Berlinian Pluralism and Abrahamic Monotheism

This article examines the longstanding suspicion that value-pluralism is intrinsically incompatible with monotheistic commitment, an objection that threatens to undermine the resurgence of pluralist ideas in different denominational strands of contemporary Christian political theology. Since value-pluralism is often taken to be closely wedded to the logic of political liberalism, the charge of incompatibility carries a special force. For, taken together, the two claims imply that monotheistic commitment sits uneasily alongside political liberalism. Having set out the version of value-pluralism expounded in the thought of its most influential contemporary advocate, the article raises three objections to the doctrine. It then examines ways to refine it before concluding that there is no reason to suppose that, so refined, it is intrinsically incompatible with monotheistic commitment.     

Historical archæology of Philadelphia

Historical Archaeology -     

Ground-penetrating radar survey at the pyramid complex of Senwosret III at Dahshur,Egypt, 2008: search for the lost boat of a Pharaoh

A survey at Dahshur, Egypt, employed 3-D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in an attempt to locate pharaonic boat burials at the pyramid complex of King Senwosret III. In AD 1894, the original excavator reported finding five or six boats; however, only four “Dahshur boats” are known in museum collections today. The suspected site of the lost boat burial(s) lay beneath the large 1894 excavation backfill pile. The steep topography of the backfill required nonstandard GPR processing methods to accurately image the subsurface of the site. Although revealing no definitive traces of any remaining boats, imaging results did indicate discernible strata associated with the original naturally deposited surface, an excavated boat pit, debris and fill associated with either its original creation or its excavation, and deeper, presently unidentified archaeological remains.