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Mulla Sadra Philosophy: An Alternative Paradigm on Issues of Science and Nature
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
182-185
Received:
26 September 2021
Accepted:
18 October 2021
Published:
29 October 2021
Abstract: Islamic philosophy as has been understood has introduced a theory of how knowledge works within the framework of divinity. It is not surprising that Islamic philosophy has religious nuances in the frame of tawhīd. Even so, it does not mean that Islamic philosophy only dwells in the theoretical-metaphysical realm. But also has a relationship with natural and social science theory both theoretically and practically. This is explained in the Mulla Sadra philosophy. Through the argument of substantial motion and soul, Sadra explains comprehensively that Islamic philosophy can become part of science as a whole as a new paradigm. This also does not mean looking for excuses and apologies that Islamic philosophy has never spoken about science explicitly. With this concept Sadra shows that nature is moving in every moment there is always a change in both accident and substance. Humans who consist of body and soul also experience changes at all times. These two things show the existence of impermanence in nature both materially and immaterially. In this case, Sadra includes a mystical vision that nature as a large series (macrocosm) and humans as a small series (microcosm) always undergo substantial changes towards perfection. The perfection of nature is manifested in the form of a state that is always updated. Human perfection is manifested in how humans become fully human. At least from Sadra thinking, it can be a meeting point in the context of integrating empirical-positivist science with metaphysical ratios, as well as becoming a new paradigm in initiating holistic scholarship. This research is a qualitative research based on library research using descriptive-analytical and exploratory methods. Then use a holistic approach to see a new, broader paradigm. In the end, the idea of Sadra can be used as an alternative paradigm in solving complex modern human crises.
Abstract: Islamic philosophy as has been understood has introduced a theory of how knowledge works within the framework of divinity. It is not surprising that Islamic philosophy has religious nuances in the frame of tawhīd. Even so, it does not mean that Islamic philosophy only dwells in the theoretical-metaphysical realm. But also has a relationship with na...
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Religious Experience: The Perspective of African Traditional Religion
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
186-192
Received:
5 October 2021
Accepted:
22 October 2021
Published:
30 October 2021
Abstract: The question of religious experience constitutes one of the most topical issues in contemporary philosophical reflections on religion. The multiplicity and diversity of beliefs and religious phenomena have rendered any attempt at arriving at a consensus on the meaning of spiritual experience and on what experiences legitimately fall within its purview an arduous task. This essay explores the nature of religious experience in African Traditional Religion. The African finds himself in a sacred universe where he is inextricably immersed in a network of relationships. He constantly relates with spiritual, animate, and inanimate beings which overtly or covertly affect his life and well-being in the world. Since each being in the hierarchy has some religious significance, his spiritual experience may broadly be construed in terms of the experience he makes of all these beings, which together make up his sacred universe. In the more strict sense, it is the religious subject’s experience of the spiritual beings in his religious world, and this takes multiple dimensions. Beginning with a clarification of the meaning of African Traditional Religion, the essay presents theAfrican traditional religious pantheon, enunciates what constitutes spiritual experience in African Traditional Religion, its understanding, and its multifaceted expressions.
Abstract: The question of religious experience constitutes one of the most topical issues in contemporary philosophical reflections on religion. The multiplicity and diversity of beliefs and religious phenomena have rendered any attempt at arriving at a consensus on the meaning of spiritual experience and on what experiences legitimately fall within its purv...
