely. Besides current scientific analyses and interpretations of interest to researchers from various disciplines, this book also offers valuable impulses and suggestions for various multipliers in political, civil society and religious organisations, as well as a sound overview for graduate students.

This book explores the impact of ethical reasoning in forensic science and demonstrates that it is in fact a foundational skill required by those engaged in the field. Forensic science is viewed as a mechanism to aid the criminal justice system in finding truth, but failures within the field contribute to the growing injustice facing society. The author recognizes these failings and brings a new perspective by establishing bioethical principles as a foundation for improving ethical reasoning skills. These skills are a critical component of forensic science education for upcoming professionals. While other books focus on egregious cases of ethical misconduct, this text highlights the daily decisions and issues that occur during the forensic investigation and analysis processes. It is written for future forensic professionals and forensic science educators, as well as those individuals already working in the forensic science field.