Projects / Programmes
Ethical and religious foundation and perspectives of society and religiology in context of modern education
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.11.00 |
Humanities |
Theology |
|
| 6.03.00 |
Humanities |
Anthropology |
|
| 6.10.00 |
Humanities |
Philosophy |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H170 |
Humanities |
Bible |
Theology, religiology, ethics, religion, cultural tradition, symbolic language and activity, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, man's identity, person, man's nature, human rights, man, woman, virtues, values, juridical status, pragmatism, utilitarianism, liberalism, relativism, neopragmatism, ecological movement, justice, globalisation, postmodernity, world's ethos, civil society, multiculturality, interreligious dialog, pedagogy, didactics, psychology of education, liberty, responsibility, solidarity, subsidiarity, democracy, religious juridical systems, intercomfessional dialog, media, global village, addiction, impatience, violence, cult, fundamentalism.
Researchers (5)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The challenges of globalisation demand an ethical reflection. To prevent a general disintegration and demoralisation and above all to mitigate potential conflicts in the society it is necessary to provide ethical foundation and to ascertain a role of the religious foundation. Our starting point is the experience of the ethical tradition, which grew out of Jewish and Christian religion, Greek philosophical reflection and Roman legal system, what is nowadays described by the term human rights. Differences in comprehension of human rights however demand searching for common ethical and ideological foundations to achieve a consensus among them. Christian ethics has shaped a modern concept of a man as a person. Despite the legal foundations of society that should provide a basis for human rights ethical dilemmas are becoming bigger and the need for universal ethics increases. As several social theorists (Foucault, Virillio, Bau-drillard) stress, the key ethical question is: How should people link themselves together, to unite, in order to create social capital (Fukuyama), which forms a basis for coexistence of people with different ideological and ethical origins. Whether the globalisation will be solely an economical process or also a human process, that means a process acceptable for different groups of people, depends on ethical consensus. In that sense H. Kueng suggested the world ethos. In order to protect human being as a person, to protect his survival from the conception till the death, to strengthen the coexistence of persons, groups and nations we must search for common basis of the religious and secular foundations of ethics which stretches from pragmatism and utilitarianism, liberalism to the ideological basis of communitariaism (Taylor) or theory of justice (Rawls)) and for the moral consensus in societies (Rorty, Dahl, MacIntyre, Murdoch). We must settle complex problems of social justice, environment, natural sources and consecutively of men's future and his survival in general, especially the survival of people who are socially stricken, who live at the margin, who are poor. In order to achieve that aims a relevant modern education is needed.
In this context the epistemology of the religious phenomena and religious discourse built a ground origin of the research program. Since many misuses of religious dimension of life are known as from the past as nowadays we will pay a special attention to the critical reflection of the religious phenomena and their relation to ethics and eo ipso to values or virtues respectively in a society. We will investigate religious phenomena in their various dimensions: discursive and practical symbolism; relations society-culture-religion; religious ethos, representations, ethics moralities and economy; a role of the religious legal systems in a plural society; the significance and the role of religion in the case of human rights; the role of virtues and values in the life of a person and of a society; psychology of learning and didactics of the tradition of the values and psychology of the ethical formation in a society; a contribution of religions to the shaping of tolerant relations and to the coexistence in the society.
The role of virtues and of values in a society depends on their bearers. The research will try to find out, what are the ethical attitudes in the society, what virtues are practised by believers and by nonbelievers and in what way it is possible to find consensus despite the differences. Our goal is to scrutiny (from the religiological and from the ethical aspect) attitudes and judgements (also unjustified) that create conflict situations and tensions and to contribute to the creation of more human relations, connected with religious dimensions of private and common life. In connection with the problems described above we will deal with a preparation of learning materials, which would make possible a better enforcement of ethical and religious foundations.
Significance for science
In the studying of values, their posits were researched by our group. The problems we dealt with are of vital importance for development of humanities and of social sciences in general. It has turned out that they are the ‘scientific’ and ideological sediments. As such they must be discovered and brought into the consciousness and awareness of expert and other publics. Therefore the group researched and presented the role of posits originating from ideological, religious or (other) world views in the scientific research and evaluation. This topical subject of anthropology, ecology, important for a social development in general, demands a necessary dialogue in science and in a broader social context what in a consequence makes a fruitful influence upon other fields of social life possible. The group first researched anthropological foundation of a person and ideological elements of scientific research in general. The results showed that an anthropological grounding is necessary for all human endeavor. They were presented at the international scientific conference Person and good. In order to hermeneutically ground the posits of scientific activity we showed, at the international conference Faith and science, that a dialogue between analytical side of man's activity (science) and intuitive depth of human mind (faith) is necessary. Modernity tried to avoid or even to abolish the squaring of the circle of the relation between faith and science by means of deifying of science in the frame of modern ideologies in politics, science and culture. It ideologically closed anthropological elements of man (transcendence). The enlightenment paradigm of a-dialogical man (Habermas) must go over to hermeneutics and dialogue. The group devoted to them its further investigation in order to put attention on human mutual interdependence (MacIntyre). The further research showed that a dialogue is the anthropological ground of man and that it is necessary for the survival of world global society. The last is nowadays quite often declared yet it demands taking into account of ideological differences between religions and world views, which are the most intimate part of man and of society and therefore present a social and personal challenge. This is also the problem of Slovene (and that of other societies in transition) science, especially of humanities and social science to what we put the attention in our Collegiate body for humanities and in National research and developmental program. On the ground of theoretical research and of practical applications the group recommends and stimulates the dialogue in science (and in society in general) about posits and values in science and about foundations of personal and social life as a ground for a successful solving of developmental problems of human society. In concreto the group enriched science with the internationally tested relevant scientific contributions and it helped to spread the awareness about the importance of ideological and axiological posits in science for society.
Significance for the country
Because of the effects of the transformation of the consciousness from the communist period in Slovenia the ideological and axiological posits in science are problematic. That communism caused negative anthropological changes in men and society, by coercively abrogating freedom, abolishing previous traditions, and strengthening of class enemy consciousness by help of Darwin's paradigm of the struggle of everybody against anybody, is today generally accepted fact. In its investigations the group discovered the disorder in personal and social consciousness as a problem of (in)capability of the Slovene society to build up a dialogical future. The unarticulated presence of the sediments of the semi-past in tradition of humanities and social science hinders a reaching of consensus about ideological and axiological posits of nation and makes reaching of agreement about the common future harder. Concretely there is a problem in bringing of the judgment about Christian traditions in the Slovene national and cultural development and about their importance and role in building of national and civic future. The analysis of these posits includes a critical estimation of historical deviations on those fields and a dialogue about fundamental values of this society. Because of the still present consequences of the logic of the class enemy, a dialogue is at one hand hindered but at the other hand even more necessary. Through the theological, philosophical and psychological studies and through the investigations of the history of ideas the group has pointed at un-eliminated obstacles and hindrances to a positive development that Slovene society must face. It has found out and it stresses it as the main results of its research that the consensus about the role of the Church and of Christendom, liberalism and communism in the Slovene past is the key factor for a successful national development. By its publications in the area of the study of ideas, philosophy, theology and in social and political field the group has contributed to the critical judgment about posits in the Slovene consciousness (which are hidden for ideological reasons) and their objective and realistic estimation in the Church and society. Only its consideration through a dialogical process can make possible the survival of the Slovene nation and lead to the strengthening of the Slovene state and its constitutive role in the unity of the European nations.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