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Implementation of the Concept of Sadd Al-Dzari’ah in Islamic Law (Perspective of Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jauziyah and IbnHazm)
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
193-199
Received:
16 October 2021
Accepted:
5 November 2021
Published:
23 November 2021
Abstract: The study of science fiqh in Islamic law is one of the products of the thoughts of Muslim scientists whose sources are the al-Qur'an, hadith, Ijma' and qiyas so as to produce a rule that is made into law in accordance with the objectives of Islamic law for the benefit of mankind which is increasingly develop in line with the changing circumstances of the times. The Ulama and the roots of Islamic law are required to always be sensitive to the problems of social life in the midst of society. In addition, in formulating a law that can be accepted by humans, it cannot be separated from the differences in the socio-cultural background of the scholars and legal thinkers that cause differences of opinion between them in establishing a legal product. These differences are of course caused by differences in thoughts and interpretations in the verses of the Qur'an and hadith, giving rise to pros and cons in establishing Islamic law. As was done in the thinking between Ibn al-Qayyim and IbnHazm in the theory of sadd al-dzarî'ahkehujjah as the concept of establishing Islamic law. In the concept of Ibn al-Qayyim's perspective that sadd al-dzarî'ah can be used as a proposition in Islamic law. According to Ibn al-Qayyim's perspective, the theory or concept of sadd al-dzarî'ah cannot be used as a postulate of Islamic law, because the sadd al-dzarî'ah theory only provides information and motivates to always ijtihad, because the door to ijtihad is always open at any time and condemns to people following without reason or imitating and obeying without evidence (taklid). Ibn al-Qayyim always had to think rationally so as not to be fixated on the textual arguments in the Qur'an and hadith. Thus, Ibn al-Qayyim is more lax in establishing the basics of Islamic law even though there are no texts that specifically acknowledge the validity of the sadd al-dzarî'ah concept. An example is buying and selling on a tempo and then the seller buys the item again in cash at a cheaper price. In this case, if approached with sadd al-dzarî'ah, then this transaction is haram because the practice of buying and selling is oriented to the practice of usury which is forbidden. Meanwhile, according to IbnHazm, buying and selling is not prohibited because it is in accordance with the provisions of syara'.
Abstract: The study of science fiqh in Islamic law is one of the products of the thoughts of Muslim scientists whose sources are the al-Qur'an, hadith, Ijma' and qiyas so as to produce a rule that is made into law in accordance with the objectives of Islamic law for the benefit of mankind which is increasingly develop in line with the changing circumstances ...
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The Quarantine Policy of the Philippines in Ross Upshur’s Ethical Principles
Melchor Labao Cuizon,
Randolf Warren Gregorio Talavera Mayo II,
Rufo Ramil Hornido Cruz
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
200-203
Received:
25 October 2021
Accepted:
15 November 2021
Published:
23 November 2021
Abstract: The advent of COVID–19 specifically in the Philippines challenges the country’s readiness in responding to a life-threatening pandemic. The scarcity of vaccines and the limited medical resources of the country directed the government to subject the COVID-19 patients to quarantine health facilities to mitigate the curve of infections. Although practical and efficient, this quarantine measure imposed by the government is not exempt from controversies and issues in terms of possible violation of one’s freedom and liberty. In trying to address the issue, this paper aims to explore the quarantine policy of the country as stated in the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine (2020 & 2021). The set guidelines was used and re-examined in the light of the Four Ethical Principles of Quarantine by Ross Upshur (2003) such as the harm principle, proportionality, reciprocity, and transparency. In the final analysis, the paper aims justify whether or not the quarantine health measures of the Philippine government in mitigating the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the country are reasonable and ethically sound and thus forbid any type of discrimination as well as violation to individual’s liberty and freedom.
Abstract: The advent of COVID–19 specifically in the Philippines challenges the country’s readiness in responding to a life-threatening pandemic. The scarcity of vaccines and the limited medical resources of the country directed the government to subject the COVID-19 patients to quarantine health facilities to mitigate the curve of infections. Although pract...
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Alienation in the Form of Value (Heterodoxly Approaching Das Kapital)
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
204-215
Received:
7 June 2021
Accepted:
5 July 2021
Published:
23 November 2021
Abstract: The objective of this work is to access what we can refer to as the "nerve core" of Marx's dialectical thinking as it appears in in Das Kapital linking it to the concept of alienation (a key concept of the same thinker). Marx's work has been the victim of a sui generis treatment, which would be unacceptable to any of the classical authors. Such intellectual inconsistency with respect to Marx affects all Western thought and, especially, European thought, which declared Marx's thought “officially dead” (i.e. Bad Godesberg, 1959 and, in general, the so called “postmodernism”). Another pathology that affects the study of Marx's thought is the non-distinction between what constitutes the author's thinking properly, and the indeterminate speculative magma of which "Marxism" is composed (of which, as is well known, Marx himself said not be part). Another bad habit is to separate Marx into different characters based on the interests of the user, i.e.: the "young" Marx and the "mature" Marx; the "Feuerbachian" Marx, the "Hegelian" Marx, the "economist" Marx, the "sociologist" Marx, the "philosopher" Marx, the " anthropologist" Marx, or the "methodologist" Marx. There is only one Marx; a philosopher who not only studies the history of philosophy, but (as once did the lucid minds of Plato or Aristotle) also studies the most complex entity of the known Nature: the human being in its entirety, in the most extensive sense of the concept; that is, as a system. In Das Kapital, the concept of alienation is taken for granted, since it is part of the author's intellectual baggage and, naturally, does not have to explain it again (there are those who believe that the "mature Marx" abandoned it). In any case, we rely on what Marx vehemently expressed regarding the part where the form of value is analysed: he insists that the most important and essential of his work is contained in this chapter, whose reading and assimilation is indispensable for the full understanding of the work. It is in this context that he writes that "the secret of every form of value is contained in the simple form."
