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It is not without reason that generations of interpreters have often characterized Jonah in a negative light. This paper argues that the rhetorical workings of Jon. 4:1–11 can be seen as a gaslighting strategy, as the text guides its readers to delegitimize and pathologize the resistant voice of Jonah to elevate YHWH's universalistic and impartial mercy. Drawing upon research literature in gaslighting studies and discussing how gaslighting can be a helpful lens for analyzing ancient texts, I explore how the text utilizes the voice of YHWH to subject Jonah to a "crazy-making" process by sidestepping the issue, attributing flaws to Jonah's logic and emotions, and finally silencing the prophet with the deliberate ending in the coda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an analysis of Isaiah 51.1–3, 4–6, 7–8. These units contain multiple similarities that emphasize the fundamental tension between the units, primarily regarding the nature of divine tidings and the identity of their beneficiaries. The first part of the article demonstrates the unique content and design of each unit through a literary analysis; however, since the reading process constantly reveals new content, the underlying tension is further intensified in the second part of the article, which leads to the conclusion that the units are deliberately ambiguous and multivalent. The multifaceted content facilitates an understanding of the units, and Deutero-Isaiah as a whole. The article demonstrates that the dynamic literary-rhetorical design and its interpretive consequences reflect the existence of various groups (which serve as the 'rhetorical situation' of these units), the prospective connections between these groups, and their potential for social, geographical, and ethnic mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst the positively enormous body of literature on processes of the development of Hinduism in Southeast Asia, considerably fewer studies attempt to address the topic of Hindu particularism in the region. Many studies gravitate toward Balinese Agama Hindu Dharma, with perhaps mentions of Batak, Dayak, and others. Ultimately, there is so much evidence in favor of the idea of local religious communities that are simply "Dayak Religion" or "Batak Religion," the question then arises: Why do these communities get called "Hindu" at all? In this article, based upon a collection of fieldwork in the region and historical analysis, the potential value of the discourse of Hindu particularism through the cases of the Batak, Dayak, and Balinese is examined. In each of these three cases, those scholars of Hinduism will find elements familiar. However, if they are keen observers, scholars of Hinduism will also indeed find elements that are specific to each Southeast Asian context, influenced by a confluence of Dutch colonialism, Japanese imperialism, and the modern Indonesian state. Thus, the article argues what is at stake for these communities that might not otherwise be considered "Hindu" at all is a matter of governmental recognition and, therefore, of livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on philosophical tradition including virtue ethics, particularism, anti-theory, and Wittgensteinian moral philosophy.

Sociologists have long been interested in the theoretical possibility of a universal ritual. Despite a growing number of indicators of world society and globalization, there have not been attempts to observe and analyze the international reach of particular rituals. We propose an extension of the "interaction ritual chain" by theorizing how an interaction ritual might be created and diffused internationally. We look at the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, which created shared conditions of social distancing and emotional distress. We analyze a discontinuous chain of urban and national interaction rituals that focused attention on the efforts of healthcare workers fighting the virus. We count clapping and noise-making in 101 countries and 26 global cities. While we find similar ritual forms and international symbols of solidarity, there was also substantial evidence of conflict and particularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of indigenous religions in Indonesia has always been overshadowed by a history of discrimination from state‐recognized religions. One of the main causes is the government's use of categorization that is influenced by the world religions paradigm. As a result, the government does not recognize indigenous religion as a religion and promotes a categorization of it that tends to be negative. In the Christian discourse of theology of religions, the models of exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism, and even particularism are trapped in a similar religious categorization. On the one hand, the models of theology of religions are open to dialogue with world religions. On the other hand, indigenous religion is not considered a dialogue partner. This article argues that linguistic hospitality can be an inspiration for interreligious dialogue, allowing Christianity to become more open to indigenous religions. Emphasizing a hermeneutic of openness allows indigenous religions to show their otherness without being limited by assumptions of Christian theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 23 August 1950, Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Jacob Blaustein, President of the American Jewish Committee, expressed their mutual understanding about the relationship of Israel to Jews in the United States and other free countries. Ben-Gurion's declaration in the exchange that Jews of the United States owe no political allegiance to Israel was naturally seen as a compromise made for pragmatic reasons by the Prime Minister, known for his belief in aliyah, the ascent of world Jewry to Israel. Observing the exchange from a seventy-year perspective, however, I suggest that Ben-Gurion's statements were rather consistent with a unique conceptual framework he used as a means for the sovereign state of Israel to gain the support of Jews living in other sovereign states, while reducing the danger that they be accused of dual loyalty. I describe that conceptual framework, which stresses the universal messianic mission of the Jewish state, and raise some thoughts on the implications of its abandonment in Israel in later years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Pandemics, Power, and Conspiracy Theories around the world. Topics include examines that Joseph Uscinski observed to emphasise the crucial role the Internet plays in circulating a deluge of information and conjectures including fake news– around the world; and evaluating the risks of a priori dismissal or denialism, choosing between a generalist and a particularist approach, and dealing with the question of ‘secrecy'.

