In this much-anticipated work, distinguished authors Mary Beth Ingham and Mechthild Dreyer present an accessible introduction to the philosophy of the thirteenth century Franciscan John Duns Scotus.

Bernard of Clairvaux lives in a geographic region and in a century, where politicians and intellectuals both look upon the Islam and its supporters as a religious and military danger for Western Europe and its culture. Unlike many contemporary theologians and philosophers Bernard does not engage in an intellectual controversy with Islamic positions. Even the explicit invitation of his friend, Peter the Venerable, who has let the Koran be transited into Latin, does not encourage him for such an effort. On (...) the contrary he accepts the papal order to promote the second crusade. Why does act Bernard in this way? The article wants to show that Bernard's theological basic assumptions, especially his epistemological convictions make it impossible, to defend the truths of the Christian religion by the help of rational arguments. (shrink)

‘Was ist Wahrheit?’ — diese Frage des Pilatus bezeichnet eines der Grundprobleme menschlicher Existenz. Anders als das Tier ist der Mensch genötigt, sein Leben zu führen. Angesichts der Unwägbarkeiten, die seine Lebensführung bedrohen, hat er ein vitales Interesse daran, seinem Leben Sicherheit und Zuverlässigkeit zu geben, Gewissheiten zu finden, auf die er bauen kann. Das, was ihm bei seiner Suche nach Sicherheiten als fest und verbindlich aufscheint, das, was ihm Orientierung gibt, pflegt er mit dem Wort ‘wahr’ zu bezeichnen.

In this volume, the world's foremost Scotus scholars collaborate to present the latest research on his work.

This chapter contains sections titled: I II III IV V VI VII VIII.

English summary: From an international and interdisciplinary viewpoint, Thomas Aquinas was the most important scholastic philosopher and theologian. His life, work and legacy are set out in this four section handbook which provides orientation in what is currently known about the man, his affinities and character, his work and its impact. The volume offers a summary of research up until now, as well as a basis for further investigation. Comprehensive indexes and literature sources mean it can be used as a (...) work of reference whose articles can be separately or integrally understood. Writing from their different perspectives, philosophy and history scholars along with Protestant and Catholic theologians all help paint this portrait from their different perspectives. German description: Das Thomas Handbuch bietet eine Darstellung von Leben, Werk und Wirkung von Thomas von Aquin, dem wohl bedeutendsten Vertreter der scholastischen Philosophie und Theologie in interdisziplinarer und internationaler Perspektive. In vier Sektionen enthalt es Ausfuhrungen zur Orientierung in der gegenwartigen Forschungslage, zur Person des Thomas und ihren Verbindungen und Pragungen, zu seinem Werk und zu seiner Wirkung. Es bietet eine Zusammenfassung der bisherigen Forschungen zu Thomas von Aquin und eine Grundlage fur weitere Arbeiten. Erschlossen durch umfassende Register und Literaturangaben, kann es als Nachschlagewerk genutzt werden, dessen einzelne Artikel je fur sich verstehbar sind, aber auch als umfassende Gesamtdarstellung. Die interdisziplinaren Beitrage eroffnen eine Gesamtschau, in welcher verschiedene Perspektiven ihren Ort finden und ihren je eigenen Beitrag zum Gesamten bieten. Mit Beitragen von: Henryk Anzulewicz, Carmela Baffioni, Michael Basse, David Berger, Inos Biffi, Volker Henning Drecoll, Mechthild Dreyer, Stephan Ernst, Sabine Folger-Fonfara, Elias Fullenbach, Ruedi Imbach, Ingo Klitzsch, Ulrich Kopf, Pieter de Leemans, Volker Leppin, Jurgen Miethke, Thomas Prugl, Francois-Xavier Putallaz, Reinhold Rieger, Philipp W. Rosemann, Marianne Schlosser, Gury Schneider-Ludorff, Rolf Schonberger, Christoph Schwobel, Notger Slenczka, Wolfgang Sturner, Hubert Philip Weber. (shrink)

