Dialogo 5.1: The Annual International Virtual Conference on the Dialogue between Science & Theology

Journal of the Dialogue between Science and Theology

DIA LOGO Volume 5 - Issue 1 - November 2018

www.dialogo-conf.com

Edited by Cosmin Tudor Ciocan

DIALOGO Journal with biannual volumes on regard to the Dialogue between Science and Theology

Dialogo Journal is the intellectual property of RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology), Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

DIALOGO Journal has articles indexed and abstracting in the following international Databases:

and subject for evaluation and rating in other Databases

DIALOGO 2018 volume 5 - issue 1: The 5th Annual Meeting of Scholars for the Dialogue between Science and Theology

Organized by the RCDST - Romania in collaboration with other Institutions from Slovakia - Pakistan - Switzerland - Poland India - Egypt - Uganda - Jordan - Turkey Argentina - USA - Canada - Germany November 2018

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this volume do not necessarily represent those of the Dialogo Organizers and are attributable only to the authors of the papers.

Publication Series: Description: ISSN (CD-ROM): ISSN (ONLINE): ISSN (PRINT): ISSN-L: Editors:

DIALOGO (Multidisciplinary Journal for the Dialogue between Science and Theology) 2392 – 9928 2393 – 1744 2457 – 9297 2392 – 9928 Fr. lecturer Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN, Ph.D. (Romania) - In-Chief - and Ing. Stefan BADURA, Ph.D. (Slovak Republic)

Series Publisher: RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology) of

the “Ovidius” University of Constanta. Romania Volume5, Issue 1 Title: The 5th Annual Meeting of Scholars for the Dialogue between Science and Theology subtitle: DOI: Published by: (DOI issuer) Pages: Printed on: Publishing date:

DIALOGO 2018 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1 EDIS - Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina Univerzitna 1, 01026 Zilina - Slovak Republic 236 100 copies 2018, November 30

Note on the issue: This is the volume of our general topic, with articles gathered until November 2018 on 14 sections of research.

*All published papers underwent blind peer review. *All published papers are in English language only. Each paper was assigned to 3 reviewers and went through two-level approval process. * The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of RCDST. Authors only hold responsability over their papers and content.

Open Access Online archive is available at: http://www.dialogo-conf.com/archive (articles will be available online one month after the publication releases).

In case of any questions, notes or complaints, please contact us at: info(at)dialogo-conf.com.

Warning: Copyright © 2014, RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology), Romania.

All rights reserved. Reproduction or publication of this material, even partial, is allowed only with the editor’s permission. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.

Dialogo by RCDST is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License This is in an Open Access journal by which all articles are available on the internet to all users upon publication.

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Conference Sponsors and Parteners

Ovidius University of Constanta (UOC/Romania) www.univ-ovidius.ro

University of the Punjab (Lahore) www.pu.edu.pk

The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (UAIC/Romania) www.uaic.ro

“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad (UVVG/Romania) www.uvvg.ro/

The Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Tech- Horizon Research Publishing, HRPUB - USA nology (ISCAST/Australia) http://www.hrpub.org/ www.iscast.org

Research and Science Today www.lsucb.ro/rst

Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology www.rcdst.ro

www.The-Science.com (Slovakia)

Maritime University of Constanta “Mircea cel Batran” Naval (UMC/Romania) Academy (ANMB/Romania) www.cmu-edu.eu www.anmb.ro

Global Ethics (Geneva/Switzerland) www.globethics.net

Faculty of Educational Sciences (WNP) Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland www.pedagogika.umk.pl doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1

Action-research in Contemporary Culture and Education – Practice & Theory (ACCEPT/Poland) www.accept.umk.pl - 7-

Centre for Research and social, psychological and pedagogical evaluation (CCEPPS/Romania) ccepps.univ-ovidius.ro

Open Access Theology Journal www.mdpi.com/ journal/religions

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Conference Sponsors and Parteners

Faculty of Theology (UOC), Romania teologie.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Orthodox Theology (UAIC), Romania www.teologie.uaic.ro

Faculty of Theology (UAB), Romania www.fto.ro

Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education (UAIC), Romania www.psih.uaic.ro

Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (UOC), Romania fcetp.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Medicine (UOC), Romania www.medcon.ro

Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education (UOC), Romania pse.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (UAIC), Romania snsa.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Law (UOC), Romania drept.univ-ovidius.ro

Christian Theological Institute after the Timotheus Gospel, Romania http://timotheus.ro/

Centre of Inter - Religious Research and Christian Psychopedagogy Alba Iulia - Saint Serge (CCIRPC)

Volume published by

EDIS Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina Univerzitna 1 01026 Zilina Slovak Republic

RCDST Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Romania

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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Christoph STUECKELBERGER Globethics.net Executive Director and Founder; Prof. PhD. (Switzerland)

Ahmed KYEYUNE Islamic University in Uganda

Maria Isabel Maldonado GARCIA Directorate External Linkages/Institute of Language University of the Punjab; Head of Spanish Dpt. / Assistant Professor (Pakistan)

Ahmed USMAN University of the Punjab (Pakistan)

Filip NALASKOWSKI

Mihai Valentin VLADIMIRESCU Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Craiova; Professor PhD. (Romania)

Faculty of Educational Sciences - Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun; Dr. (Poland)

Mohammad Ayaz AHMAD University of Tabuk; Assistant Professor PhD (Saudi Arabia)

Lucian TURCESCU Department of Theological Studies - Concordia University; Professor and Chair (Canada)

IPS Teodosie PETRESCU Archbichop of Tomis disctrict; Faculty of Orthodox Theology; “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof.

PhD. (Romania)

Francesco FIORENTINO Dipartimento di Filosofia, Letteratura e Scienze Sociali; Universita degli Studi di Bari «Aldo Moro»; Researcher in Storia della Filosofia (Italy)

Edward Ioan MUNTEAN Faculty of Food Sciences and Technology - University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj–Napoca; Assoc. Professor PhD. (Romania)

Dagna DEJNA NCU Faculty of Educational Sciences (Poland)

Altaf QADIR University of Peshawar (Pakistan)

Panagiotis STEFANIDES Emeritus Honoured Member of the Technical Chamber of Greece HELLENIC AEROSPACE IND. S.A. - Lead engineer; MSc Eur Ing (Greece)

Eugenia Simona ANTOFI “Dunarea de Jos” University (Romania)

Wade Clark ROOF J.F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society; Emeritus and Research Professor Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life; Director Department of Religious Studies - University of California at Santa Barbara (United States of America) Cristiana OPREA European Physical Society; member Joint Institute for Nuclear Research - Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics; Scientific Project Leader (Russia) Gheorghe ISTODOR Faculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof.

PhD. (Romania) Nasili VAKA’UTA Trinity Methodist Theological College University of Auckland; Ranston Lecturer PhD. (New Zealand)

D. Liqaa RAFFEE Jordan University of Science and Technology (Jordan) George ENACHE Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology „Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati; Associate professor PhD. (Romania) Ahed Jumah Mahmoud AL-KHATIB Faculty of Medicine - Department of Neuroscience University of Science and Technology; Researcher PhD (Jordan) Ioan-Gheorghe ROTARU ‘Timotheus’ Brethren Theological Institute of Bucharest (Romania) Akhtar Hussain SANDHU Department of History, University of the Punjab; Associate professor PhD. (Pakistan) Richard WOESLER European University press, PhD. (Germany)

Dilshad MAHABBAT University of Gujrat (Pakistan) Adrian NICULCEA Faculty of Orthodox Theology, “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof.

PhD. (Romania) Tarnue Marwolo BONGOLEE Hope for the Future; Executive Director (Liberia)

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Coli NDZABANDZABA Rhodes University (South Africa)

Riffat MUNAWAR University of the Punjab; Dr. PhD. (Pakistan) Hassan IMAM Aligarh University, PhD. (India) Ioan G. POP Emanuel University of Oradea; PhD. (Romania) Farzana BALOCH University of Sindh Associate professor PhD. (Pakistan)

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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Petru BORDEI Faculty of Medicine - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Khalil AHMAD University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Fouzia SALEEM University of the Punjab, Dr. PhD. (Pakistan)

Maciej LASKOWSKI Politechnika Lubelska; Prof. PhD. (Poland)

Mihai CIUREA University of Craiova, PhD. (Romania)

Muhammad HAFEEZ University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Mohammad Ayaz Ahmad University of Tabuk, Assistant Professor PhD. (Saudi Arabia)

Muhammad Shahid HABIB International Islamic University; Lecturer Ph.D. (Pakistan)

Mirosaw ZIENTARSKI Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru, PhD. (Poland)

Muhammad Zakria ZAKAR University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Manisha MATHUR G.N.Khalsa College; University of Mumbai; Assistant Professor (India)

R S Ajin GeoVin Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; PhD. (India)

Pratibha GRAMANN Saybrook University of San Francisco, California (United States of America)

Mustfeez Ahmad ALVI Lahore Leads University; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Adrian GOREA Concordia University, Montreal (Canada)

Radu NICULESCU Ovidius University of Constanta; Assist.prof. PhD. (Romania)

Richard Alan MILLER

Navy Intel (Seal Corp. and then MRU); Dr. in Alternative Agriculture, Physics, and Metaphysics (United States of America)

Fermin De La FUENTE-CALVO De La Fuente Consulting (Corporative Intelligence) B.Sc. Physics and Professor PhD. (United States of America)

Maria CIOCAN “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy; teacher PhD. (Romania)

Kelli COLEMAN MOORE University of California at Santa Barbara (United States of America) Osman Murat DENIZ Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi; Associate Professor PhD. (Turkey) Daniel MUNTEANU The International Journal of Orthodox Theology (Canada) Dragos HUTULEAC Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava; Assistant Lecturer, PhD candidate (Romania) Shiva KHALILI Faculty of psychology and education - Tehran University; Associate Professor PhD. (Iran) Mihai HIMCINSKI Faculty of Orthodox Theology - „1 December 1918” University of Alba Iulia; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Richard Willem GIJSBERS The Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology - ISCAST (Australia) Flavius Cristian MARCAU Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu; Phd. Candidate (Romania)

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Stanley KRIPPNER Association for Humanistic Psychology, the Parapsychological Association; President; Prof. PhD. (United States of America)

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Sorin Gabriel ANTON Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; PhD. (Romania) Sultan MUBARIZ University of Gujrat; PhD. (Pakistan) Gheorghe PETRARU Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Iasi; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Rania Ahmed Abd El-Wahab Mohamed Plant Protection Research Institute; PhD. (Egypt) Rubeena ZAKAR University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan) Mihai GIRTU The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST); President Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST); Executive Director Faculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Lecturer PhD. (Romania)

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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Mihaela RUS “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Professor PhD. (Romania) Sónia MORGADO Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna, (ISCPSI); Aux. Prof., PhD (Portugal)

Muhammad Shahzad Aslam Universiti Malaysia Perlis; Assistant Professor PhD (Pakistan) Musferah MEHFOOZ Islamic Studies, Humanities Department; Assistant Professor PhD (Pakistan)

Jean FIRICA

University of Craiova; Assoc. Professor PhD. (Romania) Ahmed ASHFAQ Assistant Professor PhD (Saudi Arabia) Shoaib Ahmad SIDDIQI Faculty of Biological Sciences, Lahore Garrison University; Assistant Professor PhD (Pakistan) Rehman ATAUR

Stefan Gregore CIORNEI University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine; Assistant Professor PhD (Romania) Ahmed Kadhim HUSSEIN Babylon University, College of Engineering; Assist.Prof.Dr.Eng. (Iraq) Muhammad SARFRAZ Kuwait University, Department of Information Science, College of Computing; Professor and V. Dean of Research & Graduate Studies (Kuwait)

Lahore Garrison University; Senior Lecturer PhD. (Pakistan) Kuang-ming Wu

Abbasali BARATI Al-mustafa International university in Qom; Professor PhD (Iran)

Yale University Divinity School; Senior Lecturer PhD. (Pakistan) Nursabah SARIKAVAKLI “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Professor PhD. (Turkey) Laurentiu-Dan MILICI “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava; Professor PhD. (Romania) Emad Al-Janabi “Al-Mussaib” Technical College; Asist. Prof. Dr. (Iraq) Sugiarto TEGUH Budi luhur and AAJ Jayabaya; Lecturer PhD. (Indonesia)

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Mahesh Man SHRESTHA International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management (INPIM); Lecturer PhD. (Nepal)

Amando P. SINGUN Higher College of Technology, Muscat; Lecturer PhD (Oman)

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Organizing Committee Cosmin Tudor CIOCAN - SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME OFFICER RCDST Executive Director and Founder; Lect. ThD. Faculty of orthodox theology, Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania) Mihai GIRTU RCDST President and Founder; Professor PhD. Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)

RESPONSIBLES FOR SESSION 1. ART and LITERATURE Mihai Valentin VLADIMIRESCU - University of Craiova; Prof., PhD (Romania) Radu NICULESCU - Ovidius University of Constanta; Assist. Prof., PhD (Romania)

RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 2. EARTH SCIENCES, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT Cristiana OPREA - Dzelepov Laboratory for Nuclear Problems (DLPN) - JINR Dubna, Professor PhD (Russia)

RESPONSIBLES FOR SESSION 3. SOCIAL SCIENCES, CULTURE, LIFESTYLE CHOICES Maria Isabel MALDONADO GARCIA - University of the Punjab; Assist. Prof., PhD (Pakistan) Miguel ALGRANTI, PHD (ARGENTINA) - Instituto Universitario Nacional del Arte, Universidad Favaloro; Lecturer PhD (Argentina)

RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 4. LAW AND POLITICAL SCIENCE Mihaela RUS - Faculty of Law, Ovidius University of Constanta; Assoc. Prof . PhD. (Romania) RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 5. PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Osman Murat DENIZ - Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi - lahiyat Fakültesi; Assoc. Prof . PhD. (Turkey) RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 6. LIFE SCIENCES Ahed Jumah Mahmoud AL-KHATIB - University of Science and Technology - Department of Neuroscience; Dr. (Jordan)

RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 8. METAPHYSICS AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCES Muhammad Shahid Habib - Lahore Garrison University, Prof . PhD. (Pakistan) Bruno MARCHAL - IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Prof . PhD. (Belgium)

RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 9. MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, ECONOMICS AND TOURISM Sónia MORGADO - Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna (ISCPSI), Prof . PhD. (Portugal)

RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 10. BIOETHICS Christoph STUECKELBERGER - University of Basel ; Founder and Executive Director of Globethics.net, Geneva ; Professor PhD. (Switzerland) RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 11. ASTRONOMY, ASTRO-PHYSICS Valeriu Gheorge CIMPOCA - “Valahia” University of Targoviste; Professor PhD. (Switzerland) RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 12. HISTORY, DEMOGRAPHY, ARCHAEOLOGY Akhtar Hussain SANDHU - University of Gujrat; Professor PhD. (Pakistan) RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 13. MATHEMATICS, TECHNOLOGY, INDUSTRY, NETWORKING Anton LIESKOVSKY - Faculty of Management Science and Informatics, University of Zilina; Ing. PhD. (Slovakia) RESPONSIBLE FOR SESSION 14. GENERAL TOPIC (THEOLOGY) Teodosie PETRESCU - Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta; Professor PhD. (Romania) Stefan BADURA - RESPONSIBLE FOR I.T. Publishing Society of Zilina; Ing. PhD. (Slovakia) doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1

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Welcome Address

INTRODUCTION

This journal is a welcome and long overdue addition to the intellectual resources of the field of communications and multidisciplinary studies. Religion is perhaps the most intrigue and neglected topic in inter-disciplinary communications. Also, it is the most neglected topic in the modern humanities and social sciences, and the reasons are easy to be understood. Religion has overlapped with encyclopedic human knowledge for an extensive period of time, up to the modern age, for it has been actively involved in the development of many branches of human knowledge, as well as in the dissemination of these contents among the masses.

It is notorious that religious figures held human knowledge necessary for our progress and evolution as a species, as well as it is that many scientists privately hold religious beliefs and act consequently in their social activity. Others have had transformative spiritual experiences that lead them beyond science. Still others, like Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002), link the awe of discovering the improbability of creation as it unfolded to “something almost unspeakably holy.” Some theologians have been trained in and have made contributions to science. Many theologians wrestle with how God’s creation is both being transformed by and is coevolving with science and technology. Yet publicly, science and religion have fairly successfully distanced themselves from each other since Galileo and the Inquisition. That is precisely why our Journal’s title is dedicated to Galileo Galilei with a purpose of bridging those two areas of knowledge – Science and Religion – through a nonutopian dialogue of their devoted scholars.

With the modern secularization, it is fashionable to believe that religion is unnecessary because the social bond of modern nations is properly a purely rational one, provided exclusively within an economic framework of consumerism. Still, religion convinced us moreover lately that it has always been a crucial source of social debates, of moral conduct and even for economic and other scientific areas’ development. It brings knowledge as long with positive inquiries within any science and knowledge, forcing each domain to support and define more clearly its interest, knowledge and hypothetical orientation through research and dialogue. It is notorious that theology rises tension in many fields and ideas of scientific domains, usually on moral and ethical ground, as in biology, economics or social sciences. But these are exactly the reasons for us starting this multidisciplinary endeavor, with the primary purpose of bridging all scholars and theologians together in a mutual partnership, and moreover we will enjoy the conversations with your colleagues and set things out to a mutual benefit and interesting outcome.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we welcome you to submit your research, idea or/and doubts to DIALOGO Multidisciplinary JOURNAL, an international endeavor targeting debates, dialogue and international conferences on the Dialogue between Science, Philosophy and Theology, jointly organized by “the Research Centre for Dialogue between Science and Theology” (RCDST) from “Ovidius” University of Constanta (Romania) along

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Welcome Address

with international partners from 31 academic institutions, faculties and research centers within 21 countries, made the conference truly international in scope.

Compared to other competing publications, we have approached this interdisciplinary debates not only from the general topic but under each and separate section grouping areas of research together and place their mutual research under the provocative dialogue with theology. This unique and responsible endeavor of Dialogo is a beneficial interaction was created due to this more specific topic that brought together theologians and scientists to identify and resolve some of the problems that arise in this clash which came about in this conference. In the questionary launched at the end of this conference, many requests we have received from our actual and former attendees and Dialogo visitors to join, at least once per year, a conference will be always held with this virtual formula of a mutual topic for only few fields of research, besides the general presentation that are the core of Dialogo November conferences. Due to the interest in debating on specific issues, we consider useful to engage this dialogue under particular and distinctive aspects of our society and understanding for every second issue we have in Spring.

The success of Dialogo project is due to the joint efforts of so many people.

Therefore we would like to thank you all for considering Dialogo endeavor a trustful and credible forum of academic debates so that we all carry on this dialogue with other domains of human knowledge. We would like to thank all the participants, philosophers, scholars, theologians, and many others, that have presented interesting and useful papers; unfortunately, for several reasons, we could not gather all submitted articles in our volumes, for there are many requirements of Dialogo Journal to demand for raising standards. We also recognize the merits of the Scientific Committee and the Reviewers for their valuable contribution. All accepted papers have been precisely reviewed with a double peer-review process. Furthermore, we are proud to announce that all these concerted efforts are international endorsed and until now Dialogo Journal received recognition in the following well-known Databases. Dialogo Journal is now indexed in The European Reference Index for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (Erih Plus), Social Science Research Network (SSRN), The CiteFactor, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Advanced Science Index (ASI), Index Copernicus, The Philosopher’s Index, Religious and Theological Abstracts (R&TA), Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), The American Theological Library Association (ATLA), EBSCO, SCIPIO (Romania), and the subject for indexing under evaluation in JSTOR, SCImago, Summon by ProQuest, and Cabell’s.

Dear all, we proudly want to announce you that, due to our concerted effort - organizers and submitters - Dialogo Journal has received the indexation from Web of Knowledge, by Thomson Reuters, which has already accepted and indexed some of our articles. A wellreceived improvement was the endorsement of this notorious Databases that indexed our Journal starting with the volume from 2016, as mentioned on the page of indexing, and we are grateful and honored once again for this endorsements. This proves that our endeavor is on the right track and it encourages us to step forward.

My name is Ciocan Tudor Cosmin, Ph.D. in Theology, MB in Psychology, and USA alumni, the CEO of a Research Center with the same direction and guidance as yours – e.g. Research Center on Dialog between Science and Theology (RCDST.ro). DIALOGO enterprise is a

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Welcome Address

considerable community of researchers, scientists & theologians, representing a number of different domains (i.e. philosophy, psychology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, anatomy, genetics, neurology, microbiology and theology) with the only concern to demonstrate through academic means the possibility of a real dialogue between scientific assumptions and theological doctrine and to seek similarities between these two visions. On behalf of our international and multidisciplinary board of researchers We thank you all - team members, partners, participants - for our increasing endorsement, and welcome YOU all to enjoy this accomplishment!

See you again for the DIALOGO 2019 May exciting event and new challenging topic, one about the side-effects and challenges of the Interreligious Dialogue in a World of Conflict and Violence!

your host, lect. Ciocan Tudor Cosmin, PhD Executive Director of The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST) „Ovidius” University Constanța / Romania Editor-in-Chief of Dialogo Journal and Scientific Programme Officer of DIALOGO international conferences E-mail: office(at)dialogo-conf.com

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Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Rosevelt

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t h e Di a l ogue b et ween Sci en c e a n d Th eol ogy

Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Description of the Volume

SECTION 1. Art and Literature & Religion 1. Some of the bases of the perception of the meaning between the Arab Islamic heritage and the modern semantic theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Ghassan I Alshamary

2. “Heart” novel of Edmondo De Amicis in the Albanian language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Manjola Sulaj & Olieta Polo SECTION 3. Social Sciences, Culture, Lifestyle Choices & Religion 3. The influence of the entourage on the couple relationship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Mihaela Luminita Sandu

4. Situational Lies. Developing Liar Behavior in School.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Mihaela Luminita Sandu & Kristine Viorica Ispas

5. Dobrogea – A European Model of Multiethnic Coexistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Iulian Isbășoiu

6. The Influence of Religios Sentiment and Positive Thinking on Life Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Mariana Floricica Călin

7. The Impact of the Image of God in the Concept of the Protestants from Romania upon the Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Annamaria Balla

8. The importance of faith in couple communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Mariana Floricica Călin

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9. Postmodern Developments of Religious Language through Hermeneutics Perspective. . . . . . . . . .97 Daniela Stănciulescu

10. Religious Attitudes Regarding the Suffering in the Outlook of the Protestants from Romania. . 109 Annamaria Balla

SECTION 8. Epistemology, Metaphysics and Communication Sciences & Theology 11. Scientific Hardships in the Approach of the Quantum Phenomena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Cătălin Silviu Nuțu

12. Functional Illiteracy: An Epistemic Quest in Modern and Biblical Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Ovidiu Hanc

13. Meditative practice as a tool in Philosophical counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Vasile Petru Hațegan

SECTION 12. History, Demography, Archaeology & Religion 14. On the Building of the First Stone Church of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery (Romania) and its Architectural Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Nicoleta Stanca & Valentin Ciorbea

15. Romanian Activists from Transylvania in the Period of Austro-Hungarian Dualism . . . . . . . . . 163 Emanuel Oprea

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DIALOGO JOURNAL 5 : 1 (2018) 23 - 32

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

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Some of the bases of the perception of the meaning between the Arab Islamic heritage and the modern semantic theory Ghassan Ibrahim Mohammad Alshamary Taibah University- Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Yanbu-KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 30 August 2018 Received in revised form 2 October Accepted 5 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.1

The research compares our Arabic linguistic heritage with the modern semantic theory today on three major issues: 1) the issue of meaning structure, is it a composite entity composed of elements or a simple entity; and 2) the issue of assignment, does the term refer to an external entity independent of the speaker or an internal entity of his or her perception; and (3) the issue of perceiving the meaning, or the qualities in which the meanings and role that different mental abilities can play in this realization. The research suggests that the answers given by our ancestors agree, in their broad outlines and in terms of general principles, the answers presented by the most prominent contemporary semantic theories.

Keywords: Arabic heritage; semantics; perception; language; logic; meaning;

Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction:

There are perceptions of the ancients, interpreters, fundamentalists and linguists, on issues of close association with the nature of the things in which the semantics take place, and this perception would not have been presented in the manner in which it was presented, except assuming the existence of a conception of the relationship between the word and the meaning under which words can vary for different meanings, and this refers, among other things, to the perception of the occasion between the words and meanings, whereby

words are a function of the situation on the meanings, not on external matters, optional indication can change (Morey, 1992; Buhl and Bosworth, 1993; Patricia, 2010).

Hence the ancient people in the field of the relationship between the word and the meaning and their discussions in the meaning of the word on the meaning and the importance of the word and its impact on the concept of social process (Jonathan, 2003), as well as the importance of the meaning through which the words were formed (Farsi, Harlod, and Glidden, 1975). There is, therefore, a set of origins

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or introductions that define the treatment of the ancients and the traitors to the semantic questions and their direction. This attention can be seen by means of what we will briefly describe from the perception of the applicants and the later of the elements in which the semantics of the meeting takes place, their types (mental, natural and situational), especially (conformity, guarantee and commitment) and then their perception to understand meanings (Young and Rugg, 1992; Engst et al., 2006).

Furthermore, the issue of referring, does the term refer to an external entity independent of the speaker or an internal entity that is related to its perception?

II. Semantic diligence in the Arab

heritage

One of the works that left a clear impression in the semantic research is that of the interpretations of the ancient Arab scholars, commentators, fundamentalists, and linguists, on issues of close association with the nature of the things that take place in the semantics. The linguists who are the owners of the dictionaries were interested in the semantics in the framework of their definition of the meaning of the words (Leder, 2015). The rhetoricians were interested in the issue of truth and metaphor, and the fundamentalists were interested in the issue of semantic in the introductions of the books of the fundamentals of jurisprudence, philosophers and speakers have known the issues rose by Aristotle in the semantics and discussed and added to it (Albirini et al., 2013). These perceptions were not presented in the manner in which they were presented, except on the assumption that there is a conception of the relationship between the word and meaning, whereby words can be different for different meanings, or vice versa. This refers, among other things, to a conception of the occasion between words and meanings, Session 1. Art and Literature & Religion

in which words indicate the meanings, not the external things, a voluntary indication of change (Leibnitz, 1983; Wierzbicka, 1996; Pesina and Solonchak, 2015).

The Arab scholars have understood the value of meaning and the importance of its existence in the minds of human beings.

Hence the ancient people in the field of the relationship between the word and the meaning and their discussions in the meaning of the word on the meaning and the importance of the word and its impact on the concept of social process, as well as the importance of the meaning through which the words were formed (Pesina and Solonchak, 2014). Due to the importance of the meaning in the Arab-Islamic culture, so preoccupied by the critics of the Arabs and Westerners old and recent, has been around the views and different approaches and terminology from one field to another. They tried to identify them in different ways. The maturation of the perception of the ancient Arabs of the meaning was achieved by recognizing the strength of the relationship between the word and the meaning, and drew the meaning of the question and asked it and took control of their thinking; meaning does not stand without the word (Al-Azmeh, 1986; Abdennur, 2008; Al-Omari, 2008).

The concept of meaning has been adopted on the link with the language and its wording or systems, which means the linguistic context in which the word is placed whether the systems are words or written text, and otherwise the meaning is referred to as sporadic references as a stand-alone element in the same person (Grize, 2008).

Al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (1701 AH) pointed out in his dictionary “Al-Ein” to the subject of meaning that it is absolute from the restriction of language, meaning the meaning of everything is its ordeal and the state in which it becomes its state (Sara, 2006). The question of truth, metaphor,

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tandem, contradictions, and common was the major part of their studies because they have a definite effect on the meaning of the word and on the interpretation of the text (Rai, 2009). Metaphoric efforts included searching the issue of word and meaning in terms of the relationship between them, in addition to the search in the word and its bodies and conditions. These efforts have also been extended to include descriptions of meanings and words (Lakoff, 1992). The perception of the ancient Muslim Arabs of the structure of meaning, as reflected in their reference to the meaning of words based on the tri-semantic classification signification to the conformity, guarantee, and commitment, is a metaphor in which the meaning is based on a set of elements that it constitutes. A concept that agrees, in general principle, to the authoritative hypothesis that is advocated today by the most critical semantic theories based on considerations of language acquisition and creative nature (Lappin, 2003; Lasersohn, 2007), emphasizing the words of direct function in the embodiment of meanings; linguists spoke of the Arabs to determine the relationship between the word and the meaning. It is noteworthy that the follower of the Arab heritage finds a great struggle on this issue, through the whereabouts of the miracle, in the word and its composition, meaning and semantic, or both, or the relationship generated between them (Barbara, 1994).

This problem was presented by AlJahiz and Abu Hilal al-Askari who were interested in the word, and Ibn Qutaiba and Qadamah ibn Jaafar who were interested in word and meaning. Another team represented by Ibn al-Atheer and Ibn Rashig who did not separate between the meaning and the word. Another group represented by Abdul Qahir abstracted both of the word and meaning and said the relationship between them (Radwan and AlFuraih, 1997).

Accordingly, we see that both

rhetoricians and critics gave priorities for the study of the meaning because they are the origin of the word and its content, and they touched upon what is the study of semantics, or what is closely linked to it, but they have input a great effort and time in the issue that was a field for studying the critical and rhetorical studies.

Some scholars believe that their studies have reached many of the conclusions reached by the modern semantic studies in the modern era and drew the attention of thinkers from the Arab countries and they asked about some of the initial concepts developed by Greek philosophy within the abstract mental view in an attempt to subjugate the meaning of a set of laws and boundaries, the relationship between the words and their meanings was intellectual (Duszak, 1994). Their common denominator is the abstract mind. Some scholars thought that some Arabic studies have shown advanced trends that match the data of modern semantics.

III. Semantics in language and

terminology:

In the language of the Arabs, the meaning of the evidence is indicative of the meaning of the sign (Al-qahtani, 2006), and the meaning of a broader term of meaning, and given the deep understanding of the ancient Arabs, linguists, interpreters, and builders, and fundamentalists, regions, and jurists, they have identified the many definitions according to their perceptions and interests, the meaning in the term means what comes to know the thing as a sign of words on Meanings, which the particular word suggests, bears, or denotes (Al-Gahtani, 2006). Thus, it is clear that the earliest definitions of this article in the Arab heritage by Ragheb Al-Asfahani (502 e) refer to the science which aims to study the meaning that is achieved from the symbols

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of the phonetic, verbal, written and other, where he says, “semantic: what comes to know the thing as a sign of words On the meaning and semantic of signs, symbols, writing and contracts in the account, whether with the intention of making it meaningful, or not with the intention of seeing the movement of a human being to know that he is alive “ ( Engineer, 2003; AlIsfahani, 2012).

The definition may differ between the researchers, all of which are definitions that are close to each other or are integrated and kept from what was settled in the late logistics. The semantics is from the absolute point of view is that it is necessary to be aware of something else, the first being the signifier and the second being the meaning.

Semantic in its linguistics understanding is considered so that when it is launched, or imagine an understanding of its meaning to the science of its status, it is divided into a sign of conformity or indication of guarantee or indication of commitment; and the part of the inclusion and the necessary in mind to commit, as a human, it shows exactly the animal spokesman for conformity.

The fact that something is necessary to understand something else is also the fact that something is necessary to know science by something else mental or customary and permanent and other (Al-Gahtani, 2006).

Through these definitions we see that they necessarily lead to a consensus in the transition from the signifier to the meaning and this automatic transmission, that is, the mere mention of the sign raises the signifier, which agrees, as we have pointed out Western perceptions (Connor, 1996; Kubota, 1997; Shaikhulislami and Makhlouf, 2000; Al-Gahtani, 2006).

In our Arab heritage, we found a division of the types of semantics among ancient Arab linguists. It differs from the division of linguists, fundamentalists, and philosophers in terms used (Al-Gahtani, 2006).

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IV. The semantics and their types

The perception of the ancient Muslim Arabs of the construction of meaning, as reflected in their reference to the meaning of words based on the tri-semantic classification to the conformity, guarantee and commitment, is a metaphor in which the meaning is based on a set of elements that it constitutes (Raii, 2009). A concept that agrees, in general principle, to the authoritative hypothesis advocated today by the most critical semantic theories, based on considerations of language acquisition and creative nature (Fauconnier, 1997).

The fundamentalists have derived their philosophy and related research in determining the meaning and its logical parts, but in different ways, the absolute definition of the previous meaning (is the fact that the thing is necessary knowing science by something else, the first thing is the semantic and the other thing is the meaning). This definition is agreed between the two groups, and forms a field to derive the nature of the semantics. This may be a status indication if the basis and nature of the correlation and the quality of the relationship between the sign and the meaning that is knowledge of the situation.

Therefore, it is based on the division of types of semantics into mental, natural and situational, depending on the type of relationship between the signifier and the meaning, or “the origin of understanding.”

If the origin is of the mind, called the semantics of mentality, through habit and nature, was called natural, although the situation and the shape and the formula, called status (Huang et al., 2018).

The semantics of the word is not based on a situation or a pattern; it is not necessary to be based on reason, and so (the semantics subjected to the classification of semantics based on the performance of the context.

For the meaning, the word either to be taken to indicate the full meaning, or some

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of its meaning, or to be taken to indicate the meaning of another out of the meaning, but necessary mind or custom. These three indications are included in a general indication, which is a semantic signifier which is a division of the verbal meaning (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980).

The meaning of these semantic sections, as recognized by the scholars can be determined. Verbal semantic: (does not take place only with the availability of three elements: the word, which is a kind of audio situation, and the meaning that made the word that representing of the mean, and the addition of a casual between them is the situation, to make the meaning representing the word.

A. Verbal semantic status

It is the meaning of the word, so that when the word is said, the meaning is understood due to the knowledge of its status, as an example, the meaning of the human word on the spoken animal, which is the conventional meaning of “making something prominent about something else if they understand the second.” What is required by the mind, that is, the mind finds a relationship between the semantics and the meaning by an introduction that rests in the proof of reason and did not invoke another status, nature or other. The mind moves in that relation from the semantics to the meaning and it will arrive semantics.

As the semantic heard from behind the wall on the existence of the notary, and the significance of the voice on the life of the owner, once you hear the voice, we know that the owner alive; because he is able to speak, the mind is indicative of his life. Thus, mental semantic is the one that finds the mind between the sign and the meaning of self-relationship for which it is necessary to achieve the same semantic (Tsai et al., 2000; Senaha et al., 2007).

B. Natural semantics

It is what is required by the nature, i.e., the nature is a reason for the indication in terms of the nature issued the semantic when proven meaning, it is a reason for verification of the signifier, and achieved at this time is a positive relationship that requires verification of significance, because the nature is the reason of semantic, this is the reason for the verification of word, “akh” on the chest pain, because it is the habit of issuing it when the chest hurts.

As people used to issue certain sounds as a result of certain accidents, when pain occurs in any place in the body, it is normal to issue an “akh” as a result of that pain.

However, their interest was mainly based on the meaning of the word without the other sections. This is because of the relationship of this sound and its general use in the chest heart. The interest was directed for situational semantics rather than the other sections, because “If it is optional, it is the situation. Otherwise it can be left behind because it is natural, or it is the mentality (Cliff, 2008; Mallat et al., 2014).

As well as under the verbal semantic of the word, Arabs include all the words without exception, but they distinguish within them useful items in understanding the composition of the semantics. The classification is based on the amount of subject and subject matter and the amount of side marked each of them, for example, that may be placed a partial term marked a total order of the meaning of a total marked by partial order (Hkiri et al., 2014).

In general, the research is confined to the semantics among the advanced philosophers including Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and Al-Ghazali on the verbal semantics, the semantics of their view addresses the word and psychological impact (mental image) and the external mazes. This is an old idea in the Arab heritage. An old question was asked about the nature of the meaning,

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and if the words are placed in the face of mental images or external mazes. Razi’s perception was based on the fact that the pronunciation changes according to the change in the picture in the mind, and therefore their connection to the verbal semantics is related to the four elements of writing, pronunciation, mental image and external mazes. The writing indicates the words, what is outside. “Here, however, the link in the verbal connotation is centered on the relationship between verbal and mental image. The consideration of four things in the linguistic meaning does not mean that the linguistic semantics requires four elements or at least three if we take out the writing. The semantics is complete only with two elements, meaning and signifier. Hence, word semantic is determined by relationship between the word and the mental image (Black, 1996: Aertsen, 2008).

Ibn Sina realized the essence of the semantics, the importance of the symbol and its effects in the soul, because of the rise of the symbol image in the mind constitutes effects, and then turn into accumulations of mental meanings in memory, and so whenever the sound is verified, its image is made. The audial image reflects the concept of meaning in the soul, which makes the meaning in mind within the memory of the linguistic link to the meaning of the word.

Ibn Sina does not exclude the external mazes, i.e. any reference from the verbal semantics, but the relation is not done only by mental image by additional indication.

This relationship between meaning and external objects is sometimes likened to the relationship between the object and its image in the mirror. “The meaning of our perception of man is only to draw from it a picture in the mind that is distinguished from the other in the mind, as the image of the thing is shown in the mirror, Such as the senses, and the self -mirror in which they are perceived as reasonable and sensual (AlFarabi, Abu Nasr, 1986; Street, 2008; Thom, Session 1. Art and Literature & Religion

2008).

V. Semantic classification:

Although the absolute situational semantics (verbal and non-verbal) is divided into a semantics of inclusion and a semantics of commitment, this division by the Semitists came (based on criteria based on the perception of the nature of the relationship between the poles of the semantic act), which is no more than three mental, natural, and situational (Avicenna, 1971). The scholars of the semantics subject the division of semantics based on the performance of the context of the meaning, the words are either to be taken to indicate the full meaning, or some of its meaning, or to be taken to indicate another meaning outside its meaning. Accordingly, the funambulists made a difference between word semantics and semantic by word in which word semantic implies the intention of speaker, i.e., the semantic of speaker is what he intends to say from the word, not what understood by the hearer, and hence the semantic is a characteristic of the hearer.

Based on this, the verbal status semantics is divided into three categories, which is a semantic of conformity and a semantic of guarantee and a semantic of commitment.

Therefore, this division is distinguished by verbal meaning, because the non-verbal position on the part or the outside in the statement is unintentional, the intention and the sign in the part of meaning are not required, as well as the writing, that the parts of the writing are placed in the face of some part of the situation. Considering the meaning of the word, semantics was divided into: conformity, inclusion and commitment (Mcdonald et al., 1993).

A. Semantics of Conformity:

It is the semantics of the word on the conformity of the name, and was called

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conformity to match the word to the name and to agree with it. The semantic of conformity is the original semantics of words for which meanings were directly put, and the conformity was derived from matching the meaning with the word. In this context, the conformity of meaning and word means that the word should not increase over the meaning, or not to have increasing of the meaning over the word.

Logistics expressed their views as semantic of conformity as what indicates the perfect meaning. An illustrating example is the word of house which its semantics indicates the meaning of house by confirmation, and accordingly, the semantic of conformity implies the understanding of hearer of speaker words the perfect of named word (Huang, 2018).

B. Semantic of inclusion:

It is a semantic of word on a part of its name and its status in terms of which it is also in the total, as a semantic of the human word on the living organism only, or on the speaker only. The inclusion semantics, then, is semantic word on a part called the human signification of the spoken animal only, and so-called for it to be included, the meaning to be mediated by the placement of this term for the meaning within it. By thus, to label it as inclusion because it is indicative of the part within the whole, in this way, the inclusion semantic is what the hearer understands from the speaker is part of the words of the speaker (Vandenbussche et al., 2017).

C. The semantics of the commitment:

is that the pronunciation of the verb on the outside indicating its name that is required for it. This semantics is the understanding of hearer the speech of speaker which is in the mind (Frazier et al., 1999).

The relationship between these three sections lies in the fact that the significance of the conformity is common and implies that each of them is not indicative of order outside the object. The significance of the inclusion and the significance of the commitment also share that each of them requires the first indication, i.e., the conformity (Mora et al., 2017).

The logistics have stipulated in the semantics of commitment that it is necessary to be mentally, meaning that whenever the meaning of the word is understood, it is necessary to understand it, whether it is necessary in mind and outside together, or if it is required in the mind only without the outside. This is contrary to the writers and the fundamentalists who did not stipulate this condition, and considered the semantic of commitment even in the case of the meaning of the word on the outside of its meaning necessary for him outside without the mind, as a sign of the crow on blackness and snow on the whiteness.

This is considered to be a limitation of the meaning of the word in relation to the subject, whether it is in conformity with it or on its part (including) or by its obligation, purely mentally and not extrapolative (Singh, 1999).

In light of this, it is easy to understand differences in the use of the concept of commitment in the people of logic and literature. The commitment has been divided into two categories: the first is that the commitment is divided into both the mind and the outside, such as the courage of the lion, and the necessity of the mind only as a blind eye and a necessity only outside like the blackness of the crow. The ratio between the necessary in mind and necessary abroad is absolute; absolutely necessary in mind is what was between it and the necessary as a limited logical relationship. The only necessary abroad is that it does not result from the obligation

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by relations with being realized abroad with it. The second category is that the necessary is divided into clear and non-clear, and the clear is what is required from the synonyms of the perception of necessity, between them that does not need evidence. In case of non-clear, it is not necessary for evidence.

The clear is further subdivided into mental in which it is required to match the perception of necessary with the perceived such as the perception of the necessary courage of the lion. The other division is the nonmental, which is not necessary to perceive what is not required such as imaging human as a horse, it is not necessary to imagine a human perception of others as well as being different.

Thus, the concept of commitment in logic is understood in the sense of necessity.

There is a difference between the logistics and literatures with regard to the ratio of the three semantics to the situation. The three are situational for the linguistics, because situation is a reason for the first semantics and led to the reason for the remaining two semantics.

The difference is that the logistics are looking for the pure mental meanings that have no place in them, so that they want the mentality of what is not for the reason of the entrance, but the literatures are looking for semantics of inclusion and commitment as mental semantics, because they were looking for meanings in relation to status.

The difference is that the logistics are looking for mental meanings that have no any interactions from status, whereas the literature is looking for the meanings from the status point of view.

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[21] Fauconnier, G (1997). Mappings in Thought and Language. Cambridge: CUP. [22] Goddard, Cliff. (2008). Natural Semantic Metalanguage: The state of the art. 1-34.

10.1075/slcs.102.05god.

[23] Grize. J. (2008). Time of soft ideas. In A.N. Perret-Clermont (Ed.) Thinking time: A multidisciplinary perspective on time. (pp 6872). Cambridge: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.

[24] Jalal Rai (2009). Metaphor in Day-to-Day Arabic Speech: A Conceptual Approach.

Tishreen University Journal for Research and Scientific Studies - Arts and Humanities Series, 31 (1): 175-193.

[25] Kubota, R. (1997). A reevaluation of the uniqueness of the Japanese written discourse: Implications for contrastive rhetoric. Written Communication, 14 (4), 460-480.

[26] Lakoff, G (1992). Metaphor and Semantics, in Bright 2, 417-419.

[27] Lakoff, G., Johnson (1980). Metaphors We

Live By. Chicago: CUP. Lappin, Shalom (2003). Semantics. In Ruslan Mitkov (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Computational Linguistics, pp. 91–111.

[29] Lasersohn, Peter (2007). Relative truth, speaker commitment, and control of implicit arguments. In Proceedings of NELS 37.

[30] Leder, S. (2015). Towards a Historical Semantic of the Bedouin, Seventh to Fifteenth Centuries: A Survey. Der Islam, 92(1), pp. 85-123. Retrieved 28 Aug. 2018, from doi:10.1515/islam-2015-0004.

[31] Leibnitz G.V (1983). Papers: in 4 volumes. / G.V. Leibnitz; editor, introduction and comments by I.S.Narskiy. – М.: Mysl, 1983. – V. 2. New Experiences in Human Understanding. («Philosophic Heritage» series.).

[32] Lyn Frazier, Jeremy M Pacht, Keith Rayner (1999).Taking on semantic commitments, II: collective versus distributive readings.

Cognition, 70 (1): 70-104.

[33] Mcdonald J.L.Bock K. Kelly M.H (1993). Word and World Order: Semantic, Phonological, and Metrical Determinants of Serial Position. Cognitive Psychology. 25 (2): 188-230.

[34] Mei-Chih Tsai, Chu-Ren Huang, Keh-Jiann Chen, Kathleen Ahren (2000). Towards a Representation of Verbal Semantics: An Approach Based on Near-Synonym.

Computational Linguistics and Chinese Language Processing, 3 (1): 61-74.

[35] Mora Maldonado, Emmanuel Chemla, Benjamin Specto (2017). Priming plural ambiguities. Journal of Memory and Language, 95, 89-101.

[36] Morey, Robert A (1992). Is “Allah” Just Another Name For God?. Austin, Tex.: Research and Education.

[37] Munindar P. Singh (1999). An ontology for commitments in multiagent systems: Toward a unification of normative concepts. Artificial Intelligence and Law,. In press.

[38] Partee, Barbara H. (1994). Lexical semantics and compositionality. In Daniel Osherson (ed.), Invitation to Cognitive Science. MIT press.

[39] Pesina S., Solonchak T (2015). Semantic [28]

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Primitives and Conceptual Focus. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 192, 339 – 345.

[40] Pesina, S., Solonchak, T. (2014). The Sign in the Communication Process // International Science Conference: International Conference on Language and Technology (June 19-20).

