Suchergebnisse

Talk given to the International Society of Political Psychology, Virtual. ISPP 2021

All of us have an idea of the ideal conditions in which we would like to live. They will vary according to the degree of ambition and level of education. However, people have common wishes since we don't live in isolation (perhaps with rare exceptions) and we require guarantees from other people that they are willing to accept certain rules and conditions for the best possible coexistence. Plato was the first to look for such general or even necessary requirements to create an ideal social structure. He considers different aspects of social reality – the division of society into classes, the specifics of upbringing and education, even the physical structure of the city and its religion. The article is devoted to the consideration of religious practices, associated cult activities and holidays. In ancient Greece, religion permeated all areas of human life. It would be more correct to say that religion simply did not exist separately from everyday life. Of course, we can distinguish major religious events in the form of solemn organised processions marking the change of seasons, dedicated to the harvest or some other memorable dates. But more often, religious practices were tightly woven into people's lives, so that even political and military actions were accompanied by an offering to the gods or consultation with the oracle. Understanding the role that religious activity plays in educating citizens, Plato does not seek to create an entirely new popular religion, but as a philosopher interested in the common good, he begins to interpret the images of traditional Greek gods differently. He focuses most of his attention on Zeus, Dionysus and Aphrodite. By comparing traditional notions of the gods with the way Plato portrays them, we conclude that the philosopher has done serious work to rationalise their images. Zeus ceases to be a famous womanizer and head of Olympus, and acquires the traits of a creator, the only good god who is incapable of any evil or injustice. The raucous fun, dancing and intoxication that used to be the cause of many misfortunes and associated with Dionysus are now being declared useful in terms of testing strength and honesty on the one hand, and, on the other, are understood as a necessary means of getting rid of negative energy and bringing people together. The uncontrolled erotic desire sent by Aphrodite is seen by Plato as behavior that is unacceptable in the citizens of an ideal state, and so he develops the doctrine of the two Aphrodites, heavenly and vulgar, in which the heavenly Aphrodite is declared to be a certain stimulus that leads the soul to the supreme good.

"Jerusalem is a city with a singular nature. Home to three religions, it contains spiritual meaning for people the world over; it is at once a tourist destination and a location with a complex political reality. Tourism, therefore, is an integral part of Jerusalem's development and its political conflicts. The book traces tourism and pilgrimage to Jerusalem from the late Ottoman era, through the British Mandate, during the period of the divided city, and to the reunification of the city under Israeli rule. Throughout, the city's evolution is shown to be intertwined with its tourist industry, as tourist sites, accommodations, infrastructure, and services transform the city's structures and open spaces. At the same time, tourism is wielded by various parties in an effort to gain political recognition, to bolster territorial control, or to garner support. The city's future and the role tourism can play in it are examined. While the construction of a "security fence" will have many implications on Jerusalem's tourist industry, steps are proposed to minimize the effects of the security fence and optimize tourism. Written by leading academics, this title will be valuable reading students, academics and researchers in the fields of tourism, religious studies, geography, history, cultural studies, and anthropology"--

American foreign policy will more effectively counter Islamist terrorism if it more effectively counters the terrorists' invocation of Islam. The indirect promotion of religious tolerance in the Muslim world, rather than direct promotion of Western-style democracy, is the key. To that end, the United States must cultivate Muslim human-rights activists and intellectuals as assiduously as it did their Soviet counterparts during the Cold War. First, however, it must reassert the constitutional separation of church and State that some Americans seem eager to blur. No velvet revolution impends in any case: the Muslim political future will probably look more like Yugoslavia than Czechoslovakia. But long-running internecine conflicts may have left the umma in a state of exhaustion analogous to Europe's at the end of the Thirty Years War. Ihere is, in short, a moment to be seized if American diplomacy can muster the cultural sophistication to seize it. (Survival / SWP)

Selten wurde über die politische Rolle der Religion in pluralistischen Gesellschaften so heftig gestritten wie in den letzten Jahren. Dafür haben nicht nur die Terroranschläge des 11. September 2001 gesorgt. Der Streit über Kruzifix und Kopftuch im Klassenzimmer, die Debatte über eine religiöse Präambel der europäischen Verfassung und die Auseinandersetzungen über den angestrebten EU-Beitritt der Türkei haben die Frage nach der politischen, sozialen und kulturellen Bedeutung der Religion in einer säkularen Gesellschaft erneut in den Mittelpunkt gerückt. Welche Rolle Religion in der Öffentlichkeit einer modernen Gesellschaft zukommen sollte, wird in diesem Band in interdisziplinärer Perspektive erörtert. Die Beiträge gehen zurück auf eine internationale Konferenz des Instituts für religionsphilosophische Forschung (IRF) der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main