Abstract: The objective of this work is to access what we can refer to as the "nerve core" of Marx's dialectical thinking as it appears in in Das Kapital linking it to the concept of alienation (a key concept of the same thinker). Marx's work has been the victim of a sui generis treatment, which would be unacceptable to any of the classical authors. Such int...
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Pierre Nora's Concept of Contrasting Memory and History
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
216-220
Received:
10 October 2021
Accepted:
4 November 2021
Published:
23 November 2021
Abstract: The article is based on an analysis of the works of the French historian Pierre Nora, who, trying to find a "true" history, comes to the opposition of history and memory. Outright political agitation and national imperatives are dominated in History; therefore history cannot be correct and objective. Instead of history, the philosopher believes, we should focus on the right memory. But when memory itself has been torn apart, it can only exist on the basis of "memory places" - mnemonic places. The power of memory is preserved now in the places of memory that accumulate and preserve history. Places of memory have lost their physical or geographical meanings. Meaning and sense are made places of memory, important place for history. Due to the nature of the memory places, the multiplicities of their interpretations are the normal. And the past, therefore, became a poly semantic space, focused on the co-presence of many different versions of the interpretation of the same memorial structures (monuments, historical facts and events, texts of the past). Contrasting memory and history, P. Nora concludes about "the tyranny of memory (it is reminiscent of Reeker's statement). In his opinion, at any moment the memory is ready to lift history under itself, to "memorize" it, it deeply and dangerously distorts the meaning of words. Precisely because there is no collective memory, the places of memory appear that designed to compensate for its absence. When the space of memory disappears, mnemonic places appear. It is through mnemonic places (places of memory) as spaces that provide access to traditions, Nora moves from the present to the past. But the noble goal of finding the truth, of recreating traditions, has turned into honoring memory for political purposes, where the past has become the rhetorical construct of the present. Hence, the perception of truth is changing. Now, the truth is not in the "factuality" of the data, but in their "relevance". In the end, Nora makes a rather devastating conclusion for history- that the past has lost its meaning, the present historical consciousness gives meaning to all possible and valid versions of the past, and that official memory (politics of memory) is associated with practices of selective forgetting or memory.
Abstract: The article is based on an analysis of the works of the French historian Pierre Nora, who, trying to find a "true" history, comes to the opposition of history and memory. Outright political agitation and national imperatives are dominated in History; therefore history cannot be correct and objective. Instead of history, the philosopher believes, we...
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Heidegger’s Meditative Thinking as a Remedy from the Tragedy of Calculative Thinking Towards Poetic Dwelling
Resty Ruel Ventura Borjal
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
221-228
Received:
27 October 2021
Accepted:
22 November 2021
Published:
2 December 2021
Abstract: The diversified character of technological dominance causes an intense discomfort to all dimensions of human life which also calls for environmental concerns. It very is evident that technological culture challenges humanity and the world around us, but it also has the potential to help us realize the emergence of another perspective that prepares a way out from humanity’s confinement in a technological, scientific, and manipulated view of nature. Initially, this study contemplates concerning the work of Martin Heidegger on the essence of technology and the extent to which technological advancement has caused existential enframing, and the outcome of which is meditative thinking, as the essence of thinking. It argues that Heidegger’s assertion towards a kind of thinking can be seen as a remedy to the crisis brought by calculative and technological thinking. It enlightens us in dealing with our vulnerable position as it reveals the reality of the technological attitude of “enframing.” Second, this study analyzes that this technological challenge would guide humanity into a new approach thereby leading towards the withdrawal from the dominance of calculative thinking as the essence of technology amid technological culture. Lastly, this study demonstrates that through “poetic dwelling” humanity develops a new disposition that opens up a better perspective that allows humanity’s authentic existence.