The article focuses on religious ethics of philosopher Paul Ricoeur and hermeneutics of moral philosophy. It mentions normative status of rights or, for that matter, human dignity and also the moral standing of nonhuman life and appeals to a Rawlsian theory of justice, communication ethics, so-called capabilities theory. It also mentions hermeneutics of morals allows us a more robust sense of normativity than found in forms of moral particularism.

In light of ongoing debates about religious education as hermeneutical, this contribution proposes a 'hermeneutical-communicative' (HCM) paradigm for RE through the development of a twofold reflection: (a) a critical (re-)evaluation of the theological and anthropological foundations for RE in light of (b) a context marked by religious and philosophical diversity, disaffiliation and 'areligiosity'. In this way, the HCM approach proposes an identity for RE that lies at the intersection of 'hermeneutical' and 'dialogical'. Drawing upon theologies of interreligious dialogue, this contribution first analyses four paradigms for RE (exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism, particularism) and then advocates for a hermeneutical-communicative approach characterised by an emphasis on interreligious 'literacy', philosophical and religious hospitality and inter-hermeneutical dialogue. Such a paradigm results in a number of implications for practice, including sensitivity to 'big questions' in life, engagement with the Gospels and the faith tradition, respect and appreciation for other avenues in the search for meaning and identity, and attention to the personal growth of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the citizens of Elbing defined the political position of their city in the Polish-Lithuanian unitary state at the turn of the eighteenth century. In the course of the Great Northern War, they saw their own city, like Danzig and Thorn, threatened by Swedish troops. The Brandenburg elector Friedrich III also occupied the trading city in 1698 as a pledge, because a payment owed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which had been stipulated in the treaties of Wehlau and Bromberg (1657), had not been made. As the poorest of the three large cities, Elbing had the fewest resources and was thus in the weakest position to defend itself. In order to comprehend how the people of Elbing positioned their city within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth statements made by the citizens concerning external political actors-the Polish state and its dignitaries on the one hand, and the Brandenburg elector on the other-are examined. These include reports about Brandenburg's occupation of Elbing, books detailing the negotiations of the council and the citizens, as well as letters addressed to the states of Poland-Lithuania, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Elector of Brandenburg. It is not surprising that the citizens of Elbing continued to see their city's membership to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as the basis of their political existence. The emphasis of this connection changed, however, when the people of Elbing saw themselves as threatened by the Brandenburg und Swedish troops. While, in the centuries before this, the three major Prussian cities of Danzig, Thorn and Elbing had stressed that they belonged to the king rather than to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, now, in view of the threats, the council and citizens of Elbing began to emphasize that they belonged to the Commonwealth. This indicates that the Prussian states in the eighteenth century were not characterized exclusively by particularism. Rather, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the citizens of Elbing moved closer to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practitioners find little value in academic research. Some see it as a knowledge flow problem; others see practitioner and academic knowledge as unrelated. Van de Venand Johnson propose a pluralistic collective of researchers and practitioners using "engaged scholarship" and intellectual arbitrage to create practitioner-meaningful research. It's a nice dream, but not a solution; bias, disciplines, and particularism remain. Neither discipline-centric nor practitioner-driven research offers a solution. Earthquake science offers a better model for business school research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the image of great thinkers working in splendid isolation, two of the giants of twentieth century religious thought had a sustained and deep fr iendship. Martin Buber and Paul Tillich met in Germany in religious socialist circles in the early twentieth century. Over the ensuing decades they wrestled with the same profound theological questions, and the influence they had on each other may well be recognized in each man's oeuvre. They entered a deep religious conversation that transcended the ideological particularism of each man's own tradition, and left us an example of the profoundest kind of dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I believe most acts of human procreation are immoral, and I believe this despite also believing in the truth of moral particularism. In this paper I explain why. I argue that procreative acts possess numerous features that, in other contexts, seem typically to operate with negative moral valences. Other things being equal this gives us reason to believe they will operate negatively in the context of procreative acts as well. However, most people's intuitions represent procreative acts to be morally permissible in most circumstances. Given moral particularism, this would normally be good evidence that procreative acts are indeed morally permissible and that the features that operate negatively elsewhere, simply do not do so in the context of procreative acts in particular. But I argue that we have no good reason to think our intuitions about the ethics of human procreation are accurate. Our most reliable source of insight into the ethics human procreative acts are not our intuitions those acts themselves, but our intuitions about the typical moral valences of the features such acts possess. If that is correct, then acts of human procreation are most likely wrong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on concept of moral particularism, which is the view that the moral status of an action is not in any way determined by moral principles. It discusses Jonathan Dancy's views on proponent in ethics of moral particularism, the idea that all moral reasons are particular and context-sensitive, rather than general. The article talks about the concepts of holism and universalizability by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant as part of work Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals.

