Understanding Of Human Nature Research Articles

Theistic Evolution

In this paper, I explore scientific, philosophical, and theological concerns that arise from adopting theistic evolution understood as claiming that the origin and development of life can be entirely accounted for in terms of the operation of natural causes, without any need to posit direct divine intervention. I argue that theistic evolutionists’ commitment to methodological naturalism and their unjustified rejection of gap arguments suggests that their case is not nearly so strong as they suggest. I further argue that accepting theistic evolution most naturally leads to accepting a monistic physicalist account of the person that is at odds with theism’s understanding of human nature.

“Death discarded”: desemantization of death and new understanding of a man in the early USSR

In this article we explore the evolving concept of death and dying in the Soviet political project. The discur-sive practices of the new state in the field of death and body disposal have been analyzed based on materials from journalism, fiction, memoirs and diaries, archival data and other sources on the history of the early USSR (1920–1930). It has been shown how the concept of creation of a new world and a new Soviet man, the founda-tions of which were laid in the materialist Marxist approach, transformed the deep understanding of human nature. Discarding the metaphysical interpretation of the immortal nature of man, the Bolshevik ideology destroyed the established principles of understanding of human mortality, without offering anything new in exchange. Thus, the traditional logic of the practice of dealing with death, which worked as an effective adaptive mechanism for reas-sembling society in the face of natural loss of its members (A. van Gennep, R. Hertz, Davies D.), was violated. In a situation of confusion caused by the loss of the usual semantics of death and funeral practices, the ideologues of the new government made a number of attempts to build new mechanisms of adaptation. One of them was the project of a new civil funeral ritual, reflected in the journalism of the 1920s, although it did not receive widespread distribution. Another practice was the construction of symbolic immortality through the concept of “life in the me-mory of descendants” reflected both in the literature of socialist realism and in real practices. However, the con-cept of “living in the memory of descendants” was relevant only for few members of the new society, who could be referred to as “Soviet heroes”. It was an elite political practice that could hardly act as a reassembly mechanism for the entire society. In this situation, ordinary deaths and funerals were thrown to the periphery, having lost the ideological and practical attention of the state.

Understanding Human Nature from Quranic Perspective

The understanding of human nature is very important for human resource development, because that understanding will be a starting point in establishing development objectives, development strategies, method selection, and the types of media used. The main problem that has arisen so far is that the understanding of human nature is only based on the results of quantitative research, without considering the information from the Essence of the Supreme Creator of human (revelation), and consequently there are missing elements which limit the development of human resources. The quantitative studies only discuss things relating to physical, psychological, and social aspects; while important things such as the human creation process and its purpose, humanity's status before God, its potential and its development have not received enough attention. To find answers to the above shortcomings, this qualitative research utilizing document analysis technique of the Quran main verses relating to humanity was conducted using maudhu‘i interpretation method, namely by studying verses which are related to humanity through the understanding of the interpreters of the Quran. For the triangulation purposes, references were also made to the Hadiths – the words of Prophet Muhammad – as well as books of Tafsir, the translated versions of the Quran in local language. The aspects of human creation, the purpose of creation, and potentials and weaknesses of mankind were discussed in details by the researchers.

ИНФОРМАЦИОННОЕ ОБЩЕСТВО: ТЕНДЕНЦИЯ К МИНИАТЮРИЗАЦИИ И ТЕОРЕТИКО-МЕТОДОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ

