Face Of Mystery Research Articles

Wonder, Mystery, and Meaning

This paper explores the connection between wonder and meaning, in particular ‘the meaning of life’, a connection that, despite strong intrinsic connections between wonder and the (philosophical) search for meaning has not yet received any sustained attention. Does wonder ‘merely’ inspire our search for meaning, or does it also point the way towards meaning? In exploring this question I first engage with Hannah Arendt, then examine the suggestion (by Josef Pieper and Rachel Carson, among others) that the meaning wonder points us to lies in connecting us with the mystery of existence. Can there be meaning in mystery, or is wonder––as a state of being lost for words in the face of mystery––rather antithetical to meaning? This discussion leads to the idea, emphasized in recent writing on wonder, that wonder (also) depends on the meaning we ascribe to things. In the final section I discuss wonder as a potential source of meaning in life, then return to the question whether it can also point towards a deeper meaning of life. I conclude that no purely rational justification can be given for this view, but that this need not detract from the importance of wonder in our lives.

Profits and prophets: Derrida on linguistic bereavement and (Im)possibility in nursing.

The work of Jacques Derrida has received relatively little attention within nursing philosophy. Perhaps this is because Derrida is known best for deconstructing philosophy itself, a task he performed by making language unintelligible to make a point. This in itself makes his work daunting for nurses who do applied philosophy. Despite these difficulties, Derrida's focus on holding open a space for ideas, particularly those ideas that are invisible or unpopular, holds potential for enhancing the diversity of ideas within nursing. His work, liberally scattered with religious references, and focused on deconstructing language that served the profits of a few, earned him the characterization of a prophet without religion. This idea was further supported in the way his deconstruction attempted to keep spaces open for the un-representable and its generativity in opening new possibilities in life. A deconstruction for generative purposes is particularly helpful within palliative care where language quickly takes on dogma in the face of mystery and where new possibilities support life amidst the irrevocable nature of death. In this article, I discuss Derrida's deconstructive approach of differance and then apply that approach to language common in palliative care.

La raison et la foi. Des philosophes Polonais rapprochent les deux domaines

This paper presents three attempts of grasping the relations between faith and reason made by M. Heller, J. Tischner and K. Tarnowski. Reason and faith are two foundations for human desire to understand the world. Without them, no attempts to understand can take place. As Heller points out, both of them, due to cooperation, support development and help to eliminate dangerous simplifications. Faith, or more precisely – religious thinking – is, as J. Tischner famously argued, a condition for dialogue, for being open to others and community. Faith gives strength and courage, supports the search for existing (although very often unconscious) ties that bonds people. Faith allows us to discover the meaning and purpose of our lives. K. Tarnowski goes even further and claims, that faith reveals “the surplus” of meaning, which invites us to investigate what is impossible to express- the Mystery. Only in the face of Mystery, by a communion with the Other, can we feel that the presence of the Other is important for our existence. The three philosophers from Krakow emphasized in their works, that the relations between faith and reason, although connected and supplementing themselves, require much attention from both scientists, who create rational models of reality, and theologians, who aim to create a coherent vision linking these two aspects of human world.

CONSTRUCTIVE THEOLOGY, BIOETHICS, AND BODILY EXISTENCE

“Imaginative construction” captured the methodological orientation of Gordon D. Kaufman (1925–2011), who in later work used the word “mystery” when speaking of the ultimate. Among his books are An Essay on Theological Method (1975) and In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology (1993). He published in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science (1992, 2001, 2003a, b, 2005, 2007), and has been remembered here before (Drees 2012). In this issue of Zygon, Myriam Renaud considers the earlier work of Kaufman. Jerome Soneson and Patrick Woolley pay attention to method and epistemology. Thomas James analyzes his work as an “ecological theocentrism,” while Karl Peters takes Kaufman as a partner for his articulation of Christian naturalism. These papers come from a symposium at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in November 2012 in Chicago. Islam and Biomedical Ethics was the topic of a conference in Doha, Qatar, in June 2012, organized by Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar, along with the Qatar National Research Fund and its Faculty of Islamic Studies, and Leiden University. The importance of family and genealogy shows in articles on paternity (Ayman Shabana) and womb transplants (Amel Alghrani). Mohammed Ghaly analyzes the role of experts in the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Efficacy in the community requires more than conveying information, as shown here using the examples of organ donation (Shoaib Rasheed and Aasim Padela) and vaccines (Padela). Henk ten Have places Islamic bioethics in the context of global bioethics, alongside issues of social justice and economic power. I discuss Islamic bioethics as “religion and science.” To my surprise, Zygon had more contributions relating Islam to bioethics than on another facet of “Islam and science,” though we have covered this broader topic too, for example, with responses to Islam's Quantum Question (Bagir 2012; Brooke 2012; Dajani 2012; Guessoum 2011, 2012; Hameed 2012). In Ghaly's opening paper for this section, he explores and explains the rise of Islamic bioethics in recent years. “Religion and Embodied Cognition” is the topic of the third section in this issue, with papers from a meeting of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) in Loccum, Germany, in September 2012. I could say “we are bodies, and we have minds” but it would be equally true to say “we are minds, and have bodies.”11 The expressions were inspired by a discussion on IRAS-net, a forum of members of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science; the discussion on the forum was triggered by a contribution in the New York Times of May 6, 2013, “I Am Not My Body,” by Brian Jay Stanley. The priority of the mental corresponds to our experiences as selves. Bodily existence has primacy in our actions. The coexistence of these perspectives brings with it a reductionist-holist view of human nature (see Allen 2013; McMullin 2013). The opening paper by Fraser Watts argues that such a holistic understanding of human nature can be appreciated within religious perspectives. John Teske brings the reader up to date on the science. Daniel Weiss shows nondualism in rabbinic texts in Judaism, thereby arguing for a resonance between these views and science. Léon Turner considers ideas on the concrete individual, as all personhood is shaped by relations and contexts. Warren Brown and Kevin Reimer explore character formation (and virtue) as shaped by engagement with real, bodily others—his example being the work of the communities of l'Arche (the Ark). The three thematic sections in this issue represent broader issues of method, ethics, and anthropology. In the December issue, we will continue with a rich offering of individual papers.

