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Any reflection on the relationship between religion and politics in the Catholic thought cannot do without reminding the Augustinian distinction between the civitas Dei and civitas terrena. The goal and foundation of any just political community should be the orientation to wards the common good. In the contemporary catholic thought, Johann Baptist Metz proposes a political theology revolving around the concepts of the value of the human person, the necessary refusal, on the part of the Church, of any mundane ideology and the necessary use of the socially critical potential of theological thought. Hans Küng criticizes any politicization of theology. He insists on the development of an internal pluralism within the Church and advocates a self-limitation of the magisterial intervention in the world in the name of a necessary "eschato logical reserve". Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict the XVIth , invested with the magisterial authority, relies heavily on official documents of the Catholic social doctrine. He emphasizes the necessity of founding the state on the central value of justice and its acting according to the principle of subsidiarity. In this context, the Christian faith and the Church in particular may have a pedagogical role, as it may guide reason to follow the right priorities. All three thinkers agree on the public significance of the Christian vision of society and on the fact that it may help society both by its critical and by its constructive dimension.

Pierre Manent is viewed as a French thinker that develops in modern times the liberal tradition of political thinking. One of the most important issues of Manent's thinking that was not enough underlined it is the relationship between religion an politics and how this evolved from the beginning of Christianity until the main consequences of modernity. Manent view on religion and politics is the core of this paper analysis. The main contributions of Manent, such as Naissances de la politique moderne. Machiavel, Hobbes, Rousseau (1977), Histoire intellectuelle du lib.ralisme (1987) La cit. de l'homme (1994), Cours familier de philosophie politique (2001), La raison des nations. R.flections sur la d.mocratie en Europe (2006) are analyzed from this perspective. Our conclusion is that in the way Manent deals with the relationship between politics and religion there are some constants that may be found in all his work. These are: the relationship between the Church and the different forms of political organization in Europe (Civitas, Imperium, monarchy); the fact that Christianity is one of the few current relevant concepts for political, due to the failure of totalitarian ideologies; the idea that secularization in Europe is not irreversible; we live in "an age of separations", and Church-State is one of these separations; we witness the religion transformation process and the .tat la.que cannot survive to .tat-nation; the role of Islam in modern societies and his perpetual finding of a political form; the relationship between Judaism, state and nation; the issue of the Christian identity of Europe.

The author sketches a vivid intellectual history of the content and bearing of Raymond Aron's work, particularly with respect to the great scholar's analyses of totalitarian regimes and of Marxism as a "Christian heresy". He describes the dominant themes of the French philosopher, political scientist, sociologist, historian and journalist from The Opium of the Intellectuals, to Progress and Disillusion: the Dialectics of Modern Society, or Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations; from De Gaulle, Israel and the Jews to Politics and History, or to Main Currents in Sociological Thought; from Marxism and the Existentialists, to Introduction to the Philosophy of History: An Essay on the Limits of Historical Objectivity; and from In Defense of Decadent Europe, to the Memoirs and to the Committed Observer… and this list is not an exhaustive one. He writes about the most prominent of Aron's contemporaries, and about his most enthusiastic followers, particularly in the Western world. As an autobiographical detail, Tismăneanu does not fail to mention Aron's readership among the Romanian students before the fall of the Berlin wall, a triumphant moment which the great champion of "methodological doubt" and the enemy of total metaphysics and ideological orthodoxies did not live to witness.

This article is following the evolution of the understanding of the concept of "property" in the Catholic Church's social doctrine, during a period of 120 years, starting with the pontificate of Leo XIII and ending with the one of Pope Benedict XVI. Being about the various understandings related to the concept of "property" in the Church's social doctrine, only the official discourse of the popes will be followed (magisterium) together with the input brought by the Second Vatican Council in interpreting and defining the concept.

This article compares the ideas of two political thinkers representative for their time and region - Kautilya (of ancient India) and Machiavelli (of modern Europe). The analysis reveals important similarities and differences, and offers potential explanations for the findings. Most significantly, the similarities between Kautyla's Arthasastra and Machiavelli's Prince are visible particularly when it comes to their treatment of war, 'state' administration, diplomacy, monarchy and the features of a good leader. Such similarities suggest that the development of modern European philosophy has been influenced by other cultural spaces, including Ancient India.

The article is an account of Romanian Marxist discourse between 1970 and 1980, one that was completely engaged in the justification and legitimation of the contemporary totalitarian political regime. Radu Florian's works, one of the most representative authors of this decade, are analysed via the conceptual lenses of Austrian economic theory. This methodological approach is quite fertile, since it generates clear explanations why Marxist theory and the communist state incarnating its teachings could not and cannot implement their claims. The samples of Romanian Marxist discourse under scrutiny are a showcase of philosophy invaded by rhetorics and converted into ideology. The author concludes that Romanian Marxism in the designated period represents a long line of contradictions resulting from the attempt to adapt a cruel reality to a generous and humane self-construction of a political programme.