Objective of the study is to analyze the phenomenon of miniaturization of the information society and to find out the specifics of the corresponding theoretical and methodological principles for studying this phenomenon. To achieve this goal, the article formulates a number of tasks: to reveal the essence of the process of miniaturization of society; find out the reasons for this process; explain why it was not characteristic of the industrial society; to show the differentiation of the specifics of the structures of social groups created by individuals in the industrial and informational societies; to study the nature of ties that unite people into social groups in both societies; find out the theoretical and methodological features of the study of the phenomenon of miniaturization of society. The methodology of the research. In the process of studying the phenomenon of miniaturization of the information society, methods of reconstruction, modeling, classification, analogy, comparative analysis were used. These methods made it possible to consider the problems of the specifics of the theoretical and methodological principles of explaining the nature of social ties of individuals in industrial and informational societies, which did not receive a wide discussion; find out what changes in theoretical and methodological attitudes are proposed by representatives of the American philosophy of pragmatism, in particular R. Rorty, to explain the problems of the formation of social groups in information society, tending to miniaturization, and consider how these changes correlate with that understanding of human nature, which is adhered to by representatives of the American philosophy of pragmatism; to give a critical assessment of the ideas formulated by R. Rorty in the course of using the Humean concept of morality (sympathy) as a theoretical and methodological setting for studying the structures of social groups in the information society. Research results. First, it is shown that the essence of the phenomenon of miniaturization of the information society consists in replacing large communities of people (class, nation, people) inherent in industrial societies with small social groups, and among the reasons for this phenomenon, the growing tendency to assert the value of individualism is highlighted. Secondly, it has been proved that the tendency towards the assertion of the value of individualism in Europe was formed not in the 60-90s of the twentieth century, as F. Fukuyama believes, who called these years the "Great Break", but during the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, and explained why the process of affirming the value of individualism, which began after the French Revolution, was not a trigger for the miniaturization of industrial production society, focused, on the contrary, at the formation of large social communities, such as a class, for example, and also considered those theoretical and methodological principles, on which the explanation of the possibility of the existence of stable ties between individuals in large social groups was based. Thirdly, the reasons for the dominance of the value of individualism in the information society are revealed and the role of this value in its miniaturization is shown, as well as difficulties in using theoretical and methodological principles based on the idea of ​​reason as the core of the human self and explaining the nature of ties of individuals in large social communities are investigated, to explain the nature of ties in small social communities. Fourth, the connection between the understanding of human nature by representatives of the American philosophy of pragmatism, for example, R. Rorty, and their appeal to the Humean concept of morality (sympathy), as a kind of methodological setting for explaining the nature of ties between individuals in small social groups of the information society. Fifth, a critical assessment is given of the ideas of the deification of man and the end of the era of social theories, formulated by R. Rorty in the process of using the Humean concept of morality. Prospects of the study.   The study of the tendency of the information society to miniaturization can be used to theoretically solve problems related to the prospects for the development of European social, political and moral practice.

再議儒家對超人類主義的態度

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 Superhumanism or posthumanism has become our reality. To deal with the resulting humanitarian dilemma, we can consult the abundant theoretical resources provided by Confucianism. Confucius's “The Gentleman is No Vessel”, Zengzi's important concept of filial piety, and Mencius' understanding of human nature contribute valuable theoretical perspectives for reflection on the real-world consequences of transhumanism.

The Corporal-oriented approach to Education: a Turn towards the Whole Person

Recent anthropological studies consider the corporal experience as an indispensable attribute of a person’s life world. They declare to go beyond the dichotomy of body and mind and present a modern person as a complex integrity of all systems and characteristics of a living organism. Body and mind are a union of vitality with different forms of their manifestation. The corporal is not regarded as an essential complement to the mental, the corporal is the mental, just in a different form of its manifestation. The implementation of a methodological turn from a rationalcognitive approach to a holistic understanding of human nature and the peculiarities of cognitive processes outlines the problem of education transformation in both theoretical and practical terms. Taking into account the complexity and multiplicity of tasks in solving this problem, the guideline in defining conceptual ideas is the understanding of a person as a multi-temporal being who lives simultaneously in multiple hierarchical levels, ontological time and the scale of processes. It is a question of necessity to construct educational activity in semantic planes: mindbody- culture, mind-body-activity, body-consciousness-reaction and others.

ENGLISH: Illuminating Human Psyche: A Comparative Analysis of Similarities in Ghazalian Theory of Soul and Freudian Psychoanalysis

There have been several theories in the Western world, highlighting various features of human mind, but none of them seems to present the whole truth. The richness and diverse outlook of human experience makes it imperative to look for a model, which contributes in better and all-encompassing understanding of human nature. The present study intends to provide the venue to the spiritual insights of Ghazalian thought to be incorporated into the study of Freudian psychoanalysis, with its central focus on the similarities between them. Besides the current study proceeds from the assumption that though Freudian psychonalytic theory has provided insightful psychological interpretations, equally appropriate readings result from analyzing Ghazalian theory of soul. This study follows the descriptive and analytic methodology to investigate the similarities in both the models and has been developed according to the guidelines provided by Zepetnek’s (1998) theory of comparative literature. This analytical approach may lead to an alternative critical agenda for the better understanding of human psyche. In addition, it is also hoped that the insights yielded by this research study may develop into new forms of understanding in the realm of psychology.