THE LEGACY OF GORDON KAUFMAN: THEOLOGICAL METHOD AND ITS PRAGMATIC NORMS

AbstractI argue that the most significant contribution and legacy of Gordon Kaufman's work rests in his theological method. I limit my discussion to his methodological starting point, his concept of human nature, as he develops it in his book, In Face of Mystery. I show the relevance of this starting point for cultural and theological criticism by arguing two points: first, that this starting point embraces religious and cultural pluralism at its center, providing a framework for intercultural and interreligious discussion and cooperation, and second, that Kaufman's interpretation of religion that emerges out of this starting point embodies pragmatic criteria for evaluating and reconstructing alternative cultural and religious worldviews, so that they may function more adequately within the changing contexts of life.

My Name is Mina by D. Almond

Almond, David. My Name is Mina. New York: Delacourt Press, 2010. Print. My Name is Mina is a prequel to Almond’s award winning book Skellig - a work for young adult readers that is very exceptional and magical. It is understandable that Almond would wish to return to the character of Mina who, while not the protagonist of Skellig, provides the narrative with its essential element of magical thinking. Mina brings to Skellig its intense, idiosyncratic intelligence and comprehension of lived personal tragedy that give the book its substance and its characters' motivational credibility and willing credulity in the face of mystery and uncertainty. Almond explores Mina's unquenchable creative fire and curiosity in My Name is Mina and has created an unstructured and visually dynamic narrative to try to capture and communicate her voice. In the broad field of literature for young adults Almond is somewhat of a "writer's writer" - unafraid of experimentation with narrative structure and continuity and adept with the abstract presentation of challenging subject matter such as death, post-traumatic stress disorder and, perhaps most provocatively for young adult readers, the general helplessness of adults in controlling the world and themselves. My Name is Mina is a very mindfully structured book with excellent page design that takes the narrative to another level of resonance. Mina applies her prodigious imagination, fuelled by her staunch autonomy and her mother's whimsical but always reassuring presence, to coping with her father's death. Her adventures real and (perhaps) imagined are terrifying, ecstatic and revelatory visions, all described by Almond with an incisive clarity. Almond bridges the sublime and the mundane, transitioning with intuitive ease from conveying how truly exceptional Mina is to exploring her shortcomings, vanity and failings. It's an astonishingly adept and very intimate exploration of character that communicates an inescapable sense of universality. Mina is simultaneously both utterly iconoclastic and completely one with the reader.Highly Recommended : 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Matilda Roche Matilda spends her days lavishing attention on the University of Alberta’s metadata but children’s illustrated books, literature for young adults and graphic novels also make her heart sing. Her reviews benefit from the critical influence of a four year old daughter and a one year old son – both geniuses. Matilda’s super power is the ability to read comic books aloud.

MYSTERY?

MYSTERY?

