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Towards a Genealogy of Professional Ethics
The figure of the “professional” looms large in our contemporary society as an ideal for economic activity and socio-political inclusion, and even as a model for individual self-development. But how and when did this figure arise? And what has led professional activity to become such an essential part of our personal, social, moral, economic, and political life? While Max Weber and others have famously addressed these questions, this book reveals a more nuanced history of the concept of “profession” and “professional duty,” and offers the first comprehensive study of the discourse of professional ethics from a historical perspective. Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom provide most of the rich corpus of philosophical, juridical, and theological sources discussed throughout the book in its longue durée journey from Ancient Rome to the present.
Mystery of the Eucharistic Presence
Editor / Translator:
In his last monumental organ piece, “Livre du Saint Sacrement,” the French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908–92) approaches the mystery of the eucharistic presence, using all elements of his extraordinary compositional language: Gregorian chants, birdsongs, Greek and Hindu rhythms, serialism, and sound-colors. In this book, the "Livre du Saint Sacrement," which premiered in 1986, is fully analyzed and theologically interpreted for the first time. The influence of the eucharistic hymns of Thomas Aquinas, among other sources, on the work’s conception and the composer’s theology is explored, and the author points out the ways in which Messiaen’s musico-theological dedication to the Eucharist can inspire actual theology. The original dissertation that was the basis for this book received the Award of Excellence from the Austrian Ministry for Science, Research, and Economy, as well as the Roland-Atefie-Prize from the Austrian Academy of Sciences. For the first time, the book is now available in English translation.
Confessionalization – Enlightenment – Pluralization
Christianity did not reach the modern age by straight paths, but by crooked ones: For two centuries after the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants fought over the truth of their religion. They waged merciless wars and concluded fragile peace treaties. They invested in education and culture. They professionalized clerics and civil servants and tried harder than ever to shape the everyday lives of ordinary people in the villages and towns. They persecuted witches and learned to control the fear of magic.
The Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars created completely new conditions for making Christianity plausible for the modern era.
The book describes the enormous efforts under which Catholic and Protestant men and women faced the upheavals between the Reformation and the Revolution. Many of these efforts were similar. But their respective ‘religious knowledge’ developed significantly different.
The Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars created completely new conditions for making Christianity plausible for the modern era.
The book describes the enormous efforts under which Catholic and Protestant men and women faced the upheavals between the Reformation and the Revolution. Many of these efforts were similar. But their respective ‘religious knowledge’ developed significantly different.
Outlines and Challenges for Catholic Theology Today. Documentation of the INSeCT Conferences in Manila 2019 and Vienna 2020
This volume documents two international conferences held as part of the global theological research program „A Kairos for Catholic Theology: Serving the Church – Serving the World“ of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology (INSeCT). The 2019 intercontinental conference in Manila was dedicated to European-Asian dialogue and gathered contributions on peace, justice, democracy and political culture, ecology, family and gender justice. The 2020 European Conference in Vienna was dedicated to the contribution of multicultural and multi-religious experienced Europe to the solution of the current global challenges in church and society.
This issue takes an inclusive approach to the multidimensional topic of Mediterranean movement, as the themes to be discussed include migration, trade, travelling objects, knowledge exchange, and dissemination of books. The case studies demonstrate the impact of movement on the processes of identity building, whether social, cultural, or religious. Apart from textual sources, the articles included in this issue explore the movement of objects that are characterised by temporal continuity, embodying a prior existence with lingering effects. As objects transform through time and space, so do the values and functions attributed to them. The process of mapping out itineraries of value in the realm of the material allows us to grasp the nature of a given social formation through the shape and meaning taken on by them. It also provides insights into the nature of dynamic synergy between the world of material objects and the realm of beliefs, knowledge, and identities.
Art, Material Culture, and British-Russian Relations
Volume Editor:
“Courtly Gifts and Cultural Diplomacy” explores the history of British-Russian state relations from the perspective of art and material culture. This richly illustrated book presents manifold practices of courtly gift-giving and vivid case studies of British-Russian artistic diplomacy over the centuries. It traces a visual and material history of cross-cultural dialogue that starts with an early English map of Russia made in the 16th century and ends with gifts of Fabergé art objects and domestic photographs exchanged between the British royal family and the family of Tsar Nicholas II in late Imperial Russia. Twelve expert authors from academia, the arts, and the museum sectors in Britain, Russia, Australia, and the United States present new narratives and critical interpretations based on material from previously unexplored archives. Their diverse approaches reveal the importance of artistic diplomacy and the agency of gifts of art and material culture in courtly and state relations.
