Creative Minority Research Articles

Abysmal jurisprudence: On the genesis of John Finnis’s practical guide to statesmen

John Finnis’s central role in Brexit was only the latest intervention in a long life of practical action that recommends a closer examination of the genesis of his distinctive philosophy. He always insisted that it was intended ‘primarily to assist the practical reflections of those concerned to act, whether as judges or as statesmen or as citizens.’ In this article, I argue that Finnis crafted his philosophy as a practical guide for conservative actors in the disenchanted Cold War world of the 1960–70s. My first aim is to excavate the theoretical foundations of his Thomist theory of natural law. While his turn to practical rather than speculative reason is well known, few if any appreciate how Finnis radically refounded Thomist natural law on an implicit theory of history. By accepting that the world was historically contingent and changing, he needed to show how we could know the timeless truth of practical reasonableness and the basic goods. In the final chapter of Natural Law and Natural Rights, Finnis introduced an ‘abysmal’ philosophy of history that explained how a spoudaios (wise man) could reason his way out of the historical contingency of the human world to access the timeless moral truths that transcended it. My second aim is to show how Finnis used his Thomist theory of natural law as a practical guide for action in our contingent world. He followed Eric Voegelin in describing humanity as two ‘hostile camps’ – the ‘transcendental’ Christians and their secular allies versus the ‘immanentist’ liberals, communists, and fascists all committed to ‘consequentialist’ ideologies. In this eternal battle of good versus evil, Finnis saw his philosophy as a practical guide for this ‘creative minority’ of transcendentalists for collective action against the heretical faith of immanentist movements aiming to perfect mankind and build heavens on earth.

America and the Making of Modern Turkey: Science, Culture and Political Alliances

America and the Making of Modern Turkey: Science, Culture and Political Alliances

Why Younger Catholics Seem More Committed: Survivorship Bias and/or “Creative Minority” Effects among British Catholics

AbstractThe normative value of, and the extent of popular engagement with, different forms of commitment differ across Christian religious traditions, but studies often show women and older people exhibiting greater religiosity in their behavior and belief. Using a multidimensional approach to religious commitment, this study uses a new survey to provide an in‐depth assessment of Catholics in Britain. It finds that younger cohorts show greater involvement in some aspects of commitment and that there is very limited evidence for gender differences. Family religious socialization plays a key role in patterns of commitment relative to the weak impact of schooling. Two potential explanations for this counterintuitively positive “youth effect” seen among British Catholics are offered: “survivor bias” and a “creative minority” effect. The study provides an important contribution to understanding how Catholics in Britain engage with their faith and mediate processes of secularization.

Socio-Economic Dimensions of the Pandemic: a Philosophical Analysis

The current global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has already become a challenge for individual national economies, as well as the global world system as a whole. The eminent English historian Toynbee (1987) wrote that the viability of a civilization depends on the extent to which its elite (“the creative minority”) can mobilize its intellectual, moral, and physical strength to respond adequately to the challenges. Therefore, challenges are necessary for humanity since without them one would deal with spiritual and intellectual stagnation. Indeed, that which does not kill us makes us stronger. This aphorism becomes especially relevant in present times when the world is concerned with what the “post-covid” world will be, what transformations the values and worldview of individuals will undergo. The coronavirus pandemic acts in this case as a catalyst and accelerator for change and forces one to pay attention to them. As Toffler (1971) once pointed out, “The inhabitants of the earth are divided not only by race, nation, religion or ideology, but also, in a sense, by their position in time”. The future is rapidly coming, although only a few per cent of the entire human population “live” in the future, that is, are psychologically ready for it. The vast majority of people (more than 70 per cent of the population) live with old ideas, stereotypes, and norms of past generations. This does not mean that one should break “the link of times” and recklessly erase the historical past. However, one cannot ignore the fact that a new era is being replaced by a new one.

Introduction: Creative Minorities

ABSTRACT The calcification of permanent minorities during and after the colonial period continues to haunt the modern nation-state. Islamist thinkers in the twentieth century tended to accept this status, often giving up sovereignty to God and making Muslim subjects legible only in terms of their religion. By contrast, this special issue focuses on those Muslims who endeavoured to escape or refuse their minority status and in doing so claimed sovereignty for themselves. Rather than track their persecution by the state, this issue presents a global intellectual history of engagement, contestation, and departure by following the question of minorities and Islam in India, China, and East Africa. The issue traces how Muslim political thinkers in those contexts rejected their minority status either by withdrawing to a form of regionalism or, conversely, by escaping the region altogether to find solace in a renewed idea of the universal, recasting Islam in the process.