The article presents a front cover of the journal "The Philosophical Forum," and table of content including "Universalizability and the Metaphysics of Moral Particularism, Specified", "Reliabilism, Lotteries, and Safaris", and "Relativism and the Conversation of the World."

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This paper explores a particularist element in the theory of method of Imre Lakatos, who appealed to the value-judgements of élite scientists in the appraisal of competing theories of method. The role played by such value-judgements is strongly reminiscent of the epistemological particularism of Roderick Chisholm. Despite the existence of a clear parallel between the particularist approaches of both authors, it is argued that Lakatos's approach is subject to a weakness that does not affect the approach of Chisholm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Crítica is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones Filosoficas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the limits of the Israeli form of liberalism, social particularism, and origins of the chasm between Mizrahi Jewish communitarianism and Ashkenazi universalistic liberalism.

Urban studies today is marked by many active debates. In an earlier paper, we addressed some of these debates by proposing a foundational concept of urbanisation and urban form as a way of identifying a common language for urban research. In the present paper we provide a brief recapitulation of that framework. We then use this preliminary material as background to a critique of three currently influential versions of urban analysis, namely, postcolonial urban theory, assemblage theoretic approaches and planetary urbanism. We evaluate each of these versions in turn and find them seriously wanting as statements about urban realities. We criticise (a) postcolonial urban theory for its particularism and its insistence on the provincialisation of knowledge, (b) assemblage theoretic approaches for their indeterminacy and eclecticism and (c) planetary urbanism for its radical devaluation of the forces of agglomeration and nodality in urban-economic geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies in linguistic typology have challenged the idea that languages can be analyzed in terms of a set of preestablished universal categories. Each language should instead be described “in its own terms,” a view consistent with the ‘old’ structuralist paradigm in linguistics. The renewed orientation toward differences between languages raises two questions: (i) How do we identify the meanings which are assumed to be crosslinguistically comparable? (ii) What is the relationship between language-particular categories and comparative concepts commonly used in linguistic typology? To answer these questions, this article focuses on a number of distinctions advocated by Eugenio Coseriu (1921-2002). Coseriu distinguishes three levels of meaning (designation, “signifiés,” and sense) and three types of universals (essential, empirical, and possible universals). Their relevance for linguistic typology is discussed with regard to the expression of possession and a particular diathesis in Japanese, viz. ukemi or “indirect passive.” As well as relating language-particular categories and comparative concepts, Coseriu’s approach offers a promising avenue to account for the ways language-specific meanings interact with extralinguistic knowledge and contents of discourse and texts, which are the object of translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology. Organization & Management / Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Slaskiej. Seria Organizacji i Zarzadzanie is the property of Silesian Technical University, Organisation & Management Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Roderick Chisholm argues that in giving an account of knowledge, we must either begin with an account of what knowledge is, and proceed on that basis to identify the particular things that we know, or else start with instances of knowledge, and proceed on that basis to formulate a definition of knowledge. Either approach begs the question against the other. This is the epistemic wheel. This article responds to Chisholm's challenge. It begins with cases of knowledge attribution and builds its account from there, identifying those features that we take to be present in the cases where we have attributed knowledge and those features that seem important when we want to withhold an attribution of knowledge. The proposal does not beg the question against either particularists or methodists; it takes the best features of each view, without beginning with either, and thereby removes us from the wheel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are the first principles in the philosophy of Thomas Reid derived inductively from particular experience, or are they self-evident? Is Reid an epistemic particularist, or a methodist? Some scholars interpret him as an epistemic particularistic, while others hold that he is a methodist like other philosophers of his time. This debate was central to an exchange between Roderick Chisholm and Keith Lehrer. Taking the general belief in personal identity as an example, this paper aims to show which interpretation is more consistent with Reid's whole philosophical system. Although Reid believes that the general belief is self-evident without reasoning, it is not self-evident