Was sind Emotionen, Gefühle, Affekte und Leidenschaften? Sprechen wir von erlebten und kommunizierten Gefühlszuständen oder von psychophysiologischen Erregungs- und Reaktionsmustern? Welche Rückschlüsse erlauben motorisches Verhalten und Ausdrucksverhalten auf unsere tatsächlichen Gefühle? Wie prägen soziale Prozesse und kulturelle Voraussetzungen das emotionale Erleben und Ausdrucksverhalten? Sollen wir unseren Gefühlen und Leidenschaften Grenzen setzen oder freien Lauf lassen? Müssen wir unsere Emotionen verbergen, oder dürfen wir Gefühle zeigen? Die Beiträge des Bandes vermitteln plastische Eindrücke von Emotionen im Wandel des Zeitgeists, konzentriert auf die (...) ausgeprägte Gefühlswelt von Mittelalter und Renaissance. Mediävistische Forschung erschließt uns literarische, bildliche und philosophisch-wissenschaftliche Konzepte von Emotionen sowie ihrer Bewertung aus vergangenen Jahrhunderten und regt an, sie auf Fragen unseres eigenen Lebens und unserer geschichtlichen Gegenwart zu beziehen. Mit Beiträgen von Dieter Birnbacher, Mechthild Dreyer, Martin Pickavé, Thomas Nisters, Isabelle Mandrella, Hans Hecker, Achim Landwehr, Hans Körner, Barbara Haupt, Irmgard Rüsenberg, Vittoria Borsò und Katharina Philipowski. (shrink)

Die mittelalterliche Formel „isti moderni“, „diese Modernen da“, drückt Distanz und Ablehnung aus. Denn Neugierde, die Suche nach Neuem, Modernem, kann Gewohntes, Etabliertes, Tradiertes bedrohen und konservative Reaktionen provozieren. Aber hat Neues, Modernes, nicht seinen eigenen Wert? Und verdankt sich nicht auch unsere Moderne in vielfältiger Weise den Erneuerungskonzepten des Mittelalters? Die Beiträge des Bandes präsentieren Erneuerungskonzepte in Mittelalter und Renaissance, die oft erst über Erneuerungskonflikte wirksam werden konnten. Zu Wort kommen Wissenschaft­lerinnen und Wissenschaftler aus fünf Disziplinen: Vittoria Borsò (Romanistik), (...) Mechthild Dreyer (Philosophie) Barbara Haupt (Ältere Germanistik), Hans Hecker (Mittelalterliche Geschichte), Rudolf Hiestand (Mittelalterliche Geschichte), Maarten Hoenen (Philosophie), Willi Jung (Romanistik), Christoph Kann (Philosophie), Johannes Laudage † (Mittelalterliche Geschichte), Isabelle Mandrella (Philosophie) und Jürgen Wiener (Kunstgeschichte). (shrink)

At the University of Pretoria, Historical Theology consists of various sub-disciplines, that is, History of Christianity, History of Doctrine, History of Theology, History of Missions, Church History, and Church Polity. This article is located in History of Missions, as a contribution to the centenary celebration of the Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ (MRCC). The main focus of this contribution is an analysis of Prof. P.S. Dreyer’s mission theology as reflected in his publications, and how it shaped the mission policy (...) of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHKA) and the growth of the MRCC. For 35 years (1954–1989), Prof. Dreyer was a member and chairman of the Mission Board of the NHKA. As part-time Superintendent of Mission and chairman of the Board, he not only had many administrative and financial responsibilities, but he also played a role in the establishment of at least 60 congregations in black communities, as well as the theological education of more than 200 MRCC students and ministers. All of this was based on a clear understanding of the nature of the church, as well as the responsibility and calling of the church to proclaim Jesus Christ to all people. Contribution: This article addressed the role of theology and individual theologians in the history of the church and mission in South Africa, and how it impacted upon the relationship between different race groups and the development of an indigenous Christianity. (shrink)

