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End markets such as Construction in 2009 went down 15 percent compared to 2007. This article will provide an explanation why the sales volume of upstream suppliers to Construction markets first went down 30-50 percent, and then recovered to around original levels, and then went down again. Royal DSM together with a group of scientists from Eindhoven University of Technology have investigated this effect based on the hypothesis that de-stocking in the long value chains of the chemical industry is the cause of a significant part of the decline, and that de-stocking has been triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers mid September 2008. It is further based on the hypothesis that the supply chains act elastically to a strong impulse, thus creating wave-like effects.

Religion is back in Philosophy as a respectable subject. Part 1 first charts what MacIntyre, Taylor and Derrida have meant in this regard. Subsequently, it turns to the Enlightenment to determine what constituted the breakthrough. It is found that even where the Enlightenment gave maximum room to religion (i.e. as a civic religion and as "religion of the heart") it still excluded a constitutive relation to a transcendent revelation. Part 2 centres on the religion-faith distinction in reformational philosophy. Similar to the Enlightenment, religion is understood as part of human nature. However, human nature itself is conceived as intrinsically religious and depending for its light on revelation. Secondly, "religion" in this context also encompasses idols and religious substitutes. Thus, it directs attention to shopping malls, football stadiums, health policy, et cetera, as possible contexts of a return of religion. Examples show that this has become a popular approach. However, most of the publications surveyed fail to distinguish between an "analogical" and a "pistically qualified" use of religion, and are open to exaggerations (the shopping mall and football stadiums as temples, etc.). At this junction, the relevance is shown of the religion-faith distinction as well as of Elaine Botha's theory of metaphors. The epilogue offers an integration of parts one and two. Religie is terug in die Filosofie as 'n waardige onderwerp. In Deel 1 word eerstens uitgestip wat MacIntyre, Taylor en Derrida in hierdie verband bedoel. Daarna word na die Verligting gekyk om te bepaal wat die deurbraak moontlik gemaak het. Die bevinding is dat, selfs waar die Verligting heeltemal plek gemaak het vir religie (as 'n siviele religie en as religie van die hart), dit steeds 'n wesenlike verband met 'n transendentele openbaring uitgesluit het. Deel 2 sentreer rondom die religie-geloofsonderskeid in reformatoriese filosofie. Ooreenkomstig met die Verligting, word religie as deel van die menslike natuur verstaan. Menslike natuur word egter op sigself verstaan as wesenlik religieus en afhanklik van openbaring vir sy lig. Tweedens omvat "religie" in hierdie konteks ook afgode en religieuse plaasvervangers. Dit vestig dus die aandag op winkelarkades, voetbalstadions, gesondheidsbeleid, ensovoorts as moontlike kontekste van 'n terugkeer van religie. Uit voorbeelde kan gesien word dat hierdie 'n populêre benadering geword het. Die meeste van die publikasies wat ondersoek is, versuim egter om tussen 'n "analogiese" en 'n "pisties-gekwalifiseerde" gebruik van religie te onderskei en is oop vir oordrywing (bv. die winkelarkade en voetbalstadions as tempels). By hierdie kruispunt word op die relevansie van die religie-geloofsonderskeid gewys, sowel as op Elaine Botha se metafoorteorie. Die epiloog bied 'n integrasie van dele een en twee.

Deze bijdrage onderzoekt een dubbele veronderstelling van de benadering van secularisatie en secularisme in B.J. van der Walt's "Transforming power" (2007). De eerste veronderstelling is dat de menselijke natuur intrinsiek religieus is, in de zin dat niemand kan leven zonder zich aan iemand of iets toe te vertrouwen. De tweede aanname, door mij aangeduid als de "concentratie these", is dat de religieuze impuls normaliter zich in geconcentreerde vorm uit, in plaats van zich over meerdere objecten te verdelen. Op grond van beide vooronderstellingen herleidt Van der Walt atheïsme en zelfs godsdienstige onverschilligheid tot overtuigingen die qua intensiteit met geloofsovertuigingen overeenstemmen en evenals de laatste naar hegemonie streven op het publieke terrein. Na het analytische deel volgt een eigen stellingname. De schrijver van deze bijdrage staat sympathiek tegenover de eerste aanname, maar verwerpt de tweede. Het voornaamste argument is dat de concentratie these geen recht doet aan het verschijnsel van wereld- en levensbeschouwingen die het leven van aanhangers niet volledig in beslag nemen. Deze stelling wordt uitgewerkt in een beschouwingen over het hedendaagse humanisme en het verschijnsel van "multiple religious participation". This contribution probes the concept of secularism, a key notion of B.J. van der Walt's "Transforming power" (2007). It is found that Van der Walt's interpretation of secularism rests on a double assumption. The first assumption is that human nature is intrinsically religious. Humans cannot live without putting their trust in something. The second is that this religious nature manifests itself in "concentrated" ways, rather than dispersing itself over a plurality of objects. These assumptions in tandem explain why Van der Walt holds the view that atheism, agnosticism and even overt indifference in matters of faith are at heart propelled by convictions that share the main features of positive religions. It also explains why he assumes that all these convictions tend towards one and the same goal: to gain dominance in the public realm. This article is sympathetic towards the first assumption, and skeptical towards the second. It is argued that the "concentration-thesis" fails to do justice to world and life-views that obviously do not claim total allegiance. To illustrate this point it turns to the phenomenon of "multiple religious participation", as well as to different strands within contemporary humanism. It concludes that the main problem may well be that secular culture has little to offer to satisfy the innate religious drive in humankind. Finally, an attempt is made to amend the notion of secularism in such a way as to steer clear from "Konsequenzmacherei".