in the way that beliefs in particular cases are. Reid's overall philosophical method makes the self-evidence of particular beliefs more basic, the self-evidence of general beliefs being transferred from particular beliefs by means of habit. I conclude that the particularistic interpretation is more consistent with his whole philosophical system than the methodist interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are concrete objects in some sense made up of the properties they exemplify? A distinguished tradition holds they are. I begin by defending the distinction: there is a real and not just semantic distinction between asserting and denying that concrete objects have their properties as parts. I then argue in favor of the view that concrete objects are not made up of their parts. First, this view has less ontological baggage than its opponent. Next, the supposed advantages of the alternative view--its superiority in understanding persistence, exemplification, or the possibility of diverse duplicates--dissipate under analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relevance between Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman's virtue of philosophy and curriculum of Catholic University. Topics include philosophy relation to theology and other disciplines of university, aims and principles of Catholic university, and role of theology in university curriculum. It discusses Catholic institutions' potential of become institutions of research, instruction and character formation.

Sōka Gakkai began to develop in Cuba as a religious organization after the visit of Ikeda Daisaku in 1996. Starting with a small group in the capital city, it received juridical recognition by the State in 2007 and has spread to most of the provinces in the country. Despite its modest growth, the Cuban case provides insights into the ways in which this religion develops in new sociocultural environments and thereby participates in the dynamics of globalization beyond Japanese enclaves. Based on the analysis of data collected in Havana, the article identifies, describes and explains four modes by which Sōka Gakkai negotiates its message and identity in Cuba: the hybridization of Sōka Gakkai themes with the life and thought of National Hero Jose Marti; the universalization of Sōka Gakkai's particularistic Japanese elements to create a new identity connected to the movement's global following; the hybridization of Sōka Gakkai with 'Oriental' spiritualities; and the combination of pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism as a threefold attitude toward other religions. These modes involve multiple interactions in the global field, through which Sōka Gakkai strives to build a symbolic bridge to local particularism, the 'mystic East,' and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Roderick Chisholm, there are three ways of responding to the Problem of the Criterion and they all leave something to be desired. Michael DePaul, Paul Moser, and Earl Conee have each proposed variations of a fourth way of responding to this problem that rely on reflective equilibrium. We argue that these four options for responding to the Problem of the Criterion leave one with a tough choice; accept one of the three that Chisholm describes or DePaul's reflective equilibrium approach and beg the question or accept a reflective equilibrium response of the sort Conee and Moser propose and embrace epistemic circularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reality that cannot be denied that the laws of Indonesia applicable today, especially regarding international trade transactions, are less conducive to the changes. This can be understood because the law that in fact is a legacy of the Dutch colonial government has not been changed at all, but the dynamics of the community continue to run endlessly. Changes in society increasingly run quickly along with the progress achieved in the field of Science and Technology, particularly Information and Communication. Such an objective conditions will in turn lead to new legal issues in the community, namely the absence of law and the emergence of the legal gap between what the law in book with what the law in action. The increasingly complex legal issues in related to be the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) of 2015. The theory used to analyze is the Jeremy Bentham's Legislation Theory and the Theory of Legal Development from Mochtar Kusumaatmadja. While the research method applied is normative legal research methods with the statute, and conceptual approaches. The analysis shows that the convergence paradigm namely universalistic particularism is appropriate used in law reform in Indonesia. In addition, in order to provide a clear direction of Indonesian economic law reform efforts in the context of the establishment of 2015 AEC, it is necessary to establish the Indonesian Economic System in the national legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Topics covered include the dependence of Jewish communities on the surrounding societies during the Second World War, the effect of the Second Vatican Council on Christian-Jewish relations and the effort of many Christian communities to reform their attitudes towards Jews. Also discussed are the universal dimensions of Jewish education, the teaching of Jewish festivals in Jewish schools and attempts to balance the poles of particularism and universalism.