This contribution is located in the field of Historical Theology. It gives an overview (post-World War II) of the philosophical-theological discourse on technology and humanity, articulated by academics who were members and ordained ministers of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHKA). It serves to illustrate the close relationship between theology and philosophy within the theological tradition of the NHKA. The author concludes that there is a growing realisation that it is not primarily about technology anymore, but about humanity. In (...) theology, there is a fundamental concern for the well-being of humanity. Theologians would forsake their responsibility if they would stay quiet on something, which is not only transforming our world view and morality, but humanity itself.Contribution: The current discourse on technology tends to be dominated by economists, engineers, information technology specialists, jurists and medical specialists. As a result, technology takes the centre stage, emphasising the benefits of technological progress. Because of the radical impact of technology on humanity, disciplines such as history, philosophy, sociology, psychology and theology are becoming increasingly important discussion partners. (shrink)

Margaret McLaren’s ethnographic study that is ostensibly about Indian women’s activism also presents a nuanced critique of liberal human rights discourse and advances a relational cosmopoli­tanism. Her defense of Tagore’s decolonial worldview has much in common with an African Ubuntu ethics, which also eschews pos­sessive individualism in favor of a sociocentric social justice praxis philosophy. McLaren’s book provides an important contribution to questions of women’s empowerment, women’s rights, cultural rites, and situated knowledges.

Isidor von Sevilla sammelte in seinen Etymologien um 600 vorhandenes Wissen aus historischen und zeitgenössischen Quellen. Rund 300 Wörter aus dem Arbeitsbereich Textil werden mit Kurzkommentaren erläutert. Ca. 1050 findet sich dieses Wissen überarbeitet im Summarium Heinrici 1. Am Beispiel des Komplexes "Kleidung" liefert der Band neben den Quellen und hervorragenden Übersetzungen zum ersten Mal auch ausführlicheKommentare und Überblicksdarstellungen, die eine Fülle von Informationen bringen. Dazu gehören u. a. neue Erkenntnisse über Herstellung der griechischen, bombycina genannten, Seide oder die Beschreibung (...) der Vielzahl der Purpurfarben von Gelb und Himmelblau bis zum exklusiven Schwarz. (shrink)

Prisons & Punishment focuses on cross-national perspectives about penal theories and empirical studies. It brings together African, European and North American social philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, legal practitioners, prisoners and abolitionist activists. The contributors reflect on carceral society, most notably in the United States, and on the re-conceptualisation of punishment.

Dreyer Kruger, now in his eighties, was asked to reflect on the years of his active professional experience, especially while at Rhodes University from 1974 to 1989. Considered by many to be the doyen of phenomenological psychology in South Africa, he introduced what, at that time, was a revolutionary view in the social sciences of understanding what it means to be human.During his tenure as an academic psychologist, a cohort of doctoral level phenomenologically-oriented psychologists emerged, many of whom emigrated (...) from South Africa during its apartheid era to take up high-raking positions elsewhere in the academic arena in the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand, while those remaining in South Africa continued his legacy of promoting phenomenology as a field of interrogation in the social and human sciences. (shrink)

Moulages are contact media – images made by contagion in the most literal sense: their production relies on a process in which the object to be reproduced is touched by the reproducing material. In the case of dermatological moulages, the plaster touches the infected skin of the sick and, once dried, serves as the negative form for the waxen image of a disease. Focussing on the collection of the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, the article situates the production of dermatological moulages (...) within the visual culture of 19th-century medicine and raises the question how an ancient technique of image production could become such a prevalent tool for the documentation of skin diseases during a period usually associated with the rise of scientific medicine and a reconsideration of theories of contagion in medical aetiology. (shrink)

This book brings together a collection of social justice scholars and activists who take Foucault’s concept of discipline and punishment to explain how prisons are constructed in society from nursing homes to zoos. This book expands the concept of prison to include any institution that dominates, oppresses, and controls. Criminologists and others, who have been concerned with reforming or dismantling the criminal justice system, have mostly avoided to look at larger carceral structures in society. In this book, for example, scholars (...) and activists question the way patriarchy has incapacitated women and imagine the deinstitutionalization of people with disabilities. In a time when popular sentiment critiques the dominant role of the elites, the state’s role in policing dissenting voices, school children, LGBTQ persons, people of color, and American Indian Nations, needs to be investigated. A prison, as defined in this book, is an institution or system that oppresses and does not allow freedom for a particular group. Within this definition, we include the imprisonment of nonhuman animals and plants, which are too often overlooked. (shrink)