Bioethical Quality of Life Concept Through the Eyes of Critics

Bioethics is an interdisciplinary science that deals with the moral aspects of medicine, biotechnology and the value of life in general. Quality of life concept is the basis for one of the models of bioethics. Its supporters understand the value of human life by relying on the categories of its qualitative characteristics. They argue that the value of life is relative and depends on certain criteria, and prove the permissibility to terminate it in some cases. Quality of life conception is criticized, above all, by those scholars who rely on religious ideas of the equal value and inviolability of all people’s lives. This article reveals several examples of such criticism in the works of Polish and American authors: T. Biesaga, H. Ciach, G. Hołub, P. Kieniewicz, R. P. George and P. Lee. Citing the arguments of that Christian thinkers, the author forms her own attitude to the problem. The ethical and ontological sources of quality of life concept, namely utilitarianism and naturalism, become the main object of criticism. It is significant that in the utilitarian appeal to maximize happiness as pleasure and calculate the gain or loss they see an attempt to establish the primacy of the overall well-being over an individual’s life as well as a reason for killing those individuals whose lives do not meet quality criteria and impair overall well-being. They also criticize such a consequence of the naturalistic view as reduction of the personality to its manifestations. The absence of such manifestations becomes for the supporters of the quality of life concept the basis for conclusion about a low quality of life of some individuals. One more critical remark towards the quality of life concept concern erasing of differences between humans and animals and their interests. The technocratic attitude that permits any manipulations of a human life if only they can be performed is criticized too. The author demonstrates that the fundamental fault of the quality of life concept which is criticized by all its opponents is a limited understanding of human nature and human life.

Story and Transformation in a Reading Laboratory for the Elderly in Pandemic Times – An Experience Report

Literature is one of the finest ways to express the human art and creativeness, therefore, is a path to reach the understanding of human nature. In this article, we will discuss the use of literature in group debate of elders which participated in a seniorprogram of a Brazilian university as a resource to stimulate a personal discovery of inner resources to deal with this challenging period of life during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020. Our participation started in 2017 with a group formed by men and women above 60 years old attending this program. Until 2019, there were 65 participants in a yearly program, but in 2020 there was a variation between 40-70. The experience to be discussed derives from an aesthetic attitude, starting with literary reading followed by a group discussion in order to stimulate affective social bonds among the participants. Further discussed themes were the impact of the online version and the use of technology in a senior group.

Temporal Discounting for Multidimensional Economic Agents

Individuals frequently place a higher value on money and goods today than they would in the future. This is known as temporal or time discounting, and most economic models include discount functions to represent such utility over time. In this paper we evaluated traditional models with experimental data from the scientific literature and constructed our own samples for comparison.
 In addition, we evaluated the prediction accuracy of the models and proposed new hybrid solutions. Our investigation aims to contribute to a better understanding of human nature in complex processes.

Digital Theology: Saintly Marvels and God‐talk on Facebook

AbstractAmong Indonesia's traditionalist Muslims, anecdotes of saintly marvels (karāma) relating occurrences that contradict reason or human understanding of nature are lodged in everyday conversations. While scholars have noted how recounting and listening to karāma anecdotes is believed by Muslims to transmit the blessing (baraka) of the saints and facilitate their intercession, this article explores such anecdotes' capacity to engender conversations about God and other issues pertaining to religious belief. It does so by observing the circulation of karāma anecdotes among Indonesia's traditionalist Muslims on Facebook and their role in provoking a variety of God‐talk. The circulation of such anecdotes affords their publics with the ability to assent to, engage with, debate, and question theological propositions. Facebook creates the material preconditions for the production and circulation of accessible and shareable karāma anecdotes that enables Muslims beyond the scholastic elites to participate in theological discussion and reflection while facilitating digital practices that can be construed as theologically meaningful. It also facilitates various disputations, including those that are theological, between Muslims adhering to different Islamic currents. Far from simply being a channel of communication or a mode of dissemination, Facebook may indeed come to function as a digital infrastructure of theology.

«Сущность» и «существование» в понимании человеческой природы в схоластической философии

The study aims to reveal the meaning of the notions “essence” and “existence” and features of their correspondence in scholastic philosophy, due to which the issues concerning understanding of human nature, which are fundamental for medieval philosophy, are substantiated. Scientific novelty of the work lies in the premise, obtained in the course of the study, that in scholastic philosophy, reason as evidence of theomorphism of human nature acts as a source of correspondence between the essence and existence concepts in the anthropological dimension. The result of the study amounts to conclusion that human mind manifests the Divine, guarantees achievement of non-contradiction between essence and existence, due to which desire for vice is overcome and sinfulness as such is impossible, and human nature, in the image of the natural world, is able to improve itself.