World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology. International Science Index Vol : 8, No:6, Part XI, Venice, Italy, 2014. – P. 1021-1029.

[41] Radwan, A., Al-Furaih, O. (1997). Arabic composition. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: King Saud University Press.

[42] S.I.Sara (2006). Al-Khalīl (8th Century a.d.).

Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition), p.168.

[43] Senaha, M. L. H., Caramelli, P., Porto, C. S., Nitrini, R. (2007). Verbal and nonverbal semantic impairment: From fluent primary progressive aphasia to semantic dementia. Dementia & Neuropsychologia, 1(2), 203–211. http://doi.org/10.1590/s198057642008dn10200014 [44] Shaikhulislami, C., Makhlouf, N. (2000). The impact of Arabic on ESL expository writing.

In Z. Ibrahim, N. Kassabgy, & S. Aydelott (Eds.), Diversity in language: Contrastive studies in English and Arabic theoretical and applied linguistics (pp. 127-146). Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press.

[45] Souheyl Mallat, Mohamed Achraf Ben Mohamed, Emna Hkiri1, Anis Zouaghi, Mounir Zrigui (2014). Semantic and Contextual Knowledge Representation for Lexical Disambiguation: Case of ArabicFrench Query Translation. Journal of Computing and Information Technology - CIT 22, 2014, 3, 191–215 doi:10.2498/ cit.1002234.

[46] Street, T (2008). Arabic and Islamic Philosophy of Language and Logic. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Fall 2008 Edition), Ed. Edward. N. Zalta.

[47] Thom, P (2008). Logic and Metaphysics in Avicenna’s Modal Syllogistic. The Unity of Science in the Arabic Tradition: Science, Logic, Epistemology and their Interactions.

Ed. S. Rahman, T. Street, H. Tahiri. Dordrecht: 2008.

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Vandenbussche, Pierre-Yvesa; Atemezing, Ghislain Poveda-Villalón, María; Vatant, Bernard (2017). Linked Open Vocabularies (LOV): A gateway to reusable semantic vocabularies on the Web. Semantic Web, 8 (3): 437-452.

[49] Wierzbicka A (1996). Language. Culture.

Cognition / A.Wierzbicka ; edited and compiled by M.A.Krongauz, introduction by E.V.Paducheva. – М. : Russkie Slovari, 1996.

[50] Yan Huang (2018). Unarticulated constituents and neo-Gricean pragmatics, Language and Linguistics, 19, 1, (1), [51] Young MP, Rugg MD (1992). Word frequency and multiple repetition as determinants of the modulation of event-related potentials in a semantic classification task. Psychophysiology 29:664–676.

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“Heart” novel of Edmondo De Amicis in the Albanian language Dr. Manjola Sulaj

Dr. Olieta Polo

Department of Foreign Languages “Eqrem Çabej” University of Gjirokaster Gjirokastra, Albania

Department of Greek Language, Literature and Greek Civilization “Eqrem Çabej” University of Gjirokaster Gjirokastra, Albania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 30 August 2018 Received in revised form 11 October Accepted 15 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.2

The novel “Heart” (“Zemër” in the Albanian language) of the Italian author Edmondo De Amicis, published in Tirana in 1923 is the first book of the Italian literature for children translated into the Albanian language. Ever since the novel was published 13 more times by various translators. For two decades until the beginning of the First World War the novel was part of the schools’ didactic schedule. In Italy the novel conveyed secular values as nationalists, liberals and intended to renew Italian culture, which was backward and extremely subordinate to the Catholic Church. While in Albania, during the Communist dictatorship (1945-1990), the novel continued to be preferred in schools due to the ideals included which matched with the communist ones as well as the morals that offered the children a pattern to imitate in terms of feelings and behaviours. The “Zemër” (“Heart”) popularity began to vanish in Albania when the democratic system was established.

Keywords: novel “Zemër” (“Heart”); Albanian criticisms; Edmondo De Amicis;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

II. DEVELOPMENT

Edmondo De Amicis has been, for at least two decades, one of the most active bourgeois novelists that represented the contemporary Italian literature, reflecting the cultural and the moral aspirations of the middle class.

He melted in his pedagogical works the whole severity of the moral he was taught during his military education. In addition to being an illuminative author and a patriot, he remains closely related to the problems of the period he lived.

De Amicis is mainly well known with the novel “Zemër” (“Heart”), which represents an important reference in the education of the young readers in the early 1900s.

Despite the criticism of the Catholics for lack of religious content, his masterpiece was an indisputable success. Starting from the 50s of the last century, this novel has been criticized and its values are resized due to time changes.

The novel “Heart” was conceived by the author as the first book of a series that

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would include a variety of psychologically depicted characters and would reflect the traditions of the time, but this project remained unrealized.

The idea of writing the novel “Heart” had matured in Edmondo De Amicis’s mentality since 1878, but the odyssey of its publication has been prolonged, as the book was published after eight years from the publishing house “Treves” on October 15th, 1886. In the late 80s, the publishing house “Treves” was one of the most important in Italy. The owners, the two brothers Emilio and Giuseppe Treves, being sensitive towards the changes in the modern society, aimed at renewing the Italian culture, which in their view was backward and extremely subordinate to the Catholic Church.

They enthusiastically welcomed De Amicis’s proposal because they recognized in his work a good lucrative job, yet, because it was in line with the cultural direction they aspired. He proposed a new education model suitable for the united Italy after the Renaissance. At the same time, the novel conveyed secular values to the nationalists and the liberals.

The forecasts of the publishing house that welcomed “Heart” were accurate. It became the first best seller Italian book. In less than three months “Treves” published the book forty one times; with a circulation of 1,000 copies meanwhile the number of children that were able to read was too small. In 1890, after only four years from the first edition, the book was published for the hundredth time and in 1923 the number of copies published amounted to one million.

Meanwhile, the work was published in all European languages, including Albanian, as well as in the Arabic and the Japanese languages.

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A. The attitude of the Albanian criticism

towards the novel “Zemër” (“Heart”)

The novel “Heart” of Edmondo De Amicis was published for the first time in the Albanian language in 1923 in Tirana (Albania’s capital) including a preamble of the author Terenc Toçi. By means of this article we learn that about 41 pages of this translation were published earlier in the 1st edition of the newspaper “Shtypi” (“The press”) of Tirana. Also, Terenc Toçi proves that he himself pushed Karl Gurakuqi to translate the novel into the Albanian language, which was translated into all the languages of the civilized world, citing: “The preamble is like the baptism, and I am honoured to have realized the translation of this great novel into the Albanian language, I think I may have the approval to write even its preamble” later on he assumes: “I begged my dear friend Mr. Karl Gurakuqi to translate this work”.

The author of the preamble assesses positively both about the writer, to whom the novel “Zemra” added value and made him memorable, and also to the translation into the Albanian language. Terenc Toçi thinks that thanks to the novel “Heart” of Edmondo De Amicis the young generations in Italy are educated and have wept over it, and have continued to elevate their soul reading his other books about the military life, the travels and the philology. According to him, De Amicis in his youth wanted to dedicate his life to the army, and he did so during 1866 to 1970 by fighting bravely, anyhow his inclinations about the artistic literature pursued him to leave the army and replace it with devotion in writing many books that conveyed great moral. Edmondo De Amicis devoted himself to the socialist ideas driven by the compassion, rather than the convictions, for the poor people who grew up and died in poverty. Such was the great writer who would have obtained the fame only with the book “Heart”, even if

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he wouldn’t have written other books. In a nutshell, Terenc Toçi expresses his conviction that the novel “Heart” is a work that “will be part of the national Reinnesance history” as a powerful tool to form worthy Albanian men for the family, the society, the nation and the state who would elevate the name of the small Albania.

Regarding the publication of the novel “Heart”, in 1923, Astrit Bishqemi a scholar of the Albanian children’s literature, attaches importance to the fact that under the title of the book was written “Children’s book”, which according to him is an indication that children’s literature began to take on independence even though there were only a few original works.

The novel “Heart” is part of those books in Italy that changed over time the way the children read it. Earlier, education did not foresee reading as a free element of pleasure. Reading books would primarily mean forming a social and national conscience. With the works proposed by Kolodi, De Amicis or other contemporary writers, not only the little Italians, but also the children of the other countries where were published these books, had soon fallen in love.

Undoubtedly, this happened in Albania as well. The success that this novel had on young readers in our country is naturally evidenced by the three editions of the period between the two world wars, but this conviction adds to a great testimony from the teacher, Mati Logoreci, who is the author of the preamble in the second edition of the book. He describes the love with which the pupil received the second edition of the novel at that time: “I remember very well in the reading lesson, as if you were predicting the time, you asked the pupils to draw the book ZEMRA, and you could notice the pleasure on their faces, they were so fond of that book; of every piece they knew it by heart,

so often they had read it.”

We see the importance of the translation into Albanian and the publication of the novel “Heart” in the fact that it was the only one, at least for a decade, that served as a reading book in schools. This is what we learned also in the preamble written by the teacher Mati Logoreci in the second publication of the novel “Heart” with a difference of about 10 years from the first one: “I am glad that it is being reprinted, especially at this time of the beginning of our cultural development, when we are almost - without any book that can serve the young age of elementary schools. They will embrace it with great joy, as I have witnessed during my long experience as a teacher.”

Mati Logoreci expresses his joy about the second edition of this novel, because in addition to the moral values, the book “establishes the foundations of our national literature that has remained so far too poor and weak.”

In 1957, in the preamble of the novel “Heart” written by Myzafer Xhaxhiu, we found some critical judgments about the novel in question and his author in terms of the principles of the communist dictatorship, established in Albania after 1944. Regarding the author Edmondo De Amicis he writes that the progressive ideas of the labor movement, which had grown a lot, especially in the North Italy where the author used to live, influenced his work, but he still remained a philanthropic humanist.

Further Myzafer Xhaxhiu expresses: “In all the works of De Amicis, whether in the ones dedicated to the children’s life at school or at home, or in the works concerning the travels in different parts of the world, or in those devoted to the lives of the workers, is evident the author’s tendency to preach philanthropic humanism, love, and “universal harmony” among the different

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categories”. This trend of De Amicis, according to the author of the article, is also evident in the articles where the desire to convince the ruling classes to show compassion and love for the poor families, which remained a utopia. Although De Amicis work is permeated by a mere-religious spirit, it is characterized by optimism, love for life, high civic virtues, and social equality.

De Amicis, full of contradictions in his outlook, remains to Myzafer Xhaxhiu, a great humanist, a friend of the common people and a patriotic and precious citizen to his country. Regarding the novel “Heart” Xhaxhiu expresses that in the book “...the author...has given us unforgettable pages, vivid, touching, and warm scenes, where is evident the great love for the mankind, a profound respect for the working, virtuous and honest people. He seeks to educate the children with the beautiful feelings of truth, equality, simplicity, love for work and people; to equipthem with the highest virtues against the impact and the savage selfishness of the bourgeois society”.

The book reflects events from school and everyday life, there is also treated the topic of patriotism, and love for the homeland, and are criticized - even though in a closed form - the vices and the wounds of the capitalist society. Yet, De Amicis strikes the social reality of the time, which forced people to emigrate to seek work. Myzafer Xhaxhiu calls the emigration a wound that showed that the capitalism in Italy, and even in other countries, was in crisis. The author concludes his writing by evaluating the language of the novel as fluent, with warm feelings and a cheerful, simple style that makes the novel “Heart” a beloved book for the toddlers and the adults, too.

The author Tasim Gjokutaj described the novel “Heart” as one of the most accomplished works of the Italian children’s literature during the 19th century. He calls the novel a “mosaic” with many colorful

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pieces, stating as follows: “The structuring in the form of a mosaic has many good sides, firstly: it gives the author the opportunity to handle a wide variety of themes, secondly: to reflect diverse environments at school and at home, in town and in the village, in war and in peace, thirdly: to include short poetic sketches that look independent of the subject line, but are nevertheless a mosaic fragment of the whole.”

Mosaic structuring brings the “risk” of fragmentation, but De Amicis has avoided “crumbling” the work by using “seven powerful pillars that are the seven monthly stories”. These stories, besides giving unity to the work, are even the most “realistic and interesting”. With regard to the theme, the monthly stories, aim at educating children with paternal goodwill and with high moral virtues. De Amicis enriches the diversity of the book events with the letters that the relatives send to Enrico. They are short, but filled with feeling, “resemble beautiful poetic designs, and are very concise, that you can hardly remove any sentence.”

In 2005, in the short introduction of the translation made by Klara Kodra to the novel “Heart”, she describes it as the greatest work written after “Pinocchio”, which succeeded not only in the Italian time and context, but remains current even nowdays.

B. Translation modalities of the novel

“Zemër” (“Heart”)

The novel “Heart” had many publications and republications in the Albanian language.

It was firstly published in 1923 and was reprinted two more times in 1932 and 1938 with the same title, with the translation of Karl Gurakuqi; in 1957 the novel was published with the translation of Halit Selfo, entitled “Heart”; in 1964 it was published with the translation of Filip Ndocaj, still under the title “Heart”; in 1977 it was published

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with abbreviations with the title “Heart” but for the first time without containing the name of the translator; in 1997 it was published twice, with the translation of Halit Selfo and Vali Xhixha, with the title “Heart”; in 2004 it was published with the translation of Agim Doksani, titled “Heart”; in 2005 it was published with the translation of Klara Kodra, titled “Heart”; in 2007 it was published with the translation of Edlira Llukaçaj, entitled “Zemra e fëmijës” “The heart of the boy”; in 2011 it was republished with the translation of Klara Kodra, with the title “Heart”and the same year was published with the translation of Joni Buzi, translated from the English language, with the title “Zemra: ditari i një nxënësi italian” “Heart: diary of an Italian student”.

It is clear above that Edmondo De Amicis’s novel has been brought to the Albanian language with different titles, which undoubtedly owns “Zemra” (“The heart”) and later on “Zemër” (“Heart”).

Regarding the title issue Tasim Gjokutaj states as follows: “The title of the novel is “Zemër” (heart) rather than “Zemra” (the heart). This word “Zemër” answers the content and clearly states the idea of this work. Heart! – is used in the sense of Courage! Dare! in the sense of endurance, will, and disregard before the difficulties and the dangers. The author sees the student as a small soldier of a large army and his call “Heart, courage, little soldier!” sounds like a call to move forward.”

All three publications of the novel “Heart” translated by Karl Gurakuqi are without illustrations. His translation is faithful to the meaning and the spirit of the original novel, but at the same time it is apparent that the Albanian text shows the cognitive abilities of the Albanian language.

III. CONCLUSIONS

Regarding the modalities of the Albanian translation of the novel “Heart” by different translators we are summarizing the following: 1. The names of the characters and the places are generally adapted according to the laws of phonetics and the morphology of the Albanian language. The name Carlo is brought to Albanian: Karlo, Enrico is brought: Enriku, Delcati is brought: Delkati, Derossi is brought: Derosi, Precossi is brought: Prekosi, Pietro is brought: Pjetër, Coretti is brought: Koreti, Crossi is brought: Krosi etc; course Vittorio Emanuele was brought: rruga e Viktor Emanuelit / the road of Victor Emmanuel, Trentino was brought: Trentini, Palermo was brought: Palermi, etc.

Regarding the names of the countries in the novel, some of them are left in the original and have not been subject to the laws of morphological phonetics and morphology of the Albanian language such as: corso Valdocco is brought: rruga Valdocco Valdocco street, corso Dora Grossa is brought: rruga Dora Grossa / the road Dora Grossa, nella caserma della Cernaia, is brought në kazermën e Cernaia-s / to the Cernaia barracks etc.

2. The cases of literally inconsistent translation characterize all the translations of this novel. The examples when the translators add words, which are not found in the original text, are usual.

3. From the comparison of the two texts, both in the Italian and the Albanian languages, we have also noticed that in many cases the Albanian translation is missing a few words of the original, which has resulted in shorter sentences, but in no case violation of the meaning of the text in the Italian language.

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4. The talent as interpreter and the deep knowledge of the Albanian language by most Albanian translators is also evident when the order of the sentence in the Italian language is changed in order to adapt it to the Albanian language.

5. Generally, the translators avoid repetitions in the original, making the text in the Albanian language the most beautiful and fluent.

6. In many cases, the translators have preferred to replace simple words in the original with expressions of the Albanian language.

7. In all the extent of the translation into the Albanian language, the punctuation does not match with the original. This has best served the accurate transmission of the meaning to the young Albanian readers.

8. The vocabulary used in the translated versions is very rich and does not lack the beautiful expressions of the Albanian language.

9. In the translated versions are used even the explanatory notes at the bottom of the pages that explain a few of the Albanian words used by the translators in the text.

Edmondo de Amicis, “The heart”, the novel, the second edition, translated by Karl Gurakuqit from the Italian language, Publishing House “Mbrothësia” - Kristo P. Luarasi, Tirana, 1923.

[6] Edmondo De Amicis, “The Heart”, translated

by Halit Selfos, State Publishing Company, Tirana, 1957.

[7] Edmondo De Amicis, “The heart”, Filip Ndocaj (prepared with notes), School Publishing Department, Tirana, 1964.

[8] Edmondo De Amicis, “Heart”, Naim Frashëri, Tirana, 1977.

[9] Edmondo De Amicis, “The heart”, translated

by Vali Xhixha, First Teacher, Tirana, 1997.

[10] Edmondo De Amicis, “Heart”, translated by Vali Xhixha, First Teacher, Tirana, 2004.

[11] Edmondo De Amicis, “The heart”, translated

by Klara Kodra, Extra, Tirana, 2005.

[12] Gjokutaj, Tasim, “Albanian literature for children needs more for evaluation”, in Literature like this, Tirana, 1996.

[13] Gjokutaj, Tasim, “Children’s Literature”, textbook for students, publications Toena, Tirana, 1977.

[5]

Regardless the exquisite language in the options translated there is also found any word or structure of the Italian language.

REFERENCES [1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Bishqemi, Astrit, “The Albanian reception of the ‘Heart’ novel of Edmondo De Amicis”, Gazeta” Temp “, no. 52, 11 December 2005.

Bishqemi, Astrit, “History of Albanian Literature for Children and Young People”, publisher Pëllumb Zekthi, Tirana 2008.

Dedja, Bedri, “Traditions and Problems of Albanian Literature for Children”, Publishing House “ Naim Frashëri”, Tirana, 1971.

Edmondo de Amicis, “Cuore”, Lito 3 Arti grafiche S. r. l. Pioltello, Milano, 2012.

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SECTION 3

Social Sciences, Culture, Lifestyle Choices & Religion

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This paper was presented in the

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

The influence of the entourage on the couple relationship How religious living improves the life of the couple Sandu Mihaela Luminita – Ph.D. Lecturer Department of Psychology and Social Work Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 14 July 2018 Received in revised form 22 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.3

Living together is an art not so easy to manage. With a firm desire to overcome and a right attitude, the relationships in two can work well and it can be a safe form of achieving a balanced and happy personal development. In most cases, the causes of problems in a couple have their origin outside the relationship, such as the intervention of friends or the family intervening in the relationship between the two partners. Many other reasons lie within it. If there is communication in the relationship and is built on love, surely the two partners can overcome certain obstacles and can solve the problems between them. Currently there are psychologists who can advise the couple relationship.

But most of the time, you are your advisor when it comes to your couple problems. As far as your couple issues are concerned, it depends a lot how close your relationship is with your friends, work colleagues, parents and how much their word influences you, and most important is how far you are willing to go. More and more people talk about the lack of communication within the couple, however, it is not the main cause of the couple’s problems. Some partners do not communicate or miscommunicate in some cases, and it creates issues or strengthens the couple. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

Keywords: influence; entourage; relationship; couple;

I. Introduction

“The conjugal love and the love between a man and a woman is, in general, the most complicated and unpredictable inner psychological creation, whose consequences are not just to the individual but the society as a whole, guaranteed to a large extent its harmonious, healthy evolution, as well as its willingness to develop, to overcome, to preserve the unalloyed joy of living and the vocation to happiness” [1]. The mystery of

“life in two” is hard to reveal just starting from the simple premises such as erotic union and then conjugal – choosing the partner and the motivations.

The attraction for a partner, the sympathy, the feelings of love and even the passion, are outlined. Then, it gradually consolidates with the help of mutual interaction and inner knowledge in relation to the “motivational key” of each partner.

Based on a careful analysis of the

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aspirations, motivations, we can answer the questions: “how much do the two partners match” or “to what extent they are psychologically compatible?”

In N. Mitrofan’s opinion [2], the marital couple is defined as the “generative nucleus of the familial micro group”, expressing structurally and functionally how two opposite sexes, after marrying, creatively shape each other, developing, motivating and determining each other through accommodation and assimilation, simultaneously in biological, psychological, and social plan.

“Family has to be associated with stability, balance, morality, and sustainability. In a family has to be harmony all the time for a marriage to be as long as possible”.

[3] “Couple can be defined as a bipolar structure of the bio-psycho-social type, based on reciprocal determinism, in which the partners satisfy, stimulate, support, develop and realize themselves as biological and emotional individualities through the other.[4] In a couple of relationships, we learn what intimacy and love are; we learn to forgive, to manifest those negative emotions, we learn to fulfill our sexuality, being, in my opinion, a challenge for all of us.

A relationship, either marriage or cohabitation, shouldn’t override the differences between the partners. When the relationship is very satisfying and profound, the differences complement each other. Until this is completed, is going through a period of ups and downs, quarrels, disappointments, and conflicts.

The emotional communication between partners is essential, thus “the “I” type messages” have in their center the expression of feelings. They allow improving the relationship with the interlocutor, which leads to changing inappropriate or unwanted behaviors for an optimal relationship”. [5] In a relationship, you are supposed to Session 3. Social Sciences, Culture, Lifestyle Choices & Religion

be “on the heights of heaven and in the depths of hell.” [6] From a religious point of view, faith, religion, has been the object of reflection for generations of thinkers, with inherent oscillations and inconsistencies, which we could call a philosophy of religion.

Confidence in religion is not a pure form or a system of thought; it is a great reality that must unravel the fate and happiness of man. That is why the connection between God and man must be free, so that it can make a place for the rewarding sanction of the good or bad deed, which makes man alive. It must be conscious, because it is a reality that man encompasses with his mind, and is spiritual, meaning, invisible.

Moral education aims at forming the moral profile of personality and socio-moral behavior of man and is mainly carried out by the family and school environment.

Religious life is made in several correlated dimensions, but some may be more accentuated or diminished. For example, some believers may be more religious, but without a more practical outward exposure towards the less faithful who attend church more often.

Faith is the affective dimension of the state of religiosity. Even now, some theologians consider the religious feeling to be innate to man, as a gift of God. The man has distinguished himself from other living creatures through moral feelings and religious feelings.

In reality, people are born and learn predispositions which in contact with religious models transform it in religious feelings.

Knowing certain religious patterns, this addiction turns into a psychic need. At the heart of this need is the conviction that God is sublime. It appears the guilt (sin) feeling and the expiatory desire (salvation).

Man as an individual or as a member of the family and society needs religion.

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Through it, man knows God as the source of truth and as the norm of the moral life that brings happiness. Through religion man acquires the safety of his deed and rises above the creatures around him.

Relationship skills are the bridge which allows people to form an erotic couple. These skills are formed early, also contributing to parents’ attitude, especially the mother, developed in the first stage of the childhood, and then ends in adolescence and youth. The couple is made up of two different people, which form a stable and distinct relationship between them. We need a “other-I”, a different person from us, with which we can complete and find ourselves, having the certainty that also finds itself in it and completes it with us.

Constantin Enăchescu, in the Treaty of Moral Psychology, lists some factors that lead to the formation of a couple: Our need for another, for the other. - “I choose the other one according to my taste, my desires or my interests. This choice starts with the impression I have of me, as a level of my desires.” [7] This desire also contains our image about us and the need for automatic or reflexive association with someone who is similar to us. “Depending on this, I “choose” or “suppress” a certain person, in conformity with an identical model which I have built and previously internalized. However, in center of this model that I wish to realize, I place myself.” [8] The concept of the couple can be associated with sexuality or reproduction.

It suggests the affective involvement of the two partners that tend to last for a long time. Irene Thery, defined the concept of couple as follows: “in a narrow sense, as the male-female complementarity expressed in all aspects of their everyday life, in which the affectivity and sexuality are dominant” and “broadly, the couple is associated with the biological, emotional, cultural and

social matrix resulting from the reunion of different partners (male - female, male male, female - female) between whom there are affective and / or sexual relationships and a strong mutual indeterminism. [9] People often make decisions according to their friends’ opinion. “I can’t be a friend to anyone but I can’t be alone without having a friend.” [10] In the development of personality “the entourage” plays a special role and is formed from those people with whom we have personal, informal, close contacts.

“The entourage” in this sense it fulfills a number of functions that are necessary in our evolution: one of the functions is the function of “feeding,” effective support (support, warmth) often encountered between our friends and us. Even if we want to or not to recognize, the relationship with the lover or husband is influenced by those around us: friends, family, the rhythm and lifestyle, social environment, former relationships, colleagues. In order for the relationship to work well, each partner should assume the responsibility of the proper role.

“A relationship represents a dance, not a lonely walk. It’s about harmony, not two people singing each solo at the same time”.

[11] The influence of entourage on the couple can be positive or negative. Abrams and Hogg in 1990 defined social influence as follows: “Social influence can be defined as any change that a person’s relationships with others (individuals, groups, institutions, or society as a whole) produce over her intellectual activities, emotions or actions”.

[12] II. OBJECTIVES

This paper aims to identify the influence that a close person can exert on a couple and what changes they are produced as a

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result. The specific objectives of the research referred to the construction and validation of an evaluation tool that highlights the impact of the entourage on the couple relationship. As well as the highlighting of the personal and sociocultural factors that contribute to the influence of the couple’s relationship on the part of the entourage.

III. HYPOTHESES

1. It is presumed that there is an indirect correlation between entourage exerted on the couple and the harmony of the couple relationship.

2. It is presumed that there is a significant difference in the level of influence of the entourage between the two sexes - females vs. male.

3. It is presumed that the social environment of the two partners is influencing their couple relationship - urban vs. rural.

4. It is presumed that the great differences in age between the two partners can generate conflicts in the couple.

IV. RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

For this research, we built a questionnaire that measures two dimensions of couple’s harmony and the size of the entourageconflict in the couple.

V. STUDY PARTICIPANTS

In order to accomplish this research, we chose a group of 60 people (30 couples) by stratified sampling according to the following criteria: biological genre, age, the environment of origin and studies.

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VI. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF

DATA

A. Hypothesis 1

1. It is assumed that there is an indirect correlation between entourage exerted on the couple and the harmony of the couple relationship.

Table no. 1. Correlation entourage and harmony

between

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The variation domain of Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is between r = -1 and r = +1. When the Pearson coefficient is positive, it is a perfectly positive correlation: which means that the scores of a variable increase as the scores of the other variable increase. If the coefficient is negative, it means a perfect negative correlation: which means that while the scores of a variable increase, the scores for the other variable decrease. The absence of any connection (correlation) between variables is translated by r = 0 [13].

The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient between -1 and +1 indicates the intensity of the relationship between the variables. The sign - indicates the direction of the relationship in our case we have an indirect or negative correlation, which means that hypothesis no. 1 is confirmed.

We can conclude from these statistical

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calculations that the generous harmony present in the couple does not go hand in hand with the presence of the entourage.

As long as there is a strengthened couple, the influence of the entourage is minimal even non-existent.

We can have an active role or passion for the entourage, choosing us or choose it, modify it or shape it.

The members of the couple are alone able to decide whether the entourage is a constructive or regressive factor, for their personal development. Whether it is favorable or harmful in the couple relationship, it all depends on the degree of confidence, the harmony present within the couple.

B. Hypothesis no. 2

1. It is assumed that there is a significant difference in the level of influence of the entourage between the two sexes - females vs. male.

In the case of hypothesis no. 2 we have test values measuring the influence of entourage for 30 men and 30 women. The purpose of the analysis is to assess whether the values of the entourage in men are different from those of women.

Table no. 2: Mean and standard deviation Group Statistics

This table shows for each group the number of cases (N), mean/average (mean) and standard deviation (standard deviation).

The average for the male entourage is 20.00, and the female entourage is 15.13.

As we can see, there is a difference between the two types of families, but the question is whether the media differs significantly.

The value of t is the difference means (4,866) divided by the standard error of the difference (0,588), division which generates the value of 8,267.

The value of the Levene test is less than 0.05, which is happening in our case with our value of 0.148. For equal variants, t is 8, 267 which at 51,243 degrees of freedom is significant to a confidence threshold of 0, 05.

It is well known that man has an uncontrolled affinity for those groups that give him a stable place in the “gang”, formed on those criteria of “brotherly acceptance” as a member of this group. This group offers men to express their true personality often aggressive. The origin of the past formation of these “groups” is based on coagulation of different personalities, on a warlike criterion. Men generally value their position in the “group of friends”, often higher than their family relationships, where his life partner doesn’t allow him to assert his aggressive personality.

Some entourages have a slight misogynistic conception of women.

Women are generally seen as being born unfaithful and in men’s point of view is just a “necessity”. Man who accepts such a group can very often become jealous and very dominant, imposing his point of view only from “sporting pride”. It is quite interesting that most of the men in such group reacts aggressively or superficial “to a play filter” of their partner, but become violent if another man wants to pursue his girlfriend romantically. The reaction depends on moral education and not on real (general) culture or temperament.

In an entourage of this kind, the meetings discuss the question of the analytical couple and, unfortunately, more pessimistic. In

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this type of group, women are seen only as sexual objects and are praised only in terms of their physical qualities. They are rarely understood as an equal of the “male” and they never viewed as morally speaking.

Women exist as wives or girlfriends on a three or four plan, and it is only cherished to give the man something, anything, starting with that housework or beauty and ending with the respect given by her to his beloved husband. A slight dehumanization of woman in this context can greatly alter the relationship of the couple.

It is estimated that some conflicts that occur in the couple are due to this type of entourage.

In most cases, the phenomenon arises and is due to men’s temptation towards erotic diversity. Although feelings remain unchanged, men who are part of this type of entourage become dependent on the pleasure of being around other women for one-day adventures. These behaviors are associated with night loss or hiding of events, or certain facts to their partners.

This is surely a way that leads to the loss of partner’s trust in her husband or boyfriend.

In spite of these aspects, this type of entourage called “fun friends” doesn’t infiltrate very damaging ideas against the couple or the woman itself, but the effect of the behavior is perhaps as devastating as the infiltration of some harmful ideas.

Divorces and breakups of men belonging to such an entourage model are very frequent including also in Romania.

C. Hypothesis no. 3

1. It is assumed that the social environment in which the two partners originate influences their couple relationship.

In the case of hypothesis no. 3 we have the values for the test that measures the influence of the urban or rural environment, respectively for 30 rural participants and 30

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participants from the urban environment.

The purpose of the analysis is to assess whether the questionnaire values of urban ones are different from those of rural participants. This table shows for each group the number of cases (N), average (mean) and standard deviation (standard deviation). The average for the rural area is 38.56 and the rural environment is 47.53. As we can see, there is a difference between the two types of families, in the rural vs urban area environment, but the question is whether the means differ significantly?

The value of t is the mean of the difference (-8,966) divided with the standard error of the difference (1,327), division that produces the value of -6,755.

The value for the Levene test is less than 0.05, which is happening in our case havening the value of 0.013. For equal variants, t is -6,755 which at 56,543 degrees of freedom is significant to a confidence threshold of 0, 05.

Traditional families characterize the rural environment compared to the urban environment where the family presents some modernization tendencies. Very large and unidirectional inequalities characterize the traditional family, and for this reason the woman is submissive. The modern family opposed to the traditional one is based on individualism as the main value, which makes the increase in the number of divorces well understood, because the woman gets very quickly and easily economic independence.

D. Hypothesis no. 4

1. It is assumed that the big differences in age between the two partners can lead to conflicts.

Correlation is a statistical method used to determine relationships between two or more variables. Correlations are of both parametric and nonparametric types. The correlation coefficient is a quantitative value

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describing the relationship between two or more variables. It varies between (-1 and +1), where extreme values assume a perfect relationship between variables while 0 means a total lack of linear relation.

The Pearson correlation (r) evaluates the degree of association between two variables measured on an interval or report scale, referring to the intensity and the sense of concurrent variation of the values of a variable relative to the other.

The variation domain of Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is between r = -1 and r = +1. If the Pearson coefficient is negative it means that the correlation is perfect negative: which means that while the scores of a variable increase, the scores for the other variable decrease; if the Pearson coefficient is positive, it results that we have a perfectly positive correlation: which means that the scores of a variables increase with the increase of the other variable’s scores, and the absence of any correlation between the variables translates to r = 0.

Table no. 6: The correlation between age difference and conflict level Correlations

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The correlation between large age differences and level of conflicts between partners is - 0.021, which can be interpreted

as follows: the higher the age differences between partners, the smaller the conflicts.

Lately, couples with large age differences have been promoted very much. The idea that the big difference in age can be considered as a resource rather than a disadvantage has also been promoted.

Women prefer older partners because they can provide them with the resources and security needed to increase the chances of survival of their children. They ensure both financial stability and emotional needs, but most often seek parental image. Another interesting study on age difference in couple showed that in cases where the woman is older than the husband and in those where the husband is eight years older than a woman, the percentage of match between the partners is much higher than in couples where there is no significant age difference.

This matching further leads to a low level of conflict between the couple’s partners.

CONCLUSIONS We can conclude from the statistical calculations made in this research that the results led us to the following conclusions: • The generous harmony present in the couple doesn’t allow infiltration of the influence exerted by the entourage, because as long as there is a strengthened couple, the influence of the entourage is minimal or non-existent.

• The members of the couple can decide whether the entourage is a constructive or regressive factor for their personal development. Whether it is favorable or harmful in the couple relationship, all these depend on the degree of trust, on the harmony present within the couple.

• A strong religious foundation can also sustain relationships through dark periods.

The couples, who believe their connection is sanctified or centered on God, seem to have more success than other pairings in

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overcoming these problematic situations.

• Couples who believe in sanctification share a sense of purpose that goes beyond shared hobbies, self-interest or procreation.

They may believe that God has a mission for their marriage, and perhaps even brought them together. In general, shared religious beliefs enable couples to comfortably bring religion into their relationship, facilitating conversations that are more difficult for others.

• As regards the entourage, the man has an uncontrolled affinity for those groups that provide him with a stable place in the “gang” formed on those criteria of “brotherly acceptance”. As a member, group gives men to express their true personality often aggressive. The origin of the past formation of these “groups” is based on the coagulation of different personalities, on a warlike criterion, in other words aggressive.

Men generally, value their position in the “group of friends”, more often than their family relationships, where his life partner does not allow him to assert his aggressive personality.

• Traditional families characterize the rural environment compared to the urban environment where the family presents some modernization tendencies. Very large and unidirectional inequalities characterize the traditional family and for this reason the woman is subjected.

• The modern family opposed to the traditional family is based on individualism as the main value, which makes the increase in the number of divorces well understood, because the woman gets very quickly and easily economic independence.

• Lately, couples with great age differences have been promoted, and the idea that the big difference in age can be considered as a resource rather than a disadvantage has also been promoted.

Women prefer older partners because they can provide them with the resources and Session 3. Social Sciences, Culture, Lifestyle Choices & Religion

security needed to increase the chances of survival of their children, ensuring them both regarding financial stability but also assuring those affective needs while seeking more often than not the parental image in the partner.

• In cases where the woman is older than the husband and in those where the husband was eight or more years older than the woman, the percentage of match between the partners is much higher than in the couples where there is no difference of significant age, this matching further leads to a low level of conflict between the couple’s partners.

BIBLIOGRAPHY [1,4] Mitrofan, I., Conjugal Couple - Armone and Disharmony, (Scientific Publishing House, Bucharest, 1998), p. 64 [2,3] Mitrofan, N., Family of A ... to Z, (Scientific and Encyclopedic, Ed., Bucharest, 1991).

[5] Grigore, M.C., Communication Techniques in Social Assistance - Applications, (Sitech Publishing House, Craiova, 2016).

[6] Lucian Traşă, Introduction to Family Psychology and Psychology, (Bucharest, p.

130, 2002) [7, 8] Enachescu, C.. Treaty of moral psychology, (Technical Publishing House, 2005), p. 219, [9] Irene. Thery, Recompenser une famille, de roles et des sentiments, P(aris, Textual, 1995).

[10, 11] Robin Prior and Joseph O’Connor, NLP and couple relationships. Simple strategies to make your relationships work.,(2006) [12] Abrams and Hogg, p. 195, in Boncu S, 2002, Psychology of Social Influence, (Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 1990).

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[13] Sintion, F. Călin, M.F., Methodology of research in socio-human sciences, (Ed. Ovidius University Press, Constanța, 2014) p. 116.

BIOGRAPHY Sandu Mihaela Luminita Graduated of the Faculty of Psychology and Social Assistance at the Andrei Saguna University of Constanta and of the Faculty of Sociology, Ovidius University in Constanta; I am a Doctor of Social Sciences at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Lecturer at Ovidius University from Constanta, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. My field of interest is social psychology, work psychology and judicial psychology

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Situational Lies.

Developing Liar Behavior in School Sandu Mihaela Luminita– Ph.D. Lecturer

Ispas Kristine Viorica – psychologist

Department of Psychology and Social Work Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

Individual Cabinet of Psychology, Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 15 July 2018 Received in revised form 2 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.4

Of the most frequent negative traits in children, preadolescents and adolescents, psychological and educational research has mainly studied the lie, whims, stubbornness, negativity, shyness and so forth, highlighting their causes and ways of combating them.

Over time, the advances in science and technology have been viewed with skepticism, and the inventors have had to overcome different obstacles to impose their ideas. The discovery of the lie has haunted people since ancient times and motivated them in their research to develop an apparatus to help to discover simulated behavior. Lying is an aspect of communication less investigated, but this phenomenon should not be ignored as long as it exists, and we do not find it only at adults, but also at the children. The negative character traits behind the lie are the effect of wrong education in the family, kindergarten, school, because the lie arises for a variety of reasons, some with conscious intention, others without conscious intention. Lying means, by definition, deceiving, but not all forms of deception mean lies; the language of lies is often complicated and confusing, depending on the nature of the subject itself. From a religious point of view, sincerity or veracity is a virtue, a virtue that consists in acting and speaking according to what we are thinking, avoiding lying and duplicity, because falsifying the truth makes the inter-human interaction in society disruptive as it destroys mutual trust among people and conducts to the removal of others and of God. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

Keywords: lie; situation; deviant behavior; school;

I. Introduction

Of all the more common negative features encountered in children, preadolescents and preadolescents, particular attention has been paid to the lies, common among children.

Recent research indicates that lie is a survival mechanism and is correlated with the activation of certain areas of the brain

while the person is concealing, lying.

If we refer strictly to the ethical sense, the lie is a false statement in order to mislead, causing moral and material damage to another person, and bringing benefits to its author. [1].

The child commits many mistakes through misunderstanding and may distort the truth from ignorance and not with the intention of lying; that is why, concerning

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the child will make the difference between error and lie, because we are talking about a lie only if there is a clear intent to distort the truth, by making the difference between the other causes, like - the meaning that child gives to the same words, which can be different from the adult, or can be the expression of their rich imagination.

Also, this article does not refer either to the pathological liar, a form of psychiatry, those situations where, without a seeming purpose, the child deforms the truth-an affection called mythomania.

There are also differences depending on the age of the child, so: up to 3 years we can not talk about intention in children. In rare cases, in order to avoid punishment, the 3-4-year-old child may lie, although his ethical code is not yet developed. So, we can speak about lie when the child’s ethical code is developed and the child understands the consequences of his lie.

J. Piaget considers the 6-7-year-old child a pseudo-liar [2], who lives in a world between real and imaginary boundary, and fabulous imagination must not be confused with the lie. However, yet, there are situations when imagination through fabulating brings benefits to the child, a situation that raises questions; if children between 3 and seven years have difficulty setting the exact boundary between real and imaginary, at the age of 6-7 children understand the meaning of the lie and use it in their own advantage.

In the preschool childhood, the lie is of two types: aggressive - when it causes the punishment; and for defense - when they defend themselves from punishment and / or in order to praise themselves.

From 7 to 12 years we can say that these children understand the lie and the negative moral side of it, but they often use lying to test the rules and limits imposed by adults.

Depending on the reason, the 6-12-year-old child’s lies can be divided into 3 categories:

- Utility lie - when the child wants to avoid a punishment or is just the desire not to disappoint.

- Compensating lie - when the child “embellishes” the surrounding reality; due to the low level of self-esteem and child insecurity, the compensatory lie can be the precursor of more psychopathological disorders.

- Mythomania - is the extreme, pathological side of lies, and refers to the child’s inability to distinguish between lie and reality.

At the adolescent, the habit of lying indicates, according to Popescu Neveanu [3], either affective suffering, refusal to integrate into the environment, or disorientation of personality. Alledy notes: “The child who is lying, is either dissatisfied with the surrounding reality, either dissatisfied with himself.”[4] “When we talk about children, and not only, we can see interpersonal communication as being realized with the aim of discovering the external world by concreting understanding of external relations, objects and events with its help.”

[5] “Listening is one of the most important skills used in the communication process (...) Therefore, listening authentically means being empathetic with the thoughts and feelings of the other’s .” [5] A person, as an individual or as a member of the family and society, needs religion; through it, the man knows God as the source of truth and as the norm of the moral life that brings happiness. By religion, man gets the safety of his deed and rises above the creatures around him. Religious sentiment is defined as “purity, awe and piety,” “the judgment of affectional evaluation of an invisible world,” “faculty or mental mood which, independently and despite senses or reason, makes man capable of feeling

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infinity under different names and divine disguises “[7].

Religious values, regardless of their nature, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., resisted over time despite the aggressive efforts to mitigate them, especially in communist Romania, but the continuity of values from parents to children could not be annihilated; Christian religion, for example, religion that is shared by the authors of the present work, Christian religion is weaker not in the sphere of experience, of living and feeling religious sentiment, as we expected, but in the ritual. Religion and religious beliefs are the essential directions of our spiritual becoming and they are transmitted to children since religious belief and religious sentiment are essential to value dimensions of the individual (and group) personality structures.

II. OBJECTIVES

Highlighting the fact that the adolescents use the lie as a way of adapting, the lie being representative, the main feature in absenteeism, absenteeism being a known form of deviant behavior.

Specific objectives consist of Identifying adolescents who use lies as a way to adapt; and highlighting the fact that lies is a way to adapt of adolescents which absenting from school, comparative with adolescents who does not have frequent absences.

III. HYPOTHESES

1. Absenteeism, as a form of deviant behavior, is the result of permissiveness and disinterest towards the educational system.

2. It is assumed that adolescents who absent from school, use the lie as a way of adapting, more than adolescents who does not absent from school hours.

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IV. LOT OF PARTICIPANTS

The sample of participants in the study is made up of 20 teenagers, 10th grade pupils from a high school in Constanta, selected from 86 students from the three grades of the 10th grade participating in the research. For the selection of the students participating in the research, sampling was used for evaluation. [6] These teenagers obtained high scores on the “Lie “ scale of the personality test, and also, following the analysis of the school situation, we found that they had accumulated an alarming number of absences to all disciplines, being on the verge of expulsion. Of the 20 selected teenagers, 12 are boys and 8 are girls.

For validation of hypothesis 2, it was necessary to involve a control lot.

Control group participants are among the 86 adolescents initially involved in the research, but they have no absences and have achieved average scores on the “Lie” scale. Of the 20 participants in the control group, 11 are boys and 9 are girls.

Of the 20 participants in the study group, 5 students are 16 years old (25%), 9 students are 17 years old (45%) and 6 are 18 years old (30%).

Of the 20 participants in the control group, 7 students are 16 years old (35%), 9 are 17 years old (45%) and 4 are 18 years old (20%). The group consists of 12 male participants (60%) and 8 female participants (40%).

The control group consists of 11 male participants (55%) and 9 female participants (45%).

V. METHODS/INSTRUMENTS

For the proper conduct of research the following tools were used: 1. Test “Reactive and Emotional Dynamics” (RDE) which comprises five scales: Lie, Nervous Energy, Nervous

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Mobility, Inhibitory Strength and Reactivity, and Emotional Dynamics. Of the five scales of the test, only the “Lie” scale was used to highlight the disguised behavior of adolescents.

2. A questionnaire regarding the perception of absenteeism in school. This questionnaire consists of 12 closed and open questions, with variants of the answer depending on the question asked.

VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In order to test the initial assumptions we considered it useful to analyze the frequency distributions of the answers given by the pupils to the applied questionnaire, both, from the perspective of the support it can offer in interpreting the statistical results and from the fact that they can reflect some aspects related to students’ attitudes, to some aspects of the reality they live in, such as school absenteeism.

In order to achieve the proposed objective, the data obtained from the initial processing was subsequently processed in order to highlight the differences between the working group and the control group, regarding the lie.

In order to validate the first hypothesis, a comparative analysis was performed on each item of the questionnaire, trying to highlight the percentage - the comparative perception of the two groups of participants in the study.

From the analysis of the comparative data for the item “What do you think are the reasons why some of your colleagues are missing from school?”, We can see that the largest share for both groups is held by the students who stated that absenteeism was due to the too loaded program, but also due to the teacher from the disciplines where he is absent.