Creating Future Leader trough Creative Minority Vision on Higher Education (A Case Study on SWCU)

Higher Education has a key role in preparing society to entering the era of Society 5.0. Higher education must be able to change the paradigm of society with good ideas and thoughts towards a better social order. Apart from knowledge, higher education must be able to form a generation of change agents in society. This study aims to find out more about the vision of the Satya Wacana Christian University to form a generation of leaders with a “creative minority” spirit. This research is a qualitative research with a case study approach that was held in Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU). This research concludes that the vision of creative minority is the university's vision to form leaders who drive the nation's development with the following skills and character: Leadership, creative, problem solver, critical mindfulness. This vision is manifested as points in the CPL study program. In addition, this vision is also integrated into the hidden curriculum through the process of: habituation, role models, internalization, and culturalization.

Pengaruh Warna Terhadap Short Term Memory Pada Anggota UKM Creative Minority

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of color on short term memory among student members of the Creative minority UKM, Malikussaleh University. The hypothesis in this study is the effect of color on short term memory, where students who are given colored paper with animal names written on it have better short-term memory than those who are not given colored paper. The study was conducted on 30 creative minority UKM members aged 18-22 years consisting of two groups, namely the control group and the experimental group, each of which was 15 respondents using a randomized two group design experiment - post test only. The independent sample t test results indicate that there is an influence between color on short term memory in creative minority UKM members. The conclusion of this study is that color has an effect on increasing achievement motivation. The next researcher is expected to be able to increase the number of respondents and control the situations and conditions during the experiment and be able to try researching new colors.

Learning from Paris

While Christianity in France continues to decline overall, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paris seems to be experiencing a small-scale revival among a “creative minority” of often younger Christians. Rooted in the vision and leadership of Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, these pockets of vitality exhibit several common themes, among them intentional formation, rootedness in prayer, the importance of beauty, pilgrimage, and the influence of monastic or neo-monastic movements. Despite many French cultural distinctives, some of the emphases of these flourishing communities and initiatives might be useful as American Episcopalians attempt to reshape ministry and community life for an increasingly post-Christian culture.

The University and the Church: Don Briel's Essays on Education ed. by R. Jared Staudt

Reviewed by: The University and the Church: Don Briel's Essays on Education ed. by R. Jared Staudt Philip Rolnick The University and the Church: Don Briel's Essays on Education edited by R. Jared Staudt, (Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2019), xxxvi + 250 pp. Almost all academics have thoughts about the nature of the university, its flaws and its possibilities. But Don Briel (1947–2018) was unique: he looked deeply at the best of what had been written about Catholic education, perspicaciously analyzed its current state, and then, with astonishing effectiveness, implemented his visionary plan. The University and the Church: Don Briel's Essays on Education lays out Briel's "Foundational Principles" (part 1) and his understanding of "The Church's Vision of Higher Education" (part 2), and concludes with "Catholic Studies and the Renewal of the University," his personal account of and reflections on the university programs he actually initiated (part 3). George Weigel notes in his foreword: "The essays in this volume are more than a memorial to a great educator, a good man, and a faithful disciple. They are a template for the ongoing reform and development of Catholic higher education" (iii). In chapter 1, "Wanted: A Ground for the Imagination," Briel juxtaposes two moral responses to the experience of the world: Martha Nussbaum's call for tolerance in light of "the radical individuality of all concrete experience," and by contrast, his own view that "the fundamental mystery of all experience of the world evoked by the religious imagination is humility" (6). Briel then applauds authors (Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, [End Page 676] and others), who, with the humility to let God be God, can then see the world in a clearer light. Briel's foundational principles of education are in large part drawn from John Henry Newman and Christopher Dawson. From Newman, Briel learned that the non-Christian bent of modernity is not primarily a matter of rationality. With Newman, Briel considered "the rejection of Christianity to arise from a fault of the heart, not of the intellect; that unbelief arises, not from mere error of reasoning, but either from pride or from sensuality" (15, citing Newman, Letters and Diaries). Briel would later apply this insight in the specific ways that he formed his seminal programs in Catholic Studies, first at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN), and later in programs across the country and internationally. He clearly grasped that students, faculty, and administrators needed something that addressed the whole person. A superior argument would not be sufficient. Briel found a way forward in Newman's distinction between a university and a college. For Newman, "the university is committed to the exploration and disputation of various theories and thus embodies … 'the element of advance,' or progress, whereas the college, focused on the formation of mind and character of the student, promotes a certain 'stability,' thus situating students in a living tradition" (200). In the preface, David Deavel nicely summarizes this crucial distinction: "The university principle, found particularly in the lecture hall, promotes the unity of knowledge and the relationship between faith and reason, while the college principle involves both personal formation and an attention to study. Both principles require the presence of the Church to survive" (x). Briel's great accomplishment was to take Newman's nineteenth-century ruminations, readjust them for our own time and problems, and bring them to life. Briel's vision was bold, but it was also doable. Prudently, he recognized that, while a large or even a mid-size Catholic university could not adopt Newman's ideas whole cloth, "a creative minority"—a program or department within the university—could do so (224). And so, in cooperation with colleagues from several departments, Briel initiated the Catholic Studies program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1993. The practical beauty of Briel's endeavor is that it can be achieved within existing Catholic universities as well as secular state universities. Briel's chapter "Renewing the University in a Tragic Culture" reports on important instances of programs in both kind of settings, programs that have taken root in the United States and elsewhere in North...