25th ANNIVERSARY OF CLONING BY SOMATIC-CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER: Cloning, mitochondrial replacement and genome editing: 25 years of ethical debate since Dolly.

The birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996 elicited a tsunami of commentaries, both in the popular media and academic journals, including responses to the prospect of human reproductive cloning. Much of the anxiety expressed over this imagined consequence of Dolly's genesis revealed fundamental concerns about us losing our commitments to certain ethical goods, such as human dignity, or even 'what it means to be human'. Over the last 25 years, the focus of much of the ethical debate over human biotechnology has slowly shifted towards other genetic technologies that aim to influence inheritance, such as mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) and heritable genome editing. Genome editing, in particular, is a technology with multiple fields of application, actual and potential, in research and innovation. This review suggests that many of the fundamental concerns about the possibility of human reproductive cloning that were precipitated by Dolly persist today in the arguments of those who oppose MRT and any use of heritable human genome editing (HHGE). Whilst it is not accepted here that an understanding of human nature and dignity alone can demonstrate the ethical unacceptability of such assisted reproductive technologies, there are themes of justice, which extend into our relationships with animals, that demand continued wide-ranging examination and public dialogue. While Dolly has cast a long shadow over such discussions, this review suggests that the general existential angst over human uses of biotechnology that she came to symbolise is neither compulsory nor a reliable guide for how to think about biotechnologies today.

Colloquy with Luciano Floridi on the anthropological effects of the digital revolution

In this interview, philosopher Luciano Floridi explains the effects that, in his opinion, the digital revolution is having on our understanding of human nature. Among other things, he proposes that digitalization is contributing to the development of an anthropology in which man is not the center of reality, but just another node in an unlimited set of informational nodes. This revolution has effects also on the way we have access to reality, through the design of patterns that allow us to order the data we obtain from it. Such vision gives rise to an ethics whose perspective is patient-oriented, that is, which places the needs and expectations of the other first. The interview concludes with some practical proposals for some of the challenges posed by technology companies to today's society.

Психопатия в контексте современности: от биосоциальной проблематики к психопатической модели общества

The natural sciences have changed the traditional understanding of human nature by pointing out the biological dependence of human. The relationship between the biological and the social has become a problem, and this reflects the phenomenon of psychopathy – a special type of personality that combines neurophysiological abnormalities and related behavior. The article summarizes the conclusions of the latest experimental research in this field. It is hypothesized that psychopathic properties exactly correspond to the ideological requirements of modern society, and the development of modern technologies contributes to their reproduction. The cultivation of psychopathy can completely change human beings, making society physically psychopathic, and psychopathy can be a model for the future state of society.

The Ethnomental Components of F.M. Dostoevsky’s Works

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to identify the originality and ideological functional status of the ethnomental component in the works of F. Dostoevsky. Methods: The work integrates a complex of modern approaches and methods, mainly focusing on the ideas and principles of the traditional, cultural and historical method, which demonstrates the general cultural, sociological, and psychological aspects of the study of Dostoevsky’s literary heritage. The typological method has contributed to the literary clarification of the ethnomental components in fiction and journalism of the writer. The narratological approach is used to analyze the narrative structure of Dostoevsky’s works, the correlation of the writer’s and other people’s speech, to identify various points of views on the problem, and to establish the ambiguity of the writer’s position. The contextual analysis allowed analyzing the images of characters, first, within the local context and, second, within the macrocontext, which includes other literary sources, appropriate comparisons and build a verification model of the study. Main results: The analysis of the writer’s life, his philosophy of life, sacrifices, social ambivalence, predisposition to reflection, etc. suggests the presence of certain mental foundations. The main ideas, attitudes, spiritual discoveries of the artistic worlds created by the writer are determined by the ethnomental basis of his worldview. This makes it possible to determine and understand the originality and uniqueness of Dostoevsky in the context of Russian literature. Application of the study: The conclusions of the study can serve as the basis for an accurate idea of the correlation of the writer’s worldview and his work. The materials and conclusions of the study can be used in university courses on the history of Russian literature, in special courses and special seminars on the works of Dostoevsky, for term papers, graduation papers, and dissertations. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the ethnic component in the ideological and artistic system of Dostoevsky who was a Pochvennik writer (i. e. belonged to the Pochvennichestvo movement) was first considered in the context and through the prism of both the life experience of the writer himself and the general anthropological orientation of the writer as well as his understanding of human nature. This study provides not only the opportunity to analyze the ethnic identity of Russian literature but also to trace the influence of the ethnic mentality of Dostoevsky on his worldview embodied in his fiction.