There are also differences between the two groups; the students in the study group

are also absent because they do not like that hour or not interested in school, while those in the control group solve their absences by getting medical exemptions, and when they are absent they avoid taking small notes.

The obtained results reveal that the majority of the students believe that absenteeism is due, at the same time, as the overloaded program as well as the low performance of the teachers.

From the analysis of comparative data for the item/the question “What happens when a student has unmotivated absents for long time ?”, it is noted that in the case of the study group, pupils consider that when are missing from school are expelled, or, their note for good behavior are lowered; on the other hand, the pupils in the control group believe that, first of all, parents are called to school, so parents are responsible, and to them, personal, nothing can happen.

The obtained results reveal that the majority of the students consider that in the case of absenteeism the parents are called to the school, however, those in the study group have accumulated many absences, being in danger to be eliminated.

From the analysis of comparative data for the item /the question “Please state the reasons why you were absent from school?” it can be noticed that for the study group, the biggest share of the reasons for absenteeism is the answer “I do not care about school”, followed by “I do not like the teacher”. Students in the control group are absent from school in order not to get a small note, but at the same time they manage the situation by obtaining medical certificates for absences. Also, some of them are absenting from school because they do not like the teacher.

The results show that most of the students are absent from school because they do not like the teacher, and those who have too many absences are not interested in school.

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From the analysis of the comparative data for the item/the question “Suggest three things that in your opinion may make the hours more enjoyable”, it is noticed that the working group would like to change the teachers’ teaching style, curriculum less busy- more relaxed, and more permissive teachers, while the control group would want fewer hours, shorter schedules, and changing the teaching style.

From the analysis of the comparative data for the item /the question “How often do you absenting from the school hours?”, It can be noticed that in the working group the number of hours missing varies between 1-9 hours per week and in the control group some pupils are absent from 1 to 6 hours per week, but there are also students who had not been absent at all.

From the analysis of the comparative data for the item /the question “What do you think would make you have a better presence in the classes?”, It is noted that in both groups the opinion is unanimous, in the sense that, which would determinate the students to have a better presence in the classes is the appreciation of the teachers, they being interested not to destroy the relationship with the class teacher- the tutor of class.

From the analysis of the comparative data for the item /the question “What are the characteristics of the class time at which you would be present?”, it is noted that in the case of the working group, students would like not to get bored and to get involved; in the same time, those in the control group would like to be a pleasant atmosphere at classes, to be involved in activities and work in groups, in a team.

From the analysis of the comparative data for the item/the question “From which disciplines are you missing more often from school?”, it is noticeable that students in the working group does not like to be present at mathematics and physic classes, and

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those in the control group, does not like to be present at mathematics, chemistry, but also religion.

From the analysis of comparative data for the item/the question “What difficulties do you encounter in the school, at the school hours?, students in the working group think that math is too heavy and they do not understand it, but also that the teacher’s requirements are too high. They also claim tiredness.

In the case of students in the control group, they do not like math because it is too heavy and they do not understand it, and physics and chemistry they does not like; regarding religion, they consider that religion classes are boring. These results may also be because the profile of the Lyceum is humanistic, and these students do not master too well the exact sciences.

From the comparative data analysis for the item /the question “Where do you go when you leave school?”, The students in the working group mostly recognized that they are going to bars, but also in the park and in the cafeteria, while the students in the control group, the majority, when missing from school they go home or in the park. There are also some of them who have admitted that they go to the internet cafe or the bar.

The results obtained show that most of the students, when absent, they are in bars or park, especially those who have many absences.

From comparative data analysis for the item/the question “Whom do you spend time with when you are missing from school?”, The students in the working group said they were going with their friends, and some of them even with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Most of the control group spend their time with colleagues, but they also go with their friends, or with their girlfriend or boyfriend.

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From the analysis of comparative data for the item/the question “ Does your parents know that you missed from school hours”, it is noticed that the students in the working group hide from their parents the fact that they are absent from school, confirming the fact that they use the lie as adaption compartment, but this adaptation is deviant because it is used to conceal another deviant behavior, absenteeism being a form of deviant behavior.

Some of them admitted that their parents found out they were missing, but from someone else, and they did not dare to tell their parents how they use their time when should be at school. Instead, most students in the control group declared that they personally told their parents when it happened to be absent from school, but there are also some parents who had found out from someone else that their sons are absent from school, in the rare cases when it happened.

For the validation of the second hypothesis, primary data processing was initially performed. Thus, referring to the working group, we have already stated that they were chosen from a larger lot because they obtained high scores on the “lie” scale.

Of the total of 20 adolescents in the workgroup, 8 teenagers obtained a score of 13 (40%), and 12 adolescents obtained a score of 14 (60%) (at lie), indicating that they use the lie as a way of defense.

In the “Reactive and Emotional Dynamics” test, on the “Nervous energy” scale, the majority of the participants show nervous weakness; low resistance to intense and long-term stresses, too stressful and emotionally charged situations; predisposition towards neurasthenia.

At the “Nervous mobility “ scale, low scores were obtained, which revealed low reactivity; initiative and limited promptitude.

At the “Force of Inhibition” scale,

in a significant percentage they exhibit impulsivity, insufficiently controll in tensioning situations, and presents balancing difficulties in affectionate tension situations.

They have reduced ability to concentrate in time, and show tendencies towards superficiality.

Regarding the control group, adolescents score low and moderate on the “lie” scale, indicating that they are honest people, the average score being 6.40 and the standard deviation of 1.72.

To find out whether there were significant differences between the two groups of study participants, the data were subjected to a comparative analysis using the t-test for independent samples from SPSS [8] Table 1. Scoring averages for the two groups participating in the study

VII. CONCLUSIONS

Our research has highlighted, once again, that students tell lies for their own interest , with serenity and without shame. For them, lie is a way of survival in the face of everchanging systems, in the face of inability of adults to understand their problems. They lie to resist; lying is their way of adapting, is their defense mechanism or maybe their cry of help. They tell lies because they are not sharing their problems with their parents, and when they are”discovered” what better way of justification would they find that lie?

Students consider the school as being a “place to learn”, not necessarily with

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pleasure. That is why, because of boredom or fear not to take a small note, kids leave schools for hours, staying simply on the street, or they prefer to play on the computer or walk in the company of family or friends. At present, the youth claim their right to their own identity, to greater moral autonomy, revolting against age-imposed bans and challenging the authority of adults - parents or teachers.

Table 2. Test t for comparison of environments for the variable - lie

Concluding, firstly school should be a place where students should come and be relaxed, not to be afraid and stressed before the lessons begins. Secondly, what does not interest and passionate the teacher, has no reason to attract and interest more the pupil.

The student should not be reduced to the status of a passive and depersonalized receptor, each of them having a distinct individuality. Of course, we can discover the individuality of each according to the available time, but a teacher should always

The results confirmed the hypothesis: there is a significant difference between the two groups studied in the “lie” scale.

Analyzing the comparison table for the independent sample, we can see that the comparison t (t = 17,883) compares to a significant difference at a threshold of p <0.001. The second value of “t” (t (22,1) = 17,883, p <0,01) was taken into account as the Levene test was significant (F = 22,565, p <0,01). Participants in the study group obtained higher scores on the “lie” scale from the personality test “Reactive and Emotional Dynamics” towards those in the control group.

It follows that the subjects in the study group knowing that they have absences above the limit allowed by the school regulation tried to choose the answer to the questions of the scale “lie” which would benefit them , rather than the ones that fits them.

verify if it is understood, if he has been heard, if pupils are interested in what he is saying.

Overall, in the view of the participants in the study, the phenomenon of absenteeism is mainly explained by causes related to the curricular area. The socialization process of the younger generation is negatively affected by the lack of moral values and general life points, by the instability and fluctuation of existential situations, by the superficiality of value standards, which often cause misbehavior and behavioral deviations.

The tedious hours, the deficiencies related to the teacher’s style, his authority, the way they impose themselves in front of pupils, the school curriculum, are the main reasons why students do not attend classes.

The need to rest at home is most often invoked to justify the time spent outside of the school, during classes.

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Even if they say they are leaving school alone or accompanied, most students think that short and more attractive lessons, or more indulgent teachers, will make them more to frequent school.

It was once again confirmed that students do not appreciate school as important for their future, as neither the quality of the information received at classes is satisfactory for today’s teenagers’ needs.

of Constanta and of the Faculty of Sociology, Ovidius University in Constanta; I am a Doctor of Social Sciences at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Lecturer at Ovidius University from Constanta, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. My field of interest is social psychology, work psychology and judicial psychology

References [1] [2] [3]

[4] [5] [6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Ispas Kristine Viorica

Vrabie, D., Psychology of Education, (Ed. Geneze, Galaţi, 2002), p. 246.

Piaget, J., Child Psychology Publishing House, (Ed. Cartier, Bucharest, 2005), p. 165.

Popescu, Neveanu, P., Psycho-pedagogical studies on the development of children between 3 and 7 years, (Ed. Didactic and Pedagogical, Bucharest, 1970).

Cucoş, C., Lying, counterfeiting, simulation a psychological approach, (Ed. Polirom, Iaşi, 1997) Grigore, M., Communication techniques in social assistance-applications, (Ed Sitech, Craiova, 2017), p. 11, 64,65 Mânzat, I. , The Psychology of Religious Faith. Human Transconciliation, (Ed. Science & Technology, Bucharest, 1997), p. 135.

Sintion, F. Călin, M.F., Methodology of research in socio-human sciences,( Ed. Ovidius University Press, Constanța, 2014), p. 116.

Sintion, F., Calin, M.F., Statistics in social and human sciences, vol II, (Ed. Ovidius University Press, Constanta, 2015), p. 68-71.

Graduate of the Psychosociological Faculty of Andrei Saguna University of Constanta licentiate of the University of Bucharest; licentiate of the Faculty of Law and Administrative Sciences at Andrei Saguna University in Constanta; graduate of the Master of Clinical Psychology - evaluation and therapeutic intervention of the Psychosociology Faculty of Andrei Saguna University in Constanta. Currently, I work as a psychologist at Ispas Kristine - Individual Cabinet of Psychology, my field of interest being Clinical Psychology, Labor Psychology and Adlerian Psychotherapy.

BIOGRAPHY Sandu Luminita

Mihaela

Graduated of the Faculty of Psychology and Social Assistance at the Andrei Saguna University

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Dobrogea – A European Model of Multiethnic Fr. Iulian ISBĂȘOIU – Assist. Prof. Ph.D. Department of Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 16 August 2018 Received in revised form 2 October Accepted 10 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.5

Multiculturalism is a contemporary reality. The labour market has become dynamic and people can move, especially in the area of a united Europe, without hitting too many obstacles. However, the experience requires an understanding of how we behave in the space where we want to work in and in which we want to live. The rules of peaceful coexistence require the capacity of understanding the respect for the ethnic, cultural and religious identity of each person. Every ethnic community can and should contribute actively to the development of the interethnic and interreligious relations in the common space that we share. This study discusses a model of interethnic and interreligious coexistence that lies in the Romanian historical region of Dobrogea, made up of Constanța and Tulcea counties. We have considered necessary to present a retrospective summary of the history of this territory as a necessary preamble to the development of our topic. The presentation of each ethnicity, of the religious and ethnic map described in the latest national census and of the current situation of relations between the Romanian majority community and other minorities that live in this space portray the area as having a status of a “European model” of interethnic and interreligious coexistence.

Keywords: Dobrogea; model; coexistence; interethnic; interreligious; census; Christian; Muslim;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction[1]

From a dialogue between our Saviour Jesus Christ and a Pharisee who tempted him, asking him to tell the latter what the greatest commandment in the Law was, we find in the answer Jesus gives the golden rule of Christianity: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with your entire mind. This is the

greatest and first commandment. And the second goes the same as the first: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend the Law and the Prophets’ words” (Matthew 22, 37-40). The love for one’s neighbor is the supreme materialization of understanding the message left by Christ our Saviour, who gave us the perfect example of humility and forgiveness. In many of His teachings

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and those of His followers, the Apostles, we receive the urge for understanding and tolerance in relation to our peers, even if they are of another nation or share another faith.

Outstanding in this respect is the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10, 25-37), which clarifies our understanding on our neighbor’s identity within the Christian worldview. In it we receive proof that the neighbor is not only represented by one of the same nation and faith with us but by everyone around us. This principle is expressed in one form or another in the teachings promoted by the major world religions or those of the great sages. The rule was taught continuously but at the same time, almost like all the rules, it has been violated, very often the personal interest being more important, which is a consequence of the deterioration of our perception of human existence. History demonstrates that the violation of this rule has constantly happened.

We live in a world that attempts a resetting of values, often ignoring those that bring peace and promoting those that would impose “justice”. The fact that God, above the promotion of justice, brought love is often ignored and this an aspect presented in beautiful words by St. Paul: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I have no love, I am an empty sounding brass and thunderous cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and I knew all mysteries and all knowledge, and I had such faith to move mountains, and I have no love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods and I give my body to be burned, and I have no love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Love does not behave with disrespect, it seeks not its own use, it cannot be provoked, it thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth.

Love bears all things, believes everything, hopes and endures. Love never falls”.

(I Corinthians 13: 1-8). We note that this feeling should be transformed, in everyday

life, and here we refer to the relationship with our neighbors, in respect. This respect requires tolerance, that is acceptance of the ones around us, whether they share the same values or not, as long as they do not violate peaceful coexistence. The problem of tolerant coexistence in the world is so necessary to debate today, considering the transformations that happen around us, where ethnic and religious tolerance are in great danger because of the promotion of nationalist extremist or religious fundamentalist idea.

An example to follow for a model of interethnic and interreligious coexistence is the most cosmopolitan region in Romania: Dobrogea.

II. A short history of Dobrogea

The territory between the Danube and the Black Sea, called Dobrogea, was part of the territorial area called by historians “the ethnic unity of the Carpathian-DanubianPontic space”[2].

The history of Dobrogea is not devoid of outstanding events because the geographical location of the province had always been a challenge for those who wanted to expand their political and economic influence. In the seventh century BC started the colonizing of these places by the Greeks, who founded several cities on Black Sea (Callatis, Tomis, Histria, Halmyris, etc). The region developed due to the trade between the Greek merchants and the native Dacians in the villages situated near the newly founded cities.

The development of the area is attractive for those who wanted to expand their dominance. Therefore, the territory is attacked and subjected by Persians (after the expedition of Darius in 514 BC), Macedonians (Alexander the Great conquered Dobrogea in 330 BC) and the Dacian state ruled by Burebista. During this period, the Geto-

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Dacians kept their autonomy from the occupants.

A turning point in the history of these lands occurs in the second half of the first century BC when Dobrogea was conquered and became part of the Roman province of Lower Moesia. In these conditions, its residents actively participated in the fighting between the Dacians and the Romans at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. During this period occurs the Christianization of the territory between the Danube and the Black Sea. The Christian tradition tells us that St. Andrew would have received the task, after the draw, to preach the Gospel in Scythia. So he reached the two Scythian territories: Major Scythia (southern Ukraine) and Minor Scythia (today’s Dobrogea)[3]. Important historical evidence, from the first Christian centuries, comes to the aid of this statement. Hippolytus[4], Eusebius and Origen testify that St. Andrew preached the Gospel in Scythia[5]. Other arguments that confirm the presence of Christianity in these territories in its primary age are related to the toponymy of the region: the Cave of St. Andrew, St. Andrew’s creek in Dobrogea[6], or to the folklore of the area, the name of St. Andrew appearing in the carols, beliefs and in general in the folklore of Dobrogea[7]. Since the fourth century testimonies had grown due to the persecution of the Christians also present in Dobrogea. All these testimonies led to the claim that the Romanian people “was born Christian spontaneously, naturally, with the formation of its Roman origin. We are Romanians because we are Christians and Christians because we are Romanians”[8].

After the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, Dobrogea remains part of the Eastern Roman Empire, called Byzantium.

By the fifth century AD, the region experienced a significant development; the number of cities built or rebuilt being increasing significantly. In the late sixth

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century AD, because of the invasions of the Huns and Bulgarians, the territory’s population decreases significantly. From the second half of the seventh century until the end of the tenth century, a Bulgarian domination is instituted. Since 971, the Byzantine rule in Dobrogea is resumed.

King John Tzimiskes organizes here a theme[9], a territorial organization made up of two regions: one in the north (Dristra), which contains Dobrogea, and one in the South (Ioannopolis). In the next period, the territory will be divided differently, Dobrogea still remaining part of the Eastern Byzantine Empire.

From the second half of the twelfth century a new historical stage starts. In 1185, an uprising occurs, that of the Vlach brothers Peter and Asan, after which Dobrogea is included in the Vlach-Bulgarian Empire until 1320 (1325), when it becomes independent territory. In the next period the name of a leader is mentioned, Balica.

He and his sons Theodore and Dobrotici get involved in the Byzantine internal infighting.

The Byzantines attack them and Balica and Teodor die in battle. Dobrotici remains ruler of territory until 1386, when he dies and is succeeded by Ivanco.

In 1388[10], a Turkish expedition conquers the territory and divides Dobrogea in two: half (the south) falls under the Ottoman rule and the other half (the north), becomes a Wallachian territory, led then by Mircea cel Bătrân. After Mircea’s death, his son Michael I loses the territory, which falls under Turkish domination. There were several attempts, but they could not recapture it but only partially and for a very short period of time at the beginning of the seventeenth century, under the reign of Michael the Brave.

Under the Ottoman rule, the local population did not disappear. Although the Turks largely colonized this area, there had always been a population of “Giaours” as

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the Turks called the local population[11].

The national feeling began to revive in Dobrogea, with the Union of the principalities in 1859. The Treaty of Berlin in 1878, after the Russo-Turkish War and gaining Romanian independence, divided Dobrogea between Bulgaria (one third) and Romania (two thirds). At the return to the mother country, in Dobrogea there were 226,000 inhabitants (71,000 Tatars, 49,000 Turks, 47,000 Romanians, 30,000 Bulgarians, the rest were Jews, Greeks, Armenians, etc.)

[12].

The First World War brought a change of situation, in October 1916 when the GermanBulgarian troops occupied Dobrogea for two years. In the autumn of 1918, the territory is liberated and finally entered Greater Romania.

III. Ethnicities in Dobrogea

A brief historical overview of the presence of these ethnic groups on the territory of Dobrogea is a basis for the analysis of their coexistence.

Regarding the Romanian community, it was born on these territories and was baptized by one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, St. Andrew. In support of this thesis, there are all the historical, archaeological, place names evidence etc.

The traditions and customs of the Romanians in Dobrogea display the national diversity, because this territory is inhabited

by Romanians coming from all regions of Romania, having arrived here for various social, economic or political reasons, especially after 1878.

The Turkish community shares a life in this land of over seven hundred years, from the second half of the thirteenth century, the massive colonization taking place after the Battle of Varna in the year 1444. Thus, “in the seventeenth century almost all the villages and towns in Dobrogea had

Turkish names and the Turks were in large numbers”[13]. Of the 195 mosques in early 1900 in Dobrogea, today there are only 72 because some community members migrated to Turkey after 1945. The most important holidays are Kurban Bayram (the feast of sacrifice), Ramazan Bayram (the feast of fasting), Hâdârlez, etc.

The Other Muslim community, the Tatar community is found on Dobrogea territory around the second half of the thirteenth century as well.

Religious buildings of high historical value are Carol I Mosque and Hunkiar Mosque of Constanța, Esmahan Sultan Mosque in Mangalia and other places of worship in Dobrogea, serving Muslim communities as places of worship. The two Muslim ethnic groups have preserved their traditions and customs, which they highlight on various occasions celebrating them through religious and cultural manifestations.

The Macedo-Romanians, a large community in Dobrogea, is, according to some historians, “the followers of Romanized peoples of South-eastern Europe (Macedonians, Thracians, Illyrians) or colonized by the Romans. This process was conducted on quite a large and compact territory that stretched from Northern Carpathians and the territory south of the Balkans”[14]. Most are Orthodox Christians and have intertwined traditions and habits with those of other Orthodox Christians of other ethnicities. The National Day of Macedo-Romanians and various other holidays dedicated to their culture are celebrated festively.

The Dobrogean Greeks are descendants of the Greek communities present in the province since the seventh century BC. They have contributed over time to the economic, social and cultural development of the region. As they share the same faith with the majority from a religious point of view, they are not particularly distinguished,

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except through some specific habits of the Greek people occasioned by specific religious festivities or popular holidays.

Their numbers declined after 1945 because of migration, the community becoming active after 1989, when cultural events have been resumed and various representative associations have been established.

Another important community in Dobrogea is the of Lippovan Russians, old rite Orthodox Christians who keep all the holidays according to the Julian calendar, 13 days later than the Orthodox, who follow the revised calendar. The population is concentrated mainly in Tulcea County and preserves the traditions and customs, strictly obeying the cultural heritage.

Armenians, another, at some point fairly large, ethnic community, have contributed substantially to the economic and social development of the area. They have been present here as early as the fourteenth century and have been involved in merchant activities, crafts and banking.

The Italian community in Dobrogea came here in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, their primary occupation being sea trade. Now we meet them in small numbers in Tulcea, as followers of those dealing with the work in stone.

The Roma in Dobrogea is also a numerically significant ethnic community, derived from the merging of families coming from different regions of the country. They are mostly Orthodox Christians and also respect the ethnic traditions and customs.

There is also a community of “Turkish Gypsies” who embrace the Muslim faith, traditions and customs[15].

Among the ethnic groups who had a significant contribution to the development of this region, we should also mention here the Jews and the Germans, the latter established in Dobrogea after the second half of the nineteenth century.

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Among the neighbouring peoples who are ethnically represented on the territory of Dobrogea, there are also Bulgarians, who decreased in number after the Peace of Bucharest in 1913, when many of them moved into the Quadrilateral.

IV. The current statistic map of Dobrogea – ethnicities and religions

Harmonious coexistence in Dobrogea was written on various occasions and it was pointed out that it is a European model. The latest population census confirms our ethnic diversity and the religious composition of the inhabitants of Dobrogea. We have found out that in this province, which includes the two counties of Constanța and Tulcea[16], there is an ethnic mosaic with members, from a total of 897.165 people, as follows: Romanians, as the majority population (751.250), Turks (22.500), Tatars (19. 720), Lippovan Russians (13.910), Roma (11.977), Ukrainians (1177), Greeks (1447), Hungarians (520), Germans (166), Serbs (20), Slovaks (9), Bulgarians (58), Croats (4), Italians (117), Jews (43), Polish (26), Chinese (8), Armenians (321), Csango (52), Macedonians (562), plus those who did not confess their ethnicity as and those about whom there is insufficient data[17]. We see, if we look at the classification of these national data, that Dobrogea is missing only one ethnic group, the Czechs, at least as far as people’ confession is concerned.

We wanted to mention this statistic to reach the other component of coexistence and tolerance, religion (or denomination), which is an existential part and in most cases an identity element for an ethnic group or another. If we enumerate approximately in Dobrogea, according to official data, 20 ethnic groups, from a religious point of view, we notice the presence of at least 18 religions and denominations. Thus, we have a Christian Orthodox majority, represented

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in percentage as 83.9% of the population and an important Muslim community (5.1% of the population). The Old Rite Orthodox Christians exceed 1.2%. They are concentrated more in Tulcea, as the Muslims are found in majority in Constanța county.

Among other faiths, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Greek Catholic, Reformed, Unitarian, Lutheran Evangelical, Augustan Evangelical, Neo-protestant denominations (Pentecostals, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Evangelicals, Evangelists, etc. .) none exceeds the threshold of 0.5% of the resident population[18].

V. Coexistence in respect

In the above presentation, we made a summary description of the main ethnic groups inhabiting the territory of Dobrogea and we could notice that the diverse ethnic representation brings a multi-religious and multi-denominational dimension. This diversity has never been a hindrance to good life on these territories.

We notice that the number of religions and confessions is close to the number of ethnic groups. For those who know the differences, often important, between faiths and denominations, it is impossible to understand that we can live together in peace and tolerance in a world full of challenges as that of today. However, things happen in an exemplary atmosphere, which is the result of a realistic perception of the message conveyed by every religion and denomination in terms of respect and tolerance towards all those around us.

After 1878, when the territory of Dobrogea became part of United Romania, we are not aware of any major event that occurred because of ethnic or religious disputes. On the contrary, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, the residents of Dobrogea participated together in all the social, political and cultural events that took

place here.

This harmony has been preserved and highlighted especially after 1989, when each ethnic group has been able to show their identity and to promote its values, while maintaining respect for those with whom they live.

We would like to mention that at “Ovidius” University of Constanța, there has been since 2006, an interreligious research center called in a suggestive manner the “Centre for the Religious and CanonicalLegal Research and Study of the three Monotheistic Religions (Jewish, Christian and Muslim)”.

Thus, the ethnic and religious diversity is represented in all the cultural-religious manifestations and the dialogue among the communities is the main foundation of this relationship. The communities in Romania received the freedom to organize themselves in associations, leagues, etc., to represent their interests and promote their ethnic and cultural identity. We list some of the organizations operating on the territory of Dobrogea: the Islamic and Cultural League in Romania (LICA) - established in 1990 as an association of Muslim students, with branches in Bucharest (1999), Timişoara (1992), Iaşi (1994), Cluj-Napoca (1996) and Constanţa (1997); The Democratic Union of Turkish-Muslim Tartars in Romania (UDTTMR); the Turkish Democratic Union of Romania (UDTR); the League of Albanians in Romania (LAR); the Cultural Union of Albanians in Romania (UCAR, 1990), counting the Albanian Muslims[19]; Muşata Armână organization; “Veria” Association of Techirghiol; the “Aromanian Community in Romania” Constanța branch; “Elpis Hellenic Community of Constanța; the “Lippovan Russian Community in Romania”; the “Union of Armenians of Romania” Constanța branch; the “Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania” Constanța branch; the “Community of Evangelical Germans

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in Dobrogea” - Constanța; “Edinstvo” Community of Bulgarians; “Roma ACCESS Tomis” - Constanța; “Pro-Europe Roma Party” - Constanța branch[20].

At the level of education, the teaching of the mother tongue was facilitated in schools, in high schools and universities; religion classes were introduced for each religion acknowledged by the state and textbooks for teaching these lessons were edited. For a more detailed knowledge of the history of these ethnic groups elective courses were introduced for studying the history of the minorities living in Romania[21]. Also, the 6th and 7th form, there is a class on the “History and traditions of minorities”. These are taught “only where the number of students is large enough to hold classes taught in the minority language or where at the request of a sufficient number of parents they teach the minority language”[22]. The largest minority community in Dobrogea, the Muslim community enjoys all the rights provided by Romanian legislation on education. Thus, in 1995 it was re-established in Medgidia the Muslim Theological and Pedagogical School Kemal Ataturk, which had been abolished in the 1956-1957 school year. The 2000-2001 academic and school year brings new achievements in the area of education for the Turkish community by establishing within “Ovidius” University of Constanța the Pedagogical College Kemal Ataturk.

This college prepares in two departments, Romanian-Turkish and Turkish-English, teachers who teach in Turkish. In parallel, since 1989, private educational institutions teaching subjects in Turkish also appeared.

The Orthodox Church took care of the schooling of Lippovan Russian theologians, both in high schools and in universities.

The Theological Seminary in Iași had in 2002-2008, a class of Russian Lipovans “half of them coming from the Dobrogea communities”[23]. His Eminence Flavian from Slava Rusă and other Lippovan

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professors were involved in the teaching.

The Faculty of Theology in Constanța trains theologians that will be active in the Lippovan Russian communities and has in its educational offer a number of master’s programs “on the culture and peaceful coexistence in Dobrogea and the Danube space over the centuries and the interreligious communication of the three major universal religions, which found in Dobrogea a favourable place to use different ways and means to communicate with each other”[24].

Conclusion The social, political and religious developments in Europe today present the evolution of the interethnic and interreligious relations and the efforts that are made in order to achieve one of the main goals of this construction (the European Union): unity in diversity.

Even if after 1990, Europe was faced with many ethnic and inter-religious conflicts[25], we have tried to demonstrate in this article that there is a European state, in Romania, a historical region called Dobrogea where peace reigns. Although 22 ethnic groups coexist here, almost each with their own religion or confession, after 1878, when the region was returned to the mother country - Romania, there has been no ethnic or religious conflict [26]. Regardless of ethnicity, language or religion, all the inhabitants of Dobrogea have fought for the good of the community, for the economic, social and cultural development of this region.

The special relationship between the major Romanian and the Turkish-Tatar communities is a model of dialogue and coexistence for Europe, especially in these times when the latter is facing a massive influx of immigrants mostly coming from Muslim countries. Romanians and Muslims

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here have demonstrated that they can live in respect for one another and through dialogue and regular exchange of values.

References [1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

See a preliminary version of the article: Iulian Isbășoiu, “Conviețuirea interetnică și interreligioasă în Dobrogea” [Interethnic and Interreligious Coexistence in Dobrogea], in Poliția impact, XIV, no. 146, February 2015, pp. 16-17.

Adrian Rădulescu și Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei [History of Dobrogea], Ed. Ex Ponto, Constanța, 1998, second revised edition, Constanța, 1998, pp. 32-33.

Pr. Dr. Mircea Păcurariu, Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române. Manual pentru Seminariile Teologice [History of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Textbook for Theology Seminars], Sibiu, 1978, p. 15.

Emilian Popescu, “Creștinismul timpuriu pe teritoriul României. 1. Originile apostolice. 2.

Bizanţul sau Roma?”, [Early Christianity on Romanian Territory. 1. Evangelical Origins.

2. Byzantium or Rome?] in Priveghind și lucrând pentru mântuire [Vigil and Work for Salvation], Iași, .2001, p. 200, apud Alexandru Niculescu, “Originile creștinismului românesc. Greco-latinitatea” [Roots of Romanian Christianity. Greeks and Latins], in Dacoromania, new series, V–VI, 2000–2001, Cluj-Napoca, p. 52.

Dr. Sebastian Dumitru Cârstea, “Creștinismul românesc din primele secole. Puncte de vedere” [Early Romanian Christianity], in Revista Teologica, no. 2/2008, p.124.

Pr. Dr. Mircea Păcurariu, Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române. Manual pentru Seminariile Teologice [History of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Textbook for Theology Seminars], Sibiu, 1978, p. 15.

Virgil Lungu, “Misionarismul și începuturile Creștinismului în Scythla Minor [Missionarism and the Beginnings of Christianity in Scythia Minor]”, in Pontica, no. 25 (1992), pp.299.

Radu Vulpe, “De la Dunăre la Mare. Mărturii istorice și documente de artă creștină” [From the Danube to the Black Sea. Historical

accounts and Christian art documents], Galați, 1979, p. 21, apud Virgil Lungu, Misionarismul și începuturile Creștinismului în Scythla Minor [Missionarism and the Beginnings of Christianity in Scythia Minor], in Pontica, no.

25 (1992), pp.299.

[9] “Dobrogea, conquered in the 10-11th centuries by the Byzantines, converted in a province with the status of a theme or a strategy, although it changed to the 15th century its rulers several times, remained continuously in connection with the empire on which it depended in a nominal manner”, Radu Ștefan Ciobanu, Genovezii și rolul lor în Dobrogea sec. al XIV-lea [The Genovese and their Role in 14th Century Dobrogea], in Pontica, vol. 2 (1969), p. 402.

[10] “The following year, 1388, during the expedition of Grand Vizier Ali Pasha against Dobrogea, Ivanco perished from the stage of history in conditions that no literary sources disclosed. Dobrogea ended its feudal existence as an independent state, the boyars here united with those in Wallachia in order to oppose the Ottoman torrent”, according to Radu Ștefan Ciobanu, Genovezii și rolul lor în Dobrogea sec. al XIV-lea [The Genovese and their Role in 14th Century Dobrogea], in Pontica, vol. 2 (1969), p. 402.

[11] “During the three centuries of Ottoman rule, an unverified but significant number of giaours became Turks to get rid of the tribute, so a part of the Turkish Muslims in Dobrogea are actually of Christian origin” [12] https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istoria_ Dobrogei.

[13] [] Sânziana Ionescu, „The Constitution of Dobrogea”. How the Romanian administration wanted to oppose the „Slav element” which demanded land. Adevărul, 31 August 2015, note 31, https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istoria_ Dobrogei.

[14] ***Diversitatea etnică specifică județului Constanța, obiceiuri și tradiții, Constanța [The ethnic diversity of Constanța county, customs and traditions], 2012, p. 3.

[15] Aromânii. Istorie, limbă, destin, Broșura etnii [Macedo-Romanians. History, language, destiny. A leaflet of ethnicities], edited by Neagu Djuvara, apud Diversitatea etnică

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specifică județului Constanța, obiceiuri și tradiții [The ethnic diversity of Constanța county, customs and traditions], Constanța, 2012, p. 17.

[16] Petre Covacev, ‘Țiganii musulmani din Dobrogea’ [Muslim Gipsies in Dobrogea], in Transilvania, no. 4-5, pp. 40-54.

[17] For more data on the historical evolution of the population of Tulcea, see: Dr. Florin George Topoleanu dr. Gabriel Jugănaru dr.

Steluța Pârâu, Paul Lucian Tocanie, Studiu privind aspecte istorice și etnografice ale comunităților locale din rezervația biosferei Delta Dunării [Study on historical and ethnographic aspects of the local communities of the Danube Delta reserve], Tulcea, 2008.

[18] Petre Covacev, ‘Țiganii musulmani din Dobrogea’ [Muslim Gipsies in Dobrogea], in Transilvania, no. 4-5, pp. 40-54.

[19] h t t p : / / w w w. r e c e n s a m a n t r o m a n i a . r o / rezultate-2/.

[20] Maria Bara, [Interethnic relations between the Orthodox Christians and the Muslims in Dobrogea. A case study: Medgidia and Cobadin], in Philologica Jassyensia, An II, Nr. 1, 2006, p. 93-104, p. 102.

[21] ***Diversitatea etnică specifică județului Constanța, obiceiuri și tradiții [The ethnic diversity of Constanța county, customs and traditions], Constanța, 2012.

[22] *** History of national minorities in Romania, elective course, 10th form, approved by the Ministry of Education, decision no.

6296/17.12.2008.

[23] Note of presentation, *** History of national minorities in Romania, elective course, 10th form, p. 2.

[24] Pr. Prof. dr. Vasile Nechita, dr. Sebastian Voicu, Dobrogea, leagănul unei bimilenare conviețuiri [Dobrogea, the cradle of bimillenial coexistence], ed. Vasiliana 98, Iași, 2013, p. 147.

[25] Pr. Prof. dr. Vasile Nechita, dr. Sebastian Voicu, Dobrogea, leagănul unei bimilenare conviețuiri [Dobrogea, the cradle of bimillenial coexistence], p. 151.

[26] “Many areas of southeastern Europe are multiethnic and multilingual border regions, which in the course of the twentieth century

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have gone through changes of ruling groups because of displaced borders, deportations and colonization. Some regions have become the target of an intensive policy of colonization or recolonization, others experienced a political revenge or even ethnic “cleansing”, Thede Kahl, Întrebări și metode ale cercetării coexistenței interreligioase în Europa de Sud-Est [Questions and research methods of the interreligious coexitence in South-East Europe], Philologica Jassyensia, II, No. 1, 2006, p. 137.

[27] Cosmin Tudor Ciocan, “A PsychoSociological Overview of Religious Life in Romania”, in “Danubius Supliment” XXXIII, ISSN 1220-5052, 2015, pp. 147-174. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1941.5124; (ERIH+, BDI Journal, CEEOL), https://www.ceeol.com/ search/article-detail?id=415210;

Biography Iulian Isbășoiu was born in Mizil, Romania, on the 22nd of July, 1966. He graduated the Theological Seminary of Buzau in 1993, the Faculty of Theology at the University of Bucharest, where he finished his BA in liturgical theological studies in 1993. He graduated the University of Catholic Theology of “Marc Bloch” University of Strasbourg and received the title of Doctor in Theology with the doctoral thesis: “Culte et religion populaire dans l`Eglise Orthodoxe. Le mariage chez les Roumains Orthodoxes a l`aube du XXI-e siecle”. He worked as a teacher at the Theological Seminary and as a cultural adviser at the Archiepiscopacy of Tomis. At present he works as a priest at ”Saint John the Baptist” church in Constanta and as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Theology of the Ovidius University, Constanța. Among his publications, the most remarkable are: “Culte et religion populaire dans l`Eglise Orthodoxe. Le mariage chez les Roumains Orthodoxes a l`aube du XXI-e siecle”, French ed. Vasiliana, Iaşi, 2008; “The implementation challenges of the Bologna process in theological orthodox university education in Romania – the dialogue between church and state”, International Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences & Arts,

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Albena, Bulgaria, 3-9th September 2014, vol. III Psychology, psychiatry, sociology, healthcare education, pp. 913-925; “Church architecture in the Romanian orthodox church. Romanian architectural church styles”, International Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences & Arts, Albena, Bulgaria, 3-9th September 2014, vol. History of arts, contemporary arts, performing arts, visual arts, architecture, design, pp. 577-585; “The Personality of the Saintly Prince Constatin Brâncoveanu as Revealed in the Prefaces of the Books Printed in his Age” in International Journal of Cross-Cultural Studies and Environmental Communication. Special Issue “Constantin Brâncoveanu’s Legacy from Cross-Cultural Perspectives”, 2015. Coordinators Florentina Nicolae and Nicoleta Stanca. Editura Universitara & ADI Publication. pp. 39-48; “The Place and Role of Youth in the Liturgical Life of the Church” in Dialogo. Journal of RCDST. Volume 2, Issue 1, November 2015, University of Zilina, Slovak Republic. 27-34. Proceedings of the Annual Conferences the Dialogue between Science and Theology - DIALOGO-CONF 2015, Romania, The 2nd Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology, November 5-11. www.dialogo-conf.com.

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The Influence of Religious Sentiment and Positive Thinking on Life Quality CĂLIN Mariana Floricica – Lecturer Ph.D. Department of Psychology and Social Work, Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 17 August 2018 Received in revised form 2 October Accepted 10 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.6

Positive thinking is associated with a certain state of well-being, which is desirable for all of us. The way we manage to maintain it, the way some individuals creates illusions based on this type of thinking, as well as the general impact on life quality has been and is still being discussed. Just as biblical verses have the power to become life beliefs for some, and positive thinking has the power to turn into faith.We want to discover through this research how the approach of positive thinking as life philosophy, influences personal autonomy.

Keywords: positive thinking; personal autonomy; religious sentiment;

Another aspect that we wanted to observe through this research is the element of support for positive thinking, which is faith. It was the reason why we introduced a questionnaire to evaluate the intensity of religious sentiment, and then we correlated with the level of positive thinking. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Lately, one of the most often urged appeals is “to think positively”. Whether it’s an exam, a difficult life situation, a suffering caused by a physical illness, plans for the future or simply a bad day, the urging of those who have chosen the positive thinking as a life philosophy, is to “think hopeful” and then, the situations will be straightened out as through a miracle. Whether forced or not, the optimism has become the universal drug.

To what extent these exhortations are really beneficial and useful for a better quality of life is a very controversial topic. In particular, the real concern is to understand the true benefits of positive thinking. This type of thinking has become a “fashionable” subject so that many bookshelves are now filled by literature, whether special or not, which promotes the positive thinking.

This kind of thinking hasn’t been installed overnight in people’s minds, but has its beginnings in later times.

Thus, we identify a form of positivism

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that originates in the philosophical and sociological thinking of the early nineteenth century, which has as protagonist Auguste Compte and Emile Durkheim. Regarding philosophical positivism, the knowledge is filtered through empirical experience and conclusions based on valid reasoning. This vision reduces personal truth to “objective experience,” which removes the possibility of using constructed ideas about life. The possibility of “manufacturing” convenient situations is canceled by the very premise of knowledge. But not all of our psychic experiences are based on experience or can be reduced to this. [1] Another stream of thought, also called positive thinking, was born in the second quarter of the 20th century, having as its main promoter Norman Vincent Pale, a controversial Protestant pastor from Ohio.

His vision is a religious inspiration and promotes an interpretation of life events in a positive manner, without appealing to an understanding of them. [2] The Protestant pastor’s support could be the assertion of German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz, who believes that our world “is the best of all possible worlds.” This position, though seems optimistic, is difficult to assimilate if we are referring to the evolutionary aspect of the world and life. [3] The New Age movement is another idea of American positive thinking. The vision arguments of this movement are reduced to attributing the configuration of the personal world through perceptions. So, the way we see the world, has the power to transform it. [4] Detaching the impact of these trends, we observe the current tendency to understand and justify the choice of such a life philosophy. The challenging thinking imposed apparently positive, has also found itself among the theorists who have noticed that the escape from negativism has been

elevated to the rank of virtue.

II. Literature Survey

Adam Alter, a writer and marketing professor at New York University’s School of Business, wrote in the article “The Powerlessness of Positive Thinking” published on February 13, 2014 that “like religion, positive thinking is an appealing variation, offering non-technical solutions to the greatest problems of life, while asking nothing more from its followers than faith. “ The author of the article didn’t deny the positive aspects of this type of thinking but just outlined its limits. [5] Social psychologist Barbara Ehrenreich generalizes the impact of optimistic thinking with all that involves, including the elimination of the possibility of failure as an explanatory element of the global crisis.

Other aspects of adopting negative thoughts were also presented by Vasile Dancu, professor at the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Bucharest and at the Faculty of Political, Administrative, and Communication Sciences at BabeşBolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. He said that “Positive thinking has created a real industry, a psychotherapeutic directive, and whole libraries of motivational literature. In the last decades, in the West blind faith of prosperity and progress, positive thinking has become a kind of state religion. “ [6] The online environment is populated by positive thinking materials, belonging to both literatures accredited psychologically and some writers who have succeeded in popularizing the philosophy of optimistic thinking. Among them are Norman Vincet Peale, John Maxwell (American author, pastor and speaker), Rick Warren (American Evangelical pastor and author). This is the culture of the American optimism whose ideas about leadership are useful to Christian organizational culture. However,

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current opponents affirm that their writings contributed to the infiltration of toxic current thought into Christianity. A myth was created around positive thinking. That of the state of well-being, of the happiness lived through the simple access of a thought, the fulfillment of the desires through the illusion of faith. There are only a few of the issues that have represented and are the reason for the polemics and the speeches of those who have chosen rational instead of illusion.

However, there are issues deriving from the adoption of positive thinking as a life philosophy, aspects that are the real merit of it. The fact that, viewing reality in a hopeful way impresses a well-being is not a mystery.

Positivity and optimism are attitudes that many manifest it with the desire to access a better life quality.

But, what is optimism and how can you be optimistic about the future? From the etymological point of view, optimism comes from the Latin “optimum” which means “the best”. Prof.Univ.Dr.David Daniel of Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj defines optimism as a cognitive style, highlighting anti-theatrical features as well as realistic optimism. “Optimism is a cognitive style that causes you to see and / or to expect / predict the best result in any situation. In contrast, pessimism derives from the Latin “pesimus” which means “the worst”. So pessimism is a cognitive style that causes you to see and / or to expect / predict the worst result in any situation. Despite etymological meanings, specialist studies show that optimism and pessimism are not bipolar concepts: increased optimism doesn’t mean low pessimism or vice versa. Someone who is not optimistic may be realistic (from the Latin realis, real) or disinterested in predicting / waiting for something. Not every form of optimism is good. We have to have a “realistic optimism”. Pessimism supports negative emotional states (eg

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sadness), making us lose opportunities.

Optimism supports positive emotional states, but can reduce our ability to identify dangers and vulnerabilities. Realism, in its deep sense, is difficult to achieve given the complexity of the world in which we live, in relation to the limits of the human mind.

But we can bet on a “realistic optimism,” that is a doubled and controlled optimism of rational thinking (which has logical, empirical and / or pragmatic support). So here’s how you can be optimistic: (1) Set up your pro-social goals that correspond to a cultural ideal in your environment and then (2) develop plans to achieve them, and (3) try to implement them, follow these plans and wait to achieve the desired results. “ [7] Unlike positive thinking, the term “positive psychology” refers to an ample range of techniques and methods of developing resource-centered thinking, and the positive emotions and traits of a person.

Charlotte Style, the author of the book “Positive Psychology,” begins her presentation of Seneca’s statement: “Nothing in this world is ever discussed and understood more than the question of happy life,” which seems to explain, to some extent, the interest in the extent and polemic on positive thinking “Science of psychology, though originally represented the investigation of the human mind, has, over time, begun to use its knowledge to identify and define what is considered “damaged” or “abnormal”. Positive psychology returns to its origin and focuses on mind functioning.

To examine, to analyze, and to give advice on how you can be happy is not something new, and psychology is not a novelty. Much of the humanistic psychology has focused on this, especially the research

by Gordon Allport, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Carl Rogers, for example, in the “client-centered therapy”, was based on the theory that people can improve their

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lives by expressing feelings in a genuine way.

