This article concludes with the following observations. First, there is a demonstrable shift from monarchical government to democratic governance in the Church as a product of the evolution of ecclesial polity. But it must be acknowledged the secular polity is incompatible with divinely inspired government as is most evident from a…[Read more]

The theory of language that underlies Plotinus’ Enneads is considered in relation to his
broader metaphysical vision. For Plotinus, language is neither univocal nor equivocal,
but is something in-between, incapable of precisely describing reality, but nonetheless
not completely useless. Propositional knowledge expressed discursively r…[Read more]

My intention in this brief monograph is to stimulate a re-assessment of laïcité by philosophers and theologians, particularly within the Anglophone academic world. Often the term is understood by Anglophones not quite as accurately as its French advocates intend. The translated texts are copied from the official French Government website, as i…[Read more]

Laïcité: Some Catholic readers may be familiar with Giuseppe Alberigo’s understanding of the term as outlined in “Facteurs de laïcité au Concile Vatican II” in Revue des Sciences Religieuses, tome 74, fas. 2, 2000, in which he writes in a footnote: “Ce mot est utilisé dans le sens du processus de ‘déclericalisation’ à l’interieur de l’É…[Read more]

English abstract: ‘Verses of Love’, an Islamic film on the extended couple, features a melodramatic plot in which love triumphs after many difficulties, and the virtuous protagonists Fahri and Aisha are happy in their marriage, having shown the value of their Islamic faith amidst the trials of life—accepting these with sumbission, which is the s…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Comentarios sobre la guerra desde un punto de vista etológico y evolucionista, sugeridos por el libro de Javier Falgueras ‘Somos Hijos de la Guerra’. _________________________________________________________________________________ English abstract: Disquisitions on war from an ethological and evolutionary perspective, suggested…[Read more]

This essay explores Maimonides’ explanation of the Bible’s rationale behind the ritual sacrifices, namely to help wean the Jews away from idolatrous rites. After clearly elucidating Maimonides’ stance on the topic, this essay examines his view from different angles with various possible precedents in earlier rabbinic literature for such an under…[Read more]

A bibliographical listing, including audio, video, etc., from the perspective of critical and cultural studies, on the 2020-2021 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic scare (Coronavirus, COVID-19). From ‘A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology’, 2021.

Spanish abstract: Los paleantropólogos de Atapuerca van descubriendo más datos sobre la alimentación de los Homo heidelbergensis y Homo antecessor que habitaron la Península Ibérica antes del Homo sapiens y de los neandertales. Aquí reflexionamos sobre el componente de canibalismo en la dieta de estos y otros humanos primitivos… así como de alg…[Read more]

Spanish Abstract: Proponemos, en contraposición a la noción de ideología corriente en la crítica cultural y ejemplificada aquí por el libro de Teun A. van Dijk “Ideología: Un enfoque multidisciplinario” (Gedisa, 1999), una noción de ideología más interaccional, más dialógica y más unida a las situaciones efectivas en las que la ideología s…[Read more]

This book is a compendium of book reviews reflecting my “Creed of Life.” The fact is that my Creed of Life has been fashioned through these authors, as well as others not mentioned here, whose works were personally important to me and significant to my intellectual development. This list is continually being lengthened as authors, living or dea…[Read more]

In this book I contemplate the possibility of posthuman philosophy within the religious and theological schools of thought. In doing this, I do not focus on the traditional philosophical humanism which characterizes the scholastic and neo-scholastic approach within Western philosophy. Rather, I focus on a dehellenized philosophical way of thinking…[Read more]

Es una desdicha vivir en el único país del mundo en el que el Virus ataca al paseante solitario en mitad de sus ensoñaciones campestres… Cuando el espacio público está ocupado por necios y regentado por pillos, el sarcasmo y la sátira son la respuesta más adecuada. Todo para enfatizar una cuestión muy simple que se ha perdido de vista: EL DERE…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Un comentario sobre la gestión de la opinión pública durante las protestas del 15-M en 2011. La choza los “Indignados” en la Puerta del Sol se promueve en los medios como el ombligo simbólico del país. Enfatizamos la importancia simbólica de los centros en el condicionamiento de la opinión pública. Aquí tenemos, pues, un monument…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Artículo sobre algunas implicaciones ideológicas de la película ‘Never Let Me Go’ (Mark Romanek, 2010), basada en la novela de Kazuo Ishiguro. Ofrece un retrato de la sociedad como un sistema educativo manipulador, que mantiene a los niños ignorantes de las cosas más importantes que se pueden saber sobre el poder y la expl…[Read more]

Spanish abstract: Una reflexión sobre la representación de la resistencia, la resiliencia, y las tácticas totalitarias para domeñar a los disidentes, tal y como se representan en la película polaca ‘El interrogatorio’ (‘Przesluchanie’, dir. Ryszard Bugajski, 1989). La construcción inconsistente de la personalidad de la heroína testifica las dificu…[Read more]

Was Swift correct that “reasoning will never make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired” (Letter to a Young Gentleman)? If so, what recourse is there to change attitudes especially among those who continue to fervently believe unjustified claims and act upon them in a way that affects other people? I will answer the…[Read more]

According to Manuel Davenport, “The best humorists–Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, and Mort Sahl–share [a] mixture of detachment and desire, eagerness to believe, and irreverence concerning the possibility of certainty. And when they become serious about their convictions–as Twain did about colonialism…they cease to be humorous”. I agree…[Read more]

The discovery of mirror neurons in both primates and humans has led to an enormous amount of research and speculation as to how conscious beings are able to interact so effortlessly among one another. Mirror neurons might provide an embodied basis for passive synthesis and the eventual process of further communalization through empathy, as…[Read more]

The majority of philosophers of religion, at least since Plantinga’s reply to Mackie’s logical problem of evil, agree that it is logically possible for an omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent God to exist who permits some of the evils we see in the actual world. This is conceivable essentially because of the possible world known as heaven.…[Read more]