The Archbishopric of Manila Meets the Challenge of Shepherding Its Laity to Spiritual Maturity (1953-1963)

This study discusses, narrates, and analyzes how Archbishop Rufino Santos continued the work started by the country’s first native Archbishop of Manila, Gabriel M. Reyes, in steering the archbishopric to attain its full spiritual maturity. The research used the historical method guided by Arnold Toynbee’s Challenge and Response Theory identifying the Archbishop of Manila as the “creative personality” whose responses to the challenges of the post-war Archdiocese of Manila formed a “creative minority” who helped him respond to the challenges during his stewardship. As the "creative personality," Archbishop Santos led a series of responses that began to stir the social awakening of the Catholic Church in the Philippines to make it responsive to the social issues affecting the Filipinos. These responses allowed Archbishop Santos to elevate the Catholic Action movement to include socio-political concerns, thereby awakening the laity's socio-political consciousness and linking this to their Filipino Catholic identity.

Social and Political Development Strategies: Global Pandemic Challenges (Covid-19)

Even English historian A. Toynbee claimed that each new generation of the “creative minority” (elite) periodically faced challenges of the time, to which it had to seek and give an adequate response. In case of an unsatisfactory answer, this “creative minority” should leave the historical stage, giving way to the more competent elite. The coronavirus crisis experienced by the global community in 2020 has become such a global challenge of our time for many people. And the public can make conclusions about the professional training and level of competence of the ruling elite groups judging from how effectively they cope with this challenge. But even now it can already be stated that the crisis has revealed a number of significant systemic failures in the functioning of political elites - their slow reaction to the event, disunity, clip consciousness and underestimation of the degree of risk, resources and their own capabilities. This article is devoted to the analysis of all these problems.

Radical Orthodoxy on Catholicism, Protestantism and Liberalism/Liberality: On the Use of Historical Narratives and Quantitative Methods in Political Theology

AbstractPolitical theology assumes or depends, implicitly or explicitly, on historical narratives and empirical claims. For theologians making historical, socio‐cultural and economic claims an interdisciplinary use of several different methods is helpful, including a theologically and philosophically informed combination of historical narratives with social and economic quantitative methods. This argument is fleshed out by a critical analysis of historical and sociological claims about Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism in relation to liberalism and liberality, which are central to the argument of John Milbank’s and Adrian Pabst’s book The Politics of Virtue. They find the roots of an increasingly untenable abstract atomistic liberalism both in late medieval and Protestant (especially Calvinist) theology as well as in the dissenting nonconforming traditions that worked for the disestablishment of the Church. This very disestablishment is part of what creates modern liberalism. This article both sketches a partly alternative history to the one Milbank and Pabst provide, pointing to the role of creative minorities in certain dissenting Protestant churches and movements for the emergence of the type of liberality Milbank and Pabst defend, and tests these claims against quantitative social science studies on democracy, social trust, and corruption.