The recent popularity of Cognitive Therapy (CTC) and the proliferation of NLP in the last 25 years have brought the most practical applications gathered under the umbrella of positive psychology. “[8] Positive psychology was proposed and developed by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the late 1990s. Their purpose was to observe closely the human personality in order to understand how wellbeing and happiness can be achieved. The relationship between cognition, emotions, and welfare has been demonstrated by cognitive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on strengthening personal resources: How should I think to be better? Seligman and Peterson, on the other hand, have developed a handbook on positive personality characteristics, entitled “Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification.” [9] Another pioneer in the field, Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant, has described positive psychology as a possibility to encourage customers to focus on positive emotions by creating elements of force, thus supplementing therapeutic approaches that focus on negative emotions such as be sorrow and anger. He mentioned, in a discussion about positive psychology, the example of a psychiatric manual containing thousands of text lines on anxiety and depression , numerous talks about terror, shame, anger, fear and blame, but only five lines are allotted in the manual to talk about hope, and only one mentioned joy. [10] Based on these considerations, various studies have been conducted by researchers to highlight that, optimistic or happy people are healthier, have more success and live longer. Criticisms haven’t been delayed, and they claim that people have innate temperaments and that interventions to make them happier will work for limited periods of time. Adherents of positive

psychology claim that there are a number of benefits, including reducing suffering, improving the adaptation style, improving physical and mental health, decreasing the risk of depression. They have failed to explain the processes that explain these benefits. Regarding depression therapy, studies have shown only temporary results.

This can also be explained by the fact that positive psychotherapy causes the depressed person to question the negative cognitions of the disease: catastrophism, personalization, polarization.

Thus, a vicious circle is created in which negative thoughts are maintained and “think positive”, “look at the full side of the glass!” are ineffective. A positive approach on depression or even to a non-pathological problem is not only supported by encouragement but contains the following: 1. Positive discourse in the negative place – this aspect doesn’t intend to develop positive thinking ignoring the negative aspects of life. It aims only to shift the attention to its positive aspects in order to remake them, to realize that they exist.

Often people are too preoccupied to worry, so positive aspects are overlooked.

2. Discovering strengths – identifying resources useful in adapting to difficult situations.

3. Positive-negative balance – avoiding exaggerated positivism, the attention has focused only on positive aspects of life, as well as negative distortions.

4. Growing hope – includes encouraging optimistic expectations, based on the principle of prophecy. [11] What is meant to be understood is that positive thinking is not limited to “think positive!” Yes, many studies have shown that exaggerated optimism is harmful, but so is the negative interpretation of reality.

Both aspects are defective and influence the life quality.

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One questionable aspect of the hopeful thinking is the positive illusions that Stein defines as “an erroneous, improved perception of a real fact that is either harmless, enjoyable, or benefits to the one who has it.” Positive illusions are often experienced at an average level of intensity, not to mention the pathological sphere of mental disorders (anger, hypomania).

This type of thinking, based on positive illusions, leads people to expect them to have more positive events than others.

In this way, they feel special, somehow protected from any negative events that might occur. There is also a benefit from this vision, which is that people are more determined to act, to take risks, there it is, nothing bad can happen. In this way they develop strategies for adapting to stress and, consequently, for better health.

This sense of control, trust in the future, is extremely beneficial when it comes to motivation, action and success. However, a detachment from the real aspect of situations can put the person in dangerous situations because he understands or overestimates the control over them.

When positive psychology is limited to the urge to a mandatory optimism, there is a tendency to reject this optimistic orientation. Research shows, however, that people exhibit different mechanisms for assessing life situations, including unrealistic optimism and positive illusions. A hyperrealistic assessment of the environment is correlated with negative emotions and distress. However, the pressure to be happy isn’t all the unfortunate and unpleasant effects?

Positive thinking offers attractive solutions to solve problems, the only thing we need to do in this sense is the cultivation of faith. It is enough to believe, and everything will be fine! It is a variant of Christian religious thinking, based on the power of faith. Positive thinking has been

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and is being promoted by many figures of the Christian environment, contributing to the consolidation of this motivational current based on the power of faith.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the beginning of the twentieth century, the current New Thought Movement was born in the US, a movement that was represented by an alliance of religious groups and cults, well-known authors or ordinary people who shared the same ideas and visions of positive thinking, the laws of attraction, healing, and personal strength. This direction of thought had and still has in mind the idea of unifying energy of all things, the divine thought being the expression of good and its power to create its own reality. [12] This secular approach to the force of positive thinking is found in the writings of the authors: Ralph Emerson, Ernest Holmes and Wiliam James.

In the Christian environment, the impact of great purports was the influence brought

by Methodist pastor Norman Vincent Pale through his book “The Power of Positive Thinking”, a book sold in thousands of copies and which had a great influence in the Christian world. His book, however, was strongly criticized by the US psychiatric science community, although Pale, along with psychoanalyst Smiley Blanton, laid the foundations of a religious-psychiatric clinic, where one deals with religious affairs and the other offers psychiatric counseling.

Pale, through the approach of positive thinking, comes to individuals who hardly accept religious prejudices and superstitions. In fact, it was characterized by his father in the following words: “You have developed a new Christian movement that has its weight and which is a mixture of consciousness, Methodist’s testimony, and a solid reformed Dutch-Calvinism. [13] The author suggests that, the solutions he proposes are Christian nature, and in support of these statements are the biblical

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verses that have the power to become life beliefs for some: “Everything is possible to the one who believes “ (Mar.9: 23) Done to you according to your faith“ (Matthew 9:29) [14] In spite of the non-acceptance of these Christian visions, described in Pale’s book, by the scientific environment, the book enjoyed a real success and still occupies considerable space on libraries bookshelves. This once again demonstrates the need for people to benefit from an easy way to address to life situations, the need for direction and detachment from personal responsibility.

The American theologian Donald Bloesch observes that the form of Christianity promoted in American environment at the present-day is increasingly moving away from Christian religious philosophy. It’s increasingly functioning under the spell of positive thinking, the sermons and exhortations becoming more focused on cultivating a positive attitudes and less on the “will of the Lord”: Christianity itself is in danger of falling under the spell of positive thinking where efforts are focused on the methodical cultivation of optimistic attitude towards life in order to gain peace and security. Tables for spiritual progress and prayer chains play an important role in this business. Healing faith becomes less an act of faith and more a technique of bypassing the will of the Lord. “In this case, we can ask ourselves what is the contribution of positive thinking in spiritual development.

[15] In an article written by Mike Willis and Bowling Green, published in the American Christian magazine “Truth Magazine,” the attention is drawn to the transformational process of theological preaching that has been transformed under the impact of positive thinking into psychology. Thus, preaching has become in fewer references to the Bible, and the power of discourse lies more in the presentation technique than in

the Gospel. [16] The effects of positive thinking are perceived in the everyday life of believers by assaulting the media and the online environment with thoughts and reflections so called spiritual and some biblical texts whose meanings are lost with contextual departure.

The effects of optimistic thinking are presented by American author Barbara Ehrenreich in her book “Smile or die: how positive thinking fooled America and the world” in a way not “positive”. It states that the origin of positive thinking lies in the need to reject the idea of hell and an eternal punishment from God. In order to verify the extent to which it is worthwhile imagining your future in positive terms, Oettingen conducted a study in 2013 involving 123,000 college and university students in America.

The survey found that every twelve months, 59.6 percent of their total felt “very sad,” 31.3 percent felt “so depressed that it was difficult to function” and 45 percent felt that “things were hopeless.” Most students interviewed, 83.7 percent felt “overwhelmed by what they were supposed to do” and 79.1 percent felt “exhausted (for reasons other than physical).”

Daniele Oettingen and her collaborator, Doris Mayer, have decided to check whether to dream about the future in an ideal way could ease depression among the younger population. Thus, they invited 88 students from a major university in America to complete a questionnaire that made them imagine in twelve scenarios. They had to visualize each scenario, run it in mind, and then write the results: “You work on a very important project,” “You know that you can not respect deadlines in a certain situation and ask your client for an extension of the term. You know he’s very likely to offer you this extension. Today the client will let you know what decision he has taken.

While you wait in your office to sound ...

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“Also, they were given a questionnaire measuring the level of depression [17] Four months later, students were rechecked, and the level of depression was measured using the same questionnaire. The results showed that, as the views of the suggested situations were more positive, the more depressive they became. That is, there is a correlation between the positive intensity of imagination and the level of depression experienced. Aiming a positive future seems to protect against short-term sadness but promotes it in the long run.

III. Problem Definition

a) Identifying the associations between positive thinking and personal autonomy b) Identifying the link between positive thinking and the intensity of religious sentiment The premises that prompted this work come from the desire to know and to understand the concept of “positive thinking,” from the desire to observe the way in which such a life philosophy influences another aspect of personality.

IV. Methodology / Approach

In the present research I started from the following assumptions: 1. It is assumed that there is a correlation between positive thinking and personal autonomy.

2. It is assumed that there is a correlation between positive thinking and the intensity of religious sentiment.

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V. Description of working instruments A. The Positive Thinking Evaluation

Questionnaire

The instrument we used to evaluate the level of positive thinking is taken from the research report of Mr. Vasile Dancu, “Collective Dimensions of Positive Thinking,” which was applied in 2011 to a sample of 1462 persons over 18 years, multistratified, probabilistic sample. [18] The questionnaire used consists 16 questions in form of an assertion and the answers to the items are arranged on the 5-step Lickert scale.

Each item in the positive thinking questionnaire corresponds to a behavior.

The extent to which each behavior relates to the way the subject is thinking is highlighted by choosing one of the variants of response: “Always,” “Often,” “Sometimes,” “Rarely,” and “Never.” The five answer variants are assigned 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Items are quoted so that the highest score (5) corresponds to a high level of positive thinking and the lowest score (1) to a low level.

B. The Personal Autonomy Assessment

Questionnaire (AP)

The Personal Autonomy Assessment Questionnaire (AP Questionnaire) is a questionnaire used to assess four dimensions of personal autonomy: emotional autonomy, cognitive autonomy, behavior and value autonomy.

In the presentation material of the AP questionnaire, Monica Albu and Mihaela Porumb presented a series of definitions of personal autonomy for a better operationalization of the concept.[19] Of these, we took some: • “Personal autonomy is a personality

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trait that differentiates an individual from others as a general orientation in his / her relations with the environment (physical and social).” (R. M. Ryan, E. L. Deci, 2000, apud Faiciuc, 2004a).

• “Autonomy expresses a degree of freedom and deliberation ability that is noninflexible and easy, as a psychic trait of selfconsciousness and personality.” (Şchiopu, 1997).

• “Personal autonomy is the ability of an individual to lead his or her life and make decisions based on available information.”

(Caldwell, 2003).

• “Autonomy refers to the individual’s ability and freedom to self-govern, psychologically, morally and socially” (http:// www.theihs.org/pdf/literatureofliberty/ articles / 33.pdf).

• “Autonomy is defined by the attributes: self-confidence, work orientation and identity.” (E. Greenberger, 1984, apud Dei, Erikson, Gewirth, 2006).

• “Autonomy is the individual’s ability or the ability to understand through its own values, the relevant choices and consequences of a decision or particular task.”

(Http://www.alz.org/Resources/ FactSheets/autonomyEI.pdf).

Personal autonomy is a feature of personality that consists, “on one hand, the individual self-determination ability, in ability to make his own decisions about his own life; his ability to carry out these decisions by initiating, organizing, supervising and reviewing their own actions without being controlled by external forces or constraints; assessing existing choices and taking into account their own interests, needs and values; on the other hand, the feelings that the person possesses both the ability to make choices about the direction of its actions and the freedom to carry out these choices.” (Albu M, Porumb M, 2009, p.120) Personal autonomy has been

conceptualized as a multidimensional construct. Thus, most authors have referred to 4 dimensions.

The AP Questionnaire contains 36 items, grouped into four scales, one for each dimension of personal autonomy: • Value autonomy (8 items); • Cognitive autonomy (9 items); • Behavioral autonomy (11 items); • Emotional autonomy (8 items).

Each item in the AP questionnaire corresponds to a behavior. The extent to which each behavior relates to the way the subject thinks is highlighted by choosing one of the variants of response: “very little”, “little”, “neither too much nor too little “,” Much “and” very much “. The five answer variants are assigned 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The items are quoted so that the highest score (5) corresponds to a high level of personal autonomy, and the lowest score (1), to a low level.

It has been preferred to use this tool from the desire to have a multidimensional approach to personal autonomy.

C. Questionnaire for assessing religious

sentiment

The questionnaire for assessing religious sentiment takes into account the individual religious attitude. It is the attitude regarding the individual inner life, but also the knowledge and the religious awareness. Regarding its intensity, the questionnaire evaluates the extent to which the subject has distanced or approached the divinity and the expressed degree of religious life intensity. References of the sentiment articulation are guided by the following coordinates: sacramental practices and individual devotion (wedding ceremony, baptism, prayer, communion), knowledge of Christian truths (the level of religious instruction of the individual),

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collective devotion (pilgrimages, icon cult, participation in liturgy, saints, etc.).

Approximation of the individual’s religious experience degree and intensity is achieved through all these aspects.

Mostly, in religious literature, the religious sentiment is treated especially from a theological, sociological, philosophical point of view, a transpersonal psychology.

The instrument I have used in this paper aims to measure the intensity of religious sentiment as a stable trait of the individual personality.

The questionnaire contains 37 items formed as an affirmation. Their construction includes a number of features, the optimal length of the sentence (the longest 12 words, the shortest 4 words). [20] In terms of semantics, we considered: comprehensibility, ambiguity avoidance, appropriate level of abstraction, social desirability and personal reference avoidance. Item responses are arranged on the five-step Lickert scale. For the introduction to the database the answers were coded as follows: Totally agree – 5 points Agree – 4 points Sometimes yes, sometimes not – 3 points Disagreement – 2 points Total disagreement – 1 point Exceptions are the number 6, 9, and 20 where the quote was reversed.

The interpretation of intensity level on the religious sentiment is based on three classes of scores: between 63-91, 91-120 and 120-148. A result placed in the first class corresponds to a low intensity of religious feeling, a result placed in the second class corresponds to a medium-intensity religious feeling and a result placed in the third score class corresponds to great intensity of religious feeling.

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VI. Lot of study participants

The sampling is a major part of the research because it designates the selecting process of a number of people, so that those persons represent the larger group (population) from which they were extracted. The purpose of the sampling is to use the sample to obtain information about the population. [21] The type of sampling used in the present research is a convenience or accidental sample; it is a procedure by which the sample is composed with fit or available people to participate in the research. It is obvious that only a person who understands the instructions and who can perform a certain task is fit for that research. The convenience sampling procedure used is volunteering.

Thru this process we select into the sample the people that are available and not all the members of the population have the same chance of being part of the sample (Sîntion, Călin 2013, p. 220). This work was carried out on a sample of 120 participants aged 20-45 years. It was composed by the randomization method.

VII. Results & Discussion

Hypothesis 1: It is assumed that there is a correlation between positive thinking and personal autonomy.

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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This entitles us to say that being autonomous is to rely on what we think and not on what others offers. That the positive thinking adopted as a life philosophy contains a series of landmarks, beliefs, values that help the individual to be a model of the world, and depending on the confidence, it will act in an autonomous manner. Personal autonomy is the ability of an individual to understand the world by its own values. The level of personal autonomy does not vary depending on the content of the values, but on the ability to make decisions by itself, to think and to feel according to personal marks.

The low scores on personal autonomy refer to the precarious consolidation of one’s own system of values, to censorship of the freedom to use personal marks; to think and to analyze the possibilities of action according to their own desires and values.

Positive thinking is a peculiarity of thinking that is based on focusing on the positive possibility of realization. This vision is based on a set of beliefs and values which the individual has mastered over time through personal experience, and which now can offer him the ability to have the power and freedom to decide on them.

Hypothesis 2: It is assumed that there is a correlation between positive thinking and the intensity of religious sentiment.

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The validation of this hypothesis can be explained by focusing the attention on common element of the two variables, the one that ensures their existence, namely faith. This is the reason why, lately, it has been said that positive thinking has become a new religion. Like religion, optimistic thinking is an appealing alternative, and offers solutions to the biggest life, problems and the only thing that has to offer is faith.

Positive thinking is manifested as a life philosophy offering to the individual the hope and the opportunity to trust in an optimal solution to life situations. This is also the way in which religious affiliation offers the individual hope and opportunity to see a solution when the life problems seem overwhelming. It seems that the two coordinates have the same support: faith and hope. Often, positive thinking and religion work in a compensatory way, on the same principle. When the outside battle is lost then the individual creates his own resources, putting some responsibility to an element that seems to have more force.

Conclusion Positive thinking offers attractive solutions to solve problems. The only thing we have to do in this sense is the cultivation of faith. It is enough to believe, and everything will be fine! It is a variant of Christian religious thinking, based on the power of faith. Positive thinking has been and is being promoted by many figures of the Christian environment, contributing to the consolidation of this motivational current based on the power of faith.

Individuals with this type of thinking can act in an autonomous way in solving the situations and conflicts that arise. They can equally be characterized by a lack of personal autonomy, if they don’t have their own consolidated beliefs system. Another

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conclusion that comes from research is that positive thinking doesn’t exclude confidence in personal capabilities as well as it doesn’t specifically strengthen it. Positive thinking is manifested as a life philosophy offering to the individual hope and opportunity to trust in an optimal solution to life situations. This is also the way in which religious affiliation offers the individual hope and opportunity to see a solution when life problems go beyond adaptability. People easily place their lives in this life of salvation, especially in situations where adaptability is overcome. So, on the offset principle, it’s advantageous for the responsibility to be removed. This is rather a forcing towards positive thinking, not an honest attitude towards life. The pattern of positive thinking, rooted in a healthy way to treat both positive and negative aspects, a pattern that is part of one who holds and will imprint all decisions; attitudes and experiences throughout life and this way of manifesting positive thinking is not influenced by the age of the individual but by his mental attitude.

Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress, [Online]. Available: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stressmanagement/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950 [12] Holmes, E., The Science of Mind, Tarcher Putnam, 1998 [13] Buhne, J., The game with fire, Făgăraş: Agape, 1995 [14] Matthew 9:29 , [Online].

Available: h t t p s : / / w w w. b i b l e g a t e w a y. c o m / passage/?search=Matthew+9%3A29&version=NIV [15] Zamescu, E., (2011 January 08), Is Positive Bible Thinking?, [Online]. Available: https://emizarnescu. wordpress.com/2011/01/08/este-gandirea-pozitiva-biblica/ [16] http://www.truthmagazine.com/archive/volume31/ GOTO31108.html [17] Oettingen, G., “Rethinking Positive Thinking”, Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 2014 [18] Dancu V. S., (2011 December 12), Handling through positive thinking, [Online]. Available: https://www.slideshare. net/vasile.dancu/tedx-eroilor-cluj-manipularea-prin-gandirepozitiva-nevoia-de-gandire-critica [19] Albu, M., Porumb, M., “Personality and intersts”, Cluj Napoca:ASCR, 2009 [20] Nedelcea, C., (2003 April 20), Questionnaire evaluating religios sentiment, [Online]. Available: https://www.scribd.com/document/171900997/Chestionar-deEvaluare-a-Sentimentului-Religios [21] Sandu M., Theoretical and Practical Aspects of the SPSS Program, Constanta, Andrei Saguna Foundation Publishing House, 2012.

References [1] Schifirnet, C., Sociology, Bucharest:Comunicare.ro, 2004 [2] Peale, N.V., The Power of Positive Thinking, Second edition, Curtea Veche, 2013 [3] Nita, A., Opera philosophica I, Bucharest:Paidea, 1998 [4] Miller, I., A crash course on the New Age Movement, Grand Rapids: Baker, p.15, 1989 [5] Alter, A., (2014 February 13), The powerlessness of positive thinking, [Online]. Available: https://www.newyorker.com/ business/currency/the-powerlessness-of-positive-thinking [6] Lehaci, F., (2014 March 02), How to be happy. A short guide to good practice!, [Online]. Available: https://semneletimpului. ro/social/psihologie/optimism/o-noua-religie-gandireapozitiva.html [7] David, D., (2010 November 10), How to be happy. A short guide to good practice!, [Online]. Available: https:// danieldavidubb.wordpress.com/?s=psihologie+pozitiva [8] Style, C., ”Positive psychology”, Bucharest:All, 2015 [9] Seligman, M., Optimism is learned, First edition, Bucharest:Humanitas, 2004 [10] Vaillant, G., Triumphs of experience, Harvard University Press, 2012 [11] Mayo Clinic Staff, (2017 February 18), Positive thinking:

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Biography

Calin Mariana Floricica I have a Doctorate of Psychology degree and my domains of interest are neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, diagnosis and settlement of social problems and statistics.

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The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

The Impact of the Image of God in the Concept of the Protestants from Romania upon the Mental Health Balla Annamaria

Dept. of Social Worker, Emanuel University of Oradea Romania ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 14 July 2018 Received in revised form 22 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.7

In the cognitive psychology’s conception, mental health is mostly given by the way an individual relates to himself, those around him, the environment and the events occurring in his personal life, as well as in his family and community life. Religious life is an essential part for most of Romania’s population. So, the question appears: are there any patterns in a religious person’s thinking that could generate emotional and/or behavioral disorders, which could favor the appearance of some mental issues?

This study wishes to point out the answer to this question, by analyzing the Protestant population of Romania. After data processing on 966 participants to the study the conclusion that came up was that in general there aren’t irrational thoughts regarding personal faith, the attitude towards God and the man’s role in relation with divinity.

In a small extent, statistically not significant, there are people who believe God has an obligation to heal and listen to prayers, but the majority regards that God has no obligations towards the man.

Keywords: the image of God; Protestants; mental health;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Hayes and Cowie (2005) support that in the beginning of the 1900s there was a real conflict between psychology and religion, a tension that diminished only after the appearance of the first psychology chapter in the Annual Review of Psychology in 1988 (Emmons and Paloutzian, 2003). While Freud (1963) thought that religion was childish, apart from reality and leading to neuroticism, Adams (1963) believed that

psychology is useless in resolving emotional, behavioral and relational issues.

Over the years, the interaction between psychology and religion traveled through three stages (Parsons, 2010). The presence of three remarkable personalities dominated the first stage, between the 1880s and World War Two: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) and William James (1842-1910). In 1909, at the International Conference of sciences, organized by Clark

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University, in the psychology section have participated among others, Freud, Jung, and James. The studies presented covered a broad spectrum of religious phenomenon such as prayer, mysticism, paranormal phenomenon, the awakening movements, the psychosocial dynamic between religion, culture, and society. The debates in the conference referred more to a psychology of religion (and extrinsic approach) rather than the religion psychology (intrinsic approach). During this first stage, Oskar Pfster (1873-1956), a Lutheran priest tried to reconcile the tension between psychology and theology. For this purpose, his writings present a combination between psychoanalysis and theology, using biblical methods as well as psychanalytical methods in the counseling of the believers. Pfster’s influence in pastoral counseling was remarkable; thus, since the year 1983 the American Association of Psychologists gives the Oskar Pfster award for those who have contributed significantly in developing the fields of religion and psychiatry.

In the stage after World War Two and the ‘60s, pastoral psychology dominated the field of discussion between psychology and religion. In this way, the field was enlarged, and faculties, seminars, churches and clinics became interested by approaches of morality, faith, sin, ransom and the way the influence mental health. Those who contributed to this dialogue, from the philosophy and theology approach were Paul Ricoueur (1913-2005) and Paul Tillich (1886-1965) and from the psychology part, Carl Rogers (1902-1987) and Erik Erikson (1902-1994).

Rogers (1951) was disappointed by theology and thus embraced secular humanism, which states that people are capable of being ethical and moral without religion and without God. Rogers doesn’t believe that people are better or superior to the natural world, but he mostly underlines

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everyone’s responsibility for their personal choices. After analyzing Martin Luther’s biography, Erikson (1972) concludes that religion has an important part in developing a successful personality. Religious rituals are considered means of transmitting moral and social values.

Beginning with the ‘60s, the interest for social psychology grew and so appeared various publications on topics such as: violence, aggression, prejudice, sexism and religiosity. Allport and Ross’s study (1967) about the types of religious orientation defined this period. Gradually, the number of articles published in the field of religion psychology grew and this led to the setting up of the 36 Division, in 1976, also named the division of religion psychology in the American Association of Psychologists.

The aims of this division are to follow the research methodology in the field of religion psychology and to supervise the publications appearing in this field.

The period between 1970 and the present year is marked by the appearance of neurosciences and evolutionist psychology.

The area of discussion has enriched and the negative attitude towards religion has diminished. Currently, there is a real openness for researching religious phenomenon, even from new perspectives such as the racial, gender and sexual orientation differences.

Brown (2005) supports that in the case a majority population declares itself as religious, the indifference towards studying the religious phenomenon is unjustified negligence. Even if Fuller (2001) considers that psychology has become a religion, prescribing the way of organization of human life in various fields of life, still the research using empirical methods of religious beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, and the impact of religiosity upon physical and mental health, as well as upon psychotherapy, enforce the acceptance of religion psychology as a stand-alone science.

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II. METHODOLOGY

The present research wishes to enhance the way Protestants think about faith, God and the relationship between divinity and man. Answers were looked for in the following questions: Which is the sociodemographic variables that differentiate the religious attitude towards faith? What is the typology of the attributes of God in the Protestants conception and how much do they correlate with God’s attributes as they are presented in the Bible? What are God’s obligations in the Protestants point of view? What are the man’s obligations in the relationship with God, from the Protestants point of view? The answers were analyzed from the perspective of mental health as the cognitive-behavioral psychology defines it.

In the cognitive conception, mental health is greatly conditioned by the way of thinking (Ellis, 1994). Cognitive psychology has enlarged considerably the meaning of the term cognition, which today refers to the whole of processes of gaining, organizing and utilizing information about self and the environment; and the assimilation of this information regarding behavioral adjustments. Beliefs can be rational or irrational, but not from the perspective of logic, but from the perspective of mental health. Ellis (1957) believes that there are four categories of irrational beliefs, which are factors of emotional and behavioral disorders: demands, awfulizing (the evaluation of something as being the worst), low frustration tolerance and the global evaluation of value as a human (conditional self-acceptance, others, life).

To study the topic of religious attitudes, it was used a questionnaire which considered on one hand the irrational belief of demands and on the other hand made references to elements in the religious thinking, such as: The Person of God and the attitude towards religious rules. Before the questionnaire was

applied, a group of experts were consulted: seven theologians from Protestant churches and four cognitive-behavioral psychotherapists, all with professional experience of minimum five years. Following this consultation, the items below were introduced in the questionnaire: • No one must care about my faith.

• Personal faith influences social relationships.

• God has no obligation towards the man.

• God has an obligation to heal the ill, to listen to prayers of any kind, to judge and punish the man.

• The man has the obligation of listening to God’s laws, to do good deeds and to go to church.

III. PARTICIPANTS

To identify the irrational beliefs of Protestants, a number of 1000 of questionnaires were distributed and 966 of them were retrieved. The questionnaires were distributed in several Protestant churches in Romania. The 966 participants segmented by gender were 362 men (37.5%), 595 women (61.6%) and 9 didn’t respond (0.9%). Regarding the environment they were coming from, 694 of them lived in urban areas (71.8%) and 215 of them in rural areas (22.3%). The participants of this study lived in the county of Arad, Bihor, Cluj, Salaj, and Timis. Considering the criteria of belonging to a Protestant religious cult, the variety of the participants was as it follows: 446 Baptists (46.2%), 329 Pentecostals (34.1%) and 153 were part from the category ‘’other’’, meaning: evangelical Christians, Adventists or representants of independent churches (15.8%). Of the participants’ total, 899 of them stated that they practice their religion. The repartition according to age was: 258 aged 10 to 15 (26.7%), 240 aged 16 to 20 (24.8%), 194 aged 21 to 25 (20.1%),

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121 aged 26 to 40 (12.5%), 104 aged 41 to 60 (4.3%).

IV. RESULTS A. Attitudes towards faith

Is faith a personal or a collective aspect?

An affirmative response to „no one must care about my faith” (F1) indicates an individualist attitude, resulting in a belief that faith is a personal thing, coming from the inside and a matter that people from the exterior of the believer cannot judge him on. Also, the acceptance of this idea implies rigid thinking, not accepting confrontation with others and so it becomes an irrational religious belief. However, a negative response to the belief stated above implies an openness towards the collective side of personal faith, thus accepting the idea that those around a person can add to the individual faith, and so encourages a more flexible thinking. A second matter about faith is given by its influence on personal relationships. Accepting as true the belief that „personal faith influences social relationships” (F2) shows the social characteristic of faith, underlining in this way its applicability in human interactions.

The analysis of bipolar answers (yes/ no) in first stage took place by calculating χ2 of matching, to see in what way there are significant differences between the frequencies of yes and no answers. In the second stage χ2 of homogeneity was calculated, to emphasize any appearing differences in the frequencies of yes or no answers depending on gender, religion, environment and age. Finally, the adjusted residuals were calculated, to see where the differences stand.

Calculations of χ2 of matching showed that in general the irrational belief (F1 – no one must care about my faith) is not accepted by the majority of the neo

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protestants (n=658); therefore, neo protestants are characterized by an open attitude towards others, regarding personal faith (χ2(1)=169.408, p<.001, r2=.18). Also, neo protestants are characterized by a practical faith (F2 - personal faith influences social relationships) which influences interpersonal relationships (χ2(1)=2.100, p>.146).

Calculations of χ2 of the degree of homogeneity for the two dependent variables (F1 and F2) depending on various independent variables showed that there are no significant differences from the gender point of view and therefore, women, as well as men, believe that personal beliefs influence personal relationships (χ2(1)=2.634, p>.105) and these beliefs are not independent from others’ opinions (χ2(1)=2.100, p>.146).

Table 1. Religious attitudes towards faith – gender, religion, environment, age

(*medium effect, **strong effect) Considering the environment the participants are coming from, the observation is that there are no significant differences regarding their opinion about the influence of faith on personal relationships, (χ2(1)=.204, p>.652) in terms of those coming from urban or rural areas.

Even if when considering the environment of the participants, a significant statistical difference is noted in the independent

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faith variable (χ2(1)=6.694, p<.010), still generalizing the result to the whole population of Protestants would not be the case because the effect is low in this case (w=.15).

In terms of religious affiliation, there are significant differences in both dependent variables: independent faith (χ2(2)=70.578, p.<001, w=.52) and influence of faith (χ2(2)=32.370, p<.001, w=.35). Upon analyzing the adjusted residuals, it resulted in the fact that Baptists are characterized by denying the independent faith which states that „no one must care about my faith”, while acceptance of this attitude characterize Pentecostals and the other protestant religions. Also, Baptists support that personal relationships are influenced by personal faith, while Pentecostals and the others deny this idea.

From the age point of view, there are also significant differences in the two variables: independent faith (χ2(5)=66.845, p<.001, w=.48) and influence of faith (χ2(5)=95.823, p<.001, w=.60). The analysis of the residues points out that participants aged 16 to 40 don’t accept the idea of independent personal faith, unlike the teenagers aged 10 to 15 who accept the idea that others have nothing to do with their personal faith.

Also, youth aged 10 to 15 don’t think that their relationships are influenced by their faith, while those aged 16 to 40 believe that interpersonal relationships are influenced by personal faith.

By calculating the χ2 test of the degree of homogeneity between the two dependent variables of faith, it can be noted that in the case where there is denying of independent faith in relationship with others’ opinion, then the acceptance that faith influences personal relationships appears (χ2(1)=51.455, p<.001). Having the size of the effect medium (r2=.056), it can be generalized the fact that acceptance of independence is associated with not

accepting the influence of personal faith.

B. God’s attributes

In the center of religious beliefs, there is the attitude of man towards God. What makes the difference between the many and various religions is the way of defining, of describing the person of God. For example, Christians believe that God is „One, the Father Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth” (The Nicene Creed, year 325). The Bible describes God in countless aspects, most frequently as Sovereign, Lord (approximately 7000 times).

Table 2. Attributes of God – classification (frequency)

Considering the affirmation „God for me is” (G1) the protestants completed it in different ways, giving various answers (Table 2.). Most frequently God’s Person is associated with Father (23.08%), the idea of Everything (19.15%) and in third place with Saviour and Redeemer (13.45%).

The idea of God as Father is dominant in the Nicene Creed; however, the Bible presents God using two approaches: in the Old Testament the idea of God as Father is scarce (8 references) while the New Testament (243 references) brings a parental perspective regarding God, who is not away from the human being anymore,

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but it is so close that He is interested in their well-being and is involved in all dimensions of life. This perspective is given by the teachings of Jesus Christ, who implemented the idea of Father, encouraging people to address God as they would a father (The Lord’s Prayer).

Upon responses analysis it is noted that women, as well as men, name God as Father, before any other attribute. The urban population also sees God as Father while the rural population sees Him as Everything and then Father. It surprises the fact that from the standpoint of the protestants participants in the study, Baptists consider God as Everything and then as Father, while the Pentecostals and the others relate themselves to a God who is Father, above all else. An analysis of the idea of God using the criteria of age was especially relevant: out of all the participants in the study, God appears as Father primarily for teenagers aged 10 to 15, while for all the other age categories, God is Everything and then Father.

Even if in the Holy Bible God is presented as being Everything only one time (in 1Corinthians 15:28), it is surprising that in the participants’ opinion the idea that God is Everything has such a high frequency.

Analyzing the data from the independent variables point it can be observed that the idea of God being Everything sometimes appears in first row (rural, Baptists, those aged over 15).

God’s action of salvation and rescue appears in the whole Scripture: in the Old Testament, God saved the people of Israel from Egyptians’ slavery, and then from the Babylonian slavery, and in the New Testament it is underlined the action of mankind’s salvation from the slavery of sin.

Even if the activity of salvation is present throughout the Bible, the naming of God as Saviour appears very rarely (15 references in the Old Testament and one reference in the New Testament). In the protestants opinion

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God is seen as Saviour with a frequency that places this attribute in third place.

C. God’s obligations

The thought of an Almighty God, capable of doing „everything” can be a determinant factor in the appearance of absolute beliefs of demands type. In this way, any religious person is exposed to the extreme of imposing with necessity some responsibilities to God, such as: listening to prayers (G2), healing of the ill (G3) and punishment of the sinners (G4). The existence of these irrational beliefs was looked for in the Protestants.

Table 3. The neo protestants perspective on God’s obligations (N=966)

(*The effect is strong when r2>.14) Upon statistical processing and analyzing the frequency of the answers given by the Protestants it can be noted that there are no irrational beliefs regarding God’s obligations.

Therefore, the results show that in their opinion it is not necessarily imposed to God to listen to prayers (χ2(1)=476.130, p<.001, r2=.51) neither to heal the ill (χ2(1)=620.479, p<.001, r2=.67) or to punish the sinners (χ2(1)=496.419, p<.001, r2=.53).

However, a more detailed analysis shows that there are significant differences when looking at date based on the criteria of age.

Considering the following affirmation „God has an obligation to listen to prayers” (G2), there are notable differences regarding the participants’ age (χ2(5)=35.545, p<.001, w=.33). The neo protestant teenagers aged

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10 to 15 years old believe that God has an obligation of listening to prayers (adjusted residuals = 5.5), while those aged 26 to 40 (adjusted residuals = 2.7) and adults aged 41 to 60 (adjusted residuals = 2.2) believe that God does not have the obligation of listening to people’s prayers.

The opinion that „God has an obligation to heal the ill” (G3) has a differentiated approach when it comes to age categories (χ2(5)=55.629, p<.001, w=.43) and the participants’ religion (χ2(2)=23.598, p<.001, w=.28). In the teenage view (10 to 15 years old), God must heal the ill (adjusted residuals=7.2), while young people aged 21 to 25 supports that God has no obligation in healing the ill (adjusted residuals=3.8).

Baptists believe that God does not have an obligation to heal the ill, (adjusted residuals=3.3) while the others (evangelical Christians, Adventists and independent churches) underline the fact that God has this obligation (adjusted residuals=4.6).

Considering that „God has an obligation to punish the sinners” (G4) there are also significant differences by age criteria (χ2(5)=26.448, p<.001, w=.27). Teenagers aged 10 to 15 believe that God is obligated to punish people (adjusted residuals=4.7) while on the other side, adults aged 41 to 60 (adjusted residuals=2.3) underline that God has no obligation to do so.

In conclusion, it can be stated that neo protestants don’t show any irrational beliefs towards God, but it is to be noted that teenagers aged 10 to 15 thinks in a absolutist way about God’s obligations.

D. Man’s obligations in relationship with

God

Norms, rules and moral laws are present in religious thinking and have the role of guiding man in his relationships with divinity and with those around him. There is a clear and obvious difference between God’s laws

and the religious conduct norms. In this way, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20. 2-17) represent the essence of God’s laws and implicate rules that govern the relationship with God and with those around people.

God’s law appoints respecting God (for example, „you shall not take God’s name in vain”), respecting parents („honor your father and mother”), respecting others („you shall not kill”) and other’s proprieties („you shall not steal”). Laws in general are not negotiable; they apply no matter what people think. Therefore, every norm, law or rule implicates the need of obedience and in this way, it is characterized rigid and exclusivist. Even if when first looked at, the obligatory character of application of God’s laws seems an irrational thought (absolute demand), in the case this conditioning of the laws is accepted it is in the rational category of thoughts. In this way, if someone wishes to have a relationship with God, then he must obey to His laws, but if he doesn’t want a relationship he is not to obey His laws. Any one of these decisions implicate risks and responsibilities that the individual takes upon himself.

Analyzing data regarding the validity of the syntagma „Man has an obligation to respect the Ten Commandments” (M1) it is revealed that Protestants believe man has this obligation in his relationship with God (yes=674, no=254, χ2(1)=190.086, p<.001, r2=.20) indeed. A closer analysis from the independent variable of age standpoint shows that teenagers aged 10 to 15 believe that man has an obligation to respect the commandments (adjusted residuals=7.7) while young people aged 21 to 25 believe that man does not have this obligation (adjusted residuals=3.1).

Accepting the affirmation „Honour your parents is an outdated expression’’ (M2) indicates the lack of respect towards parents, but the results show that Protestants deny this affirmation and therefore believe in

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the importance of honoring their parents (yes=46, no=879, χ2(1)=750.150, p<.001, r2=.81).

The system of religious conduct implicates some behaviors that are not imposed by God, but which appear in the religious practice. For example, the Bible doesn’t make going to church a legislative norm, even if the Holy Scripture gives references of people who have went joyfully to the „worship tent”, temple or synagogue.

Unlike the biblical opinion regarding going to a worship place, the actual generation of Protestants believe that „All people must frequent a church.” (M3), making from this affirmation an imperative that would characterize a protestant in general (yes=704, no=218, χ2(1)=256.178, p<.001, r2=.27).

Another aspect analyzed is connected to the principle of giving. In the Holy Bible there is a distinction between tithing and giving (Deuteronomy 12.6); so, while tithing is prescribed by God, giving is presented as a voluntary action, by choice. In this way, saying that „Man has an obligation to give” (M4) it is considered an irrational thought because God does not necessarily compel the exercising of this behavior. Even if thee are significant differences when looking at the age variable, in general it cannot be concluded that the Protestants agree or are against this affirmation (yes=490, no=438, χ2(1)=2.914, p<.088, r2=.001). Teenagers aged 10 to 15 believe that „man has an obligation to give” (adjusted residuals=3.3), and the same goes for adults aged 41-60 (adjusted residuals=3.2). Young people 16 to 20 (adjusted residuals=2.3) and 26 to 40 (adjusted residuals=2.5) have the opinion that „man has no obligation to give”.

In conclusion it can be stated the fact that neo protestants believe that man in his relationship with God has the obligation to respect His laws in the Ten Commandments, to go to church and have a willingly giving

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attitude. The underlined idea is that in the case man want a relationship with God then the necessity of respecting God’s law is not an irrational thought but supporting necessarily the obligation of going to church and being a giver are considered irrational thoughts.

V. FINAL DISCUSSIONS

Summarizing the data of the study above it can be affirmed that openness towards others characterize Protestants, no matter their gender, they do not think religious life and faith are just individual matters but a collective matter. Also, they are convinced that personal relationships are influenced by personal faith, and therefore belief is not separated from behavior. Their perception, men as well as women, of the image of God is dominant by the attributes of Father, Everything, Saviour and Important Person. Protestants believe that God in His relationship with people has no obligations, while people do have obligations towards God. Women as well as men agree that people have the obligation to go to a church, to respect the Ten Commandments and to honour their parents.

Analyzing the results of the study it can be concluded that teenagers aged 10 to 15 are the ones most exposed to irrationality.

They are characterized by isolation from the collectivity from the point of view of their faith and therefore support that no one must care about their faith. Also, they consider that their faith does not influence their personal relationships. The idea of God as Father dominates their thinking, whereas in the other age categories this attribute is in second place. For teenagers the idea of Father is followed by that God is an Important Person, then Saviour and Everything. This God, in relationship with man, has an obligation to heal the ill, to listen to prayers and to punish people.

On their part, people are obliged to go to

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church, respect the commandments, honor their parents and be giving people.

When comparing the population of Baptists and Pentecostals it can be noted that there are present irrational thoughts from the point of view of cognitive-behavioral psychology. Thus, Pentecostal Protestants believe that their faith is personal, and no one must interfere in their creed, along with the belief that their faith does not influence their relationship with others. At the opposite end there is the opinion of the Baptists protestants who support that what they believe influences their relationships and faith is not individual, but it is also for others to see and be interested by it. In the Pentecostals opinion, primarily God is seen as Father, Everything, Saviour and Important Person, while for the Baptists God is first Everything, then Father, Saviour and The Most Important. Both groups believe that God has no obligation in His relationships with people. Both Baptists and Pentecostals think that the commandment about honoring the parents is not outdated, but when it comes to going to church and respecting the Ten Commandments their opinions differ. So, while Baptists believe that people do not have an obligation to go to a church frequently and respect the Ten Commandments, Pentecostals believe the opposite.

Finally, it can be concluded that in general the thinking of Protestants in Romania is not characterized by irrational beliefs (cognition) and therefore the possibility of a mental disorder appearing due to religious thinking is very low. However, in the teenagers’ case, where a greater presence of irrational thinking was observed, it is recommended that a prevention of mental disorders be done through programs of rational-emotional and behavioral education (Balla, 2016).

REFERENCES Adams, J.E. Manualul consilierului spiritual creștin. Practicarea consilierii spirituale noutetice. (The Christian Counselor’s Manual: The Practice of Nouthetic Counseling).

Wheaton, IL: Societatea Misionară Română, 1993.

[2] Allport, G.W. and Ross, J.M. (1967). Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432443.

[3] Balla, A. Educația religioasă rațional emotivă și comportamentală. (Rational Emotional and Behavioral Religious Education). ClujNapoca: Casa Cărții de Știință, 2016.

[4] Brown, K. (2005).

Does Psychology of Religion Exist? European Psychologist, 10, 71-73.

[5] Ellis, A. (1957). Rational psychotherapy and individual psychology. Journal of Individual Psychology, 13, 38-44.

[6] Ellis, A. Reason and Emotion in psychotherapy.

New York: A Birch Lane Book, 1994.

[7] Emmons, R.A. and Paloutzian, R.F. (2003).

The Psychology of Religion. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 377-402.

[8] Erikson, E. Young man Luther. London: Faber, 1972.

[9] Freud, S. Civilization and its discontents.

New York: Basic Books, 1963.

[10] Fuller, R. Spiritual but not religious. New York: Oxford, 2001.

[11] Hayes, M.A. and Cowie, H. (2005).

Psychology and religion: mapping the relationship. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 8, 27-33.

[12] Parsons, W.B. (2010). On Mapping the Psychology and Religion Movement: Psychology as Religion and Modern Spirituality. Pastoral Psychology, 59, 15-25.

[13] Rogers, C.R. Client-centered therapy. Boston: Houghton Mills, 1951.

[1]

Biography Annamaria Balla was born in Simleu Silvaniei, Romania in 1972. She received a

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bachelor’s degree in Theology at Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania in 1996, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology at University of Oradea, Romania in 2002. After finishing Master studies in Psychological Counselling in 2006, she continued with doctoral studies in psychology at BabesBolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

In 2013 she became Doctor in Psychology.

After finalizing the psychology studies in 2003 she worked as a clinician psychologist and specialist in educational psychology with abandoned children and teenagers as well as with foster and adoptive families.

As of 2013, she teaches psychology subjects in the Social Work Department of Emanuel University of Oradea. In 2005, during her Master studies, she received the Leonardo da Vinci scholarship in the field of cognitivebehavioral psychotherapy at the CognitiveBehavioral Psychotherapy Center in Enna, Italy. In 2017 she participated in the Child Life Specialist Internship Program at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX, USA. Her first book is Educația Religioasă Rațional Emotivă și Comportamentală (Rational Emotional and Behavioral Religious Education), Cluj-Napoca: Casa Cărții de Știință, 2016.

Dr. Balla is a member in the following organizations: Association of Psychologists in Romania, Bucharest, RO (2004), College of Psychologists in Romania, Bucharest, RO (2006), National Association of School Psychologists, Oradea, RO (2007), Association of NILD Central-Eastern Europe, Budapest, HU (2009), NOUS Psychology Association, Oradea, RO (2010) and Association of Child Life Professionals, Arlington, VA, USA (2018). Also, she is a supervisor in clinical psychology and educational psychology.