In this article I examine an as yet unexplored aspect of J.P. Moreland’s defense of so-called bare particularism — the ontological theory according to which ordinary concrete particulars (e.g., Socrates) contain bare particulars as individuating constituents and property ‘hubs.’ I begin with the observation that if there is a constituency relation obtaining between Socrates and his bare particular, it must be an internal relation, in which case the natures of the relata will necessitate the relation. I then distinguish various ways in which a bare particular might be thought to have a nature and show that on none of these is it possible for a bare particular to be a constituent of a complex particular. Thus, Moreland’s attempt to resurrect bare particulars as ontologically indispensable entities is not wholly without difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the interface of continental philosophy and interreligious studies. It argues that truth-talk is an important part of Christianity and other religions. The authors discuss the debate between pluralism and particularism in the theology of religions, the difference between truths and the Truth, and the functions of truth in the process of interreligious dialogue. They also talk on the importance of hermeneutics for interreligious dialogue.

Particularism, universalism, and realism are core components of modern Jewish advocacy for international religious freedom and other human rights. The most prominent and successful particularist Jewish advocacy movement was the push for Jews to be allowed to depart from the Soviet Union. Jewish advocates have supported efforts that guarantee universal human rights through bodies like the OSCE and the United Nations, and they have spoken out against the “defamation of religions” resolutions. In the United States, Jewish leaders contributed to the success of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) and to the activities of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay Stanley Hauerwas reflects on his life's work by responding to the critical contributions found in the essays of this volume. Rather than trying to defend a 'position,' Hauerwas takes this opportunity to offer further insight into how he sees his work to be driven by theology, insofar as his ethical reflection cannot be extricated from Christological considerations. It is this Christological center that allows him to avoid making a false separation between the person and work of Jesus Christ. For Hauerwas, only in maintaining its Christological center can Christian 'ethics' be understood in continuity with the practices of the church, including the practice of Christian speech. Without this continuity, 'ethics' fails to be theological. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that Stanley Hauerwas has not taken up many of the topics normally associated with virtue ethics, has explicitly distanced himself from the enterprise known as 'virtue ethics,' and throughout his career has preferred other categories of analysis, ranging from character and agency to practices and liturgy, it is nevertheless clear that his work has had a deep and transformative impact on the recovery of virtue within Christian ethics, and that this impact has largely to do with the ways in which his thought resists normalization. This essay traces the evolution of Hauerwas's reflections on virtue and the virtues over the course of his career, with special attention to how this has been bound up with an increasingly emphatic theological particularism that has remained ambivalent between what I term 'comprehensive' versus 'exclusive' particularism. I argue that it is important to distinguish between these, and suggest that grasping the destructive tendencies of 'exclusive' particularism should cement our commitment to shouldering the responsibilities associated with comprehensive particularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are predicates and subjects. It is thus tempting to think that there are properties on the one hand, and things that have them on the other. I have no quarrel with this thought; it is a fine place to begin a theory of properties and property-having. But in this paper, I argue that one such theory-bare particularism-is false. I pose a dilemma. Either bare particulars instantiate the properties of their host substances or they do not. If they do not, then bare particularism is both unmotivated and false. If they do, then the view faces a problematic-and, I shall argue, false-crowding consequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper defends the received account-that the Westminster Assembly maintained that all salvific actions of God are particular in intention-against a revisionist argument that it allowed that some salvific actions of God may be universal in intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature on the challenges of religious plurality presents a "new" model that is intended to put an end to the arguments for openness at the expense of religious particularity. This model, which is called particularism, relies on George Lindbeck's cultural-linguistic theory and his corresponding postliberal theology. Postliberalism directs attention to the point that openness begins with the recognition of the irreducibility of religions. However, does it end in a form of exclusivism, thereby sealing the end of interreligious dialogue? In this essay the author analyzes whether the postliberal interpretation of religious diversity is theologically acceptable. After unraveling its fiduciary interests, the author will formulate a theological appreciation of postliberalism in view of interreligious dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethno-pragmatics as device to understand the culturally Other is essential when we believe that there is a nexus of intimate relationships between language and culture. The whole idea of ethno-pragmatics is to understand local life-worlds in the wake of celebrating particularism in inter-cultural communication. Ethno-pragmatics basically appreciates language practices in terms that make sense to the people concerned, whether in terms of indigenous values, beliefs, attitudes, social categories or emotions, and so on. Understanding cultural keywords is pertinent in ethno-pragmatics. These living words provide the best key to a culture's values and assumptions, and they are embedded in the cultural scripts of the society/community. With the above positioning, we suggested that ethno-pragmatics be the device for intercultural communication intelligence (ICQ). In this work we employed a cultural script quest in order to capture/understand the tapestry of Malay culture. Bahasa ("language") is one of the main Malay cultural keywords. The Malays relate bahasa to various norms and beliefs that encompass their life-world. Bahasa is molecularly related to their emotions, sense-making and aesthetics. As an illustration, we provide ICQ-at-work with halus as a technique of utilizing bahasa for successful speech-acts. Specifically, we narrate on Malay "indirectness" as a way of having conversation with the culturally Other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the restricted thesis based on Confucius's moral system on yi other than on ren. It argues Din C. Lau's claim as inconclusive from the statement saying no moral systems can be based solely on moral virtues and is of no exemption, failing to consider the general sense of ren. Moreover, Lau as a particularist in position, has been explored for his use of benevolence as a synonym for love,