Volume Editor:
This collection of essays presents various aspects of a group of participants in the Thirty Years War which hitherto received only cursory attention in international research context: the princes of Transylvania. Experts of the specific fields present up-to-date summaries as well as fresh results on questions of military history, diplomatic contacts, war finances, media history and discourses in political communication related to the activities of Gábor Bethlen and György Rákóczi I. Special attention is dedicated to the peculiar characteristic of the Transylvanian involvement in the great European conflict – the Ottoman threat, which derived from the fact that the principality was one of the sultan’s Christian tributaries.
The Polish-Ukrainian Conflict 1943–1947
Series:
FOKUS, Volume: 6
This is the first book available in English to comprehensively address the complicated subject of Polish-Ukrainian relations during and immediately after World War II. Polish-Ukrainian relations in the twentieth century are a topic that invariably engages historians, politicians, and public opinion in Poland and Ukraine. Many valuable works have been written on the subject, but many are distorting historical truth and collective memories, sometimes making today’s mutual relations problematic. Grzegorz Motyka’s book is a careful account of the most difficult period in Polish-Ukrainian relations, beginning in 1943 with the start of the Volhynian massacre and ending with the “Vistula” action in 1947. By discussing episodes of common history in an accessible manner, Professor Motyka presents an impartial picture of Polish-Ukrainian relations, devoid of national martyrology. In extremely difficult times, it builds a bridge for mutual understanding across historical divides.
The Origins of the Notion in Gregory of Nyssa and its Influence unto the Italian Renaissance
This book explores the invention, significance and actual history of self-creative freedom from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance.
Gregory of Nyssa, the great Cappadocian Father of the IV century, is not as yet deemed one of the outstanding figures in our Histories of Philosophy. However, this monograph argues that his remarkable theories of freedom transcend his own time and, traversing centuries of Medieval and Byzantine history, they become one of the core theoretical inspirations for the anthropological revolution of the Quattrocento, as evinced in eminent philosophers such as Nicholas of Cusa and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Our research methodology integrates a thorough study of the Greek and Latin sources ‒ resorting to Philology, Palaeography and Codicology ‒ with a systematic historical and philosophical analysis of different theories and argumentative strategies.
Gregory of Nyssa, the great Cappadocian Father of the IV century, is not as yet deemed one of the outstanding figures in our Histories of Philosophy. However, this monograph argues that his remarkable theories of freedom transcend his own time and, traversing centuries of Medieval and Byzantine history, they become one of the core theoretical inspirations for the anthropological revolution of the Quattrocento, as evinced in eminent philosophers such as Nicholas of Cusa and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Our research methodology integrates a thorough study of the Greek and Latin sources ‒ resorting to Philology, Palaeography and Codicology ‒ with a systematic historical and philosophical analysis of different theories and argumentative strategies.
The articles in the book show that today’s Orthodox theology is constructively relating to modernity in politics, society and culture.
In 20 articles very prominent Orthodox theologians and experts on Orthodox theology and Orthodox Christianity from academic fields like sociology of religion or political studies are discussing, in what sense politics, society and culture are considered in Orthodox Theology in a global horizon. Contributors are Alfons Brüning, Ina Merdjanova, Nathaniel Wood, Cyril Hovorun, Dimitrios Moschos, Lucien Turcescu, K. M. George (Kondortha), Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Branko Sekulić, Georgios Vlantis, Nikolaos Asproulis, Atanas Slavov, Sveto Riboloff, Haralambos Ventis, Ioannis Kaminis, Irena Pavlović, Athanasios N. Papathanasiou, Chris Durante, Kateřina Kočandrle Bauer, Vasilios N. Makrides.
In 20 articles very prominent Orthodox theologians and experts on Orthodox theology and Orthodox Christianity from academic fields like sociology of religion or political studies are discussing, in what sense politics, society and culture are considered in Orthodox Theology in a global horizon. Contributors are Alfons Brüning, Ina Merdjanova, Nathaniel Wood, Cyril Hovorun, Dimitrios Moschos, Lucien Turcescu, K. M. George (Kondortha), Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Branko Sekulić, Georgios Vlantis, Nikolaos Asproulis, Atanas Slavov, Sveto Riboloff, Haralambos Ventis, Ioannis Kaminis, Irena Pavlović, Athanasios N. Papathanasiou, Chris Durante, Kateřina Kočandrle Bauer, Vasilios N. Makrides.