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

The importance of faith in couple communication CĂLIN Mariana Floricica – Lecturer Ph.D. Department of Psychology and Social Work, Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 22 August 2018 Received in revised form 2 October Accepted 5 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.8

Religion has always been an important element in the lives of most people. The couple represents the basic unit of life perpetuation. It is a bond formed between two people who develops and evolves together and which have as a common goal building a family.

The couple’s life quality is essential in maintaining a lasting, healthy relationship that provides harmony, satisfaction and stability. The way a partner relates to each other in the couple relationship has a determining role for the future actions of the other, and also for the relationship stability and functioning. The manner in which partners in a couple behave depends on their religious culture. Religion must bring a positive influence on the relationship: namely, the cultivation of the idea of not harming the person and the person next to us. Prayer is a method of stress relief in critical moments.

The effort regarding maintain positive and functional relationship between partners should be oriented towards the following directions: interpersonal communication based on affectivity, equality in decision-making, fairness in exchanges, motivation that supports the relationship, motivational compatibility, interpersonal respect, raising the marital level satisfaction.

Hypotheses: It is assumed that married people communicate more assertively than the unmarried. It is assumed that people with assertive communication style are consensual in the couple.

Lot of participants: The sample includes 60 married and unmarried people from Constanta between the ages of 18 and 60. From the point of view of the marital state, there are 20 married couples and 10 unmarried couples.

Research Instruments: Questionnaire identifying the style of communication and DAS questionnaire Results: As a result of the correlations and comparisons made, we have found that married people express more affectionately than unmarried ones, and that there is a higher level of assertive communication in the case of married couples. It has also been found that the assertive communication style positively correlates with couple consensus and satisfaction.

Keywords: Couple satisfaction; communication style; assertive communication;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. Introduction

In the most general sense, communication is spoken whenever a system or a respective source influences another system, in particular a remitted, through alternative signals that can be transmitted through the channel that connects them [1]. But that depends on a multitude of factors, such as clothing, physical appearance, the voice timbre, elements that often have nothing to do with the person’s real personality.

It remains to be said that we speak of communication in the true sense of the word only to the extent that this image is wanted (either by the person concerned or by his agents) or even when certain indications are inadvertently saying “something” to the person concerned [2].

Communication is seen as the first impulse of the human species to develop, to think, to evolve in the art of knowledge and to give birth to culture and civilization.

People are always receiving and transmitting messages. If there was no communication, then we can speak of a social disappearance [3].

In the specialized literature, the act of communication can also be seen as a process that involves several components in the interaction, namely: decoding, emitters, coding, receptors, messages, noise, competence, feedback, performance, communication channels, effects, context, experience and ethics [4].

As in any process, communication also has certain limits. The communication barriers represents the expression of some factors which consequently have the power to change the meaning of the message, or at the same time it distorts, interferes with it or limits it.

These may be of a physiological or psychological nature (cultural, social or individual). The language within the couple relationship is composed of

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many dimensions: verbal language, body language, erotic language, which takes place in the conjugal bed.

Leleu says that any gesture addressed to her or he has a special meaning. For example, it has been found that women undergo certain involuntary changes in the pupil level when they see their partner, which indicates their desire to relate to him.

Efficient communication implies a total openness at the emotional level and full trust in the partner [5]. George Corneau [6] wrote: “Love doesn’t hold two people together in the long run, but the respect that exists between them, the possible reciprocity of exchanges between them, and the vitality of the messages they send to each other.

Thus, we can state that when we refer to effective communication in the couple relationship, and not only, have we included other aspects such as respect, reciprocity, an open and sincere attitude [7].

Most often, there is talk of harmony in the couple relationship as the state in which there is a perfect balance between what both partners desire. The secret of this wellbeing within the couple consists in using an authentic and assertive communication [8].

More than that, the way we talk to she / he influences our own state of mind.

Encouragement in tough life situations means a transfusion of positive energy, and also a reassurance to ourselves that we are valuable people, with a particular significance for the him / her next to us [9].

Any detail that could endanger that relationship must be expressed and obeyed by both partners involved in the relationship.

Communication was the mechanism that led to evolution, along with the science’s flaws that prompted progress. And today, the mechanism is still working, ever since we were born. Communication is so well attached to life that it would be inhuman to try to separate them. All the more the

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communication is essential in the couple, since it is about the two souls that interact sentimentally, physically, spiritually [10].

Following some studies, Carl Growinth [11], found that efficient communication in the couple relationship would have to take into account three substantiation issues: • expression without hesitation, refers to avoiding some aspect of the less pleasant things that exist in the relationship but are difficult to remember / expressed, etc.

Growinth recalled the presence of “blockages” as regarding certain unpleasant experiences that have taken place in the relationship, but for various reasons are difficult to remember, brought to the discussion, but which also affects the good course of the relationship. If we feel that we communicate fairly clearly with our partner, but it does not hear us, Northrup advises us to reassess the situation [12]. In his opinion, the communication problems occurred in the middle age, when most women began to notice changes in their health, particularly those related to the thyroid. Northrup states that “the function of the thyroid gland is influenced by our ability to communicate, something that for women has been blocked for thousands of years from the social point of view until recently” [13] .

Non-blame communication can be accomplished by: - Active listening; - Without contradictions; - To emphasize appreciation; - Transforming complaints into requests; - Switching from quilt to question.

The use of some communication tools consists in commendations such as: • ask and you will receive; • show the partner what you want to receive;

• learn to negotiate.

Thereby, we need to look at communication as a system in which energy and information exchanges takes place, which has the physical support of language [14]. For two people to form a couple needs to meet some conditions, namely: - Feelings of affection for each other (love, attachment, respect, etc.); - Sexual attraction; - Value orientations or common goals; - Time spent in common (one with the other, but also in the social sphere); - The desire to be together for a longer period.

The first of the necessary conditions for forming a couple, some researchers call it a fundamental condition, is the existence of affection for each other, love. Love is defined as a state, a favorable disposition of affectivity and will for what is felt, recognized as good, different depending on the subject of this state [15].

Most of the time, as I mentioned earlier, the first step towards the desire to establish a couple relationship is the physical attraction of the two individuals.

The direction in which they are heading is influenced by the following factors: - cognitive factors play a fundamental role in the way a relationship evolves; here we refer first and foremost to learning principles, to how a person has perceived past experiences in couple relationships and accumulated life scenarios. Thus, all these aspects form a learned behavior, and here we refer to the whole life history, both from childhood, youth, or from the first relationships; - sexual harmony, refers to the compatibility of both partners with regard to sexual life and how they feel satisfied from this point of view. Following studies, it was found that an appealing aspect to the

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partner is not only performance itself but also the desire to satisfy the other; - relational skills, in this category are: communication and the way in which sexual affection and satisfaction are expressed and problem solving. From this point of view it is considered that these aspects are fundamental in the stability of couple life and at the same time it was proved that if they are missing, once the time passes, in a paradoxical way, they can (re) discover and become strategies for saving the relationship of couple.

- economic factors. Here we can say that economic factors can be decisive in terms of the longevity of couple life. It has been found that people who are interested in engaging in a new relationship already have some expectations from the potential partner, such as stable job, a house, financial independence, decent income, etc.

- the social environment. Integrating the couple into the social environment is very important for its stability. This involves integration into the work environment and a high degree of professional satisfaction for each of the partners.

- the evolution of the couple relationship refers to the way it has developed, the history they shares it.

- socialization in the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s origin. This factor starts from the notion that there is an undeniable importance of the relationship between the manifest behaviors within the partners and, on the other hand, the relations between their feelings and their latent thoughts. The constant difficulties in previous and current relationships are due to the emotional difficulties experienced during childhood. Past relationships, especially the first familial relationships, have a direct impact on the evolution of marital life. A family environment characterized by consistent educational practices that provide the necessary affection prepares the individual in a more appropriate way Session 3. Social Sciences, Culture, Lifestyle Choices & Religion

for satisfactory intimate relationships. On the contrary, a distorted, disorganized family environment, characterized by violence, abuses, negligence, educational incoherence, favors the emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses considerably harmful to the stability of intimate relationships and conjugal satisfaction [16].

- current personal problems. It seems that in some situations only one aspect is enough to shake the stability of a couple.

According to research, most of the time jealousy and / or adultery are the most common reasons that overcome the peace of a couple.

II. Problem Definition

The aim of the research is to highlight the quality of life in married couples and unmarried couples in terms of partner communication style and satisfaction, cohesion, consensus and affective expression in the couple.

III. Methodology/approach

In the present research I started from the following assumptions: 1. It is assumed that married people communicate more assertively than the unmarried.

2. It is assumed that people with assertive communication style are consensual in the couple.

IV. Description of working tools 1) Questionnaire identifying the style of communication

This questionnaire was made by Solomon Marcus, a Romanian psychologist with important contributions to the study of the empathic phenomenon [17].

The test is relevant to the four basic styles of communication: non-assertive

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style, aggressive style, manipulating style, assertive style.

One point is given to the “TRUE” answer.

Sums up the points on communication styles.

The style at which the maximum number of points was obtained indicates the dominant attitude in communication, the relatively stable and predictable characteristics of the communicative behavior.

When identical or similar scores are obtained in two styles, the manifest style of communication is still uncontroversial, but is subordinate at the latent level, two competing attitudes of which one or the other may at any time become dominant depending on the circumstances. When the scores are close to three or four styles, we talk about the lack of a style of communication, which indicates a pendulous, oscillating, unmatched communication behavior, linked to ambiguous and difficult to predict behavior.

1) The DAS questionnaire

The Adaptation Scale in couple measures the quality of partnering in marital or consensual diadicultural relationships. [18] DAS is an evaluation instrument made up of 32 items, which can be completed either by you or by both partners in a relationship.

Each DAS item is rated in a single response, which is selected from a list. The DAS includes 4 subscales: Couple Consensus, Couple Satisfaction, Couple Cohesion, and Affective Expression.

Thru this process we select into the sample the persons that are available and not all the members of the population have the same chance of being part of the sample, For the research we selected 60 married and unmarried persons between the ages of 18 and 60. From the marital status point of view, there are 20 married couples and 10 unmarried couples.

Figure 1. Marital status of the participants results and discussion

VI. Results and discussion

1. It is assumed that married people communicate more assertively than unmarried ones.

To test this hypothesis we applied the communication stylesheet. The results were interpreted using SPSS [19].

Tabelul 1 Test t for the indepenedent samples

V. Lot of study participants

The type of sampling used in the present research is a convenience or accidental sample; it is a procedure by which the sample is composed with fit or available persons to participate in a research. It is obvious that only a person who understands the instructions and who can perform a certain task is fit for that research. The convenience sampling procedure used is volunteering.

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From the data analysis in Table no.1, we notice a significant difference p = 0,00 regarding assertive communication in married couples (mean = 9,8) as against unmarried couples (mean = 3,05). Considering the confirmation of the hypothesis, namely that married people communicate more assertively than the unmarried ones, we can deduce that legalizing marriage brings a couple of advantages to the couple. In the married couple, love makes partners relate much better. Here is offered and received.

Therefore, in order to communicate assertively in the relationship, it is necessary for the partners to know each other very well. Everyone needs to love themselves and the others.

When communicating frankly with the other, the expression is much more free, more calm and direct, without the fear of causing the other to suffer. It is easier and clearer to communicate what it feels and wants. In the married couple, each partner expresses his needs and desires without asking the other to fulfill his own. When you are involved in a relationship, you are more comfortable with yourself and more openly to receive the other as it is, to forgive it if it’s wrong, to encourage and support it when it’s needed, to listen and understand his point of view. You can listen to the wishes and needs of your partner without feeling compelled to satisfy them. Don’t feel compelled to satisfy the other’s needs and desires, it doesn’t mean being selfish and indifferent, but rather not sacrificing yourself to meet the other’s demands in the detriment of personal physical, psychological and emotional balance.

Unmarried couples do not communicate high assertiveness because their moral profile is characterized by pride and selfishness. And as pride is a fear, they are not totally involved in the relationship because of the fear of failure and because of the low level of appreciation of the lack

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of genuine experience regarding the intense experiences of married couples.

2. It is assumed that persons with assertive communication style are consensual in the couple.

The assertive communication style variable was tested using the communication stylesheet. The couple consensus variable was tested using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) questionnaire, the Coupling Adaptation Scale measures partner quality in marital or consensual diadicultural relationships.

Tabelul 2.

Correlations between assertive communication style and the consesus in the couple **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The above table indicates that the assertive communication style correlates with the consensus in the couple because the value of significance threshold is 0.000, therefore less than the significant value of 0.05.Considering the confirmation of the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between the assertive communication style and the couple’s consensus, we can sustain the idea that the existence of a sincere, effective communication between the partners is closely linked and determines the identity of opinion and harmony in the couple. I believe that the basis of an authentic love relationship is deep in expressing emotions and opinions, but at the same time understanding, understanding of these experiences expressed by the partner.

Assertive communication leads to acquiring and having common ideas, ideals, desires,

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goals and values in the relationship of couple and awareness of one’s own needs.

Conclusions The couple represents the basic unit of life perpetuation. It is a bond formed between two people who develops and evolves together and which have as a common goal building a family. The quality of life in couple is essential in maintaining a lasting, healthy relationship that provides harmony, satisfaction and stability. The way a partner relates to each other in the couple relationship has a determining role for the future actions of the other, and also for the stability and functioning of the relationship.

The secret of welfare within the couple is the use of communication as assertive as possible. This determines the degree of understanding between partners about different aspects of a couple’s life, such as time spent together, household duties, friends, money, and religion.

The environment created in the couple relationship urges partners to discover themselves and appreciate the other, to be responsible in the relationship. These aspects increase self-confidence, partner and relationship.

In the relationship of couple, the approach of an assertive communication style shows the importance offered to the partner, goodwill, generosity, which ensures consensus in the couple. Assertive communication leads to ideas, common concepts of lifestyle.

For couple, communication is, along with inner cognition, the main tool for the development of structure and relationships with a family role and the foundation of identity and retrieval in the other.

Assertive communication implies and says “no” when necessary. In married couples, this is accepted because the relationship between the two is based on a

solid foundation of trust, respect and love.

Also, married people communicate more by virtue of their experience, easily approaching their experiences of persuasion. Thus, their communication is not a mechanical, rigid but an assertive one that develops credibility and is the basis of the relationship. Married people have the ability to express their feelings, to claim their rights, respecting the feelings and rights of their partner. Communicating assertively they reduce the interpersonal conflicts in their lives and thus remove a major source of stress because assertiveness means being able to express your emotions and points of view, to be able to refuse without feeling guilty and to take risks when needed. For married people, the couple’s relationship is to teach the partners to manifest at their full capacity.

As far as unmarried persons are concerned, they do not discuss any problem with their partner in order not to show their vulnerability to the one with who they are not in a marriage. Instead, debating a problem is more comfortable with your spouse.

References [1]

[2]

[3] [4]

[5]

[6]

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C. Rus, Course on theories and forms of comunication, Cluj, Babeș-Bolyai University, 2012, 81-82, M. Minulescu, Psychology of communication, e-book, Bucharest, Faculty of SociologyPsychology, Spiru-Haret University, 2011, p.149.

J.,C. Abric, Psychology of communication, Iași, Polirom House Publishing, 2002, p.21.

R. Rășcanu, Psychology and communication, e-book, Bucharest, University of Bucharest, 2002, 61-62.

G. Leleu, How to be happy in the couple.

Intimacy, sensuality, sexuality, Bucharest, Three Publushing House, 2004, p.19.

G. Corneau, Are there happy loves? The relationship of the couple, Bucharest,

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Humanitas Publishing House, 2000, p.162.

D. Crăciun, Social psychology, Bucharest, A.S.E. House Publishing, 2004, p.52.

[8] M. Georgescu, Introduction to psychological counseling, Bucharest, The Romanian publishing House of tomorrow, 2014, p.74.

[9] G. Leleu, How to be happy in the couple.

Between fidelity and infidelity, Bucharest, Three Publishing House, 2003, p.49.

[10] C. Enăchescu, Treated mental hygiene, 3rd edition , Iasi, Polirom House Publishing, 2008, p.271.

[11] C. Growinth, Occuring yourself, Psychology today Magazine, 2015 [12] M. Voinea, Family sociology, Bucharest, Humanitas Publishing House, 1993, p.52.

[13] Ibidem, 64.

[14] G. Leleu, The book of desires, Bucharest, Three Publushing House, 2006, p.84 [15] M. Popa, coord, ABC of life, Bucharest, Univers Enciclopedic House, 1999, p.279.

[16] D.Vasile, Introduction to family psychology and psychosexology, 3rd edition, Bucharest, The Romanian publishing House of tomorrow, 2007, p.71.

[17] A. Chelcea, (coord), Psycho (vol I), Bucharest, Science and technology House, 1994 [18] D. Iliescu, Petre L., Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Technical manual O.S. Romania, 2009.

[19] M. Sandu, Theoretical and Practical Aspects of the SPSS Program, Constanta, Andrei Saguna Foundation Publishing House, 2012.

[7]

Biography

Calin Mariana Floricica I have a Doctorate of Psychology degree and my domains of interest are neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, diagnosis and settlement of social problems and statistics.

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Postmodern Developments of Religious Language through Hermeneutics Perspective Daniela STĂNCIULESCU

Department of Administrative Sciences; Spiru Haret University Craiova, Romania ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 30 September 2018 Received in revised form 2 October Accepted 5 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.9

The encounter between hermeneutics and postmodernism gave rise to an extremely interesting vision of the philosophy of religion. Thus, an essential part of recent philosophical hermeneutics claims that the religious phenomenon can be analyzed and described just as a phenomenon marked by tradition, culture and a given history.

From this perspective, the theory of history is related to the action theory and that of storytelling, since history is a “true” story that reflects the past actions of people, ruled by, as Ricoeur sustains, intentions, projects and motives. Mediation through language is joined by cultural and historical mediation: thus, the affections and attitudes are interpreted according to the canons and not in their naked immediacy.

Keywords: post-modernity; religious language; hermeneutics; philosophy of religion;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Postmodern thinking draws the attention on the fact that everything is an interpretation, since there is no absolute truth. Under the conditions of such relativism, how could comprehension be possible? Well, a first condition might be lying within the linguistic community we are referring to. Then, taking a certain position, which we know limits us, but supports us in our encounter with this community too. Furthermore, given that the language community has rules, criteria, prerequisites, etc., so as not to take it from scratch, we adopt the existing ones. Again, “this is

interpretation: being inside a situation, facing it not as someone who comes from Mars but as someone who has a history, as someone who belongs to a community” [1].

Therefore any religion can be treated as a language game that operates according to its own rules. If, for example, we strictly relate to Christianity, we find that through a resistance of more than 2,000 years, it has succeeded and still manages to influence the good course of many other language games. In this regard, Vattimo exemplifies, Dante and Shakespeare wrote so that a reader who did not read the Bible does not

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understand the message. Conversely, we can: we can read the Bible even if we do not know anything about Dante or Shakespeare.

“Remove the Bible”, Vattimo concludes, “and I would not be what I am” [2]. He says that to believe in the Gospel today, one must first understand that language is not just objective realities. „There is also another language that says other things. Just as it is when I affirm a scientific proposition: I accept the fact that its truth rests on a certain conception of knowledge, a certain accepted code of experimentation, and the use of certain tools” [3]. It is obvious that we should accept the truth of the science without being scientists, because, if we insist to recreate the conditions of an experiment, as Vattimo says, we would be caught in an infinite regression [4].

Vattimo considers that the religious language must be approached in the same way. Thus, it is suggested that the religious language can be understood as long as it is not interpreted either realistically nor as an objective phenomenon, in other words, as long as it remains within the linguistic tradition that contains it. This is because, from a postmodern perspective, the objectivity comes from the linguistic consensus of the participants in the dialogue, and not from the identification of ultimate grounds situated outside the human sphere.

What appears to be increasingly obvious in contemporary post-metaphysical thought is that truth does not consist in the correspondence between propositions and things. Even when we speak of correspondence, we have in mind propositions verified in the context of paradigms, the truth of which consists above all in their being shared by a community [5].

As Santiago Zabala remarks, the renewal of philosophy in the postmodern period takes place by the metaphysics overtaking, having a linguistics resulting, in the idea that the so-called linguistic a priori structures

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of our experience. If this experience is an essentially linguistic one and our existence is essentially historical, shows Zabala, then it is clear that there is no way to overcome the language and to become “all” as a reality.

It is only within this hermeneutical framework that preferences can be delineated for political or religious projects.

The strong theory of weakness consists of a philosophy that does not derive from the world “as it is,” but from the world viewed as the production of interpretations throughout the history of human cultures.

This philosophy today is hermeneutics, and Vattimo has individuated in it a “koiné: the common language” explained Gadamer, “in which philosophical thought after Heidegger and Wittgenstein, after Quine, Derrida and Ricoeur, has spread everywhere; virtually a universal philosophical language.”

Although hermeneutics is at the origin of weak thought, Vattimo always recalls that the Saussurean linguistic structuralism of the 1960s and the development of Wittgensteinian language games in some analytical philosophy also played a great part in developing the idea that although there are no facts, just interpretations, these interpretations are always inside language – as the dicta of Heidegger and Gadamer emphasized: “Language is the house of Being” and “Being that can be understood is language” [6].

Therefore, the hermeneutic act, whose content is linguistic, would have the role of reflecting the metamorphoses of language throughout its historical development.

As for the philosophical hermeneutics of our century, authors such as Aurel Codoban say that “as much as it is in a rigorous sense, it is in some of the works of Hans Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur” [7]. The visions of those two thinkers will produce remarkable influences on the postmodern interpretation of religious texts1. Especially, 1 I treated the subject of the major influence of those

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although “neither Heidegger, nor Gadamer, use the postmodern term, many of the contemporary philosophical discussions on the subject of postmodernism are claimed from their thinking, and often ascend to Nietzsche, whose influence on Heidegger is well known. It is not surprising that in the United States - and not only Heidegger is sometimes considered the first postmodern.” [8] Although it seems rather complicated to establish a connection between postmodern and hermeneutical theology, some philosophers believe that we can identify certain elements that bring together the two traditions together. In this sense, Dan R. Stiver argues that the above-mentioned hermeneutical directions, namely those drawn by Gadamer and Ricoeur’s thinking, produce major influences for postmodern theologians. Thus, Dan R. Stiver believes that there are certain advantages that Gadamer and Ricoeur’s hermeneutical philosophy offers for theology: these advantages would be that both of them focus on the interpretation of texts, in particular on “texts that involve understanding across wide horizons” [9], and that, in their arguments, both use classical texts, such as Scripture.

II. The influence of gadamer’s hermeneutics on the postmodern approaches of the religious language

Gadamer succeeded in developing a universal theory of hermeneutics, by promoting a radical conception regarding the linguistic and diachronic character of the comprehension. Thus, “Gadamer two important thinkers in the development of recent hermeneutics more broadly in my paper „Excursus in philosophical hermeneutics”, included in the Humanist Anthology Aspects of applied ethics within the limits of knowledge, Bacău: Rovimed Publishers, 2013, 169185.

would suggest a “methodical weakness” of hermeneutics: the attention and the gratitude to the internal requirements of the object of interpretation, the respect for its fundamental fragility, the willingness to listen to what it has to say before asking questions and the effort not to impose its own rationality or beliefs” [10].

Gadamer criticized the rigorous character of the hermeneutical method that had satisfied itself to the linguistic and the historical heritage regarding the comprehension and evaluation of the texts of tradition, showing that, in fact, the comprehension is of two kinds: comprehension that extracts the content of the truth and comprehension of the author’s intentions (which involves the knowledge of the psychological and biographical circumstances that support a statement or an action). Sensible to Heidegger’s youthful writings and to the original project of the hermeneutics of facticity, Gadamer will insist on the idea of a historical situation of consciousness and reflection, trying to recapture the hermeneutics of historical facticity and bringing to the foreground the selfcomprehension of situated consciousness, but also the comprehension of the historical world that this consciousness holds.

Besides, “the birth of a historical consciousness or, as it was called, of the historical sense, constituted one, perhaps the most important one, among the revolutions through which the thinking of the eighteenth century occurred. Its meaning has not gone unnoticed, being often highlighted in the specialty literature of the problem” [11]. In this sense, Gadamer himself will consider the emergence of historical consciousness as the most revolutionary consequence of modernity.

Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics tries to release the truth from the cage where it was thrown by the modern

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concept of method, wondering itself about the experiences (the art, the history, the language) whose amplitude is not reduced to the primacy of some selfconsciousness [12]. This is why the critique of the modern method which hermeneutics operate by interrogating the experience of comprehension is at the same time a critique of the fundamentals of this method, that is, of the subjectivity, of certain selfconsciousness [13].

Gadamer considered that the language is “a being that can be understood”, in other words, it is the universal space in which the comprehension is accomplished: thus, any hermeneutical process takes place a linguistic level, and the paradigm under which it works is the dialogue. Moreover, the language is the precursor of thinking, being “the great prejudgment that makes us understand” [14] .

In Gadamer’s opinion, the comprehension must give up the claims of absolute reason, as long as finite concretizations can only achieve it. Thus, he related the hermeneutics, on the one hand, to tradition2 and, on the other, to prejudgments3. The comprehension is not possible, from its point of view, outside of consciousness of the “history of effects”4, 2 The Comprehension/Tradition relationship expresses the appearance of concretization of the historical consciousness. By reference to the historicity of comprehension, it highlights the preliminary acquisitions that Heidegger determines ontologically and that Gadamer develops from the perspective of their methodological and epistemological consequences.

3 The role of the prejudgments is emphasized in the context of the preliminary acquisitions. Thus, Gadamer aimed to re-establish the status of the prejudgments, to which the Enlightenment gave a negative character, caused by their sources, respectively the authority and the tradition, and by the excessive care for the method. Gadamer points out that bias does not mean an erroneous judgment, but a judgment before the final judgment, with both positive and negative appreciation: there are legitimate prejudgments.

4 The principle of the history of effects consists in the

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namely of the consciousness of the hermeneutical situation, meaning the way which we perceive the tradition that we try to understand. The concept of the situation is closely related to that of the horizon5, already used by Nietzsche and Husserl, which suggests the dependence of thinking on its finite determinations and the need to widen these limits. The hermeneutical experience is divided into the experience that is integrated in our experience and confirming it, and our own experience (this own experience, called negative one, have to contribute to a better knowledge of what we know in advance). The actual experience occurs when somebody realizes his own limits.

If the Philosophy generally arises from questions, says Dan R. Stiver, the starting point of Gadamer’s philosophy is the question of what we truly understand about distant horizons. He shows that „we are not trapped in our horizons; rather they are capable of being expanded and fused with others. A fusion does not at all mean, however, an equal synthesis between the two.in order to understand enough even to reject another view, our horizon must have fused. Fusion, therefore, does not necessarily mean agreement. It may also mean that one’s own horizon ends up being largely rejected by the critical capacity to see oneself from an enlarged perspective that attempt to understand a historical phenomenon based on the historical distance and the global determination of the hermeneutical situation.

5 A person without a horizon is a person who does not see far enough, which is why he tends to overestimate what is near. Developing a hermeneutical situation requires getting the right horizon. For example, understanding the tradition requires the preliminary knowledge of the appropriate historical horizon. And as the horizon of the present cannot be separated from the horizon of the past, reaching thus to the “fusion of horizons,” it is necessary to identify a consciousness of the history of the effects, which purpose would be the comprehension and therefore the interpretation.

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includes the viewpoint of the Other” [15].

Stating that behind the language are the events that form a tradition and rehabilitating the authority of the texts transmitted through this tradition, Gadamer’s thought meets the hermeneutics of the postmodern religious language, where, Vattimo shows us, as in the case of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, “truth comes about as the ongoing construction of communities that coincide in a “fusion of horizons” (Horizontverschmelzung), which has no insuperable “objective” limit (like that of race, language, or “natural” belongings)” [16].

Also, the phrase “fusion of horizons” is relevant, as Stiver shows us, in the context of the famous metaphor of the post-liberal G. Lindbeck, namely that „the biblical world should absorb the modern world rather than the modern world absorbing the biblical (intratextuality)” [17].

Thus, as Stiver shows us, the post-liberal theologians use that „to avoid the modern reliance on an external ground for faith (extratextuality) and to protect the priority of the biblical message from being swamped by the modern horizon” [18].

III. The ricoeurian interpretative

paradigm and the religious postmodernism

The French philosopher Paul Ricoeur considers that the issue of plurality of meanings is indispensable for any exegesis, including the religious language one. In the same time, this kind of interpretation requires the arbitration of philosophy.

Though Ricoeur’s thinking fits in the direction of the Cartesian tradition of the philosophy preoccupied with the definition of the conditions for true self-knowledge, appealing to the action, the French writer proves that he is not stopping at the

reflexivity of the mind6. Moreover, Ricoeur denounces the claims to the transparency of the reflexive philosophy, pointing out that the operation by which a subject is self-acquainted is not immediate, because, through deep mediators, the identity is confined by alterity. This alterity, Ricoeur shows, does not come only from the other: it also belongs to signs, to the language, to symbols and myths, even to the unconscious. This is a direction of thought that extends even in the analysis of the religious phenomenon.

Ricoeur argues that religions adherence originates nor in deep religious experiences but in learning to speak a religious language; it is the result of a long process of socialization in which a person learns to perform the rituals, practices and customs in an appropriate way and in an era-changing to context [19].

Ricoeur’s work relates to various fields of knowledge: history, structuralism, linguistics, semiotics, bringing the philosophy to the vicinity of all discourse nuances.

This orientation leads Ricoeur towards a philosophy of the art to understand according to the epistemological7 and ontological8 aspects of comprehension.

In this sense, Ricoeur will start from the ontology of the understanding that Heidegger had established in Sein und Zeit.

But if the German philosopher had to circumvent the discussions about the method, following the so-called “short path” that leads directly to the ontology of 6 The reflexive philosophy, freed from the illusion of an immediate intuition of self by itself, will receive at Ricoeur a double graft: a phenomenological one, inspired by Husserl, and hermeneutical, allowing Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger and especially Gadamer visions.

7 In which conditions is the art of understanding a science? Which are its methods? and ontological 8 What reveals in the human being the fact that he seeks to understand the environment in which he lives?

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the finite being, where the hermeneutical analysis becomes an analytical problem of Dasein, Ricoeur will choose the “long approach” of understanding the ontology, in correlation with the epistemology of interpretation, considering that the understanding is not only a way of being, but also a way of knowing9. And how the interpretation interprets the work of deciphering hidden meaning in the apparent sense, Ricoeur notes the double determination of the semantic field in which the symbol and the interpretation are correlative, integrating semantics into ontology through reflection.

In Ricoeur’s opinion, the analysis of language refers, on the one hand, to something that appears and hides at the same time and, on the other hand, to the semantics of plurivocity expressions. The attempts to reveal the multiple expressions will gravitate around the term “symbol,” respectively that meaningful structure in which the original meaning designates a secondary, a figurative, an unscrupulous sense without the intercession of the former. Convinced of the impossibility of deciphering the human enigma outside the analysis of prevalent myths in the culture of humanity, Ricoeur will therefore seek support in the hermeneutics of the symbols, reaching the finality of his research by putting together the hermeneutical question and the phenomenological method. This comprehensive approach of the phenomenology highlights the importance that Ricoeur attributes to the act of interpretation and to the cleavage of 9 Describing its own philosophical vision, Ricoeur reveals which are the three sources of his research: 1. he situates himself outside the tradition of the reflexive philosophy (reflexive philosophy which, according to Ricoeur, claims from Descartes, passes through Kant, and finally through the post-kantian French philosophy); 2. he is dependent on Husserl’s phenomenology; 3. his work is a hermeneutical variant of Husserl’s phenomenology.

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perspectives on the existence of the text, on its actuality.

A significant step in the Ricoeuran analysis of the religious text lies in the bringing together the phenomenology and the theology, helping us to observe that the discovery of the religious act becomes possible taking it outside its dogmatic character.

Thus, the phenomenology of religion relies not only on a simple description of the religious act, but especially on the interpretation. In this sense, the combination of phenomenology with theology will serve to the Ricoeur method of construction/ reconstruction of meaning.

The problem facing a phenomenology of religion that seeks to unearth universal aspects of religious phenomena becomes evident.

The fundamental feelings associated with religious experience are nowhere visible in their naked immediacy for they are already experienced within the parameters of a given language, which is itself the product of a long cultural tradition.

To complicate matters further, each religion is itself like a language that possesses its own customs and its own history. Religion uses its own special vernacular that preconfigures that way in which members of that religious experience the world [20].

The language of religious prayer is par excellence one in action: during prayer, the religious subject actively exalts its appeal to the “Other”, while the latter “affects” its consciousness concerning the feeling.

It is a vast register of absolute feelings and affections manifested by the subject through faith, but also about of a set of attitudes that Ricoeur places under the generic name of “prayer”, a term defined by some forms of expression deployed in the movement from the complaint to the praise and mediated by the supplication and the demand.

Any production of new meaning, far from a simple repeat, is defined by the

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phrase “semantic innovation”, culminating in the meaning of meanings, when it comes together with other sources of meaning, even opposite to the original meaning. Thus, the relationship of the phenomenology with the religion is a critical report, which has the role of revealing one or more meanings appearances (so it cannot be based only on a form of consent of the lecturer/auditor to the religious discourse). The meeting space of the two disciplines is the hermeneutic one. It appeals both to the linguistics of the discourse10 and to the Austin and Searle language acts. In this sense, notes Dan R. Stiver, In terms of the limitations of speech act theory, Ricoeur provides a much broader philosophical framework, offering a hermeneutical view of the self, of the self’s judgments, and of how historical and fictional judgments both involve the mimetic or productive imagination. Speech act theory is more precise in showing how historiographical conditions and literary conditions interrelate. Ricoeur is more helpful in showing that they are inherently interrelated and what kind of judgment is involved in each. Moreover, Ricoeur develops a much more elaborate hermeneutical process, a hermeneutical arc, that allows for the appropriate use of critical methodologies, which speech act theory per se hardly touches [21].

Approaching the religious phenomenon, Ricoeur will define the belief in contrast to the usual language, because, as he says, we cannot separate the biblical belief from the interpretation movements that “elevates” language. As Nicholas Wolterstorff noticed, Ricoeur does not show a special interest in 10 Ricoeur defines the discourse as an “event of language”, having the following particularities: it is temporally realized at it is present; it is self-referential; it updates the symbolic function of the language; it always refers to something and addresses an interlocutor.

the role that the concept of revelation has in theology because, in his view, the theological language represents a second degree of discourse, derived and subordinate [22].

That is why the French philosopher will assign the main role, in the analysis of revelation, to the hermeneutical space which, through its continuing interpretative exigency, suggests an epistemological report built with the text. It is about, in Ricoeur’s conception, the relationship concerning the reception of the biblical text, established between “the scholarly exegesis” and the “confessing exegesis”.

Thus, while the “scholarly exegesis” analyzes the biblical text as any other text, the “confessing exegesis” always refers to the belief. The hermeneutic conflict, which may oppose the “scholastic exegesis” and the “confessional exegesis”, has its own dialectical mediation inside the actual hermeneutical space, namely, this sphere of constitution and reconstruction of the meaning which mediates the hermeneutical circles “inherent in the scriptural creation of Jewish and Christian belief” [23].

A fundamental problem in Ricoeur’s understanding and argumentation is the comprehension of the “hermeneutic circle” Syntagma, by which is discussed the hermeneutical status of the phenomenology of religions. Ricoeur points out that a text is at the same time a speech-based discourse and an interposed work between the lecturer and the author, a work detached from his original place and susceptible to being subjected to an endless series of interpretations by which the lector seeks to understand itself. From this perspective, Ricoeur builds the concept of narrative identity, because answering the question “Who am I?” means telling, after all, a whole life (as ancient Israel gave a narrative identity telling the history of the exodus).

A significant resonance in the field of religious research will also have the phrase

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“hermeneutical arch”11. The hermeneutic arch resides in a first understanding “naive and inherently shaped by interests and tradition” followed by a moment of suspicion that draws the necessity of using a critical methodology. But Stiver shows, “the resultant picture is actually more a hermeneutical spiral than an arc since judgments are continually retested and reappropriated. The implications for theology is that we begin with a text, experience, or tradition that has already grasped us, which is then critically examinated and further reappropriated” [24].

Introducing Ricoeur’s phrase of “hermeneutic arc” in the realm of religion, the post-liberal theologians will show that „the experience by itself lacks specificity, and, second, that experience must be taken in a social or corporate sense” [25], and in this case the hermeneutic arch must start from church practices. That is why, Stiver sees, significant to Gadamer and Ricoeur’s thinking is that they succeed producing not only a hermeneutical turn, but also a practice, in which conditions „the theological methodology here envisaged is that it spring from the church’s praxis, face the hermeneutic of suspicion from within and without, and in turn inspire anew a tested, developed and even transformed praxis” [26]. Inside the Ricoeurian interpretative model, shows Stiver, the hermeneutics or the dynamic interpretation of the interpretation of texts becomes a paradigm for the understanding of any text, including the religious one, within which the human beings are perceived as hermeneutical beings. This model of interpretation, according to Dan R. Stiver, reflects „the elusiveness of determinate meanings, the surplus of meaning and the conflict of interpretations” [27].

11 According to Dan R. Stiver, Ricoeur’s hermeneutic arc would have the role of doing justice to the Gadamerian intuition concept.

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The Action exceeds the conditions of its production, just as the text develops new references. The text is an open work, too.

Also, the action is open to anyone can read, as Ricoeur says, addressing to an endless series of possible readers. The significance of an event would not lie in contemporary interpretations, but in hermeneutics which becomes after its production.

IV. Weak hermeneutic: G. Vattimo and

J. Caputo

For Gianni Vattimo, post-modernity is late modernity, dominated by a weak hermeneutics. In other words, he „does not regard post-modernity as a radical “rupture” with modernity, because for him post-modernism is a new attitude to the modern; in particular, it is an attitude that understands the objectivist conditions of the philosophies of the Enlightenment” [28]. This type of hermeneutics appears as a reaction to the “strong thinking”, with claims of universality, characteristic to the modern period. So, the end of meta-narratives, announced by Lyotard and identified with the emergence of postmodernism, does not represent in Vattimo’s opinion a kind of a true state of things from which the metanarratives have disappeared out of the blue, but a process within we situate ourselves, being called to interpret it.

Vattimo writings are considered “among the most imaginative contributions to the tradition of philosophical thought that flows from Nietzsche and Heidegger [29].” Thus, developing the Heideggerian dialectics, Vattimo uses some specifically Heideggerian key concepts, to express this new thought direction named „weak philosophy”.

In order to explain this new attitude philosophically to the modern, Vattimo uses Heidegger’s most characteristic philosophical terminology: the German concepts Verwindung and Überwindung.

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The latter suggests a sort of attitude that consists in overcoming modernity by a Hegelian Aufhebung, an overcoming that goes beyond and leaves behind, falling unconsciously again to modern foundations. Instead, using the German term Verwindung, we should think of ”turning to new purposes” “surpassing”, “twisting,” “resigning,” and “accepting ironically” modernity. It is in this second sense that Vattimo offers us the idea of weak thought as an aspect of the postmodern attitude and approach not only toward modernity but also toward traditional metaphysical ontotheology. Richard Rorty has explained that “the relationship between predecessor and successor would be conceived, as Vattimo has emphasized, not as the power-laden relation of ‘overcoming’ (Überwindung) but as the gentler relation of turning to new ‘purposes’ (Verwindung )“ [30].

Vattimo considers that Heidegger’s reflections on the metaphysical definition of truth as an objective put the basis for the postmodern understanding of language between the limits of interpretation. Thus, shows Richard Rorty, Heideggerians like Derrida and Vattimo (and also revisionist Hegelians such as Terry Pinkard and Robert Pippin) are happy to agree with the scientific materialists that we have no immortal part and no faculty that puts us in touch with the eternal.

We are simply animals that an talk and so can praise and blame each other, discuss what should be done, and institute social practices to see that it is done. What lifts us above the other animals is just our ability to participate in such practices. To be rational for these philosophers is not to possess a truth-tracking faculty. It is simply to be conversable [31].

Even „is not the only thinker to insist on the primacy of interpretation or on the hermeneutical nature of human experience” [32], Vattimo is the initiator of

a broad debate on the end of modernity in the European space. He argues, that the postmodernism is a typical way of reflection, which oppose “the weak thinking” to “metaphysics “or “the strong thinking”, the dominated one, intolerant of anything that seems to contradict it. “The weak thinking”, pointing to the end of the totalitarian vision of the world, proposes an interpretation of the being in which it is described as weakened. The effects of this weakening consist in abandoning the great narratives of humanity, as religion, metaphysics, or scientific positivism. The disorientation of this “revolution” is, however, in Vattimo’s view, a premise of freedom, which transforms the old obsession of modern philosophy for the metaphysics of truth into a predilection for the interpretative exercise.

One hears with growing frequency these days the pithy claim that “it is interpretation all the way down”. This maxim, cited by several recent authors, finds its source in Nietzsche’s assertion: there are no facts, only interpretations. And this, too, is an interpretation! This passage, cited frequently by Vattimo (NE, 155; DN, 74), is meant to remind us that we are embedded and conditioned observers, that we “perform” within different language games, that there exist no universal or unambiguous warrants for knowledge. All warrants for truth, rather, are deeply embedded in specific forms of life, in contingent cultural circumstances. This claim - that all knowledge is, necessarily and without exception, rooted in interpretation - helps us to see more clearly what “weak thought” actually means. It signifies that there exists a multiplicity of interpretations, none of which is self-justifying by virtue of appeals to universally available first principles or evidence. We should understand, rather, that evidence and criteria are not unproblematic concepts. Evidence varies from community to community, from person to person [33].

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From the point of view of that “weak thought”, the postmodern religious perspective embraced by Vattimo takes in consideration, on a hand, the eradication of religious authority, meaning that the true Christian must be non-religious and on the other hand, the action, bending to the needs of the other, charity, as long as “the Christian message fulfills his destiny when we become aware of our action in the world.” Thus, “conforming to dogmas” contravenes the phenomenon of Christian engagement for freedom. Vattimo believes that, in fact, true religiosity is based on secularization, in the sense of separation of religion from religious authority.

An important follower of the “weak thought” doctrine inaugurated by Vattimo, the American theologian John Caputo, believes that the postmodern return of religion equates to the emergence of a religion without religion, this meaning a theology of weakness, that does not claim to have the absolute knowledge, but which asserts the belief, staying under the ethical imperative to help those who are overwhelmed.

Caputo opts for a theology of the event, under the sign of “indecisiveness” and “transductibility”, and identifies the postmodernity with the post-secularism. In his opinion, the postmodern theology is a theology of the event, an event meaning what is hiding in what is happening, not the happening in itself, something moving in things, not the thing itself, something that cannot be deconstructed, which is never present, which is provisionally formulated by name (this one being a deconstructive one). The event is a promise, a challenge, and the postmodernism is something that takes care about the event. It is the event thinking itself, providing shelter to the event within a secure space.

Caputo believes that the religion begins and ends within the prayer: it cannot be a

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religion without prayers or vice versa. The “material” from which the prayer is made is the “event” and God (in fact, the event evicted in the name of God) is the initiator of this particular type of dialogue. What happens to us in postmodern theology, considers John Caputto, is the event housed in the name of God. The event is an irreducible possibility to something actual, something that stimulates the expression in words and things, something that will come up. The event is the “je ne sais quoi” expressed by the name “God”, it can be (partially) described as a consuming spark, a sacred fire, a grace or a holy spirit.

As a verbal expression of this fire that crosses the spirits, making them rise, it really exists a name, God, which represents, in fact, the most famous and more prosperous name to signify this incredible mystery. We have this name, which does not actually call the event but instigates us to discover it, to want its closeness. In fact, that makes us return to the apophatic theology: how could we express in words such mystery?, asks Caputto. His answer (in agreement with Derrida) is that we can use only conventionally the name “God”, in full knowledge of the fact that it names everything less the event that is sheltered by this name. No matter the name of the event, it becomes comprehensible only if it crosses our hearts and bodies, concludes Vattimo.

CONCLUSIONS Therefore, the present philosophical hermeneutics seeks to erase the line between epistemology and transcendental philosophy. So, „recognizing the great relevance of the philosophical hermeneutics for the contemporary thinking in general, the philosopher Richard Rorty went so far as to assert that if the outside history theses of epistemology prove to have no

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“real” foundation and therefore cannot be sustained, the epistemology itself has no choice but to become a form of hermeneutics” [34].

Promoting the language interference in the practical experience, the philosophical hermeneutics will highlight the linguistic character of the experience and the role of the effective history of traditions in forming the individual horizon, as we find this vision at Gadamer. The new hermeneutics that emerges in post-modernity, especially the weaker hermeneutics, will emphasize the subjectivity of interpretations as opposed to the idea of philosophical certainty and foundation, which will bring it closer to Derrida’s deconstructive critique, which is, in fact, as shows A. Codoban, an expression of the weaker hermeneutics, born through the meeting of heideggerian/gadamerian hermeneutics with the structuralist semiology, and, in general, with negative hermeneutics [35].

And that is not only because the hermeneutics, but also the deconstruction aims at overcoming the traditional metaphysics, by renouncing to the pretensions of holding an absolute truth.