Esipuhe – 7 Foreword– 10 I KANT, FICHTE, SCHELLING, HEGEL, MARX Hartwig Frank, Zur Bedeutung von Kants Ethik für den gegenwärtigen Ethikdiskurs – 14 Jussi Backman, Äärellisyyden loppu: Kant, Heidegger, Meillassoux – 23 Jari Kaukua, Fichten alkuperäisestä oivalluksesta – 42 Susanna Lindberg, Elämän käsite saksalaisessa idealismissa – 56 Carl-Göran Heidegren, Dialectic of Categories, Dialectic of Experience in Hegel – 65 Arvi Särkelä, A Restless Spirit. Immanent Critique as Inquiry into Inquiry in Hegel and Dewey – 74 Arne Overrein, Forsoning, Fremmedgjøring og Filosofi . Bemerkninger om Hegel – 96 Heikki Ikäheimo, Persoonien tunnustaminen, inhimillinen elämänmuoto ja Marxin James Mill-muistiinpanot – 113 Kari Väyrynen, Kaupunki-maaseutu –antagonismi marxilaisessa ekologiassa ja historiallisessa materialismissa – 136 Vesa Oittinen, Diderot neuvostofi losofi en silmin – 151 II FILOSOFINEN ANTROPOLOGIA, PERSOONUUS, MIELI JA RUUMIS Michael Quante, Die Perspektiven der Anthropologie – 169 Johannes Lehtonen, Olemassaolon tunteesta ihmismielen pohjalla – 189 Mikko Yrjönsuuri, Minä ja minun ruumiini. Kolme 1200-luvun teoriaa kehollisuudesta – 207 Matias Slavov, Sensualismi mielenfi losofi assa: Hume ja Condillac Descartesin vastapelureina – 220 Onni Hirvonen, Funktionalistinen mieli ja persoonan rajat – 233 Vili Lähteenmäki, Ajattelu ja ajatteleva olio – 253 Juhana Toivanen, Ihmisenkaltainen eläin. Näkökulmia rationaalisuuteen, ihmisyyteen ja eläimyyteen – 264 Joona Henrik Taipale, Itsen ja toisen välisestä jatkuvuudesta ja epäjatkuvuudesta – 287 Mika Ojakangas, Jacques Lacan: yliminä, halu ja asia – 307 Pessi Lyyra, Mitä halu esittää? – 316 III YHTEISKUNTAFILOSOFIA, KRIITTINEN TEORIA, TUNNUSTUKSEN POLITIIKKA Markku Mäki, Montesquieu ja Englanti – 337 Gorm Harste, From Kant to Clausewitz – An investigation of war systems with Luhmann's systems theory – 375 Kia Lindroos, Valta, kritiikki ja Walter Benjamin – 411 Mikael Carleheden, On Theorizing: C.S. Peirce and Contemporary Social Science – 428 Eerik Lagerspetz, Hans Kelsen's Defence of Democracy – 460 Joonas Pennanen, Limittyvät kontekstit, käytännöllinen järkeily ja harkintatasapaino – 483 Sari Roman-Lagerspetz, Althusser: Between Marx and Lacan – 513 Petteri Niemi, Social Work and Recognition – 534 Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, The Ethics and Politics of Recognition: A Critique of Critical Theory – 560 Arto Laitinen, Michael Walzer on Recognition as a Dominated Good – 586 IV ESTETIIKKA, ETIIKKA JA ELÄMÄSSÄ SUUNNISTAUTUMINEN Bernadette Banaszkiewicz, Intensität, Deutlichkeit, enargeia. Antike Ekphrasis-Konzeptionen bei Theon, Quintilian und Longos – 623 Jussi Antti Saarinen, Taidemaalareiden ykseyden kokemuksista – 651 Henrik Enckell, Carlos Saura's Blood Wedding – 665 Werner Stegmaier, Die Bedeutung der Philosophie von Emmanuel Levinas für die Orientierung des Menschen – 678 Olli Pitkänen, Mitä tarkoittaa pahan selittäminen? Huomioita Jussi Kotkavirran kirjoituksesta Hyvän ja pahan lähteillä – 688 Rauno Huttunen & Leena Kakkori, Moraalin kehitys ja täysi-ikäisyys – Gilligan–Kohlberg –kiista – 709 Ludwig Siep, Ethische Kriterien für medizinische Forschung in Entwicklungsländern – 730 Miira Tuominen, Stoalainen fi losofi nen terapia: elämä sarjana valintoja – 756 Sami Pihlström, Viljely ja aika: Maa, puutarha ja elämän arvo(t) – 770 Juha Räikkä Itsepetos ja uskonto – 797 Olli-Pekka Moisio, Uskonto kritiikkinä ja kriittinen teoria täysin toisen kaipuuna – 805 Risto Eräsaari Viimeiset sanat – 817

This article intends to analyze the role of religion in the public sphere in Habermas's theory. Despite the fact that the concept has been launched in a book published in 1961, only in 2005 the well-known German thinker has dealt explicitly with this issue. Even the critics of his public sphere model do not mention the lack of religion from the whole paradigm. Some of Habermas writings related to religion prior to 2005 are discussed. The role of religion in the public sphere is, according to Habermas, related with the issue of religious freedom and the State- Church separation, a model opposed to French laicïté. For Habermas, the state must not only be neutral to the religious discourse, but it must also encourage the participation of political organizations to public life. Another issue that is discussed by Habermas is the relationship between religious majorities and minorities. Habermas does assume a middle position between laicïté and the refuse of the modernity-imposed borders between religion and politics. The article takes an insight into the way Charles Taylor deals with the role of religion in the public sphere, a helpful argument for showing that the debate on this issue is only at the beginning.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the Romanian studies, in postcommunism and inter-war period, upon Montesquieu, more specifically upon his writting, De l'esprit des lois. In order to understand and to create a Romanian tradition of liberalism, one needs to begin from its origins. Montesquieu created a new language, different from that of his predecessors, a moderate one. He used the philosophic reason as an instrument of inquiry. It is said that one cannot understand a philosopher unless one thinks in his terms. Do the Romanian studies upon Montesquieu use this instrument, the philosophic reason? If they used it, they would be able to clarify Montesquieu's writtings and to understand the moderate language of liberalism. It is from this perspective that this paper will analyze the Romanian studies, out of which only two are academic.