Church, Space and Conflict: Religious Co-Existence and Political Communication in Seventeenth-Century Switzerland

This article sets out to explore how a local quarrel in theGrafschaft of Baden, a bi-confessional Swiss county, occasionedby efforts to install a separate font for Protestant parishioners,activated larger constitutional and confessional tensions betweenthe Catholic and Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederation.The article reconstructs the lengthy political negotiationscaused by the rearrangement of church space since the Landfriedenof 1531: this treaty had enshrined bi-confessionalism in theSwiss Confederation and had established the duties and rightsof both confessions, although to the disadvantage of the ReformedProtestants. It had also transformed the consecrated space ofthe church into a stage for political action by the cantons.From 1531 onwards, changes in religious belief and observancewere subject to the will of the supreme governing authority.The article shows that local conflicts over the arrangementand furnishing of certain church spaces can give us fascinatinginsights into political practice, the establishment of socialorder and the handling of denominational differences withinthe Swiss Confederation. It attempts to contribute to our understandingof early modern political history by using concepts from culturalhistory and communication theory in which politics is closelylinked to social and confessional processes generating meaningand order.     

The I.H.S. Monogram as a Symbol of Catholic Resistance in Seventeenth-Century Ireland

It has been suggested that the presence of religious images and scenes in secular buildings of sixteenth-century date can be viewed as an expression of resistance by the native Irish to English colonial activity in the aftermath of the Munster Plantation (J. A. Delle, 1999, International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3: 11–35). Such images, however, may merely represent a continuation into the early modern period of a Medieval tradition of adorning secular houses with devotional images. If a religious symbol of native Catholic resistance to English colonization and Protestantism in Munster is to be sought then perhaps a more appropriate image would be the I.H.S. monogram—a symbol associated with the Counter Reformation and the Jesuits. The paper presents an example of the monogram located within a tower house at Gortnetubbrid in County Limerick, Ireland.     

Internationalization and Patterns of Political Change in Ireland

The forces of internationalization have been central to the Republic of Ireland's dramatic transformation during the past four decades. The political, social, and economic changes brought about by membership in the European Union (EU) have been especially significant. Ireland has been described s a "Celtic Tiger" whose stellar economic growth rate during the past decade has given it one of the highest per capita GDP levels in the EU. Much of this success has resulted from imaginative and dynamic programs developed b y Irish political and administrative leaders. Ireland's good working relationship with the United Kingdom has enabled the two governments to achieve significant progress in the search for peace in Northern Ireland, whatever setbacks may occur during the long term evolution of this process.     

Razi on Reason and Political Authority: A Study in Medieval Persian Political Thought

The Philosopher of Rey, Mohammad-e Zakariya-ye Razi and his Ismaili adversaries, Abu Hatam-e Razi and Naser-e Khosrow, share a political understanding of religion according to which religion is a theologico-political system of domination. However, they are at odds over the political philosophy appraisal of religion qua a system of authority. The paper explicates the latter disagreement in part based on Razi's and his opponents' conflicting ideas about the nature of the faculty of Reason and its distribution among men. Consequently, the paper underlines a democratic implication of Razi's thesis on the makeup of the human intellect.     

断裂的世界——庄子政治思想研究

政治思想是庄子思想的有机组成部分.庄子在个体生存领域与政治、社会领域之间划开界限,从根本上否定政治领域的存在价值,而追寻生命的自在与生长,这在先秦思想中独具特色.对庄子政治思想加以引申,可以得到一些有益的思想启迪.     

John Anderson's Political Thought Revisited

The political thought of Australia's most political philosopher has yet to receive the broad attention it deserves. John Anderson is known either as the controversial freethinking corrupter of Sydney's youth or as the conservative anti-communist and defender of academic privilege. Less understood is Anderson as the consistent defender of ways of life and traditions as the bearers of critical enquiry and practice. Anderson's political philosophy needs to be understood in the context of a broader political tradition which maintained the moral value of productive activities. His enduring commitment to political and historical themes in the work of the French revolutionary socialist Georges Sorel is the key to understanding this aspect of Anderson's thought. Sorel's influence is widely acknowledged but its significance contested among Anderson's students. Yet a proper appreciation of Sorel's influence provides a coherent and rewarding perspective on Anderson's political thought.     

The Political Thought of David Walsh: A Symposium

Abstract

David Walsh has published a trilogy of books on the ideological, political, and philosophical trajectories of modernity. He confronts the crisis of modernity and argues that modernity has the resources within itself to reestablish a collective commitment to the order of existence. This symposium offers four essays reflecting on and responding to Walsh's assessment of modernity and its prospects.