The two currents differ, however, as to the methods by which this advancement is attempted: the deconstruction performs the overrun by proposing to simply sweep away metaphysics, while hermeneutics goes beyond it by calling for the revision of the metaphysical past. As Vattimo says, the metaphysics cannot be simply abandoned by hermeneutics, but passed through the filter of the “weak” thinking, which means accepted without its “pedestal”. This is precisely the fundamental problem of philosophy today: farewell to the illusion of the foundation, can philosophy really lack its ontological prejudgments?

In response to these questions, the postmodernism, especially the constructive one, will try to avoid the incoherence that

the relativism brings with it, replacing the postmodern tendency to deny the modern epistemological presuppositions with their positive reinterpretation and in accordance with the presuppositions specific of postmodernism.

References Vattimo, Gianni. „Toward an Nonreligious Christianity.” In Caputo, John, and Gianni Vattimo. After the Death of God. NY: Columbia University Press, 2007, 29.

[2] idem, 83.

[3] idem, 38.

[4] Idem, 38.

[5] Vattimo, Gianni. „The Age of Interpretation.”

In Rorty, Richard, and Gianni Vattimo. The Future of Religion, edited by Santiago Zabala.

New York: Columbia University Press, 2005, 64.

[6] Zabala, Santiago. “Gianni Vattimo and Weak Philosophy.” In Weakening Philosophy: Essays in Honour of Gianni Vattimo, edited

by Santiago Zabala. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2007, 15.

[7] Codoban, Aurel. Semn şi interpretare. O introducere postmodernă în semiologie şi hermeneutică. Cluj-Napoca: Publishing House Dacia, 2001, 123.

[8] Călinescu, Matei. Cinci feţe ale modernităţii.

Modernism, avangardă, decadenţă, kitsch, postmodernism, translated by Tatiana Pătrulescu şi Radu Ţurcanu. Iaşi: Publishing House Polirom, 2005, 263.

[9] Stiver, Dan R.. „Theological method.” In Postmodern theology, edited by K. Vanhoozer.

Cambridge: Cambrige University Press, 2003, 178.

[10] Codoban, Aurel. Semn şi interpretare. O introducere postmodernă în semiologie şi hermeneutică, 137.

[11] Muscă, Vasile. Iluminism şi istorism. ClujNapoca: Publishing House Grinta, 2008, 57.

[12] See Guy Deniau, La question du « sujet » dans l’herméneutique gadamérienne, [13] idem [1]

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Codoban, Aurel. Semn şi interpretare. O introducere postmodernă în semiologie şi hermeneutică, 125.

[15] Stiver, Dan R.. „Theological method.”, 179.

[16] Vattimo, Gianni „The Age of Interpretation.”, 64 .

[17] Stiver, Dan R.. „Theological method.”, 180.

[18] idem, 180.

[19] Moyaert, Marianne. In Response to the Religious Others. Ricoeur and the Fragility of Interreligious Encounters, London: Lexington Books, 2014, 52.

[20] Nordin, Justin. „Ricoeur and Chrétien about the Possibility of a Phenomenology of Religion”, In The Phenomenology Research Group, March 16, Chicago: Loyola University of Chicago, 2013.

[21] Stiver, Dan R. „Felicity and Fusion: Speech Act Theology”. In Transcending boundaries in philosophy and theology: reason, meaning and experience, edited by Kevin Vanhoozer, Martin Warner. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007, 147.

[22] According to Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Divine Discourse – philosophical reflections on the claim that God speaks, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, 59.

[23] See Thierry Ekogha, Phénoménologie et théologie chez Ricœur: le choix d’un risqué.

[24] Stiver, Dan R. „Theological method.”, 182.

[25] idem, 182.

[26] idem, 185.

[27] idem, 178.

[28] Zabala, Santiago. “Gianni Vattimo and Weak Philosophy”, 14.

[29] Rorty, Richard. “Heideggerianism and Leftist Politics”. In Weakening Philosophy: Essays in Honour of Gianni Vattimo, edited by Santiago Zabala. Montreal and Kingston: McGillQueens University Press, 2007, 149.

[30] Zabala, Santiago. “Gianni Vattimo and Weak Philosophy”, 14.

[31] Rorty, Richard. “Heideggerianism and Leftist Politics”, 154-155.

[32] Giuarino, Thomas G. The Return of Religion in Europe? The Postmodern Christianity of Gianni Vattimo, https://www.stthomas.edu/ [14]

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media/catholicstudies/center/logosjournal/ archives/2011vol14/142/14_2_Article.pdf, p.

20.

[33] idem, 20.

[34] See Codoban, Aurel. Semn şi interpretare.

O introducere postmodernă în semiologie şi hermeneutică, 135.

[35] Călinescu, Matei. Cinci feţe ale modernităţii.

Modernism, avangardă, decadenţă, kitsch, postmodernism, 263.

BIOGRAPHY Daniela Stănciulescu is born on the 8th of March 1972. She is a lecturer at „Spiru Haret” University, Romania, where she teaches, among others, Ethics in Public Administration and Logics of Administrative Action. She graduated the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Craiova, the Romanian-French Specialization, and the Faculty of Orthodox Theology Craiova, the Pastoral Theology Specialization. She holds a master and a doctoral degree in Philosophy, at West University from Timișoara. She is a writer, too. She published in roumanian language two books of poems.

Last year her first novel, Reste ici, Gabriel, was published

by Publishing House L’Harmattan, Paris.

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Religious Attitudes Regarding the Suffering in the Outlook of the Protestants from Romania Balla Annamaria

Dept. of Social Worker, Emanuel University of Oradea Romania ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 14 July 2018 Received in revised form 22 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.10

This study wishes to present the way Protestants in Romania relate themselves to various unpleasant situations such as: illness, failure, isolation, death. In this study, there were 966 protestants between the ages of 10 and 70 years old. The study followed the protestants attitudes towards suffering, awfulizing and intolerance thoughts in suffering situations and the effects of irrational thoughts on emotional living. The study revealed that Protestants have a balanced attitude towards suffering, but teenagers 10 to 15 are very vulnerable, with high intensity of irrational thoughts and dysfunctional emotions.

Keywords: religious attitudes; suffering; Protestants;

Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Brelsford (2005) believes that from the standpoint of cognitive psychology, religious beliefs are formed after a natural process of reflection and intuition on supernatural things. Religious beliefs are scientifically explained by the accumulation of the reflections and experiences of past generations. However, religious beliefs are not limited to only thinking systems, gained and assimilated during history, because on an individual aspect, religious beliefs are beliefs that require by default the capacity to maintain the balance between tangible and imaginary things. Every religious individual will find himself at one point in his life

where something unpleasant will happen.

His attitude in that situation can make the suffering decrease or worsen.

Koening, McCullough, and Larson (2001) have analyzed 1200 studies and 400 types of research in the field of physical health in correlation with the religiosity level in the patients. The results obtained showed that patients with active religious life, practicing their religious beliefs go through the healing process faster, their poor state of health becoming better and better, and in a shorter period, compared to non-religious patients.

Also, the mortality rate was significantly lower in religious patients.

Ai and collaborators (2009) have

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performed a study on 235 patients in the cardiology section. The patients were interviewed 14 days prior to the surgical intervention, and two days before the intervention. Comparing the results, it was noted that patients with positive religious thinking had an adaptive behavior regarding the intervention and were more optimistic about the result of the intervention. The patients with a negative religious attitude had an increased stress and anger level compared to the others and had shown an avoidant behavior during the whole time of hospitalization.

Campbell, Yoon and Johnstone (2010) have extended the research to patients with different physical affections (surgical interventions on the spine or brain, associated with/ without tumours or cerebrovascular accident) hospitalized in the hospital near Missouri University (USA) The 168 participants to the study had various Christian denominations (Catholics, Protestants, and others). The results showed that patients who receive moral and emotional support from the members of their congregation have a favorable view on their state of health, they are feeling healthier, unlike those who are ignored by their local church; this came out as a relevant aspect in all denominations. Patients who suffer from a cancerous disease use more often religious coping to adapt to the situation, compared to other patients.

The factors involved in the perception of personal health are the patient’s age, the physical functionality, the level of physical pain and the daily spiritual experience (prayer, reading holy books).

Physical pain is often associated with dysfunctional thoughts such as pain intolerance, awfulizing the situation, the global evaluation of self as being helpless, miserable or useless. Among the consequences of these attitudes, there are emotional burnout, loss of hope, physical

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isolation, avoidance of relationships and depression. Underwood (2009) believes that a high level of auto perception of physical pain can lead to an unfortunate change of expectations towards the future, the loss of the meaning of life, but also the distortion of the image of self and the perception of God. Tummala-Nara (2009) shows that negative religious coping is associated with not accepting God’s forgiveness, the increase of stress level and depression, but also with suicide attempts. After performing a study on 127 masters students from Korea, Lee (2007) has reached the conclusion that the stress level and the presence of depression are influenced by religious coping, and so those with a positive religious attitude experiment a lower stress level and depression, unlike those with a negative religious coping.

Smith, McCullough and Poll (2003) have performed a meta-analysis on 147 studies in the field of depression and religiosity.

The conclusions were that the high level of depression positively correlates with an extrinsic religious orientation and negative religious coping on the one hand, and on the other hand, there is a negative correlation between intrinsic religious orientation and the state of religious well-being. The results show that among the risk factors for depression there are: genetic factors, gender (men 2-3%, women 5-12%), social isolation, a dependent personality, and stressful life events. The intrinsic religious motivation and public religious involvement (going to church) are inversely proportional with the symptoms of depression.

Starting from the theory of loss of hope in depression (Abramson, Metalsky and Alloy, 1989) which states that the feeling of hopelessness is enough to cause for depression, Murphy and collaborators (2000) have started a research that followed the relationship between the level of clinical depression, religious thinking and

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religious behavior. In the respective study have participated in 271 psychiatric patients, 44% of them who were in therapy and 56% after therapy. Upon analysis of data it was found that there are correlations between religious thinking and depressive living, aspect explained by the researchers that those who experiment depression become more religious, looking for religious answers for their situation. Also, a significant negative correlation was found between religious thinking and the attitude of loss of hope, which shows that appositive religious thinking is associated with a low level of loss of hope.

Macavei and Miclea (2008) have found that in situations of depression, unconditional self-acceptance is very low.

Also, they have noted that unconditional acceptance of self-correlates positively with accepting God’s love and forgiveness. In this way, indirectly rejecting God’s love and forgiveness can lead to depression.

II. METHODOLOGY

This research investigates the protestants way of thinking on suffering and the effects of awfulizing and intolerance thoughts on emotional living. The study looked for answers to several questions: What are the causes of suffering, according to protestants What are those things about life and death, which are seen by the Protestants as being good or awful, unpleasant or intolerable?

What are the emotional experiences in unpleasant situations in life? What are the socio-demographic characteristics of Protestants regarding their religious convictions?

To study the theme of religious attitudes, a questionnaire was built, which took into account on one hand the attitude towards suffering and death and on the other hand tried to identify the intensity of different types of emotional experiences in

unpleasant situations. Before applying the religious attitudes questionnaire, a group of experts was consulted: 7 theologians in Protestant churches and 4 rational-emotive and behavioral psychotherapists, all with a professional experience of minimum 5 years. Upon consultation, the following things were introduced in the questionnaire: • Possible causes for suffering: sin, Satan, man and God. • People are afraid of death, Satan, financial uncertainty, failure, people in general, loneliness and future.

• People find unbearable: illness, death, injustice, guilt, loneliness, and their own or others’ suffering.

III. PARTICIPANTS

To identify the irrational beliefs of Protestants, a number of 1000 of questionnaires were distributed and 966 of them were retrieved. The questionnaires were distributed in several Protestant churches in Romania. The 966 participants segmented by gender were 362 men (37.5%), 595 women (61.6%) and 9 didn’t respond (0.9%). Regarding the environment they were coming from, 694 of them lived in urban areas (71.8%) and 215 of them in rural areas (22.3%). The participants of this study lived in the county of Arad, Bihor, Cluj, Salaj and Timis. Considering the criteria of belonging to a Protestant religious cult, the variety of the participants was as it follows: 446 Baptists (46.2%), 329 Pentecostals (34.1%) and 153 were part from the category ‘’other’’, meaning: evangelical Christians, Adventists or representants of independent churches (15.8%). Of the participants’ total, 899 of them stated that they practice their religion. The repartition according to age was: 258 aged 10 to 15 (26.7%), 240 aged 16 to 20 (24.8%), 194 aged 21 to 25 (20.1%), 121 aged 26 to 40 (12.5%), 104 aged 41 to 60 (4.3%).

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IV. RESULTS

Unpleasant events are part of human life. To look at these events as awful and/or unbearable blocks man’s confrontation with the sad reality. Thus, catastrophic thinking and intolerance towards unpleasant situations are irrational thoughts, which disturb the emotional life and support emotional distress. This research has the purpose of studying the way the causes of suffering are seen among the Protestants and to what extent the awfulizing and intolerance beliefs are present in religious thinking. The second part of the study looked at the cause-effect relationship between irrational religious thinking and dysfunctional emotional experiences.

A. The cause of suffering

The awfulizing and intolerance attitude appear in unpleasant situations, which are defined in the religious thinking as moments or periods of suffering. The theme of suffering is approached in the Old Testament, in the Book of Job and in the New Testament, in the Gospels describing Christ’s sufferings. Both situations show that not only the ‘sinful’ man suffers but also the innocent one and so the reality of suffering deepens in the whole human existence. Starting from this ideology, man has the task to learn to relate himself to suffering adequately, without awfulizing and intolerance attitude.

In this study, the protestants opinion on the cause of suffering was questioned; therefore, they had to choose for each item whether they agree or disagree with the affirmations: ‘the cause of suffering is man’ (S1), ‘the cause of suffering is God’ (S2), ‘the cause of suffering is Satan’ (S3) and ‘the cause of suffering is sin’ (S4).

Analyzing the obtained frequencies it can be stated that Protestants don’t support the affirmation that God is the cause of

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suffering (χ2(1)=795.269, p<.001, r2=.85), but Satan (χ2(1)=187.875, p<.001, r2=.20) and sin (χ2(1)=624.348, p<.001, r2=.67) are the causes, the determinant factors of suffering.

The idea that ‘man is the cause of suffering’ (S1) has a different approach, considering the participant’s age (χ2(5)=56.039, p<.001, w=.44) and religion (χ2(2)=36.125, p<.001, w=.37). In the young adults’ view (26-40 years old), man is the cause of suffering (adjusted residuals=3.7), while teenagers aged 10 to 15 believe the opposite (adjusted residuals=7.1). Under religious aspect, the Baptists believe that man is the generator of suffering (adjusted residuals=5.6), while the Pentecostals do not believe that man is the cause for suffering (adjusted residuals=5.6).

In the end, it can be underlined the protestants idea that God, the good being, doesn’t generate the suffering situations, but Satan, the evil being is the cause of bad things happening. However, sin is also generating suffering and therefore the man’s responsibility cannot be denied.

B. The attitude towards suffering /

awfulizing

Analyzing the responses given to ‘The worst thing in life is…’ (S5), 42.02% (n=406) of the participants answered that living without God is the awful thing. For 126 participants (13.04%) the death of a loved one is the worst thing and for 107 participants (11.07%) the presence of sin in their lives or in the lives of others is the worst. Because it was assumed that the idea of death could appear among the responses given to the theme of awfulizing, the way of thinking about death was also into question.

Therefore, the most frequent answers to ‘The worst thing about death is…’ (S6) were: dying without being saved (n=323), going to hell (n=145), the suffering of the grieving family behind (n=121) and the fact that it is unknown what will happen after

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death (n=78). A data analysis based on age showed that teenagers 10 to 15 years old believe that the worst thing about death is hell (n=90), while participants over 60 don’t have this belief. The participants over 16 years old believe that not being saved when you die is the worst thing, followed by the grieving family drama.

In this study, the positive thinking was put into question as well and so answers were looked for to the affirmation of what is ‘the best thing in life’ (S7). A quarter of the participants (25.87%) believed that God is the best thing in their life. This answer was followed by the idea of repentance, love and family. For teenagers, 10 to 15m family comes in second place, right after God, and for those 16 to 20, love is in second place.

For participants over 21, repentance comes in second, and what is interesting to bring into attention is that the idea of family does not show up in young adults aged 26 to 40.

C. The attitude towards suffering/

intolerance

Embracing the idea that life’s hard events are unbearable, toughen the absolutist demand that life must be necessarily easy.

However, life is not easy; it is a continuous confrontation with unpleasant situations.

The intensity of how unpleasant some things are or can vary from less to most, but that does not mean they cannot be confronted.

Subjective living, stating that unpleasant things are unbearable put a stumble in the confrontation and solving of the problem that appears.

To study what are the most unbearable things for Protestants, the frequency of the notions used to complete the affirmation ‘the most unbearable thing for me is’ (S8) was analyzed. 125 participants noted that sin is the most unbearable thing in their life, 112 answered that the idea of being apart from God is the unbearable thing, for 74

of them is lying and for 54 of them curse words. For those aged 10 to 25 and those over 60, the idea of sin being unbearable comes before that of living without God. For participants between the ages of 26 and 60, being without God is more unbearable than the presence of sin. Lying is more unbearable than cursing for those over 16 years old, but for those under 16 cursing is more unbearable than lying. However, it is remarked that cursing does not appear at all for participants aged 21 to 60. To be without God is the most unbearable thing for women, those who live in urban areas and for Baptists or those in the ‘other’ category. For men, those in rural areas and Pentecostals sin is the most unbearable thing.

The notions of sin and being without God are general concepts, untouchable and unmeasurable regarding empirical formula, and for this reason, there is a difficulty of identifying the real problem that individuals face. To obtain clear information about the areas that might be perceived as unbearable, the participants had to rate the intensity of the unbearable on a scale from 1 to 10. They were asked: ‘How unbearable are illness, people, failure, past, present, injustice, isolation, and guilt?’ (S9). Giving a 7 or more on these would show an increased intolerance towards the respective item.

Table 1. Average of level intolerance on a scale from 1 to 10 (N=966)

The analysis of averages (Table 1) shows that the neo protestants’ intolerance towards injustice and guilt is at a high

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level (injustice: average=7,35, σ=2.82; guilt: avg=7.05, σ=3.02), thus generating and supporting emotional stress. Intolerance towards illness and isolation is on a medium level of vulnerability (illness: avg=5.50, σ=2.93; isolation: m=6.25, σ=3.04).

Upon analyzing all the combinations of simple correlations with two dependent variables, it is noted that where illness is perceived as unbearable, associated to this idea is the intolerance of failure (r=.401, p<.001, r2=.160). Also, failure intolerance is associated with isolation intolerance (r=.401, p<.001, r2=.160), and to this guilt intolerance is also associated (r=.401, p<.001, r2=.160).

To establish an explanatory model on the ways of association of these forms of intolerance, the multilinear regression was applied. Upon data analysis (Table 2) there are some findings: The intolerance towards illness level is most influenced by the intolerance towards failure (β=.231, p<.001), followed by the intolerance towards people (β=.173, p<.001) and intolerance towards isolation (β=.124, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi-partial correlation, it can be affirmed that 3.8% (rsp=.195) of the intolerance attitude towards illness dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the level of intolerance to the failure of the tested participants, and 2.5% (rsp=.161) by intolerance towards people. Also, it is observed that the level of illness intolerance can be estimated based on age (β=-.102, p<.001); in this way, the younger the individual is, the higher his level of intolerance towards death will be. Religious affiliation also contributes to forming the attitude of intolerance towards illness (β=.078, p<.012), and so for a Baptist individual it is expected that his level of illness intolerance is lower than that of the Pentecostal or another individual. The environment the individuals are coming from is also contributing to the formation of

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the attitude of intolerance towards illness (β=-.061, p<.049); therefore, for a person coming from an urban environment it is expected that the illness intolerance level is higher than that of those from rural areas.

The level of intolerance to failure is most influenced by intolerance to illness (β=.205, p<.001), isolation (β=.198, p<.001) and injustice (β=.147, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi-partial correlation, it can be affirmed that 3.2% (rsp=.181) of the intolerance attitude towards failure dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the level of intolerance to the illness of the tested participants, and 2.7% (rsp=.167) by intolerance towards isolation.

Also, it is observed that the level of failure intolerance can be estimated based on age (β=-.089, p<.004); in this way, the younger the individual is, the higher his level of intolerance towards failure will be.

The level of intolerance to isolation is most influenced by intolerance towards guilt (β=.247, p<.001), failure (β=.214, p<.001) and injustice (β=.147, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi-partial correlation, it can be affirmed that 4.9% (rsp=.223) of the intolerance attitude towards isolation dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the level of intolerance to the guilt of the tested participants, and 3.3% (rsp=.184) by intolerance towards failure.

Also, it is observed that the level of isolation intolerance can be estimated based on age (β=-.066, p<.033); in this way, the younger the individual is, the higher his level of intolerance towards isolation will be.

The level of intolerance to guilt is most influenced by intolerance towards isolation (β=.252, p<.001) and injustice (β=.186, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi-partial correlation, it can be affirmed that 4.7% (rsp=.217) of the intolerance attitude towards guilt dispersion

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can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the level of intolerance to the isolation of the tested participants, and 2.8% (rsp=.168) by intolerance towards injustice. Also, it is observed that the level of guilt intolerance can be estimated based on age (β=-.082, p<.011); in this way, the younger the individual is, the higher his level of intolerance towards guilt will be.

Religious affiliation also contributes to forming the attitude of intolerance towards guilt (β=.112, p<.001), and so for a Baptist individual it is expected that his level of guilt intolerance is higher than that of the Pentecostal or another individual. The environment the individuals are coming from is also contributing to the formation of the attitude of intolerance towards guilt (β=-.066, p<.033); therefore, for a person coming from an urban environment it is expected that the guilt intolerance level is higher than that of those from rural areas.

Table 2. Multilinear regression for explanatory purpose – intolerance (N=966)

Comparing data from the dependent variables of intolerance with the t-test for independent samples, where the environment of the participants is concerned there are significant differences between the two groups in the following variables: intolerance towards illness (t(850)=3.068, p<.002), towards isolation (t(848)=2.336, p<.020) and guilt (t(847)=2.579, p<.010).

Analyzing the average of the groups, it shows that those from urban areas are more intolerant to (m=5.669, σ=2.91), isolation (m=6.391, σ=2.95) and guilt (m=7.186, σ=2.88), as opposed to those from rural areas.

Comparison of data from the religious affiliation criteria using simple ANOVA (OneWay) has brought the results that there are significant differences between groups in the dependent variables: intolerance towards illness (F(2,862)=5.622, p<.004), isolation (F(2,859)=5.652, p<.004) and guilt (F(2,857)=5.515, p<.004). Analyzing the difference of the averages (GH=.736, p<.002) showed that Pentecostals (avg=5.932, σ=3.11) have a higher level of intolerance towards illness than the Baptists (avg=5.195, σ=2.63). Intolerance towards guilt (GH=.959, p<.009) is higher for Baptists, (avg=7.332, σ=2.87), compared to those belonging in the ‘other’ category of denominations (avg= 5.783, σ=3.20). In the case of isolation intolerance, the significant differences appear both between Baptists and Pentecostals (GH=.611, p<.022), and between Pentecostals and others (GH=.919, p<.013). Therefore, those belonging in the Pentecostals group (avg= 6.703, σ=3.16) present a higher level of intolerance towards isolation than the Baptists (avg =6.091, σ=2.86) or the category of other (avg= 6.373, σ=3.42).

Comparison of data from the age criteria using simple ANOVA (One-Way) has brought the results that there are significant differences between groups

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in the dependent variables: intolerance towards illness (F(3,774)=11.052, p<.001) and isolation (F(3,770)=4.551, p<.004).

Analyzing the difference of averages of the intolerance towards illness variable, it is noted that there are significant differences between teenagers 10 to 15 years old and those aged 16 to 20 (GH=1.367, p<.001), as well as between those 10 to 15 and those 21 to 25 years old (GH=1.133, p<.001), and also between those 10 to 15 and the young adults aged 26 to 40 (GH=1.201, p<.003).

Calculations of the variable intolerance towards illness based on age revealed that teenagers aged 10 to 15 (avg= 6.494, σ=3.27) have an increased level of intolerance towards illness than those between the ages 16 to 20 (avg= 5.126, σ=2.50), 21 to 25 (avg=5.360, σ=2.63) and young adults aged 26 to 40 (avg=5.292, σ=2.87).

Analysis of the difference of averages of the intolerance towards isolation variable showed that there are significant differences between teenagers 10 to 15 years old and those aged 16 to 20 (H=.734, p<.041), as well as between those 10 to 15 and those 21 to 25 years old (H=.805, p<.031), and also between those 10 to 15 and the young adults aged 26 to 40 (H=1.017, p<.014). Calculations of the variable intolerance towards isolation based on age revealed that teenagers aged 10 to 15 (avg= 6.930, σ=3.11) have an increased level of intolerance towards isolation than those between the ages 16 to 20 (avg= 6.196, σ=2.82), 21 to 25 (avg=6.125, σ=2.90) and young adults aged 26 to 40 (avg=5.913, σ=2.93).

D. Effects upon emotional experiences

Fear is a dysfunctional negative emotion, defined by an intense and persistent fright towards one or more situations. The person experimenting a high level of fear is characterized by avoidance of conflictual situations, cognitive and behavioral blockage, but also by physiological Session 3. Social Sciences, Culture, Lifestyle Choices & Religion

symptoms such as an increased heart rate, shaking, a low body temperature, headaches, vomiting sensations and so on.

The answers to ‘How afraid are you when you think about: death, Satan, people, failure, violence and future?’(E1) were analyzed and the participants’ task was to rate from 1 to 10 the intensity of the negative and dysfunctional emotion of fear for each item. An intensity greater than seven would indicate a high level of fear. The answers revealed that in general protestants don’t have a high level of fear of death (avg=4.47, σ=3.11), illness (avg=4.83, σ=2.79), Satan (avg=4.67, σ=3.47), people (avg=3.05, σ=2.25), failure (avg=4.14, σ=2.72), violence (avg=4.50, σ=2.86) and future (avg=3.99, σ=2.85).

According to the rational-emotional and behavioral theory, dysfunctional emotions are generated and supported by irrational beliefs (Balla, 2016). In this way, the multilinear regressions were looked upon for explanatory purposes.

The level of fear of death is most influenced by intolerance towards illness (β=.246, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi-partial correlation, it can be affirmed that 5.7% (rsp=.239) of fear of death dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the participants’ level of intolerance towards illness. Also, it is observed that the level of fear of death can be estimated based on the criteria of age (β=-.240, p<.001); therefore, the younger an individual is, the higher his level of fear of death will be.

The level of fear of illness is most influenced by the illness seen as unbearable (β=.472, p<.001), followed by intolerance towards failure (β=.096, p<.006) and intolerance towards isolation (β=.070, p<.037). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi-partial correlation it can be affirmed that 17.5% (rsp=.419) of

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fear of illness dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the participants’ level of intolerance towards illness.

The level of fear of people is most influenced by the intolerance towards people (β=.334, p<.001), and the unbearable of the present (β=.130, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi partial correlation it can be affirmed that 8.4% (rsp=.290) of fear of people dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the participants’ level of intolerance towards people.

The level of fear of failure is most influenced by the intolerance towards failure (β=.613, p<.001). By calculating the value of the square coefficient of semi partial correlation it can be affirmed that 35.7% (rsp=.598) of fear of failure dispersion can be explained by interindividual differences regarding the participants’ level of intolerance towards failure.

The level of fear of violence is most influenced by the intolerance towards failure (β=.176, p<.001), followed by the illness seen as unbearable (β=.176, p<.001) and isolation as unbearable (β=.158, p<.001). Also, it is observed that the level of fear of people can be estimated based on the criteria of age (β=-.091, p<.005); therefore, the younger an individual is, the higher his level of fear of violence will be. Gender also influences the level of fear of violence (β=.183, p<.001); women experiment a higher level of fear of violence, compared to men.

The intolerance most influences the level of fear of the future towards the present (β=.172, p<.001), followed by the intolerance to failure (β=.162, p<.001), intolerance towards people (β=.155, p<.001) and the past seen as unbearable (β=.125, p<.001).

Also, it is observed that the level of fear of the future can be estimated based on religious affiliation (β=-.116, p<.001); thus, for an individual belonging in the Baptists

group it is expected to have a higher level of fear of the future, opposed to a Pentecostal or other individual.

V. FINAL DISCUSSIONS

Summarizing the data of the study described above, it can be affirmed that among the first things that seem awful to men and women is the condition of man without God, the idea of death and the conscious living in sin. For the idea of death, for both gender groups the worst thing is for someone to die without being spiritually saved. For women, this comes in first position and in second position is the drama of those remaining behind, who will suffer from the loss, but for men in second place is the idea of hell, fear or regret that someone might end up there. Among the most unbearable things in life, for women is the idea of living without God, while for men it is the idea of sin. In both groups, the level of intolerance towards injustice and guilt was very high. For both groups, the best things in life are God, repentance, family and love.

For teenagers 10 to 15, the awful things are living without God, death and sin.

About death, the worst is fear of hell, the notion that barely appears in the answers of protestant teenagers and is completely missing from the adults’ answers. The idea of hell is followed by not being saved when death comes, which also implies the idea of hell, because in the protestants creed those who are not saved when they die, end up in hell. The date is in conformity with the fact that protestant teenagers 10 to 15 have a high level of fear of death. Among the unbearable things, for them there are sin, living without God, cursing and lying.

Also, this age group is characterized by a high level of illness, failure, isolation, guilt and past intolerance. They believe that the cause for suffering is Satan and not God or man.

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Regarding emotional experiences, neo protestant teenagers 10 to 15 have a high level of fear of death, illness, failure and violence. Statistical data shows that in their case, the fear of death and illness are generated by the idea that illness is unbearable. Intolerance towards illness, failure and isolation generates and supports fear of violence. The best things in life for these teenagers are God, family, repentance and love.

Comparing the population of Baptists and Pentecostals, for both groups the worst thing is life without God. In second place, for Baptists is the presence of sin, followed by the idea of death. For Pentecostals, life without God is followed by death and then sin. The worst thing about death, for both groups is dying without being saved, followed by the fear of hell for Pentecostals and the drama and pain of those left behind for the Baptists. For Baptists, life without God is unbearable, followed by the presence of sin, while for the Pentecostals sin comes first and then the presence of lying as unbearable. Among the Baptists, the level of intolerance to guilt is higher than among the Pentecostals, where intolerance to illness and isolation are higher. Baptists believe that man is the cause of suffering, while the Pentecostals disagree and affirm that sin is the determining factor for suffering.

Baptists are characterized by a high level of fear of Satan, people and future, level generated and supported by the people seen as unbearable. For both groups, the best things in life are God, repentance, family and love.

In conclusion, it can be affirmed that in general the Protestants have an appropriate attitude towards suffering, the intensity of irrational beliefs doesn’t go past the limit of normality. However, teenagers 10 to 15 are more exposed to irrational, awfulizing and intolerance beliefs in situations of suffering. To prevent emotional disorders

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is recommended rational-emotional and behavioural religious education (Balla, 2016).

References Abramson, L.Y.; Metalsky, F.I. and Alloy, L.B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theorybased subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96, 358-372.

[2] Ai, A.L.; Seymour, E.M.; Tice, T.N.; Kronfol, Z. și Bolling, S.F. (2009) Spiritual Struggle Related to Plasma Interleukin-6 Prior to Cardiac Surgery. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 1, 112-128.

[3] Balla, A. Educația Religioasă Rațional Emotivă și Comportamentală (Rational Emotional and Behavioral Religious Education), Cluj-Napoca: Casa Cărții de Știință, 2016.

[4] Brelsford, T. (2005). Lessons for Religious Education from Cognitive Science of Religion. Religious Education, 100, 174-191.

[5] Campbell, C.D.; Yoon, D.P. and Johnstone, B. (2010). Determining Relationships Between Physical Health and Spiritual Experience, Religious Practices, and Congregational Support in a Heterogeneous Medical Sample.

Journal of Religion and Health, 49, 3-17.

[6] Koening, H.; McCullough, M. and Larson, D. Handbook of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press., 2001 [7] Lee, B.J. (2007). Moderating Effects of Religious/Spiritual Coping in the Relation Between Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-Being. Pastoral Psychology, 55, 751759.

[8] Macavei, B. and Miclea, M. (2008). An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Religious Beliefs, Irrational Beliefs, and Negative Emotions. Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies, 8, 1-16.

[9] Murphy, P.E.; Ciarrocchi, J.W.; Piedmont, R.L.; Cheston, S.; Peyrot, M. and Fitchett, G. (2000). The Relation of Religious Belief and Practices, Depression, and Hopelessness in Persons With Clinical Depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 1102-1106.

[10] Smith, T.B.; McCullough, M.E. and Poll, [1]

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J. (2003). Religiousness and Depression: Evidence for a Main Effect and the Moderating Influence of Stressful Life Events.

Psychological Bulletin, 129, 614-636.

[11] Tummala-Narra, P. (2009). The Relevance of a Psychoanalytic Perspective in Exploring Religious and Spiritual Identity in Psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 26, 83-95.

[12] Underwood, R.L. (2009). Hope in the Face of Chronic Pain and Mortality. Pastoral Psychology, 58, 655-665.

Biography Annamaria Balla was born in Simleu Silvaniei, Romania in 1972.

She received a bachelor’s degree in Theology at Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania in 1996, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology at University of Oradea, Romania in 2002. After finishing Master studies in Psychological Counselling in 2006, she continued with doctoral studies in psychology at Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In 2013 she became Doctor in Psychology.

After finalizing the psychology studies in 2003 she worked as a clinician psychologist and specialist in educational psychology with abandoned children and teenagers as well as with foster and adoptive families.

As of 2013, she teaches psychology subjects in the Social Work Department of Emanuel University of Oradea. In 2005, during her Master studies, she received the Leonardo da Vinci scholarship in the field of cognitivebehavioral psychotherapy at the CognitiveBehavioral Psychotherapy Center in Enna, Italy. In 2017 she participated in the Child Life Specialist Internship Program at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX,

USA. Her first book is Educația Religioasă Rațional Emotivă și Comportamentală (Rational Emotional and Behavioral Religious Education), Cluj-Napoca: Casa Cărții de Știință, 2016.

Dr. Balla is a member in the following organizations: Association of Psychologists in Romania, Bucharest, RO (2004), College of Psychologists in Romania, Bucharest, RO (2006), National Association of School Psychologists, Oradea, RO (2007), Association of NILD Central-Eastern Europe, Budapest, HU (2009), NOUS Psychology Association, Oradea, RO (2010) and Association of Child Life Professionals, Arlington, VA, USA (2018). Also, she is a supervisor in clinical psychology and educational psychology.

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

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Scientific Hardships in the Approach of the Quantum Phenomena A bridge-thinking for Science and Religion

Cătălin Silviu NUȚU

Dept. for General Engineering Sciences, Constanta Maritime University, CMU Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 24 July 2018 Received in revised form 19 September Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.11

The paper is showing the strange facts and realities pertaining to the quantum world and is explaining why it is so difficult to understand and to work with them. The paper is also stressing the important fact, that in order to understand these strange realities pertaining to the quantum phenomena, one should give up the traditional way of thinking of the science and should also renounce the false idea of the rationalism, that the reality can be known and understood only by scientific reasoning according to the limited present stage of science and knowledge.

Keywords: quantum phenomena; rationalism; binary logic; multivalent logic; limitations due to human senses; multidimensionality; thresholds; extra dimensions; weights assigned to dimensions;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

In the Greek and Roman ancient worlds, the scientific knowledge was found in the philosophic schools pertaining to those cultures. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the rising up of the Christian faith, the scientific knowledge has been transferred to the churches and monasteries; the science found there being always based

on the explanations accepted and given by the Church. The age of the humanism has brought forward the importance of the rationalism and its false conclusion that almost anything could be explained by using the human reasoning. This conclusion has also determined the schism between the science and religion. The discovery of quantum phenomena more than a hundred years ago has proven that the rationalism

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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alone cannot explain the weird phenomena belonging to the quantum world.

The relationship within this paper between the religion and science, although not an explicit one is an implicit relationship. Without admitting the limits of the rationalism and without admitting the existence of unknown forces and hidden truths escaping our senses and rationality, one cannot adequately approach the world of quantum scale phenomena.

In order to approach and explain the quantum phenomena, the link between them and the standard scale and large scale phenomena should be somehow established first. The work is concerned with the difficulties in detection of links between normal scale and small-scale phenomena, that is to say common features and characteristics exhibited by both, normal and quantum scale phenomena. These common features which are namely the link between the quantum world and the real world are permitting to connect the small and the normal scale phenomena. They are useful to understand better the quantum phenomena and they are also showing that many of the quantum world rules are applying also for real-world systems.

The last evolutions and discoveries in nowadays’ science, and especially the phenomena pertaining to quantum world, have proven that the unilateral and one dimensional traditional way of thinking of the pure rationalism is not sufficient anymore to explain the facts and realities of the science.

The work also shows that, when dealing with quantum phenomena a “special” kind of thinking is required, mathematics should be used at its highest peak and some of the “usual” and “absolute” truths and the “sound” judgments of the plain and blunt rationalism which may hinder the understanding of the quantum world are to be renounced.

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The approach of the work is to explain in the first instance, in a more descriptive way what are the reasons lying behind the writing and the similarity between the quantum world and the normal scale world, analyzing and explaining why the restrictive limitations of the pure rationalism should be abandoned. These limitations are to be replaced by newer, more modern and more adapted kinds of thinking, while the next part is representing the prescriptive part, being a little bit more technical and concerned with providing and finding solutions, explanations and theory based prediction methods of the quantum world phenomena, as well.

Throughout the work a special feature of the quantum systems and phenomena will be addressed, that is to say the feature of multidimensionality, feature which is also exhibited by most of the real world (normal scale) phenomena, and therefore easier to be dealt with.

The evolution in quantum systems (more dimensional systems) may follow variation laws pertaining to the theory of Time Series or to the theory of Signal Processing, which could be systemized along with possible norms to be applied to those more dimensional quantum systems.

Because our present state of knowledge related to the quantum phenomena is related to the knowledge of the existing probability wave function of the respective quantum phenomenon, the transition between the states of the quantum system can be derived using the characteristic function of the probability density function, which is in this case, exactly the Fourier Transform of the probability density function.

Since there are serious limitations caused by our limited senses, perceptions and thinking (that is to say there are for us hidden dimensions), another issue to be approached is to retrieve the information pertaining to those dimensions hidden to

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our abilities and senses. One of the methods we could use for this is to reconstruct those hidden dimensions based on the spectral analysis (Fourier Analysis), this kind of techniques being actually nowadays successfully applied in Quantitative Phase Imaging, where the image is reconstructed out of its spectrum.

Using these methods, one could infer about the facts and phenomena underlying to the observed effects of the quantum world phenomena and could also find explanations for them, but could also identify patterns in the evolutions of the quantum phenomena.

II. HARDSHIPS IN LINKING QUANTUM

AND NORMAL SCALE PHENOMENA

Some of the scientists are criticizing new science as being fiction, science fiction of philosophy. However, many of the fiction and the science fiction facts, not so far back in time (such as Jules Verne’s books or more recently the Star Trek movies) have already become nowadays’ technology.

A lacking capacity to dream may seriously impair the work of the scientist since it is leading to diminished creativity.

A very good example on how the science is approaching more and more the science fiction is the evolution in the field of the molecular machines, categorized in the early ‘80s, by many scientific researchers as being phantasmagorias without any future.

As it is already known the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2016 has been awarded exactly for these so-called “phantasmagorias” from around 1980. That is why we can further infer that much of the nowadays’ science fiction and philosophy is the science of tomorrow.

Another good example of how scientists should always be prepared to understand and accept new ideas is related to other “classical” ideas, which are nowadays confronted with contradictions about the

discoveries in the field. According to the laws of the chemistry, until recently was well known the fact that He cannot form stable compounds with Na. However, recent research has shown that at extremely high pressures, these “classical laws” of the chemistry are not valid anymore, and at very high pressures, within the gas planets, He and Na could form stable compounds, contrary to the general “classical” belief.

Without reading, understanding and eventually using philosophy and philosophic ideas, the most recent new theories and science, such as the Theory of Relativity or Quantum Mechanics, would not have been probably discovered.

The future of the science belongs to those who will have the ability to see something where nobody sees it, or to see the things otherwise than others do. In order to do this, the future scientist will have to have additional backgrounds in various fields of sciences.

Because a singular science is representing only one narrow way of thinking, the only limit of the science is the science itself. If you are anchored in only one science then you are more prone to limitations than those who are thinking in more than in one singular way, corresponding to their own singular science.

The nowadays science problems can be solved only by approaching them in a more complex and holistic way, or if I am to cite A. Einstein: “the complex problems we are confronting today with, cannot be solved remaining at the same level of knowledge where we were when they have been generated” or in his other different words “it is stupid to do the things repeatedly, in the same way, and to expect different results”.

The use of the “pure rationalism” in science has reached its limits and the weird quantum phenomena the science is facing, cannot be explained anymore only by using

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the limited view of the rationalism.

The link between the large-scale phenomena described by the Theory of Relativity and the small-scale phenomena, the science is still struggling to understand, that is to say the Quantum Theory, as it is presented in [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8] and [9] cannot be found unless the missing link between the normal scale and small scale phenomena is previously detected.

III. SOLUTIONS FOR THE SOLVING

OF HARDSHIPS ENCOUNTERED IN EXPLAINING THE QUANTUM PHENOMENA AND THEIR LINK TO NORMAL SCALE PHENOMENA In order to begin with the detection of such a link, it can be remarked that one of the rules of the quantum world is also applying to the normal scale phenomena and systems (real-world systems), and that rule is the rule of multidimensionality.

In order to sustain this remark, I shall name only two examples proving this remark: the so-called paradox of the truth machine belonging to Kurt Gödel and the so-called paradox of the rationalists: “could God create such a huge stone that He Himself cannot lift?”

Both of these paradoxes are based on the simple rules of binary logic, and they are both demonstrating the same thing, namely the limits of the binary logic system itself.

As mentioned before, K. Gödel and also A. Einstein not only observed that such kind of paradox problems cannot be solved using the same system of thinking that has generated them, but they also pointed to the limits of the scientific rationalism itself, that since the discovery of the quantum phenomena is getting into more and more troubles.

That is why, one of the first things should be done when dealing with and

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when approaching quantum phenomena is to throw away the “simple and clear” one dimensional binary logic and even the trivalent logic introduced by the polish Jan Lukasiewicz in 1917, which are clearly proving not to be valid anymore in the quantum world.

So when dealing with quantum phenomena, we should give away the “usual” way of thinking and look at the truth as to a more complex concept than it is viewed according to the binary and trivalent logic. We should rather adopt the multivalent logic or even the fuzzy logic inspired by Lotfi Zadeh, according to which, between the 0 and 1 there are a finite number of possible values or, as it is considered in the fuzzy logic systems, there are an infinity of possible values and solutions.

The multivalent logic and the fuzzy logic as well, are both solutions to the problems stated by the previous paradoxes. In this way, it shall be discovered that the truth is in reality, almost always, more complicated to express than regarding “yes/no”, “zero/ one” or “white/black” and the truth could be often determined only using much more than only one dimension.

Expressing truth using two, three, four or more dimensions could be made using laws, rules and limits but also weights for each of those dimensions.

If for the rational (human) world system the rules and the limits could be established as being the same for all humans, the weights associated to each of those dimensions of truth (rules and limits) are obviously different from human to human, as it is known everybody has his own sense for how important different things are.

In this manner we are coming closer to one of the main characteristics and features of the quantum world: the fact or the observation (the knowledge or truth) is depending on the observer (by means of the weights the observer is assigning

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to each dimension of truth/ knowledge, at a certain moment, and truth is becoming thus relative to observer. This is meaning that, what is true for someone could be false for someone else, and also that the same thing could be both true and false at the same time for different observers, or could be both true and false, at different moments, even for the same observer. This is again, obviously, one of the main features the quantum world and phenomena is exhibiting.

Hence, one of the first main remarks which has to be done related to the truth/ knowledge when dealing with of the quantum world phenomena is that the “rationalistic absolute truth” has to be firstly thrown away and in henceforth no one among humans could claim to possess the “absolute” truth.

When assessing truths and facts in more dimensional real-world systems or in quantum systems as well, one should have to know the variation (or evolution) laws of the respective dimensions. These are forming the system of truth, the weights assigned to each of those dimensions, but also the formula of the norm of the respective system. The norm is linking the values of the respective dimensions with their respective weights, thus resulting in the aggregate value corresponding to one particular state of the system.

An explanation to the different values (of truth) observed by more observers, fact which is also exhibited by the quantum phenomena, is the fact that the observations should comply with the rules within the systems of these observers.

A second idea linked to the characteristics of the quantum phenomena is that there are certain dimensions pertaining to the multidimensional structures corresponding to these phenomena, which are hidden to the eyes and senses of the man. These dimensions are usually called extra

dimensions. This is an additional explanation for the facts and results perceived during the quantum experiments, namely that they appear to have no logic and they make no sense for the human mind. In reality, this could be, on the one hand, the wrong interpretation of the result generated by the multidimensional structure, and on the other hand could be the effect of the existence of those hidden dimensions combined with the limitations caused by our senses.