Unlike most studies on social cohesion, this study explores the concept as a real-life macro-level phenomenon. It assesses to what extent the conceptions of social cohesion suggested by several macro-level approaches represent coherent empirically observable forms of social cohesion. Additionally it discusses two perspectives on social cohesion-the universalist and the particularist perspective. The former would expect social cohesion to be related to stages of socio-economic development. The latter hypothesizes enduring, regionally unique regimes of social cohesion resisting the homogenizing pressures of modernization. The paper finds evidence for both perspectives. On the one hand, a syndrome of social cohesion was identified consisting of trust, equality, order (i.e. lack of crime) and consensus on basic values which correlates closely with indicators of socio-economic development. This finding supports the universalist perspective. On the other hand, and consistent with the particularist perspective, the study found regionally unique patterns for Latin America, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationships between the cultural-linguistic theory of religion, postliberalism, and particularism. Despite the similarities between the cultural-linguistic model and particularism, both theories also have their respective differences especially on the aspect on how each views the value of interreligious dialogue. Postliberalism promotes the end of dialogue while paticularism recognizes the difference within interreligious dialogue.

This article argues that music may be an effective but under-explored metaphor for public theology. Specifically music can act as a helpful metaphor for theologians seeking to respond to three dominant criticisms of public theology, namely: that theology is too particularistic to be relevant to public discourse; that theology (and religion more widely) is harmful and dangerous especially after 9/11; that theology offers nothing that is objective to public discourse. The article responds to these criticisms by pointing out that they can be applied to public music too, but that the world would be impoverished if music (and theology) were simply to be eliminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous article entitled 'Augustinian Universalism', I argued that the principles of Augustinianism are compatible with universalism. For those who reason to Augustinianism on the basis of biblical-theological arguments, this may not be terribly troubling. However, if the logic of Augustinianism is consistent with universalism this sets up an Augustinian problem of evil. For if God could have created a world where all would have been saved, but did not, this calls divine benevolence into question. In this article, I set out to rebut Augustinian universalism by arguing that there are good theological reasons for thinking God does not bring about the salvation of all humanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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