For the Introduction of a Conceptual Perspective in Mathematics: Dedekind, Noether, van der Waerden. „She [Noether] then appeared as the creator of a new direction in algebra and became the leader, the most consistent and brilliant representative, of a particular mathematical doctrine – of all that is characterized by the term ‚Begriffliche Mathematik‘.“2 The aim of this paper is to illuminate this “new direction”, which can be characterized as a conceptual [begriffliche] perspective in mathematics, and to comprehend its roots and (...) trace its establishment. Field, ring, ideal, the core concepts of this new direction in mathematical images of knowledge, were conceptualized by Richard Dedekind (1831–1916) within the scope of his number theory research and associated with an understanding of a formation of concepts as a “free creation of the human spirit”3. They thus stand for an abstract perspective of mathematics in their entirety, described as ‘modern algebra’ in the 1920s and 1930s, leading to an understanding of mathematics as structural sciences. The establishment of this approach to mathematics, which is based on “general mathematical concepts” [allgemein‐mathematische Begriffe]4, was the success of a cultural movement whose most important protagonists included Emmy Noether (1882–1935) and her pupil Bartel L. van der Waerden (1903–1996). With the use of the term ‘conceptual’, a perspective is taken in the analysis which allows for developing connections between the thinking of Dedekind, the “working and conceptual methods” [Arbeits‐ und Auffassungsmethoden]5 of Noether as well as the methodological approach, represented through the thought space of the Noether School as presented under the term “conceptual world” [Begriffswelt]6 in the Moderne Algebra of van der Waerden. This essay thus makes a contribution to the history of the introduction of a structural perspective in mathematics, a perspective that is inseparable from the mathematical impact of Noether, her reception of the work of Dedekind and the creative strength of the Noether School. (shrink)

In this essay I describe how my involvement in the political struggles of an immigrant domestic workers' collective inspired me to hang out not only with the workers, but also with the writings of María Lugones and Hannah Arendt. The essay invites the reader to engage in a playful rereading of Arendt's notion of the worldlessness of laboring in the private realm by putting her into dialogue with Lugones's notion of the hangout that defies the public–private split Arendt adamantly insists (...) on in all her writings. By following the complex physical, mental, and emotional itineraries of immigrant domestic workers to, from, and in-between a number of places and spaces, I demonstrate how their stories blur the line between public and private, and therefore also between the unfreedom of the body and the presumed escape into the political public. I describe the women's experiences as the living promise of a world that allows for an embodied fluid movement between labor, work, and the freedom “inherent in action” (Arendt 193, 153). (shrink)

This contribution revisits the priesthood of believers. It is placed within the current discourse on relevant ecclesiologies and ecclesial praxis for 21st-century reformed churches. Luther placed much emphasis on the priesthood of believers in his rejection of the Roman Catholic differentiation between ordained clergy and laity. This was taken up by Calvin, but not to the same extent as Luther. The limited attention given to the priesthood of believers in reformed ecclesiologies, confessions and church orders is challenged in the current (...) discourse on ecclesiology, especially by theologians working in the field of missional ecclesiology. Much emphasis is placed on the role of the ‘ordinary’ church member in terms of ministry. It is proposed that a continued reformation of the church would inter alia imply a renewed appreciation of the priesthood of believers. The shift in ecclesiology must be visible in reformed church polity and church orders. The interrelatedness of ecclesiology, church polity, church order and ecclesial praxis makes this unavoidable. A church order should not be regarded as an immutable historical document with everlasting authority, but rather as an instrument that could facilitate change and ecclesial praxis in the spirit of ecclesia semper reformanda. As such, church polity could even be regarded as a ‘practical ecclesiology’. Recent changes to the Church Order of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika are used as a case study and to illustrate the point.Contribution: The primary contribution of this manuscript contributes to the historical and systematic analysis of the concept ‘priesthood of all believers’, as well as its relevance to the current discourse on missional ecclesiology. It falls within the scope of HTS Theological Studies in terms of original theological research. (shrink)