Abstract: The diversified character of technological dominance causes an intense discomfort to all dimensions of human life which also calls for environmental concerns. It very is evident that technological culture challenges humanity and the world around us, but it also has the potential to help us realize the emergence of another perspective that prepares ...
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Vostochichestvo and the Dialogue of Cultures in the Creativity Works of Prince E. E. Ukhtomsky
Kolesnikov Anatoly Sergeevich
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
229-235
Received:
25 October 2021
Accepted:
12 November 2021
Published:
10 December 2021
Abstract: The article analyzes the role of prince E. E. Ukhtomsky - an original Russian Thinker, a diplomat, traveler, politician, banker, a publicist, poet, an outstanding collector – orientalist, an ideologist of vostochnichestvo, the Gentleman of the bedchamber of the Highest Court the publisher and editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Sankt – Peterburgskiye Vedomosti” (1896-1917) in the dialogue of cultures of the East – Russia – the West, “the universal mission” of Russia and the Russian culture in relation to other countries of the world, and first of all for China, Mongolia and Tibet, and this mission was understood by him as mutual penetration with the culture of the East; the roles of Buddhism in the integration processes when giving broad masses of the Buryats access to the achievements of culture of Central, South and East Asia. The Prince considered Trans Baikal the key to the heart of Asia, the vanguard of the Russian civilization on boards of the “Yellow East”; and for the tsar’s Buddhist citizens - an important tool for expansion of the Russian influence in Internal Asia. What is why, according to him, attempts to assimilate alien Buddhists should be stopped. He also continues to propagandize this confidence in the newspaper “Sankt –Peterburgskiye Vedomosti” as vostochnichestvo, which later on was developed “euroasianism” by intellectual emigrants. The prince supported his sympathies for east religions by his Keene’s on culture and collecting pieces of Mongolian, Chinese and Tibetan arts, the collection of which contains more than 3000 exhibits; the collection of art of East Asia making a body in the Hermitage Grynvedel paid attention that Ukhtomsky expressed various forms of an archaeological interest in the Buddhism and its art. In iconography and small sculpture which were at that time inaccessible, there remains “the live mythology with its honoring numerous deities, full of brilliant ceremonies”. This collection promotes the creation of the history of a Buddhist pantheon and the periods of its development in different countries. This also an important fact that Ukhtomsky collection demonstrates the large meaning of Tibetan Literature representing irreplaceable addition to Sanskrit, and without knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism’ Impossible to study the Chinese religions as well.
Abstract: The article analyzes the role of prince E. E. Ukhtomsky - an original Russian Thinker, a diplomat, traveler, politician, banker, a publicist, poet, an outstanding collector – orientalist, an ideologist of vostochnichestvo, the Gentleman of the bedchamber of the Highest Court the publisher and editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Sankt – Peterburgskiye...
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A Popperian Interrogation of African Communalism in the Context of Nigerian Democratic Culture
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
236-245
Received:
22 November 2021
Accepted:
11 December 2021
Published:
24 December 2021
Abstract: Communalism is one of the socio-political traditions that has received scholarly interrogation in and among African scholars. The utmost essence of the tradition is woven around the doctrine of togetherness. It is believed to be a tool of galvanization in African society. While some are of the view that the place of an individual in African society is a part that secures its essence from collectiveness of human beings in the society, others argues that it is the individuals that give credence to the collectiveness ever experienced in African society. This discourse, sets to evaluate communalism from African perspective vis-a-vis the emerging democratic culture. This is done against the backdrop of Popper’s conceptions of individualism and collectivism in his Open Society and Its Enemies, as a point of departure if communalism in the traditional African thought system is juxtaposed with the emerging socio-political trends in contemporary Africa, the former would have lost its credence as a tool that facilitates peaceful co-existence in African society. Thus, using the analytical and critical methods of philosophical investigation, the paper concludes that the need for a blend of the positives of both African communalism and contemporary democratic tradition to enhance social order in Nigeria is inevitable in resolving the current socio-political quagmire that beclouds Africa continent with particular reference to Nigeria.