Developing BMT as a loss-profit sharing-based microfinance: an Indonesian experience

This article would like to discuss an Indonesian experience in developing Baitul Mal wat Tamwil (BMT) since 1990’s as an alternative microfinance which based on loss and profit sharing schema that realized a more just economic system. This research is conducted by both bibliographical overviews and empirical investigations. This paper would like to elaborate more on how BMT developed and maintained its capacity and efforts, in providing a more just alternative model instead of interest system which had shown negative spread and pseudo economic growth. This, however, requires emphasizing the main differences between both systems (sharing and interest). It also discusses on how BMT upgraded competitively various attractive products which based on loss and profit sharing. The establishment of BMT in Indonesia could not be separated from the emergence of “creative minority” and “enlightened group” in some campuses in Indonesia to build BMT since 1984, which later followed and developed by Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Association (Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia/ ICMI) since 1991. The research findings showed that the schema which is used by BMT on loss and profit sharing is a real practical effort which then has successfully developed, massively contributed and largely triggered Indonesian economic in the real sector, especially for the small and medium economic scale enterprises (SMES) in order to poverty alleviation. It also reflected as an experiment of early steps in recognizing Islamic economy in Indonesia. BMT also still could survive, even when a huge economic crisis struck Indonesia particularly and South East Asia generally in 1997.

Inverted totalitarianism in (post) postnormal accelerated dystopia: the arrival of Brave New World and 1984 in the twenty-first century

PurposeThis paper aims to depict how the state of inverted totalitarianism is emerging in post-postnormal times and illustrate how it shares many of the same features of the totalitarianism depicted in the novels Brave New World (A. Huxley) and 1984 (G. Orwell). It also shows how a “way forward” is possible through a paradigmatic reorientation of “well-being” and “happiness”.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on literature within the field of futures studies, as well as relevant sources outside the futures field. It applies R Slaughter’s critical futures and F Polak’s method of social critique and reconstruction in its analysis of the state of inverted totalitarianism in post postmodern times.FindingsIt finds that the technological society and the US empire (with its attendant corporatocracy, Panopticon and PAC man values) in post-postnormal times is drifting toward a state of inverted totalitarianism, which is remarkably beginning to resemble Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and G. Orwell’s 1984.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is an essay and conceptual paper, so it is limited by its conceptual, philosophical nature and the author’s interpretation of social phenomena. It could also include the latest research on the role that the manipulation of internet algorithms plays in the state of inverted totalitarianism. It could also include more reconstructive details.Practical implicationsSheer consciousness of the state of inverted totalitarianism and the need for social reconstruction should lead to a reevaluation of the meaning of the good society and how to realize it.Social implicationsSocial critique and reconstruction are essential to the survival of any given society or civilization, as the groundwork for the emergence of wise foresight. The creative minority of a civilization must understand its predicament, the nature of its civilizational crisis, before it can even begin to understand and meet the challenge of the future.Originality/valueThe paper presents post-postnormal times as the back drop through which a state of inverted totalitarianism is emerging – a social dystopia that resembles the dystopias depicted in the novels, Brave New World and 1984. Inverted totalitarianism is shown to be an outgrowth of the technological society and the American empire (a corporatocracy and Panopticon increasingly global in nature). Freedom from this emerging totalitarianism begins with the realization of its existence and its given assumptions about the meaning of life and the pursuit of happiness. The paper also posits social critique and reconstruction (as well as critical futures) as a fundamental method to deconstruct and reconstruct the paradigm that supports inverted totalitarianism.

A Satyagrahi as a Subject of Social Development in M.K. Gandhi’s Philosophy

The article deals with representatives of creative minority (the term by H. Bergson, A.J. Toynbee) in the process of social development. Satyagrahis play the similar role in M.K. Gandhi’s philosophy. This term originates from the central conception of Indian thinker - Satyagraha . It means the calling for resistance of moral developed person to all injustice around him by means of his soul-force. Gandhi’s image of an ideal man and his understanding of the role of such man in social-dynamical processes shows that philosopher’s intellectual and cultural features influenced his views. So, being the thinker, formed on the joint of two cultures (culture of traditional society and Modernity), Gandhi gives to his image of an ideal man Eastern and Western qualities. He offers to combine the moral rigor of traditional Indian ascetic with social activity, freedom and sense of personal responsibility, which are characteristic for individualistic ethics of Modernity. At the same time he rejects the understanding of social development as a technical progress, which is widespread in the West. The thinker connects this process with the personal improvement and harmonization of social relationships. The latter is impossible without participation of mediators between different social forces. Realizing this fact, Gandhi called his followers to become mediators between quarreling religious communities, castes and political parties in order to conciliate them. Such understanding of social development was in large part determined by social image of the thinker. Being the person formed on the crossroad of intercultural communications, Gandhi himself played the role of mediator between the Hindus and Mussulmans, between high-caste Hindus and untouchables, between different branches of Indian national congress, between economical elites and pure masses.