More Than a Creative Beginning: An Assessment of Gordon Kaufman’s In the beginning ... Creativity

/n the beginning . . . Creativity provides us with thought-provoking summary of the theology of Gordon D. Kaufman, Professor Emeritus at Harvard and the distinguished author of ten prior books, including Essay on Theological Method (1975; third edition 1995), Theology for Nuclear Age (1985), and In Face of Mystery (1993).1 To some extent In the beginning. . . Creativity may be viewed as compact version of the earlier In Face of Mystery, which is about three times as long and treats many of the same topics. Kaufman identifies In the beginning . . . Creativity as a kind of experiment in thought,2 but the book does advance consistent, balanced argument which supports several theological conclusions. The book is therefore eminently useful both for those who need concise introduction Kaufman's doctrine of God and for those who wish know how his thinking has evolved during recent years. In the beginning . . . Creativity consists of Preface and five chapters, the first of which is Prologue and the last an Epilogue. The Preface outlines the remainder of the volume, presenting at the outset several of the author's characteristic ideas that God may more profitably be viewed not as personal being but as serendipitous creativity; that human beings are inherently creatures-in context, inescapably located in network of bio-historical processes; and that theology should be undertaken neither as quest for apodictic certitude nor as the meticulous interpretation of sacred texts, but as an endeavor in imaginative construction, whose essential purpose is enable us to

Learning as Problem-Driven or Learning in the Face of Mystery?

The phrase `learning in the face of mystery' is borrowed in homage from Barry Turner, who coined it in contrast to `learning in the face of problems', which assumes learning to be voluntaristic, always functional to the organization, synonymous with change. The shift from the one to the other resides in an aesthetic choice between rationality and relationality. In fact, in spite of the huge amount of literature on organizational learning, there is still very little understanding about organizing as a practice based on a distributed knowledge system. At the same time, the normative/prescriptive discourse on Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization is mobilized as a further means of organizational control. The aim of this paper is to explore, from the perspective of the sociology of knowledge, the implicit assumptions underlying the Organizational Learning literature, and to look for alternative ways of conceptualizing learning-working-innovating as non-distinct activities. The term `learning-in-organizing' is proposed as a replacement for `organizational learning', so that its distributed and provisional nature can be considered when interpreted as a practical accomplishment.

KANTIAN ETHICS AND A THEORY OF JUSTICE; REIMAN, KAUFMAN AND MACINTYRE

It is undeniable that the influence of Kantian ethics has been monumental in illuminating the significance of persons as free moral agents. By virtue of being bearers of reason and responsibility, a dignity is conferred upon humans on account of their status as unique persons. Kaufman emphasises this point in his recent work, In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology in the context of the relationship between individual and collective ethics;persons – as free and responsible agents and thus in important respects self-determining and with projects of their own – should never be dealt with as mere ‘things’, mere instruments for the purposes of others; they are always entitled to special respect.

In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology

In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology

Book Review: In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology

Book Review: In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology

Face of Mystery, Mystery of a Face: An Anthropological Trajectory in Wittgenstein, Cavell, and Kaufman's Biohistorical Theology

The work of Ludwig Wittgenstein counts among the most significant philosophical influences on Gordon Kaufman's recent theology. Yet important convergences between Kaufman's theological worldview and Wittgenstein's philosophical teaching remain unexplored. In this essay I shall examine a number of such convergences connected with the concept of the human. The thought of Stanley Cavell will play a central role in the discussion. Kaufman shares with the skeptical Wittgenstein revealed in Cavell's writings an abiding concern with the ordinary in human life—for example, everyday language, the human body—but both are interested in this ordinariness as the locus of ineradicable mystery. A richly textured treatment of the ordinary (and mysterious) situation of face-to-face human encounter emerges when relevant passages of Wittgenstein's, Cavell's, and Kaufman's writings are compared. This article will develop some of the implications of this comparison that hold particular promise for theological anthropology. The orientation and concerns of the paper are thus primarily constructive.

Book Review: In Face of Mystery

Book Review: In Face of Mystery

In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology. Gordon D. Kaufman

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsIn Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology. Gordon D. Kaufman Joseph A. ColomboJoseph A. Colombo Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 75, Number 1Jan., 1995 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/489535 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1995 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology, by Gordon Kaufman

In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology, by Gordon Kaufman

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:In Face Of Mystery:A constructive Theology, by Gorden D. KaufmanSeeking the Humanity of God.Practices, Doctrines and Catholics Theology, by James J.BuckleyAugustine and the Limits of Virtue, by James WetzelBiblical Faith and Natural Theology: The Gifford Lectures for 1991, by James BarrThe Sense of a People: Toward a Church for the Human Future, by Lewis S. MudgeWarcraft and the Fragility of Virtue, by Grady Scott DavisLimits and Renewals, by Stephen R.L ClarkFor the Soul of the People:Protestant Protest Against Hitler, by Victoria Barnett

BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS Get access In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology. By Gordon D. Kaufman. Harvard University Press, 1993. 509 pages. $39.95. Peter C. Hodgson Peter C. Hodgson Vanderbilt Divinity School Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume LXII, Issue 1, Spring 1994, Pages 201–205, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXII.1.201 Published: 01 March 1994

Book Review: In the Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology

Book Review: In the Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology

In face of mystery: a constructive theology

In face of mystery: a constructive theology