Abstract: Communalism is one of the socio-political traditions that has received scholarly interrogation in and among African scholars. The utmost essence of the tradition is woven around the doctrine of togetherness. It is believed to be a tool of galvanization in African society. While some are of the view that the place of an individual in African society...
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The New Abortion Law in Belgium Leads to a Virtually Full Right to the Termination of Pregnancy in the First 12 Weeks
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
246-252
Received:
29 September 2021
Accepted:
3 November 2021
Published:
29 December 2021
Abstract: In 1990, the termination of pregnancy became possible in Belgium under certain conditions. Up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the explicit request and will of the woman and the emergency situation were the most important conditions for being allowed to have an abortion. After 12 weeks, the intervention was only permitted when the pregnancy had threatened the life of the woman or the child was suffering from a serious and incurable disease. These Belgian legislation was thoroughly reformed in 2018. This article examines whether these recent legislative changes preserve the original objectives of the abortion legislation, i.e., to ensure a balance between the protection of unborn life and the provision of assistance to the pregnant woman in need. The analysis is done by testing the recent changes in the law against these two objectives. The removal of the condition of the emergency situation, the introduction of an exception to the cooling-off period, the compulsory referral of the doctor in the event of a refusal to carry out the intervention herself, the punishment of persons who physically try to prevent a woman from entering a care institution and a limited extension of the pregnancy period have led to a quasi-full right to abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The precarious balance in the original 1990 law between the woman's need and right to self-determination and the protection of unborn life is completely abandoned in the early period of pregnancy. After these 12 weeks, however, medical conditions such as a serious and incurable disease of the unborn life or when the pregnancy threatens the life of the woman remain in force.
Abstract: In 1990, the termination of pregnancy became possible in Belgium under certain conditions. Up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the explicit request and will of the woman and the emergency situation were the most important conditions for being allowed to have an abortion. After 12 weeks, the intervention was only permitted when the pregnancy had threatened...
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Philosophy and Eschatology: A Quest for Truth and Meaning
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2021
Pages:
253-260
Received:
30 November 2021
Accepted:
20 December 2021
Published:
29 December 2021
Abstract: Do philosophy and eschatology have anything in common? In an age when philosophical naturalism is taken as a norm especially among some philosophers of the Anglo-American tradition, does it not seem out of place to put philosophy and eschatology side by side? Is eschatology not merely a utopic thinking? These are some of the questions that might come to mind when the notion of eschatology is raised within philosophical circles? Prima facie, it seems that philosophy and eschatology are two contradictory disciplines or outlooks on reality since philosophy primarily relies on the critical use of human intelligence and reason whereas eschatology has religious overtones and thus is a theological discipline. This would seem so in an age in which philosophical naturalism is on the rise. However, a critical consideration would show that philosophy and eschatology are not as distant from each other as they might seem from a superficial analysis. If philosophy and eschatology are not mutually exclusive, then where does their convergence lie? Ultimately, both philosophy and eschatology search for truth and meaning in human existence because, ultimately, both philosophy and eschatology examine the entire meaning of human existence or, as it is put in popular parlance, they are concerned with the question of human destiny. So it is not out of place to argue that philosophy ultimately is eschatological thinking. In this paper therefore, it is argued that there is a mutual complementarity between philosophy and eschatology and that the primary locus for an adequate understanding of the intrinsic relation between philosophy and eschatology is the question of the existential meaning of the human person. I will contend that it is because the ancients considered philosophy to be eschatological thinking that some ancient thinkers viewed philosophy as a spiritual exercise and preparation for one’s death. In fact, the understanding of philosophy as eschatological thinking is manifest at least implicitly from the ancient through the mediaeval to the modern era. Furthermore, I argue that it is because of the complementarity between philosophy and eschatology that philosophical theology or philosophy of religion is still relevant till today. Finally, whether eschatology is considered from a Christian point of view or from the viewpoint of African religions, it is must be understood as a search for the meaning of human existence by seeking the connection between two fundamental questions, namely, the question concerning the human person and that concerning God.
Abstract: Do philosophy and eschatology have anything in common? In an age when philosophical naturalism is taken as a norm especially among some philosophers of the Anglo-American tradition, does it not seem out of place to put philosophy and eschatology side by side? Is eschatology not merely a utopic thinking? These are some of the questions that might co...
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