Girard's Optimism

This article contains a discussion on René Girard’s understanding of the positive sides of imitation—despite the ambivalent nature of desire. Historically speaking, the discovery of the scapegoat mechanism made a great contribution towards limiting violence. The decomposition of the scapegoat mechanism, and its power to find non-violent alternatives, has paved the way for a culture with numerous opportunities. Even if humans constantly rival one another, one must understand and define the close relationship between competition, cooperation, and rivalry. To be able to see the positive sides of mimesis, one needs to have a robust understanding of human nature as competitive and, thereby, see friendship and competition as closely related. Learning and creativity can actually become optimal when there is a high degree of competition. Fierce competition today is allowed because of the taboo against violence. The decomposition of myth has destroyed archaic societies but, at the same time, created problems of an apocalyptic kind. Increasingly, cultures are now de- veloping without the shelter that sacrificial society previously provided. Positive human development, as is evident in the demystifying of violent myths and the increased concern for victims, cannot stem the power of global terror. Despite greater pessimism in his later works, Girard’s hope is that, through the model of Christ, people will finally learn to love their neighbours as themselves. A change of heart is to a certain degree capable to lead people towards the same kind of non-differentiated love as God.

The conception of human nature according to Notonagoro and Drijarkara and their implications for the development of the Philosophy of Pancasila

This article aims to compare the conception of human nature according to Notonagoro and Drijarkara and their implications for the development of the philosophy of Pancasila. For this reason, this study uses a comparison method. With the basic understanding of Pancasila is a philosophical system and human as its ontological basis, the philosophy of Pancasila can be well understood through an understanding of human nature. Therefore, the understanding of Pancasila must begin with understanding of human nature. This study found that Notonagoro and Drijarkara had similarities and differences in formulating human nature as ontological basis of Pancasila. Equally, both see humans not as a single entity. Notonagoro sees humans as monopluralists, while Drijarkara sees humans as singular (kedwitunggalan). However, both have differences in the things emphasized. Notonagoro emphasizes human nature as monopluralis, while Drijarkara as persona. As monopluralis, a good human is one who has pious character, while as persona, human perfection is achieved through his relationship with others in love. This difference has implications in developing the philosophy of Pancasila. Notonagoro sees human nature that can be understood in the nature of the precepts of Pancasila, while Drijarkara sees Pancasila as the actualization of an existential human actualization.

Mukaddime de İnsan Doğası ve Bilimsel Tarihin İmkanı

Philosophers' understanding of human nature constitutes a field of study that is particularly popular for Western thinkers. However, it appears that the Muqaddimah has not been conducted a punctual research in terms of the understanding of human nature it contains. However, in order to understand the facts and phenomena of the historical-social life presented by Muqaddimah, there is a special place in the conception of the nafs that plays a central role in the tradition of Islamic sciences and philosophy that the philosopher has imposed on. The argument that this article defends is that the break in the ilmu'n-nafs paradigm created by Ibn Khaldun is a basis for the scientific history and theory of society proposed in Muqaddimah. In this context, the article first mentions the references received in Muqaddimah by the concepts of nafs, fitrats, etc., which point to human nature, and then the evaluation of these citations in terms of ibn Khaldun's basic thesis. Thus the contentless quality of human nature will be revealed in the philosophical system of Ibn Khaldun.

Making Registered Charitable Status of Religious Organizations Subject to 'Charter Values'

The Supreme Court of Canada has held that government actors must ensure that their decision making process considers ‘Charter values.’ This has led to a growing opinion, within the legal community, that Canada Revenue Agency’s decisions on the registered charitable status of religious organizations ought to ensure such charities are compliant (in belief and action) with ‘Charter values’ such as equality and ‘reproductive rights’. In some circles, ‘Charter values’ are seen as a necessary part of the evolving definition of ‘public benefit.’ This chapter will explore that perspective in the context of current law and liberal democratic philosophy. It will argue that fundamental human life issues (FHLI) such as equality of all, definition of marriage and the value of human life, have been the subject of religious thought and teaching for millennia, and such beliefs have inspired the legal, political and philosophical traditions of liberal democracies. FHLI are part and parcel of the religious enterprise that seeks to understand what it means to be human. Denying public benefit recognition to charities that advance religion merely because they have unpopular beliefs or practices will not only have a negative effect on civic engagement, it will also have a negative philosophical impact on our traditional and scientific understanding of human nature. Liberal democracy demands that the state recognize it has no role in denying the complexity of religious identity’s framing of fundamental human life issues upon which reasonable people may disagree.