The higher intelligence of the ‘creative minority’ provides the infrastructure for entrepreneurial innovation

Does the intelligence quotient (IQ) in a nation regulate the ease of doing business? Based on the normal distribution of IQ scores within a nation, the population was classified into three groups, specifically intellectual class, average ability, and non-intellectual class, which were represented by the 95th, 50th, and the 5th percentiles of IQ level respectively. Using a robust regression method, the impact of each IQ class on the ease of doing business (EDB) index was examined. The sub-indicators of the ten business regulatory environment across 71 countries were studied. In this study, the effect of IQ was controlled for the levels of economic freedom, GDP per capita, freedom of corruption, and tertiary education. Results revealed strong evidence that the IQ of the intellectual class had contributed most to the enhancement of the regulatory environment, which is supportive for entrepreneurship. This result was consistent with the term ‘creative minority’ coined by the prominent historian Arnold Toynbee. It was concluded that the IQ of the people from the intellectual class is the most significant factor for creating a business regulatory environment that eases the entrepreneurs. This occurs through their competent and virtuous leadership that enhances the quality and efficiency of institutions across countries.

GERAKAN KOMUNITAS CANGKIR KAMISAN MEMBANGUN EKONOMI KREATIF DI METRO LAMPUNG

<p>This Research reveals the role of the Community Cup Kamisan.<br />A community that started its operations from discussions talk think<br />(cups) in the core of the house of the host. Anxiety the pegiatnya<br />consisting of academics, activists, journalists, citizen, teachers,<br />businessmen, were enterprising, and various creative community<br />city. Kamisan Cup community is attempting to revive the role of the<br />various entities in the City Metro Lampung with spirit to build the<br />collective intellectual property. Lampung province which is known<br />with various ethnic conflict, through collective intellectual movement<br />is starting to realize the importance of building togetherness. Borrowed<br />the term Arnold J. Toynbe namely build «creative minority” namely Cups<br />Kamisan community efforts to build the city with the empowerment of<br />various community entities.<br />Kamisan Cup community is a multicultural community who<br />are also trying to develop a creative economy. Consists of various<br />backgrounds from academics, Student activists, journalists, creative<br />citizens, religious leaders unite the idea of building a social movement.<br />Many changes occur from build Citizen journalism portal pojoksamber.<br />com, House Together, research institution Sai Wawai Institute,<br />publication of indie Sai Wawai Publishing, and establish Waste Bank<br />Green cups. In addition many movements of other creative economy<br />that is done by this community. E.g. with began to build the other<br />creative economy documentary, music, and handicrafts.<br />Intellectual Property and the community experienced a<br />because it is based on the logic of politics and keilmuwan at the time<br />of the formation of the term intellectual property. “intellectuals” born<br />from social classes who do claim against the injustice done by the state.<br />The state since the formation, have special characters in the form of<br />domination. In the second phase of the state that is free, that domination<br />continues to the community. In this case, researchers intend to explore<br />the role of the Community Cup Kamisan answer the challenge in<br />building the structure of the output of the community and are able<br />to progress and work for the community. The collective intellectual<br />discourse interesting to examined as part of the responsibility of<br />universities build changes through the way intellectualism naturally<br />dissipate namely knowledge. The meaning of this research is to<br />examine more in the role of the Community Cup Kamisan in building<br />the creative economy in the City of Metro Lampunng</p>

다문화사회에서 소수자에 대한 이해와 실천

다문화사회에서 소수자에 대한 이해와 실천

The challenges of the creative minority towards supporting co-enrollment of sign-bilingual Deaf students

The challenges of the creative minority towards supporting co-enrollment of sign-bilingual Deaf students

Church, Culture and Credibility: A Perspective from Ireland

AbstractThis article explores the crisis in the Catholic Church in Ireland in light of the child-abuse scandals exposed in recent reports and outlines some of the theological responses to that crisis. It suggests that it is necessary to examine not just the crimes of the perpetrators of abuse and the inadequate response of individual church leaders but also the structural sin within the Church that is at the root of the crisis. It is argued that the collusion between Church and State in modern Ireland that emerges from these reports can be defined in terms of Hiberno-Christendom, drawing from Charles Taylor definition of “Christendom”. In the midst of the crisis, the ongoing revelations of clerical abuse and the accompanying analysis, there is still pastoral vibrancy and people are trying to cultivate hope. The Catholic Church in Ireland may need to learn how to become what Juan Luis Segundo calls a “creative minority”, re-imagining the parameters of its power and developing a new political theology.