In the same manner, as explained before, it may be very possible that the observed quantum particles are also moving in dimensions which are extra dimensions for the observer. For the quantum phenomena this fact could mean that there may be extra dimensions of ourselves (all human observers of the quantum world) and, as already stated in the scientific literature of the quantum mechanics, the pilot wave of the respective quantum particle could be a real wave pertaining to a dimension hidden to the human eyes and senses.

Consequently, other methods of measuring of the realities in the quantum world should be implemented.

Another third concept producing the facts observed in the more dimensional systems about the quantum scale is the concept of the threshold. This concept could be applied in normal scale multidimensional systems in the following sense: if the aggregated value of the system, at a particular moment in time is smaller or is exceeding a certain value (threshold value), then the value of the system in that particular moment cannot be read. The difference to the previous idea is that this concept of threshold is regarding, in this case, only the “measured” result caused by the multidimensional structure.

For the case of real-world systems there are indeed such thresholds for which the values cannot be read due to our limitations caused by our limited senses.

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For hundreds of years the man has put himself and his own thinking in the center of the Universe. He made this applying the very same way of thinking when he has first put his planet, then the Sun in the center of the Universe. Then, with the expansion of his own knowledge he was gradually forced to admit that neither the Earth nor the Sun are lying in the center of the Universe, but are only small dots in a Universe map much bigger than originally thought. Unfortunately and mostly due to his own vanity he was not able to transfer the same way of understanding and wisdom upon his own thinking, and presently he is still thinking himself as the ultimate thinker, being able to understand all without any limitations and surely convinced that he can explain and understand all using only his limited binary reasoning.

The next step in order to better understand the reality of the quantum world and its phenomena is to renounce such narrow, limited and absolutistic way of view and thinking. He has to admit truths that are nowadays escaping to such self-sufficient “normal” and “sound rational” judgment and to also renounce the judgment according to which the man’s binary logic and reasoning is the best tool to understand the world.

The first step toward such a way of thinking has been already done by means of technology, that carries us out away beyond our senses and it gives us a good idea about both, on the one hand, the very serious limitations we are exposed due to our senses and on the other hand, our rather small place in the Universe.

Although our senses seriously limit the observation of the real world systems and especially of the quantum world, the actual main limitation could be caused by our own “absolute” way of reasoning.

We are more and more close to the level where our limited senses are assisted and

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completed by the available and continuously improved technology.

However, in spite of this nowadays improved technology the stumbling stone for man may be represented by his own way of reasoning. The human’s reasoning has remained somehow far more behind the technology, somewhere back in time, in the thinking ways of the XIX century.

In [10], a very interesting book of Friedemann Schulz von Thun regarding the psychology of communication, the scientist was expressing the idea that the man is very badly outfitted with his only two ears, since the communication process is a much more complicated process, having at least four main aspects that could be considered during the communication process. In the same manner, the scientist, with his one brain and five senses also seems to be very poorly outfitted for perceiving and understanding the science facts. In the very same way, his five senses and the one brain seem not to be enough for approaching more complicated phenomena such as the quantum phenomena, fact which is a serious foothold to stumble.

At the time of the pure rationalism, the man had the very “unusual” and strange idea that he could explain almost anything using only his limited true/false logic.

Unfortunately, the strange phenomena happening in the quantum world, recorded based on the latest technology, are already, again and again, proving that this nonproductive way of thinking has remained behind both, the new technologies and the corresponding recorded facts. Hence, change of this manner of thinking is strongly recommended and required.

The time of the rationalism, able to solve any problem and to answer any question is off. We have already entered an era in which, as the things get more and more complicated, the science phenomena cannot be explained anymore by using the

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traditional manner of the narrow rationalism.

The human rationalism pertaining to the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century should be redefined. From the perspective “the man could discover and explain almost anything using only his own reasoning and senses” into: “we are human beings not only limited in space and time, but also in our knowledge”.

A man of science should be a man of the reality, trying to observe, analyze, understand and describe the reality but also admitting that often the reality is far weirder and more astonishing than the expectations of man. Many times the men of science are lacking the capacity to understand and to explain it.

Expressing his opinions on the difficulties met in the science, A. Einstein said that God did not created the world around us with the intention to be easily understood by man. Hence, huge efforts are necessary in order to exceed limits and the limitations imposed by our own minds.

As Niels Bohr has declared in one of his statements: “It is decisive to recognize that, however far the phenomena transcend the scope of classical physical explanation, the account of all evidence must be expressed in classical terms”. The term used here, “classical”, Bohr is using, should be interpreted as referring to the new stage of science which should be reached, in order to explain the quantum phenomena, and not to the present stage of “classical” knowledge in physics.

Another feature of both, normal scale and quantum phenomena is the interdependence of each of the both.

Interdependence is usually called correlation in regard to normal scale phenomena and entanglement, with regard to quantum phenomena. When presented to him, A. Einstein named the quantum entanglement “spooky action at distance”, because it is so hard to understand it and to

represent it. We could easily imagine that the law of interaction between objects in the macroscopic world, the Law of gravity discovered by I. Newton , has been seen by many scientists of that times, at its discovery, also as a “spooky action at a distance”. Even now, after centuries of science, although the gravity is the first force that has been discovered (out of the 4 primary forces of interaction known), it is nowadays, actually the least known and understood the force of interaction.

The previous presentation of facts regarding the “classical” view in science is sustaining and enforcing the statement and the viewpoint according to which, the “classical” is almost always meant as referring to the certain stage reached by the human knowledge, understanding and science. This present stage is nowadays not able to explain the phenomena encountered in scientific experiments.

In order to better understand the facts within the quantum world and to succeed in explaining them we should change not only the view on the “classical” theory of physics and the interpretation of measured results.

Instead, we should change the whole way of thinking with regard to science when dealing with quantum phenomena.

The classical rationalism is operating mainly in deterministic ways. This fact is both convenient and easy to perform and understand by every human mind, on one hand, because it is in accordance with the human limitations and hence, it fits better to our limitations, and on the other hand is more likely and more easily accepted by others. It is also more easily accepted by the science community than other “unconventional”, non-deterministic alternatives that are trying to deal with more solutions or even an infinity of possible solutions.

As we all know, the infinite is a more difficult concept to grasp and to deal with, and at the same time much more difficult

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to describe and represent. The accepted solution is in many cases to split the infinite number of possible solutions into a finite number of classes with infinite solutions.

In this manner, one can reduce the infinity to certain finite number of classes, each of them containing an infinite number of solutions. The great difficulty in this case is usually to find the rule (or the algorithm) describing each of the classes.

This is the also the case of the fractals, the fractal although infinite is based on a (very often) simple rule of generating very complicated structures. The fractal systems are, in the very same way as the quantum systems, dynamic systems.

In order to better understand the quantum phenomena and how they are related to the normal scale (macroscopic world), more actions could be performed.

In that sense, one could use the possible change of the existing measuring devices, the possible change of the measuring methods, and the reinterpretation of the obtained results. The change of much of the way of thinking should also be seriously taken into account.

The high computational capacities from nowadays are permitting better the simulation and comparison of results linking the quantum scale and a regular scale phenomena, in the sense of the present work.

One could systemize the laws of evolution (laws of variation) of the dimensions taken into consideration for the multidimensional structure of both (quantum and normal scale systems). This can be made by taking into consideration both, the multidimensionality and the dynamicity of the systems as well, using, for example, recursive rules for the evolution.

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CONCLUSIONS The difficulties related to the understanding of the quantum phenomena are mainly deriving out of a certain limited human way of view and thinking.

The difficulties the man is struggling with, more than hundred years, regarding the quantum phenomena, could be already considered as an opportunity to reconcile science and religious belief. The reconvergence of science and religion could be the most adequate way to address those phenomena, since everything else has failed to explain them.

The difficulties in understanding the quantum world can be attributed to the limited rationalism working based on the simple binary logic, which is unable and cannot explain the strange things happening within the quantum scale phenomena.

The man should understand that, although much better technically equipped in comparison with the past, he is severely impaired not only by his senses, by the number of his senses but also due to his own brain’s and his own technology’s limited processing capacity.

Instead of this way of thinking which is not valid anymore when dealing with the quantum phenomena, the multivalent and the fuzzy logic but also other “non/ conventional” methods should be used to understand the obtained results.

Multidimensionality and threshold are further concepts that could explain a great deal of the weird results obtained in the experiments about the quantum world.

The humanism and its consequent rationalism have determined the schism between the science and religion. The discovery of quantum phenomena more than hundred years ago has proven that the rationalism alone cannot explain the weird phenomena belonging to the quantum

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world.

The dialogue between the religion and science within the paper, although not an explicit one it is assuming an implicit relationship between the two. Without admitting the limits of the rationalism and without admitting the existence of unknown forces and hidden truths escaping our senses and rationality, one cannot adequately approach the world of quantum scale phenomena.

References Taylor, The Schrödinger Equation in One Dimension, 2003, [2] Alessandris P., Modern Physics, 2003, [3] Williams T., Discrete Quantum Mechanics, 2015, [4] Adams A., Quantum mechanics / The wave function, 2013, [5] Schröder D. V., Wavefunctions, 2015, [6] Taylor, The Schrödinger Equation in One Dimension, 2003, [7] Derbes D., Feynman’s derivation of the Schrödinger’s equation, 1995, [8] Bacciagaluppi G., Valentini A., Quantum Theory at the Crossroads, [9] Michelsen E.L., Quirky Quantum Concepts, 2014, [10] Friedemann Schulz von Thun, Miteinander Reden, Störungen und Klärungen, [Talking together, troubles and clarification] Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 1996.

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Functional Illiteracy: An Epistemic Quest in Modern and Biblical Times Ovidiu HANC, Ph.D.

Department of Theology Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 30 August 2018 Received in revised form 11 September Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.12

Functional illiteracy has become in the last decades the technical term used to describe a reality in which a literate person fails to grasp the meaning of a text or to perform a basic analysis necessary for an effective personal and social development. Recent studies on this phenomenon are alarming since a significant percentage of Europeans although they consider themselves educated, do not know that they do not know. The main issue beyond the concept of functional illiteracy is the concept of knowing. Therefore, this study focuses on various aspects originating from epistemology to highlight that the dialogue between science and theology can be used to address this issue. This paper advocates that although the terminology per se used by scholars in the last four decades is not found in the Bible, the reality of such phenomena is to be found both in the Old and the New Testament. Biblical epistemology reflects a reality that transcends a naturalistic epistemology. Therefore, it is important to note that while functional illiteracy has a cognitive motivation, in the Bible spiritual functional illiteracy has a spiritual cause. Often scholars suggest the fact that scientific epistemology and biblical epistemology are inconsistent. However, focusing on the issue of functional illiteracy now and in the past, in our study of the nature of knowledge, it is reasonable to admit that a dialogue between epistemology and theology is crucial.

Keywords: functional illiteracy; epistemology; Biblical epistemology; knowledge; education; theology; Bible; morality;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

“What does it mean to say that we know something?” and “How do we know that we know?” are questions to which epistemology seeks to give an answer. Part of the answer to such questions is provided in the educational systems through pedagogy as a discipline that deals with the theory of learning and practice of teaching. One of

the most basic terms used in education that reflects the ability to read and write is that of ‘literacy.’ Over time scholars were interested in defining and applying the skill-based approach to literacy, and because of this, in the 1970’s a new notion had to be defined to emphasize the impact of literacy on socioeconomic development. The new term that was used by UNESCO researchers was that of ‘functional literacy’ of the person who

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can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective function of the particular group or community and also for enabling the individual to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his or her own and the community’s development [1]. On the other hand, ‘functional illiteracy’ represents the person that can read, write, and calculate but without understanding the meaning of a certain text, or being able to perform elementary analysis, and without using all these skills for personal or social development. A person is functionally illiterate who cannot engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his group and community for his own and the community’s development.

All the empirical studies that have been performed attest the fact that adults [2] and students alike can be described as functional illiterate. According to a study of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) called Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) [3] that was performed in 20151, functional illiteracy in Europe is about 20% and in some countries is over 40%. The implications of functional illiteracy can be seen at the educational, economic, cultural, and individual levels. Illiteracy is not only a cause for biased cognitive development [4] but also a cause for behaviour and sociological corrosion.

Although strictly speaking functional illiteracy is the term used in recent research, the reality of such a concept is presented at length in the writings of the Bible.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse this phenomenon that is used nowadays to describe an epistemic aspect and to establish the fact that such a reality can be found in ancient times as described in the Bible. This research focuses on the epistemic 1 This study was performed on approximately 540000

15-year-olds students representing about 29 million of the 72 participating countries and economies.

quest in which the cognitive endeavour is used not only to acquire knowledge but also to learn how to acquire knowledge both in modern times but also in the generations presented in the Bible. Johnson Dru recently correctly noted that focusing our attention on the various manifestation of the word “know” will not render the entire picture of epistemology [5]. Nevertheless, it is fallacious to try to convey biblical epistemology to fit a particular modern epistemological model. Therefore, the best way to approach such a field of research is to view biblical epistemology as a unique epistemological genre.

Theology as a discipline is vast and religious studies are often used in a variety of methodological approaches. However, this article focuses on Biblical studies as a tool that can help us understand the concept of functional illiteracy as it was used both in the Old and the New Testament with an emphasis on functional spiritual illiteracy.

Since the essence of functional illiteracy is the concept of knowledge, attention centers only on some aspects that are deriving from epistemology and the way this conceptual reality is presented in the Bible. The question about the focus on Biblical studies in particular, out of the whole palette of religious studies, in general, is beyond the scope of this paper.

In his study of the epistemology of religious experience William P. Alston argued that the perception of God, or mystical perception, is formed based on an awareness of God that justifies belief [6]. Alston does not address the issue of knowledge when it comes to the way we perceive God, but only the sense perception arguing that perception generates certain beliefs. Alston used a doxastic–practice (belief-forming practice) epistemology to argue that the perception justifies rational beliefs. Any study on experiential epistemology is not beyond dispute. Since

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everyone’s experience is subjective, it is difficult to be dogmatic or to endorse credentials regarding various personal experiences.

On the other hand, it is important to note that experiential epistemology that cannot be proved scientifically cannot be disproved scientifically either. There are various personal experiences like joy, sadness, nostalgy, affection, laziness and so on that cannot be proved scientifically; hence it is important to admit that science has its inherent limitations when it comes to defining reality. In this context, theology can contribute to our epistemic quest since theology and science are not incompatible.

II. Functional Illiteracy: Causes and

Consequences

Any attempt to define and conceptualize functional illiteracy forces us to admit that education can reach a level of predicament in which a person falls short of a certain level of competence, although theoretically speaking that person is fully equipped in that area of knowledge.

All recent researches based on standardized tests (e.g. PISA, TIMSS or PIRLS) on this topic estimates that functional illiteracy is unprecedented in any of the educational systems. The causes of such phenomena are diverse and at times a corroboration of educational, economic, and social factors: Educational level [7]: the lack of teaching methods focused on the understanding of the concepts vs. mechanical memorizing or assimilation, lack of connectivity between the real world and the actual discipline, etc.

Economic level: low-income families, unemployment, lack of education facilities, poverty, etc.

Social level: parents or social groups with little schooling, restrictions on girls’

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education, etc.

Functional illiteracy creates a downward spiral of cause-effect in which many of the initial causes are amplified in consequences like initial causes but of greater magnitude: • Educational: lack of understanding of various life realities, low educational expectations, dropping out of school, personal deficiencies (low vocabulary, cognitive deficiencies), etc.

• Social: poor parenting skills, alcohol, social crimes, discrimination, antisocial behavior, etc.

• Economic [8]: growing unemployment, underpayment, poorly prepared workers, poor productivity, poverty, growing penurious social programs, etc.

Considering all these realities, we can infer that a prophylactic approach of educational systems is compulsory in order to increase the epistemic reality and eliminate functional illiteracy, since only those that experience severe cognitive problems can develop functional illiteracy.

At the macro socio-economical level, the impact of this reality is alarming and should generate reforms of the educational systems since one out of five young Europeans find difficulties in understanding the world they live in.

It should be noted that even where researchers are proposing programs of support and reformation of the educational systems reshaped in new paradigms of understanding, critical thinking and creativity there is a problem in that this approach creates a circular argument in which an educational system is used to reform the educational system. Although this represents a viable solution up to a point, this solution is not entirely adequate since education cannot ultimately change human behavior. No viable epistemic

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process can function in a worldview that is void of moral values. Because of this, an analysis of the way the Bible addresses the issue of functional illiteracy is illuminating.

III. Functional Illiteracy and the Bible

What does the Bible have to say about functional illiteracy? It is obviously anachronistic to look for the technical term in the Bible, however a thorough analysis of both Old and New Testament attests the presence of the reality in which people were expected to acquire knowledge on various religious aspects and although they considered themselves erudite on such religious matters, they were spiritual functional illiterates.

A. Definition of the Terms

It is important to highlight that both the Hebrew terminology of the Old Testament and the Greek terminology of the New Testament that reflect the concept of knowing are more dynamic in nature than our modern terms entail. The concept of knowledge in biblical terminology reflects not only a cognitive dimension but also a relational or covenantal one (e.g. the first reference in the Bible to the act of knowing between two persons is in Genesis 4.1 as a reference to intimate relation between the two). To know someone or something entails not only an informative certainty but a more profound epistemological reality that has a relational and a moral dimension.

There are various terms related to the concept of knowing, but the most representative are the term ‫( ַעדָי‬ya.da) in Hebrew and γινώσκω (ginōskō) in Greek and their cognate forms. Other terms that reflect the concept of knowledge in Hebrew are ‫( ָּעדַמ‬mad.da); ‫( ַּע ְדנַמ‬man.da); ‫( ַת ַ֫עּד‬da.at) or ‫( ַ ֵעּד‬de.a) for ‘knowledge’ or ‫( ַעדְי‬ye.da) ‘to know’, while in Greek εἴδω (eidō) ‘to know’ and αἴσθησις (aisthēsis) ‘insight’ along with

other terms constructed on the same root.

In Bible terminology, we can differentiate knowledge from understanding and wisdom. While knowledge corresponds to mere information or facts, understanding corresponds to the meaning of these aspects and wisdom corresponds to the submission of life to these realities. There are many instances in which the Bible talks about knowledge, from the ‘tree of knowledge of good and evil’ at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 2.17 to Revelation the last book of the Bible, a revelation ἀποκάλυψις (apokalupsis) that needs to be read and understood.

It is also important to note that in Biblical language the mind and the heart have a similar connotation. If in modern understanding thinking is associated with mind and feeling is associated with heart, in the Bible times thinking was associated with the heart (e.g. Deuteronomy 29.4; 1 Kings 3.9; Job 22.22; 38.36; Matthew 9.4; Luke 1.66; 2.19; Hebrews 4.12; etc.) and feeling with the heart (e.g. Psalm 4.7; Ruth 3.7; Isaiah 65.14; Acts 2.26; etc.) but also with inward parts of the body as the seat of emotion and affection (e.g. ‫ – ָה ְי ִלּכ‬kil. yah ‘kidney’ Psalm 16.7; 26.2; Jeremiah.

11.20; 17.10; etc.; or σπλάγχνον – splanchnon ‘affection/entrails’ Luke 1.78; Philippians 2.1; 1 John 3.17; etc.). Because of this usage it ,is necessary to note that any reference to the heart, as the seat of the whole personality, also involves a cognitive activity since the heart is intrinsically related to thinking.

Although anthropological or psychological research can evaluate man’s behavior or cognitive function in terms that are completely secular, from a theological perspective, these realities in Hebrew or Christian thought have a spiritual dimension as well. Because of this, when it comes to functional illiteracy, the causes and the consequences of such a phenomenon are more complex and enlarge our

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epistemology. Epistemology is the theory of knowledge, however, when it comes to the nature of the knowledge of God the element of revelation must be taken into consideration as a reality that transcends our naturalistic epistemology.

B. Functional Illiteracy in the Old Testament

The fall of man in sin is a consequence of the strategy that the Serpent has used to sow doubt of the truth that God has revealed. The question ‘Did God actually say …?’ represents a programmatic strategy that the Devil was about to use from that point forward to confuse and question the divine revelation. One of the consequences of falling into sin was that the man has become unable to discern and to differentiate good from bad.

The first reference to the concept of knowledge related to man is in Genesis 3.7, 22 as the eyes of both man and woman were opened and they knew that they were naked. The negative connotation of this epistemic reality is to be interpreted not as a critique to the cognitive function but as a recognition of knowledge that was perverted by sin. It is fallacious to say that before the fall the man did not know since he knew before that it is wrong to disobey God (Genesis 3.2-3). A contrast between the knowledge before the fall and after the fall is similar to the epistemic knowledge that the doctor has about a disease and the empirical knowledge that the patient has about the disease. By falling into sin, man’s knowledge has been enlarged, but corruptly. Quite early in Genesis this truth is emphasized as the human’s thinking has become corrupt and every intention of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil (e.g., Genesis 6.5; Deuteronomy 32.28).

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knowledge to give a proper explanation to theodicy and suffering. Proverbs, another writing that belongs to Sapiential Books, emphasizes at length the importance of understanding that reality but not based on human’s own understanding (Proverbs 2.2-11; 3.5-6, 13, etc.). Like any other Wisdom Literature books, in Proverbs there is no dichotomy between reason and faith, however epistemology is possible only if it Theocentric. Without a Theocentric paradigm of life, man becomes spiritually functionally illiterate, unable to perceive the universe that surrounds him.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet has a vision of God and is mandated to go and to proclaim the divine message to a generation that although having eyes do not see, ears that do not hear, and hearts that do not understand [9]. G. K. Beale correctly mentioned the connection between Deuteronomy 4.2728 and the fact that the specific traits of inanimate idols whose purported sensory organs like sight and hearing do not work have been passed to the worshippers of these dead idols [10]. Such a reality in which people are not able to observe the reality although they see it is presented not only by Isaiah (see also Isaiah 42.20; 44.18-20), but also by other prophets (Ezekiel 12.2) and in the poetic literature (e.g. Ps. 115.5; 15.15-18).

This reality in which sensory-organs imagery is used metaphorically to convey a spiritual functional illiteracy is prevalent in the Old Testament.

C. Functional illiteracy in the New

Testament

The functional spiritual illiteracy is found in the Gospels without the element of visible idolatry, while this feature of blindness and deafness is scattered throughout the New Testament. Jesus’ rebuke of Pharisees for their blindness in Matthew 15 reflects the reality of Isaiah 6 and 29, since the religious rulers are incapable of understanding the

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spiritual reality that they perceive with their eyes or ears [11].

1) The Use of Parables

A peculiar element that needs to be emphasized here is Jesus’ use of parable in his preaching as a method of revealing the truth (Matthew 13.34 citing Psalm 78.1-4), but also to hide the truth from those that are spiritually functionally illiterate which while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand (Matthew 13.13-15; Mark 4.11-12; Luke 8.10; John 12.40). Quite often Jesus rebukes the people for not being able to understand the deep spiritual realities that were being taught (e.g. Matthew 15.16; Mark 7.18; 8.17; etc.).

The exhortation “He who has ears to hear let him hear” appears as a lait motif in Jesus’ preaching as a reminder that only few are able to perceive the significance of spiritual reality (Matthew 11.5; 1.9; 13.43; Mark 4.9, 23; 7.16; Luke 8.8, 18, 14.35).

The Gospel writers mark the fact that the people are unable to perceive the spiritual reality, thus becoming spiritual functional illiterates, and the solution of this reality is God’s revelation. The things of heaven are hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed to those that are spiritual children (Luke 10.21). This spiritual functional illiteracy is addressed in other New Testament passages (e.g. Acts of the Apostles 28.26-27, Hebrews 5.11).

2) The Apostle Paul

When the apostle Paul writes his letter to the Corinthian church, one of the first elements that he emphasizes in relation to the message of the Gospel is that this message goes beyond human intellectual ability [12]. As he writes to a milieu in which Greek philosophy was a highly esteemed heritage, Paul mentions the failure of human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1.20-21) as it tries to comprehend the things of God. It is vital to note that Paul is not an anti-intellectual,

but a very profound thinker [13]. For Paul, neither the profound intellectual thinker nor the political ruler can perceive the things of God since the natural person is not able to understand the things of the Spirit of God, for they can be discerned spiritually (1 Corinthians 2.14). Paul’s alternative to eloquent wisdom (σοφίᾳ λόγου) is not the foolishness of human reasoning but the wisdom of God. The wise (σοφός), the scribe (γραμματεύς) and the philosopher/orator (συζητητής) are spiritual functional illiterates since the wisdom of God cannot be grasped through human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1.20).

Inability to know the things of the spirit of God is not due to a lack of information or lack of cognitive and epistemic skills, but to lack of spiritual discernment. The problem that Paul is emphasizing is that from a rational point of view the natural (ψυχικός psuchikos) man interprets the message of the Gospel as being foolish. Hence, the natural man does not lack intellectual ability to interpret the propositional message from God but lacks ability to understand the value of it.

The apostle Paul admits in the Epistle to the Romans that the man can get a posteriori to a certain knowledge of God through general revelation (Romans 1.1920); however, the man had become futile in his thinking (Romans 1.21-22). Although he admits that God constantly reveals himself, whenever the man rejects this divine enablement of receiving knowledge from God, he becomes spiritually functionally illiterate, unable to use his mind as an epistemic faculty in relation to the Gospel message.

3) Revelation

The actual name of the book of Revelation implies a reality that is revealed and needs to be understood. The extensive repetition use of the hearing formula “he who has an ear let him hear” reflects this spiritual reality of functional illiteracy as well. In Revelation Christ address a sinful situation in which

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the Christians have become spiritually anesthetized [14]. Following the prophetic message of Isaiah (Isaiah 6.9-10; 42.20), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 5.21; 17.2) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3.27; 12.2), Revelation uses the same reality of spiritual lethargy that can hinder others to perceive the prophetic message.

All these instances attest beyond doubt the fact that the Bible presents at length the reality of spiritual functional illiteracy.

Biblical terminology that reflects the act of knowing indicates that knowledge is an activity that involves not only cognitive faculties but also has a spiritual dimension.

In biblical revelation, there is no truth apart from God, and there is no knowledge of truth apart from divine enablement. Biblical epistemology has an intrinsic moral feature, therefore spiritual functional illiteracy is caused by a moral failure not a cognitive one.

The connection between human cognitive faculty and faith in spiritual truth is necessary. In Biblical epistemology there is a necessary balanced tension between faith and reason, in which faith surpasses reason and reason entitles faith. The two apparent divergent methodological approaches of Augustin’s saying crede, ut intelligas [15] and Anselm’s dictum intellego ut credam [16] are in fact in a necessary juxtaposition and harmony. In this dualism of faith seeking understanding and understanding seeking faith, functional spiritual illiteracy appears as a reality in which epistemic incident is succumbed by the rejection of divine empowerment to understand.

Conclusion The dialogue between Science and Theology is possible only if the distinction between naturalism and supernaturalism is not refuted a priori by our scientific approach. The intersection of science and religion appears only if our scientific

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pronouncements have an inclusivist approach and allow theology to inform the natural phenomena. For example, in psychology, Orval Hobart Mowrer one of the most respected psychologists of the 20th century, known for his research on behavior therapy wrote against the shift from “sin” to “sickness” that began mainly with Sigmund Freud, admits that while the psychologists heralded the epoch-making acclaimed liberation from sin as a great incubus to have the excuse of being sick rather than sinful, they have cut the very roots of our being by becoming amoral, ethically neutral and free [17]. Likewise, in epistemology there is a clear necessity of a dialogue between our study of the nature of knowledge and theology. Focusing on pedagogy as the theory and the practice of learning in relation to theology, we can affirm that while education focuses on the formation, theology focuses on transformation.

The formation has to do with cognitive, behaviorism, psychological and sociological development, but transformation has a moral dimension added to all these.

Functional illiteracy can be resolved only by using an efficient system of education that can involve free education, social programs, grants, subsidies, scholarships, late night classes, etc. to grow the awareness of the importance of education and knowledge.

The only way man can recover the cognitive dimension of function illiteracy is found in education. On the other hand, the Bible presents a spiritual dimension of this functional illiteracy that ultimately can be resolved not by education but by revelation.

Education produces at best a social ethic but not intrinsic morality, a dimension that transcends our socio-cultural milieu.

Thus, we can use theology to enrich our epistemology by offering a moral dimension through the concept of revelation.

While a moral transformation leads to a good education, a good education does not

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lead necessarily to character formation. D. L. Moody correctly stated that “[i]f a man is stealing nuts and bolts from a railway track, and, in order to change him, you send him to college, at the end of his education, he will steal the whole railway track.”

If our educational systems are producing functional illiteracy due to their inherent dysfunctions that occur somewhere in the process, we can appeal to theology to enrich our epistemic quest by emphasizing the education of the heart as a sine qua non entity in our education of the mind. Because of this, when it comes to functional illiteracy, the contribution of theology to this issue is not only preferable but also essential.

References [1]

[2]

[3] [4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Records of the General Conference. 20th Session, Vol. 1, 1978, p.183, available at: http://unesdoc. unesco.org/images/0011/001140/114032E. pdf [accessed 29 August 2018].

Elsa Eme, “Cognitive and Psycholinguistic Skills of Adults Who Are Functionally Illiterate: Current State of Research and Implications for Adult Education,” Applied Cognitive Psychology 25, no. 5 (2011): 753– 62. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2015-resultsin-focus.pdf. [accessed 29 August 2018] A. Reis and A. Castro-Caldas, “Illiteracy: A Cause for Biased Cognitive Development,” Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 3, no. 5 (1997): 444–50.

Dru Johnson, Biblical Knowing: A Scriptural Epistemology of Error (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co, 2014), xvi.

William P. Alston, Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993), 286–92.

Réka Vágvölgyi et al., “A Review about Functional Illiteracy: Definition, Cognitive, Linguistic, and Numerical Aspects,” Frontiers in Psychology 7 (2016).

Eric A. Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann, “The Cost of Low Educational Achievement in the European Union,” EENEE Analytical Report No. 7 (2010), http://www.eenee.de/ dms/EENEE/Analytical_Reports/EENEE_ AR7.pdf [accessed 29 August 2018].

[9] Craig A. Evans, To See and Not Perceive: Isaiah 6.9-10 in Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation, JSOTSup 64 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989).

[10] G. K. Beale, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), 72.

[11] Idem, 169–70.

[12] H. H. Drake Williams, The Wisdom of the Wise: The Presence and Function of Scripture Within 1 Cor. 1:18-3:23 (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 89–93.

[13] Kenneth Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies In 1 Corinthians (London: SPCK, 2011), 99.

[14] G. K. Beale, “The Hearing Formula and the Visions of John in Revelation,” in Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology, ed. Markus Bockmuehl and Michael B. Thompson (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998), 176.

[15] Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 29.6.

[16] Anselm, Proslogion 1.

[17] O Hobart Mowrer, “‘Sin’: The Lesser of Two Evils,” American Psychologist 15 (1960): 301–4; Karl Menninger, Whatever Became of Sin? (New York: Bantam, 1988).

[8]

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The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Meditative practice as a tool in Philosophical counseling Vasile Petru HAȚEGAN

American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA) Asociația Profesională a Consilierilor Filosofici și de Etică Timisoara, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 14 October 2018 Received in revised form 16 October Accepted 17 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.13

This paper presents the necessity of implementing meditative practice as a necessary tool in philosophical counseling. It starts from the fact that it is one of the tools used by philosophy in antiquity. It was subsequently forgotten by philosophers oriented towards the academy, but also because meditation was taken over by theology, and later by psychotherapy and by personal development. The emergency of philosophical counseling led to the rediscovery of these practices by some practitioners concerned with the applications of philosophical meditation and the use of philosophical texts in the meditative process, drawing up manuals for practitioners in philosophy. The paper includes the description of a method of inducing a meditative state, necessary for meditation and philosophical reflection. There are presented tools and mental processes that can be used in philosophical practice at different times and can be included in meditation to clarify or understand life situations. The conclusion of this article is in favor of developing of these meditative methods and techniques by including them in the philosophical counselor’s professional training programs, showing some directions to be followed in future in this field.

Keywords: philosophical practice; philosophical counseling; meditative practice; meditation stage; philosophical reflection; revelation;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Philosophical practice is brought to the attention of philosophers by the emergence of applied forms of manifestation that appeared most recently in many countries of the world. The first step is considered to be when the first philosophical practice office opened in Germany in 1981 by Gerd Achenbach, a philosopher living near

Cologne, who invited the first client to the office and starting a philosophical dialogue. The moment marks the starting of philosophical counseling in the world, and now Achenbach is considered the father of this applied current of contemporary philosophy. Through this orientation to practice, we can say that philosophy rediscovers its applied potential, and philosophical counseling becomes a

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philosophical variation addressed to people, solving or clarifying life situations, finding answers to dilemmas or questions about human existence, discovering a new way of understanding the world and life, or even doing philosophy for their own benefit. However, doing the philosophy by putting it into practice for the benefit of a person, involves the initiation of a process of thought, a process involving the use of tools from philosophy, one of which is the philosophical reflection that can take place in certain meditative states of the mind. In normal speech it is stated that when someone has this thinking process, we say that they “cogitate” but in fact, the person has a personal state of reflection or meditation. This way of thinking is unrelated to philosophy; the person analyzes a situation they face at one point, trying through this process of meditation to achieve a result or clarification to their life situation. Philosophical counseling brings to the attention of philosophers the vital role that philosophy can play in human life, providing practitioners with useful tools for new practices, showing the massive potential that this new specialization can bring to the service of the person in the form of specific philosophical practice. In this orientation to the philosophical counseling, philosophy has been put into practice, and we meet practitioners who have tended to use meditation as a working tool, as many other philosophers have done every time. For centuries, philosophy has been marginalized, either by theology or later by the therapies of the mind or soul, represented by new disciplines such as psychology or psychiatry.

The various types of counseling offered, from spiritual counseling to psychotherapy, indirectly replaced the need for philosophy manifested in society, and the meditative practice has been attributed to other fields or sometimes being perceived as an Oriental practice, specific to some religions.

II. Premises for using meditative

practices in philosophy

Looking retrospectively to antiquity, we find important philosophers of the time, such as Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, who used meditation as a form of philosophical practice. If antiquity had an opening to philosophical meditation, the following periods of human history made it forgotten by many of the philosophers, and in the Middle Ages, it was taken over by Christian morality, which transformed philosophy into a true “minister of theology”, much later noted by Pierre Hadot [1]. Aristotle, another philosopher of antiquity, in his book: Politics, refers to the contemplative stage “about which some say belongs only to the philosopher” [2], then generalizes when he speaks of the concept of happiness in Nicomachean Ethics, underlining the constancy of contemplative action and human thought [3]. The Ancient philosopher Epictetus in the first book of the Diatribes series, referring to Socrates, repeats the famous remark that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” When asked which are the promises of philosophy, he answers that “philosophy does not promise to bring to man any of the outer things “indicating the man with his life, and saying that “the art of living is everybody’s life”[4]. Moreover, the emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius has an exhortation to withdraw to himself, the original title of his work being: To one’s self, being suggestive in this sense [10]. Elements of meditative practice are found in antiquity philosophical schools practicing such exercises, which later become the spiritual exercises referred to by St. Augustine and Thomas D’Aquino, and more recently by the French philosopher Pierre Hadot.

Another reference to one of Buddhist practice in antiquity is made by the philosophical practitioner, Alberto Rezzi, who writes about mindfulness meditation, which can be likened to philosophical

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contemplation. This meditation produces beneficial effects on the person in the sense of clarifying a particular situation of life, contributing to the elimination of the stress generated by that situation as well as achieving balance [5]. Returning to the French philosopher Pierre Hadot, recently translated into Romanian [6], he defines meditation as a “practice of self-talk” that was used by Socrates disciples or students of ancient schools of philosophy, a good example is Epicurus’ Epistles [7].

A common feature of ancient philosophical schools is that the practitioner of a meditation exercise learns to focus his attention on the present moment, which is later described to be as a secret of spiritual exercises [5]. Some philosophers such as Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Husserl and Heidegger [5] are also concerned with some of the existential aspects of thought [5]; the latter makes some references to meditation and inner dialogue when writing about thoughts [8].

Jean-Jacques Rousseau introduces the concept of meditation, expressed in the form of a conversation with himself, which takes place in his walks on the shores of a lake, moments about which he wrote at the end of his life in the work Reveries of a solitary walker [9], printed after his death.

Meditation has long time been described as a practice specific to Oriental philosophy, from Buddhism to yoga or Zen practice, which is why the spiritual leader Dalai Lama has recently made clear that meditation it not, in essence, religious [11], being merely a mental training meant to calm the so-called “ocean of thoughts” that is actually the human mind.

III. Forms of meditation practices used

in philosophical counseling

If we refer to the new current of philosophical practice manifested in the last

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decades in the new form of philosophical counseling, we find the American philosopher and practitioner Lou Marinoff, who wrote the Philosophical Practice manual published in 2002. The manual was destined especially for the practitioners of this new specialization, and he presents in the beginning the concept of meditation, declaring that „philosophers meditate actively with themselves, in monologues, and do so with their clients, in dialogues or polylogues”[12]. The practitioner highlights the active role that meditation can have, which works to solve a problem either by getting clarifications or finding a solution. Along with this type of active meditation, which is achieved in practice with the support of the philosophical counselor, Marinoff identifies the second type of meditation to be inactive, but it improves the other. The conclusion reached

by Marinoff is that „inactive meditation improves active meditation. The two are complementary, not opposite. The two are not necessarily two, but one.” [12]. To the future practitioners, Marinoff has some advice, which we are rewriting here: „If you would be a philosophical practitioner, then practice first and foremost on yourself.

Meditate actively and inactively both.

Sharpen and clarify your mind before shedding its light, and you will help yourself and others”[12]. In Italy, the philosopher Lodovico Berra wrote in 2008 a first article about the concept of metaphysical meditation, defined by the author as a mental exercise with special exercises. [13] The theme of metaphysical meditation is later developed in the form of a book published in 2017, in which Berra presents some meditative techniques, such as reflection or introspection, contemplation, receptive technique, transcendence, some zen or yoga applications with an orientation to meditation[14].

All these meditation techniques use altered states of consciousness, a situation

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that can sometimes be achieved by the natural hypnotic states that occur during the waking state, manifested by the states of reverie, or those stages called “reveries with open eyes”. This state of mind can not produce clarifying effects by concentrating on a subject, because they appear naturally and can not be controlled by the subject.

Hypnosis is a modified state of mind in which the subject becomes receptive to the suggestions of the specialist assisting him in the procedure, usually a psychotherapist or hypnotist.

The manual created by Lodovico Berra identifies several states of human consciousness, presented in the form of a diagram. In his manual, the author presents practical ways of working on topics that can be assimilated to philosophy, such as: the body, the inner world, the universal or cosmic consciousness, time, death, nothingness. Berra uses the meditation to suspend judgment or to analyze a text, phrase or concept, as well as to define a goal or project pursued by the subject, in his meditative practice [14]. To make the transition from philosophical theory to meditative practice, Berra is studying the psychology of the worldview identified by Karl Jaspers, but also elements of perception of the world, as presented by Bergson many years ago. With his rediscovering of meditative practices, he started from his original vision of the world towards a more philosophical perception of the world, that can generate a different feeling from the world [15]. On this topic, philosopher Ran Lahav, an active practitioner since 1992, has been noted in the field of philosophical practice, and he is the initiator, together with Lou Marinoff, of the first international conference on philosophical counseling held in 1994 in Vancouver, Canada. He is the philosopher dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom, a concept that he transposes into his method of philosophical counseling, which he considers a source of this critical

desiderates for achieving this goal. The effect obtained as a result of philosophical counseling is expressed by clarifying the life of the counseled person and defining his own vision of the world [16]. At an international meeting of practitioners in philosophy, which took place in Spain in 2005, Lahav initiated a group experiment called the contemplative philosophy based on relaxation and breathing exercises that generated a meditative state, induced by a facilitator and the process is followed by the introduction of a reflection theme called philosophical contemplation. Lahav later presents the whole concept in the book published in the same year, Booklet of Contemplative Philosophy, in which he presents the concept he proposed, from the definition of attitudes and language to working techniques and ending with extracts of the philosophical texts proposed for this practice [17]. The experiment concludes that the role of the facilitator can be taken over at any time by a philosophical practitioner, for that reason Lahav presents the technique called meditation on the voice, which is actually a technique of initiating a state of tranquility, an exercise of focusing on the inside of the person. He continued with some of the proposed applications, such as: guided visualization of a subject, silent lesson, slow reading, philosophical drawing, the circle of discernment and philosophical partner [17].

Figure 1.

Philosophical materials proposed for contemplative philosophy

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We present in this figure five topics proposed by Lahav to be used in contemplative philosophy applications, concerning thinkers and philosophers, from whose works Lahav takes the text necessary for his practice. Several years later, the concept of contemplative philosophy also moved into the online environment through a new project initiated by Ran Lahav with Carmen Zavala, another practitioner from Peru, who presented the Agora Project, which becomes a forum for the same purpose. This new way of working is one in which participants are remotely connected, including the facilitator, who thus participates in a philosophical contemplation process based on a philosophical text proposed by the facilitator, the process being completely different from the online forum. Under this new program, Lahav defines a new applied concept, the philosophical companionship, published in 2016 under the title of the Handbook of philosophical companionship, where the author presents work procedures based on the induction of a meditative state of mind that facilitates philosophical reflection on the topic proposed before starting the exercise [18].

Lahav’s approaches continue on the field of philosophical contemplation, and publish in 2018 a new handbook in which he presents his theories based on learning a relaxing state specific to meditation that is necessary for the contemplation process, as well as techniques for the practitioner, which the author calls “the philosophical contemplator.” At the end of the handbook, the author points out again two texts that he considers relevant to this practice referring to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and The Over-Soul by Emerson [19]. As preparatory procedures for the philosophical contemplation, we find here techniques based on respiration control or relaxation of the body, followed by centering instructions on the present state.

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and centering techniques, where guidance of a facilitator applies the procedure, this role can be taken over by the practitioner in philosophy.

Another recent concern of Lahav is revealed by the publication of his book on the concept called “The Deep Philosophy”[20], in which the author presents his new concern, considered to be a personal development based on philosophy, but not an applied form of it. The project begins with a letter written by Lahav in 2017 addressed to those philosophers, practitioners or thinkers in various fields who want “philosophy to become a creative dialogue between the individual and universal human issues”[20] and he continues the book with some testimonies and practices of the participants in this project initiated by him.

IV. About the active meditative state and its role in philosophical meditation

We return to the concept of meditation referred to by the philosopher and practitioner Lou Marinoff in his philosophical practice book, and we observe that he metaphorically calls the human mind to be the “meeting place” to meditate. That place requires a certain state of calm and tranquility, which can only be achieved by activating a special state of mind, called the meditative state. Starting from the alternation between natural sleep and the active or conscious state of the human mind, Marinoff calls the meditative state a “state of alert repose” [12] that can be learned in various ways from oriental practices to breathing exercises or relaxation techniques, which have the effect of quieting the mind to think deeply.

This concept has been recently presented in another research, as an exercise proposal1, 1 Ph.D. thesis: Vasile Hațegan, Philosophical counseling: from practice to profession, Adendum nr.4. Timisoara: Library of the West University, 2018,

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in which we have identified the important role of the state of active meditation. This state is an interposing between the natural state of unconscious sleep and the active state of the human mind manifested when the person has all the mental and physical capacities activated, named state of waking.

We represent in the following figure the positioning we identify for the meditative state, this being the transition from sleep to the active and conscious state of mind, which does not mean that it is a mandatory component between them when doing the transition from activity to sleep and vice versa.

Figure 2. The meditative level in mental states

When he writes about the importance of active meditation, Marinoff puts that option in second place in maintaining mental balance and “integrating past and future seamlessly in the present.” [12] Starting from these references, we have identified in the previous research and some specific mental instruments that can each act over a time section, as shown in the following figure.

Thus for the present time we can use the subjective mental perception, for the past we have the visualization and for the future, imagination. We observe that the tools presented are specific to a corresponding time segment; we already know that we can’t have a process of imagination on the past, which is already experienced and can be rendered mentally only by means of visualization.

We already know, it is not possible to visualize a moment in the future, to define

the elements of this process, but that place is only for imagination, to express the future events. In this time the state of subjective perception can only be triggered in the meditative state, when the state of consciousness of the mind, which is specific to the active state of the body, is preserved.

A schematic representation of these tools is made in the following figure, to reflect their mode of action in relation to some specific time points.

Figure 3. Mental tools used in meditative state

The mental instruments we have specified here are ways of how the human mind functions, being observed from antiquity.

Epictetus explained what are mental representations “they are born within us, in four ways: either there is something and it manifests itself; either it does not exist, and it does not manifest itself; either it exists, but it does not manifest itself; either it does not exist, but it manifests itself”[4].

In previous research [21], we have also identified that active meditative stages can also generate specific mental processes such as creativity, analysis, and reflection or philosophical meditation. We are now schematically mapping the connections identified between these mental processes and the effects they produce, which are perceived in the conscious state of the person, namely: the solution, the problem and the cause of a particular life situation that is subject to these mental process.

Figure 4. The effects of mental process in a meditative level

pp.337-337 (translating by author).

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When initiating mental processes, an important role can be played by the meditative state, which creates the premises and optimum working conditions for these processes in order to achieve the effects represented in figure no. 4. The meditative state generates optimal conditions for activating the mental instruments necessary to achieve the desired clarifications on a life situation. That implies the need to practice meditation for the philosophical counseling process, by the counselor, to be able to induce a meditative state to their future clients.

The practitioners need to know and experiment the exercises personally and be ready to teach their client. In this sense, we will explain the elements necessary for acquiring the meditative state by any practitioner in philosophical counseling.

V. Presenting our own exercise on the use of meditative state in philosophical meditation

We believe that philosophical meditation can become an essential working procedure, which could successfully be introduced in philosophical practice, especially in philosophical counseling. In this approach, the philosophical counselor has a double role, the first being to study and learn meditation techniques that can be used in the counseling act, but also to train and guide the counselor, in order to achieve a relaxation specific to meditation, a condition essential to philosophical practices based on the meditative state. The counselor may become a trainer for the counseled

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persons, in the sense of teaching them the techniques of meditation or thinking methods, which can be particularly useful to the person, in the sense of successfully applying philosophical meditation without the assistance of a specialist, in the future.

To philosophize and reflect on situations of life or to have a personal view of the world and life, this involves a person and the requirement to learn new thinking procedures that can support the individual process of knowing and understanding life. To learn the state of meditation, we return to an applicative exercise [22], which is our proposal for philosophical practice, especially for future specialists in philosophical counseling. The application requires some preliminary conditions to be put into practice; the first requirement is to provide some minimal conditions for practice that will take place in quiet rooms, equipped with convenient places for participants and normal ambiental conditions. The practitioner will explain the procedure to be followed and will insist on some elements specific to the visualization, explaining all the requirements included in the exercise, relating to control of breathing and triggering a progressive state of relaxation of the body, while triggering mental processes based on the resulting meditative state. In order to achieve these relaxation states, the guided exercise initially contains a downward counting that triggers at the mental level a reduction in the working frequency of the brain, similar to a slighty sleep state. In this stage, the subject remains aware and actively participates in the application , in the sense of using the mental visualization or imagination tools and triggering the mental processes of philosophical analysis, reflection or meditation, mentioned before.

The exercise implies that the subject agrees to be guided by a specialist, to participate by responding to the demands and working instructions actively, these being ensured

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by finding a comfortable position, closing the eyes and concentrating the subject on the instructions received. In this way, the subject of the application will quickly benefit from a state of physical relaxation, progressively triggered by the instructions contained in the exercise, combined with breath control, and both will generate a state of calm and tranquility, manifested at the mental level. At this stage of the application, the subject keeps their state of consciousness, becoming responsive to the exercise requirements, at which point the counselor may introduce a topic of study that was established with the subject prior to the application, it may also be a philosophical text upon which the subject triggers an active meditation process.

The application may also contain, after physical relaxation, some elements to stimulate the visualization or imagination of the subject, by bringing to attention certain known elements or situations defined in the exercise as personal relaxation places and which will generate the deepening of the meditative state of a person. The exercise may contain moments of silence in which the subject is left to develop a reflection or meditation process on their own or may be supported by a specialist in communicating with them while in a meditative state. At the end of the application, the subject is guided to return to the normal state of consciousness, becoming active, both mentally and physically, after that the practitioner moves to a debate with the client on the subject of meditation, thus emphasizing once again the active character of this process. The philosophical counselor has an active role throughout the application, in the sense that he can talk with his client to help them clarify the situation or subject of meditation, especially at the end of the exercise.

Returning to the representations in figures no. 3 and no. 4 we observe that visualization and reflection act

predominantly on past causes, the process of analysis and subjective perception manifests itself on a present situation or problem, and imagination will activate the creative process that can guide the person to make a decision or find a solution future.

The philosophical meditation process presented here can take on other techniques inspired by the work of other practitioners in the sense of reflecting on a philosophical text or various other techniques I have mentioned in this paper.

Conclusions and future directions of the meditation process in the practice of philosophical counseling in Romania As we have shown in the paper, philosophical meditation and contemplation have been part of the practices of antiquity philosophers, the history of mankind has later made this concept to be taken up by theology or oriental religions. In the contemporary age the concept is more present in various therapies or has been included in some motivational or personal development programs. In each of these areas where meditation was applied, it has happened that this concept has been appropriated or considered to be specific to other fields. Philosophy had only concerns to academic area, and his inaction has encouraging all those who claims exclusivity to the meditative process.

Academic philosophy avoided any philosophical practice, derived from the philosophy of antiquity, and which for a long time has been neglected. With the return of philosophy to the applied field, philosophers who became both practitioners and specialists trained more recently in philosophical counseling rediscovered the benefits that the meditative state of mind can offer, which has led to these applications of meditation being introduced into contemporary philosophical practices, as presented in this paper.

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We are seeing growing concern among practitioners in philosophy for developing methods that can support each philosophical counselor, but also through techniques that can be applied in both individual counseling and counseling for groups. In both situations, the philosophy practitioner has a dual role of counseling in the sense of applying a method of meditation in a working procedure, but also as a trainer in the sense that they are actively participating in the learning of the meditative state by the client. The exercise can be resumed later without the support of the specialist, being already learned and experienced by person.

On the basis of these considerations, we can conclude on the necessity of introducing in the programs of professional training of specialists in philosophical counseling of some themes of instruction in the learning and induction of active meditation. These will be necessary for including other philosophical practice tools related to this state, such as philosophical meditation or contemplation, or other methods and techniques presented in this field. From our point of view, we consider it appropriate to continue the research activity on this area of ​​philosophical counseling by implementing new specialization programs for practitioners in philosophy, but also by publishing and promoting research in the field. Another critical direction can be the development of an exchange of information between practitioners through professional associations and their participation in international events on the subject of meditative practices that can become necessary and essential tools in the proper preparation of a philosophical counselor.

All these actions will better define the role of the practitioner in philosophy, by bringing back home one of the essential instruments used by philosophers of antiquity, philosophical meditation, now with the help of the philosophical counselor that brings philosophy to the benefit of Session 8. Epistemology, Metaphysics and Communication Sciences & Theology

people as a way of understanding life and its meaning.

References [1] Hadot, P. Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique [Spiritual exercises and philosophy of antiquity], Paris: Albin Michel, 2002, (translation by author).

[2] Aristotel. Politica [The Politics] VII, 2,1324a29. București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, 2010.

[3] Aristotel. Etica nicomahică [Nicomachean Etics] 210, X, 7, 1177b. Filipesti: Antet XX Press, 2004.

[4] Epictet. Discurs viu: Diatribe–Cartea 1 [Discourses. Book 1] 121-122. București: Seneca Lucius Annaeus, 2018.

[5] Rezzi, A. „Counseling filosofico e pratica meditativa” [Philosophical couseling and meditative practice]. Rivista Italiana di Counseling Filosofico, No.11 (2015): 60-71 (translation by author).

[6] Hadot, P. Exerciții spirituale și filosofie antică [Spiritual exercises and philosophy of antiquity], 41. Arad: Sf. Nectarie, 2015, (translation by author).

[7] Mesaroș, C. „Prolegomene” [Introduction] to Exerciții spirituale și filosofie antică by Pierre Hador ( Arad: Sf. Nectarie, 2015), p.xxiv.

[8] Heidegger, M.. Originea orei de artă [The origin of the work of art] București: Humanitas, 2011, (translation by author).

[9] Rousseu, Jean-Jacques. Visările unui hoinar singuratic [Reveries of a solitary walker] 48. Bucuresti: Editura pentru Literatura universală, 1968 [10] Marcus, Aurelius, Către sine însuși [Meditations], 19. București: Vestala, 2015.

[11] Dalai Lama, Despre fericire, viață și multe altele [About happiness, life and much more] 132. București, Curtea Veche, 2010, (translation by author).

[12] Marinoff, L. Philosophical practice, 57-64.

New York: Academic Press, 2002.

[13] Berra, L. „Il dialogo interiore. Pensare e filosofare” [Inner dialogue. philosophize].

Rivista Italiana di Counseling Filosofico,

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No.13 (2017): 48-58 (translation by author).

[14] Berra, L. Meditazione Metafizica [Metaphysical meditation] 10. Torino: ISFIPP, 2017, (translation by author).

[15] Berra, L. „Filosofare e meditare. La meditazione metafisica tra teoria e pratica” [Philosophizing and meditate.

The metaphysical meditation between theory and practice]. In Pensiero, meditazione, ragionamento, edited by C.T.Ferretti, Luca Nave, 47-56. Milano: Mimesis, 2010, (translation by author).

[16] Lahav, R. Oltre la filosofia. Alla ricerca della saggezza [Beyond philosophy. Searching of wisdom.]. Milano: Apogeo, 2010, (translation by author).

[17] Lahav, R. Booklet of contemplative philosophy, Hardwich: Loyev Books, 2005.

[18] Lahav, R. Handbook of philosophical companionships, Hardwich: Loyev Books, 2016.

[19] Lahav, R. Philosophical contemplation.

Theory and techniques for the contemplator, 74-78. Hardwick: Loyev Books, 2018.

[20] Lahav, R. The Deep Philosophy Group.

Origin, Testimony, Practice, 8. Hardwick: Loyev Books, 2018.

[21] Hategan, V. Consilierea filosofică: de la practică la profesie [Philosophical counseling: from practice to profession]. București: Ars Docendi, 2018, (translation by author).

I am Doctor in Philosophy at the West University of Timisoara, and practitioner in Client Counseling at APPA (American Philosophical Practitioners Association). I am President of Professional Association of Philosophical Counseling and the Ethics from Romania; my work is in favor of promoting and regulating a new profession: the ethics / philosophical counselor.

Biography

Hațegan Vasile Petru.

I am graduate in Economics and Law at the West University of Timisoara, graduate in Master program in marketing research and postgraduate program in Education Sciences at West University of Timisoara.

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DIALOGO JOURNAL 5 : 1 (2018) 153 - 162

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

On the Building of the First Stone Church of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery (Romania) and its Architectural Characteristics Nicoleta STANCA

Valentin CIORBEA

Department of Philology Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

Associate member of the Academy of Romanian Scientists, Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 16 July 2018 Received in revised form 15 September Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.14

The article discusses the historical moment of the mid-seventeenth century when the building of the stone church at “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery began. The first benefactors are presented: boyar Preda Brâncoveanu, the rulers Matei Basarab (1632-1654), Șerban Cantacuzino (1678-1688), Ștefan Cantacuzino (1714-1716) and Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688-1714). We have also analyzed the architectural characteristics of the stone church, according to which the building style places “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery in the age of Matei Basarab.

Keywords: “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery; stone church; historical sources; benefactors;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

The participants in the Dialogo Conference (fall 2017) became acquainted through our study “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery (Romania). Between Legend and Historical Reality” [1] with “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery from Frăncești, Vălcea County, one of the most important monastic complexes in Romania.

Through this article the reader will discover new pages from the history of the monastery dedicated to the first benefactors who contributed to the building of the stone church and the architectural features of the monument. The monastery also has a little church built of a secular oak where the Icon of the miraculous Virgin Mary with the Child was placed in the middle of the 16th century and around which the monastic life began.

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There is also at present a new wall church under construction.

II. The First Historical Sources

The first source, which mentions “Dintrun Lemn” Monastery dates back to August 3, 1634. The document was issued at the beginning of the reign of Matei Basarab, ruler of Wallachia between 1632 and1654, and refers to the call of the Mother Superior in front of the Prince’s Gathering for clarification of the situation of a vineyard.

Beyond this case, the episode unequivocally reveals that at that time the community of nuns had been formed and the Mother Superior of the monastery was concerned about the increase of the land.

There are other historical sources that we consider to be extremely important and clear in order to understand the rationale for choosing the place of construction for the stone church. The first belongs to Metropolitan Neofit I Cretan (1738-1784). The head of the Orthodox Church of Wallachia considers that the first founder, based on the monastery’s Official Inscription, included in the Romanian language in the journal of his pilgrimage, was the ruler Matei Basarab.

Neofit records the tradition existing in the monastery that the ruler: “... built the stone church at the root of the cut oak, where there had been the wooden church”, which he moved further. [2]. The second source was written in 1781 by Petrache Giurca Râmniceanul, the author of the Register of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery. He noted that Matei Basarab “little understood this glorious thing and the wonderful miracle earned by Wallachia (the icon of the Virgin Mary with Child, our note); as he was one of those who loved the adornment of the houses of Christ, guided by feelings that spoke deeply into his heart and upon the calling of the Virgin Mother as helper, he started to build this holy monastery, on the model of other monasteries, moving the little church Session 12. History, Demography, Archaeology & Religion

in another place and placing the icon in the great church that still exists today, since then calling it “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery (sic., our note) [3].

Both sources have as their origin the tradition preserved in the monastery. It is possible that Petrache Giurca Râmniceanul had known the writings of Neofit I the Cretan. He does not mention this. It is known, however, that in the beginning, the journal was kept in the library of the Metropolitan Church, and later “in that of the erudite bishop of Râmnic” Ghenadie Enăceanul (1886-1898), who later entrusted them to the Romanian Academy [4].

The essential element of the two sources is the revelation of choosing the place for the new stone church, not by chance, but at the roots of the icon-bearing oak, taking over the sacredness of space, while ensuring the continuity of the preservation of the holy odor in the same spot. The second common element is the statement regarding the moving of the wooden church on a higher terrace. Finally, we should remember that the new church took the name of the holy place – “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery.

Aware of the sources of the History of the Romanian Orthodox Church, to whom he dedicated a monumental synthesis, the priest Professor Mircea Păcurariu states that “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery was founded, “on the place of the old wooden one” [5].

The date when the new church was built was around 1634-1635. An Austrian source of 1731 refers to 1635 as the year of the building of the stone church. The dedication day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is preserved for the new House of the Lord. It should be noted that in 1635 Zugravu Radu painted the new place, according to the researcher Olga Greceanu [6].

If there are no issues to clarify the date of the building of the new church and the significance of the place, two views have been expressed regarding innovation,

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in the historiography of the subject. The first opinion, as the mother guide tells us, belongs to Paul of Aleppo. The Syrian deacon left us revealing information about the renewal of the Holy Monastery: “Twenty years ago, a court boyar loved this monastery and, keeping the top church on the hill as it is today, built below a great stone monastery with a very beautiful church dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (the dedication day is the Nativity of Our Lady, our note), where nuns live” [7]. Paul of Aleppo approximates the year 1657 as the year of the rise of the church. “A wonderful church,” he stated. Indeed, Paul of Aleppo admired the stone church after the first stage of construction, which was extremely important because it raised the status of the nuns’ community to a “great stone monastery”. What Paul of Aleppo does not mention is the name of the innovator. He notes, on the other hand, that he was “a boyar from the court”, an important official of Wallachia.

Other sources nominate the founder, Prince Matei Basarab, “the greatest church founder of the Romanian people” [8]. For this hypothesis, there may be enough arguments. In the “Hrisovul” [Record] issued in 1641 by the ruler, for the dissolution of the monasteries dedicated to those in the Holy Land and Mount Athos and the protection of the free ones, “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery appears next to other holy sites, as “we have built them as a novelty, from the foundation” [9].

The first chronicle of Wallachia, Letopiseţul cantacuzinesc, written in the second half of the seventeenth century, records the foundation among the “many monasteries and churches ... at “Dintr-un Lemn” church of a monastery”. (sic) [10].

A third source is the writing placed in 1715 by the prince Ştefan Cantacuzino (1714-1716) in the stone church. In the upper register, it was written: “This holy and divine monastery,

which is called “Dintr-un Lemn” [from a wood], and which honors and celebrates as a dedication day the cult the Virgin Mary, from its foundation was built and made by Matei Basarab Voevod” [11].

As stated above, Petrache Giurca Râmniceanul, in Predoslovia from the Register of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery considers, in his turn, Matei Basarab the founder of the stone church. In other sources from the first half of the nineteenth century, such as the Litany of the monastery, the work of Dionysius Eclesiarhul from Bucharest Metropolitan Church in 1805, the new church was “built and raised by the deceased in happiness, his greatness, the good, Christian Matei Basarab Voevod” [12].

N. Iorga in the History of the Romanian Church writes, on the basis of the above sources, that “the ‘monastery from a wood’ was raised by stone, with the name inherited from an older place, also by Mateiu - the most generous of all the founders of monasteries and churches until then” [13]. According to a history of the Romanian church in 1958, the ruler Matei Basarab “restored again in 1653 “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery” [14].

In our historiography, this point of view was maintained until 1966, when researcher Radu Creţeanu published his studies on the sources of the first man who renewed the stone church, starting from Paul of Aleppo’s notes. When he arrives at Preda Brâncoveanu’s in Brâncoveni village, he finds that “the latter is very rich, has no pair in this country or anywhere else ... he likes to raise churches and monasteries ... He had several monasteries, some of them raised by him, endowed with innumerable gifts: cattle, sheep, horses, bees, villages, mills and slaves.

Others were from the time of his parents and grandparents: the first was Bistriţa Monastery, built by his grandparents, then “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery of nuns, then the Monastery of Arnota, the Monastery of Strehaia, Sadova Monastery, the Monastery

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of Gura Motrului, which he had built, then this Brâncoveni Monastery”[15]. Paul of Aleppo clearly states the connection of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery with Preda Brâncoveanu.

Radu Creţeanu argues in favor of his thesis that Preda Brâncoveanu is the first founder, the information from a document dated 3 June 1656 belonging to Prince Constantin Şerban, who strengthened the properties of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery given by Preda Brâncoveanu. The same document also mentions: “And the books and the scrolls and the scriptures of the holy monastery that were written above were in the house of my prince, Preda the governor.

They appear at the time when the guards, the gendarmes and the mercenaries broke into and robbed the houses of all the boyars; they took all the books and the letters from the house of Preda the governor put them on fire, and I and my reign testify to what I saw”(sic) [16]. To support his thesis, Radu Creţeanu also referred to the testimony of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688-1714), who repeatedly visited “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery on his way to his foundation in Hurezi. In a document at the beginning of his reign, he states that “this monastery was built from the foundation by the late Preda governor” (sic) [17]. The elimination of Preda Brâncoveanu from the Official Inscription in 1715 is due to a policy of getting rid of the Brâncoveanu name, initiated by Ştefan Cantacuzino, an opponent of the Brâncoveanu family.

Prestigious historians appropriated Radu Creţeanu’s thesis. Mircea Păcurariu states in his History of the Romanian Orthodox Church that “the great governor Preda Brâncoveanu, the grandfather of the future prince Constantine, built “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery”. [18].

Nicolae Veniamin considers that Radu Creţeanu brings “unquestionable evidence” that “the true founder of “Dintrun Lemn” Monastery is the great governor

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Preda Brâncoveanu, the grandson of Matei Basarab” [19]. Nicolae Stoicescu [20] and more recently Florin Epure claim that Preda Brâncoveanu is the first innovator. The latter concludes that the stone church “was officially attributed” to Matei Basarab [21].

In the context of the kinship between Preda Brâncoveanu and Matei Basarab, the first being the nephew of the ruler, Mrs. Elina, the ruler’s wife, agreed to contribute with the great governor to the endowment of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, they all can be considered common founders from the Brâncovean family. It was not accidental that the three were painted in the first votive painting of the founders of the church narthex, later removed.

In front of the stone church, there are many pilgrims interested in knowing the changes made to the new prayer site, the keeper of the Miracle-Making Icon. Whom do they belong to? What are the main architectural features of the monastic complex? What special events happened in the monastery? These are frequent questions addressed to the mother guides who, with piety, open other pages in the chronicle of the monastery.

Visitors are informed that in time historians, architects and journalists have thoroughly studied the monastery’s architecture. Among the first specialists were the architect Ion Trajanescu (18751964), who published in 1910 the results of the evaluations regarding the evolution of the construction of the monastic complex, detailing the main stages from the second half of the 17th century to the middle of the century 19th century [22]. Ion Trajanescu is also the designer of the Situation Plan, in fact an eloquent sketch accompanied by brief explanations of specialty regarding the buildings, the arrangement and the period to which they belong [23].

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III. The Age of Matei Basarab

The main achievement is of course the stone church with the narthex and the open porch, founded by Preda Brâncoveanu, the ruler’s nephew. It is a triconic-like construction, similar to the large church at Cozia, with a high octagonal tower above the nave which gives the monument, from the very first construction phase, its “slender shapes”. It has a short but large narthex, which is common for Arnota, Gura Motrului and other monasteries from the age of Matei Basarab. Measurements made later show that in the first phase the church was 13.5 m long and 8.5 m above the apses.

Regarding the exterior decorations, one notices the arches made by deepening the wall, arched, dull at the bottom and paired in the upper register.

Built at the beginning of the reign of Matei Basarab in a period of transition to a new architectural style, significant for the stone church of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, it was the solution for the realization of the parament. As early as 1910, architect Ion Trajanescu emphasized that the use of the faced stone and of the apparent brick are the main elements that characterize the architecture of the monument. For the base of the arch of the tower and the archways of the windows, brick was used, to a lesser extent for the archivolts and the brick teeth, which together with the lighthouse form a specific architectural element in the church. The builders also included, as a specific decoration element, the simplebrick, horizontal and vertical lines obtained by scratching the plaster [24].

Compared to the church of Cozia, the stone church of “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery contains inside “some essential differences”.

In the tower, instead of the supporting legs, the builders chose the pseudo consoles, but they were made with awkwardness, encountered in religious constructions during the age of the next ruler, Şerban

Cantacuzino (1678-1688), whose name is connected to remarkable achievements in the cultural and religious domain. At the urging and financing of the ruler, in 1688, Şerban Cantacuzino’s Bible was printed in Romanian, which contributed to the development of the literary language and the widening of the area of knowledge by the Romanians of the Holy Scriptures.

At “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, Şerban Cantacuzino enlarged the stone church to make it more roomy. The porch on stone pillars, similar to that of Doamnei Church in Bucharest and that of Cotroceni Monastery, was added to the body of the church, the space gained becoming the narthex. The work was done by master Ghe(orghe) Mirea. Şerban Cantacuzino is also owed the church floor, as well as to the reconstruction of the windows, a work that has improved the penetration of natural light. The nave of the stone church is different. The Serbian tradition used in the clover-shaped churches is abandoned. The difference lies in the two low niches toward the altar, and in the narthex there is no blind arcade on the north and south sides, according to the Serbian architecture. The arch of the altar is “a higher berceau [cradle], just as in the churches of Ostrov and in the Valley monastery of the sixteenth century” [25]. The windows “have beautiful painting lines inspired by those of the Stelea Church” [26]. The door belongs, according to N. Ghika- Budești, to the new style of the 18th century. Here, at the top, the bow is in the shape of a low brace, and on the vertical sides of the stone frame we see the decoration “with a rich flowery border” [27]. The Pantocrator tower is tall, with faces and arcs in a semicircle. On each of the eight faces there are wide and tall windows. At the base of the square-shaped tower there are in a semicircle, “unusually disposed”, [28] recesses. The cornice of the tower was made in old Byzantine style from the striated bricks.

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The tower of the narthex is made using a different architecture. It has eight faces, but here the windows are narrow, long, without arcs at the top. The boxes are rectangular in shape and are “composed of two rounded and adjoining rounds” [29].

In 1964 Şerban Cantacuzino decided to add to the church a new porch, a work that is confirmed by the Greek inscription “placed in the wall between the narthex and the porch of the great church”, with the following content: “This porch was finished in October in the days of the enlightened Io Şerban Voevod by Constantin Ion (?), painters, 1684” (Sic) [30].

The ruler brought the Greek painter Constantinos to the country to paint several churches. Since the painting of Radu the craftsman had deteriorated after 50 years and the works carried out forced the repairs of the stone church, Constantine the Greek was brought and worked in 1685 together with Ion and Ioan [31].

The porch was painted by Constantinos, a good painter, such as the famous Pârvu Mutu, preferred by the Cantacuzini for various works at other monasteries and churches. From the first painting made in 1653 and the one painted by Constantine, only the image of the Virgin Mary is preserved on the temple at the entrance to the narthex.

The church became a burial place for the family of the ruler Şerban Cantacuzino. In 1734, a tombstone was placed in the church on the right, behind the arch, a tombstone above the grave holding the bones of Mrs. Maria and of Șerban Basarab, who died in 1725, of Gheorghe Cantacuzino († 1734), of the daughter Bălaşa and Baron Gregory Vlasto, her husband. Subsequently, the bones were moved to the porch where the tombstone was built in 1734. It has two flowering ornaments serving for the candlesticks; the stone has a crown of leaves in the middle of which there is a bicephalous eagle with a

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crown next to a cherub with crossed wings bearing the letters E and X above the wings and N under it and between the wings.

Here is the inscription on the tombstone: “In this Holy “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, beneath this stone may the bones of good memorial rest (...) the relatives of Her Majesty Lady Mary and His Majesty the late Prince Şerban Cantacuzino Voievod, ruler of Wallachia who lived 70 years and died in 1725 November 16, and son of His Majesty Gheorghe Cantacuzino Basarab, who, after the death of his above mentioned Majesty, was wandering in Transylvania and settled in the city of Braşov under church protection being 32 and from there coming here in Wallachia beyond Olt Ban, he was a general to the death of His Majesty, being loved by the Most Holy Emperor of Rome Carol VI, who lived for 59 years; and he died this year 1734 on the 29th of May; as well as the bones of the grandchildren of His Majesty Stephen and Gregory, the sons of His Majesty, Baron Vlasto, who is in this Wallachian church the first counselor of the Ruler’s Administration and of Her Majesty, Mrs. Bălaşa Cantacuzino, the sister of the above the deceased, His Lordship, Gheorghe Cantacuzino, General Major, all these bones being gathered in this tomb, this stone was put inside the church.”[32] IV. The Age of Prince Constantin

Brâncoveanu

On his way to Hurezi, the great ruler stayed at “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, for which he felt admiration, the holy place being, as stated above, the foundation of his grandfather, Preda Brâncoveanu. The documents of the epoch recorded the presence of the ruler on September 10, 1694, September 2, 1694, July 1 and 5, 1695.

Now began the construction of a royal house where Mrs. Maria, the second wife of Şerban Cantacuzino, lived for a while. Ştefan Cantacuzino (1714-1716) is

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chronologically ranked as the fourth innovator with important achievements for “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery. The letter written on August 30, 1715, at the stone church by the ruler’s decision, mentions: “...

Then, out of the will and command of God, the Prince and Christian Ioan Ştefan Cantacuzino, worshiper and prince, with great piety for this holy place, they immediately started to beautify it by enlightening and enlarging the church first, and painting it for the second time and decorating it with a temple, with other things needed and made houses and cells around it as it is seen, in the glory of the Virgin Mary, and in remembrance of himself and his parents, finishing it in 1715, August 30”. (sic) [33].

The ruler decided to replace the inscriptions bearing the name Brâncoveanu, who had to be forgotten. A new door was placed at the entrance with a stone frame, and above, the writing made in the Brancovan style. Inside the church, they enlarged the arcade that crossed the bridge between the narthex and the nave. The church was repainted in 1715, preserved very well in the altar and nave.

The prior’s palace was completed. The cells as well. The lower row was at the level of the basement of the palace, and the one above together with the chambers, the architectural solution applied to Hurezi and “somewhat” and to the palace of Mogoşoaia. Behind the cellars, there were the chambers of the servants [34]. Access to the prior’s place was through a door on the northern end of the building and a stone staircase with a masonry parapet that descends from the five-columned pavilion to the inner courtyard. Beneath the pavilion there is the entrance to the basement of the palace in the large cellar, where the two semi-cylindrical vaults supported on double arches and the massive pillars draw attention. To the east, there is the cellar bounded by thick walls and double arched

pillars and wooden ceilings. The cellar was built on “a previous building probably part of Preda Brâncoveanu’s foundation” [35].

A building on the western side, in the Brancovan architecture style, is the belfry “made in the way of the Hurezi monastery” [36]. The pilgrims climbing the stairs to enter the main premises of the monastery pass under the spherical vault of the bell tower, remarking “the plaster and springs”.

“A rock staircase goes up to the bells. One was donated by Prince Ştefan Cantacuzino”.

This is confirmed by the inscription on the bell: “This bell was done with the expense and labor of the too-enlightened Christian Prince Ştefan Cantacuzino and given to “Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, where is celebrated the honorable Nativity of the Mother of Our Lord, The Virgin Mary, for the ornament of Her place, in 7224 September 8” [37]. The fountain had as elements of architecture “springs on the pillars”, which fall into the Brancovan epoch [38].

Conclusion We draw a few conclusions at the end of the article. The first stone church was, in the first stage, the work of boyar Preda Brâncoveanu. He was joined by rulers, such as Matei Basarab, Ștefan Cantacuzino, Șerban Cantacuzino and Constantin Brâncoveanu. The church was built on the exact place where there used to be the first small wooden church. Thus, the sacredness of the place of keeping the miraculous Icon of Virgin Mary with the Baby, unique in Romanian iconography, was kept uninterrupted. The first stone church belongs to the architectural style developed

by Prince Matei Bararab.

References [1]

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Stanca, Nicoleta and Valentin Ciorbea. ““Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery between Legend and Historical Reality” at DIALOGO-CONF

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2017, Romania, The 4th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology, 3-10 November 2017. Dialogo Journal of the Dialogue between Science and Theology. Ed. Cosmin Tudor Ciocan.

Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina, Volume 4, December 2017. 223-232.

[2] “Jurnalul călătoriilor canonice ale Mitropolitului Ungrovlahiei Neofit Cretanul” [Journal of the Canonical Journeys of Neofit Cretanul]. Translation and presentation

by Mihail Carataşu, Paul Cernovodeanu şi Nicolae Stoicescu. Biserica Ortodoxa.

Buletinul oficial al Patriarhiei Române [The Orthodox Church. Official Bulletin of the Romanian Patriarchate]. year XVIII, issue 1-2, January 1980. 288.

[3] National Archives of Romania (A.N.R), A. Sacerdoţeanu file. 99, 46.

[4] Mihail Carataşu, Paul Cernovodeanu şi Nicolae Stoicescu, op. cit., 247.

[5] Priest prof. dr. Mircea Păcurariu. Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române [History of the Romanian Orthodox Church]. Vol. 2.

București: Editura Institutului Biblic și de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe, 1981. 48.

[6] Olga Greceanu. Dicționarul “zugravilor de subțire”, monahi și mireni [Dictionary of Monk and Lay Church Painters]. Otopeni: Editura IDACO “dar din har”, 2012. 88.

[7] Paul din Alep. Jurnal de călătorie în Moldova și Valahia [Moldavia and Wallachia Travel Journal]. Introductory study to the edition of the Arab manuscript, translation into Romanian, notes and indices by Ioana Teodorov.

București/ Brăila: Editura Academiei/ Editura Istros, 2014, 350.

[8] N. Iorga. Istoria bisericii românești și a vieții religioase a românilor [History of Romanian Church and Religious Life of Romanians].

Vol. I, 1908. 288.

[9] Apud “Hrisovul lui Matei Basarab.” Sfânta Mănăstire Arnota: istorie și spiritualitate [Holy Monastery Arnota: History and Spirituality]. Monahia Theodora Videanu, Stavrofora Ambrozia Rucăreanu, București: Editura Nemira, 2011, 50.

[10] C.C. Giurescu. Matei Basarab, cel mai mare ctitor bisericesc al poporului nostru. Știri

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noi despre lăcașurile lui [Matei Basarab, the Greatest Church Benefactor of Our People].

București, 1966 (Passim).

[11] Apud Ierom. Chesarie Gheorghescu.

Mănăstirea “Dintr-un Lemn” [“Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery]. Râmnicu Vâlcea, 1970, 10.

[12] National Archives of Romania (A.N.R), A. Sacerdoţeanu file. 99, 25.

[13] N. Iorga, op. cit., 288.

[14] Istoria bisericii române. Manual pentru institutele teologice [History of Romanian Church. Textbook for Theological Institutes].

Bucureşti: Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune Ortodoxă, 1958, vol. II. 1632-1949.

40.

[15] Paul din Alep, op. cit., 373-374.

[16] Apud Radu Creţeanu. “Preda Brâncoveanu ctitor al Bisericii de zid a Mănăstirii “Dintr-un Lemn”.” [Preda Brâncoveanu Benefactor of the Stone Church of “Dintrun Lemn” Monastery]. Mitropolia Olteniei [Metropolitan of Oltenia]. Issue 6-7, 1966.

647.

[17] Ibidem, 14.

[18] Priest prof. dr. Mircea Păcurariu, op. cit., 218.

[19] Veniamin Nicolae. Ctitoriile lui Matei Basarab [Constructions under the Rule of Matei Basarab]. București: Editura SportTurism, 1982. 163.

[20] Nicolae Stoicescu. Bibliografia localităților și monumentelor feudale din România [Bibliography of the Medieval Places and Monuments in Romania]. Vol. I, Țara Românească [Wallachia].

Mitropolia Olteniei, 1970. 246.

[21] Florin Epure. Ctitoriile lui Matei Basarab în Oltenia [Constructions under Matei Basarab in Oltenia]. București: Editura RAO, 2014.

245.

[22] Luminița Giurgiu. „Mănăstirea “Dintr-un Lemn” în descrierea arhitectului Ion D. Trajanescu.” [“Dintr-un Lemn” Monastey according to the Desciption by Architecy Ion D. Trajanescu] Misiunea, revista Centrului de Cercetare a Conlucrării Bisericii Ortodoxe cu Armata României „General Paul Teodorescu”.

[Misiunea, Journal of the „General Paul Teodorescu” Research Centre of the

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Comunion between the Orthodox Church and the Romanian Army]. Year V, issue 1(5), 2018. 93-98.

[23] Ion D. Trajanescu. „Mănăstirea Govora.”

[Govora Monastey] Buletinul Comisiei Monumentelor [Bulletin of the Commission of Monuments]. year III, 1910. 38-39.

[24] Ibidem.

[25] N. Ghika-Budești. Evoluția arhitecturii în Muntenia și Oltenia [Evolution of Architecture in Muntenia and Oltenia]. 3rd part. 17th century, 1933. 59.

[26] Ibidem.

[27] Ibidem.

[28] Ibidem.

[29] Ibidem.

[30] Ierom. Chesarie Gheorghescu, op. cit., 14.

[31] Olga Greceanu, op. cit., 88.

[32] Apud Ierom. Chesarie Gheorghescu, op. cit., 10.

[33] Ion D. Trajanescu, op. cit., 36.

[34] Radu Creţeanu, op. cit., 109.

[35] Ibidem.

[36] Ion D. Trajanescu, op. cit., 36.

[37] Radu Creţeanu, op. cit., 109.

[38] Ion D. Trajanescu, op. cit., 36.

“Dintr-un Lemn” Monastery, picture from the article by Maica Stareță Stavroforă Emanuela Oprea, Maica Tecla Fuioagă, „Pagini din istoria Mănăstirii “Dintr-un Lemn”.” Misiunea, revista Centrului de Cercetare a Conlucrării Bisericii Ortodoxe cu Armata României „General Paul Teodorescu”. [Misiunea, Journal of the „General Paul Teodorescu” Research Centre of the Comunion between the Orthodox Church and the Romanian Army]. issue 1, 2015. 7.

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Biography Nicoleta Stanca is Associate Professor at Ovidius University of Constanta. She has published three book-length studies: Mapping Ireland (Essays on Space and Place in Contemporary Irish Poetry), (2014), The Harp and the Pen (Tradition and Novelty in Modern Irish Writing) (2013), Duality of Vision in Seamus Heaney’s Writings (2009), articles in academic journals and book chapters on Irish-American identity, literary studies and popular culture. She has been a co-editor of conference volumes, the most recent being: National and Transnational Challenges to the American Imaginary (2018). She is Vice-President of the Romanian Association for American Studies and alumna of the Multinational Institute of American Studies, New York University (NYU).

Valentin Ciorbea is Professor of History, the Doctoral School of Humanities at Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania and a member of the Academy of Romanian Scientists. He received the Romanian Academy Award in 2007 and the Society of Historical Sciences Award in 2008, ​​distinctions for his scientific achievements.

His contribution on The Evolution on Dobrogea between 1918 and 1944 was the first work dedicated to the history of Dobrogea which was awarded by the Romanian Academy of Sciences. He is author and coauthor of 34 books and over 130 studies. He is a founding member of the Research Centre of the Communion of the Orthodox Church with the Romanian Army “General Paul Teodorescu” and of its journal MISIUNEA. His research focuses on the history of Dobrogea, Romanian (naval) history and contemporary world history.

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Romanian activists from Transylvania in the Period of Austro-Hungarian Dualism Emanuel George OPREA

Moscow Pedagogical State University (MPSU) Moscow, RUSSIA

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 14 October 2018 Received in revised form 15 October Accepted 16 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.15

After the war with France (1859) and Prussia (1866) the Habsburg Empire was in a deep social and political crisis, very close to its dissolution, mainly due to the internal national movements in the name of new ideas and principles of Democracy and National Emancipation as they were first mentioned in the decade of French Revolution (1789-1799). In consequence, the Habsburgs have made serious efforts to maintain the unity and cohesion of the multinational state and from 1860 to 1867 enlarged rights including autonomy and self-government in many regions of the Empire were accorded.

The Romanian intellectuals and elite from Transylvania have intensified their actions for the social, political and economic emancipation of Romanian ethnics with a general defined purpose to obtain equal rights with Hungarian and Austrian citizens in the spirit of the ideas of democracy and the national principles. The end of the bipolar world in 1990 had brought in actuality the national and ethnical issues. The insufficient and superficial approach of these questions, based on the particular examples of Romanians from Transylvania, leads to deep fundamental state crisis and therefore they represent a serious challenge nowadays and their investigations are relevant and of interest.

Keywords: National principle; democracy; ethnics; Austro-Hungarian Dualism; Transylvania;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

French Revolution1 from 1789 brought major changes in French society and a severe decline of the Monarchy as state institution.

For the first time in Europe a Declaration of 1 French Revolution (5 May – 9 November 1789) Monarchy was abolished and in exchange the first try to establish the secular state based on the principles of liberalism and Enlightenment Period.

Man and Citizen was adopted [1]. Noble ideas of Revolution concentrated in three magic words “Liberty! Fraternity! Equality!” have passed the borders and spread in Europe.

They have driven to national principles, the fundament of future modern laic European states.

Consequently the XIX century was characterized by deep social movements, crises, revolutions, in the spirit of affirmation

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of national principle against existing empires, clerical systems and existing social orders. The events of Revolution brought to power Napoleon Bonaparte2, a young brilliant army officer of which the main purpose was to regain for France the lost glory [2]. The Napoleonic wars led by Napoleon against European Monarchies and their armies had spread in Europe the ideas of the French Revolution. It was the starting point for the end of Empires (Russian, Habsburg, Ottoman and others). The wave of resurrection had passed Europe from West to East and peoples had risen up for their rights.

These events did not bypass Romanian countries3: Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldovia (Figure 1). In these general trends enters the actions of Romanian elite from Transylvania in the fight for obtaining the same social, political and economic rights and status like Hungarians and Germans in Habsburg Empire. We can mention here peasant revolts from Transylvania led by Horea, Closca, and Crisan4 in 1784 and from 2 Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821, St. Helena) – Leader of French Army who have defeated European Monarchies united against France. Napoleon was also the First Counselor of Republic (1799 – 1804) and Emperor of France (1804 – 1815).

3 In time of Middle Age the territory of Romania was divided in three countries: Transylvania on the West, Wallachia on the South and Moldavia on the East. At 24 of January 1859 Wallachia and Moldovia, after Russian – Turkish Crimean War, have unified in one country named Romania. At 1 of December 1918, after the First World War, Transylvania also had unified with Romania, forming the modern nowadays Romanian state.

4 Horia, Closca and Crisan – leaders of peasant revolt against feudal constraints (1 November 1784 – 31 December 1784). At this uprising have participated Romanian, Hungarian and German carl peasants working on the noble domains and miners from Western Carpathian Mountains.

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Wallachia led by Tudor Vladimirescu5 in 1821 [3,4]. Both Romanian revolts have started claiming improvements of life conditions of peasants and ended as uprising of Romanians for their rights and Liberations under the anachronistic Empires.

The ideals of 1789 French Revolution leaded to the one of the major event of XIX century, the 1848 Revolution, which had comprised whole Europe including the Romanian countries, - Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia.

Figure 1.

Map of Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia in time of Michael the Brave6 (1600)

5 Tudor Vladimirescu (1780 – 1821) – born in Vladimir village of Gorj district; he was administrator at Ionita Glogoveanu boyar where he learn Greek Language and how to run a trade business. Former officer in the Tsar Army. He participated at Russian – Turkish war (18061812) where he was decorated with Saint Vladimir distinction of third class. He was the leader of peasant revolt from Wallachia, a revolt started for improvement of life and material conditions and finished with a national uprising of Romanians from Wallachia against Ottoman Empire suzerainty.

6 Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazul) - Ruler (Voivode) of Wallachia (1593 – 1600). He was the first Romanian ruler who was able to unify in 1600, for a short time until 1601, all Romanian countries. At those times it was in objective the necessity against Ottoman Empire ascension in Europe

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II. Habsburgs and National Problems

It is the great merit of Habsburg Empire to stop Ottoman (and Islam) expansion in the center of Europe. According to the Karlowitz7 Treaty of Peace from 26 of January 1699 Transylvania and other territories passed from Ottoman to Habsburg Empire.

But, short time later the people from Empire (Romanians, Italians, Serbians, Ukrainians, Russian, Ruthenia and others) have understood that “they changed a wooden yoke to an iron one” as Romanian peasants have said many times during next decades. From the beginning, Habsburg Empire had met national and ethnic problems due to people and incorporated territories. Another issue was the power and the concurrence of Hungarian nobility.

Internal social and economical policy carried out by Habsburg until 1918, - the breakup of the Empire -, has been balanced between two poles: privileges of the Hungarian nobility and rights for the peoples from the Empire in order to enforce the State by centralization [5]. The centralist way chosen by Habsburg had led to absolutism which was one of the main reasons of 1848 Revolution and the main cause due to which peoples have get out on the streets. With the help of Tsarist Empire the Habsburgs have defeated the revolutionaries but it was a hard and temporary victory even if the absolutism was amplified. The ideas of national principle were acting with the full force.

III. National Principle

Seeds of national principle have born in the period of 1789 French Revolution 7 Treaty of Karlowitz (Today Sremski Karlovci City from Serbia) marked the end of Ottoman control of much of Central Europe and major territorial loses after centuries of expansion. This treaty had established Habsburg Empire as the main power in Central and Southeast Europe.

but they have developed in time and are developing nowadays also. It is quite of interest the remark of Otto Bauer8; the Austrian socialist activist leader pointing that until now there is not a satisfactory fundamental theory about the essence of nation [6]. The same ideas, after the Great

Figure 2.

Professor Nicolae Iorga9 (1914)

Union of 1 December 1918 when Transylvania has returned to Romania, have been expressed by Professor Dimitrie Gusti from University of Bucharest who affirmed that “the theory of nation has left behind of realities” in which he was inspired by the works and conferences of the greatest Romanian historian - Professor Nicolae Iorga10 [7].

8 Otto Bauer (5 September 1881 - 4 July 1938) – Austrian social democrat, leading thinker of left socialist Austrian Marxists. His works and ideas have inspired the left socialist movements and Eurocomunism in their attempt to find a new way to democratic socialism.

9 http://dspace.bcucluj.ro/handle/123456789/7375, https:// commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14711032

10 Nicolae Iorga (5 June 1871 Botosani – 30 November 1940 Strejnic – Prahova) – historian, literary critic, documentary, dramatist, poet, encyclopedist, politician, prime minister, University Professor, academician.

A well worldwide known specialist - Byzantinist,

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A great personality in the period of the Austro – Hungarian compromise was Aurel C. Popovici, one of the reformers of Empire who tried to solve constitutional crisis caused by ethnics problems defined already in 1894 in his scientific works [8]. According to Popovici11 “the National Principle consists in the claim of certain social groups to be recognized free and equal with other analogues groups. It is a claim above any discussions based on the ethic and rights of the people for developing in conformity with their particular spirit of equality in the frame of general conditions of development”.

In many aspects, with certain particularities given by different conjunctures, Romanian activists from Transylvania tried to put in practice the main ideas of Popovici in their fight for Romanians rights and affirmations in the frame of Dualism.

IV. Dualism And National Questions

After the war with France12 (1859) and Prussia13 (1866) the Habsburg Empire was in Slavicist, history of arts, Historical Philosophy 11 Aurel C. Popovici (16 October 1863, Lugoj, Austro - Hungary – 9 February 1917 Geneva) – Romanian Lawyer and politician. He proposed in 1906 a project of federalization of Austro-Hungary named United States of Great Austria taking the model of United States of America.

12 The Solferino and San Martino Battle – 24 June 1859. The allied army of Napoleon III of France and Victor Emanuel the II with his army from Sardinia had wined the Austrian army of Franz Joseph I. It was the last battle from the history where the armies were leaded by their monarchs. It was one of the great battles from the history with participation of 160 000 Austrian soldiers and about 156 000 allied soldiers from France and Piedmont 13 The Austro – Prussian or the German War (14 June – 23 August 1866) – At this war participated 29 states – 13 from German Confederation on Austrian side and 16 on Prussian side. After the war Austria lost the Holstein region and leaves the German Confederation. Prussia

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a deep social and political crisis, very close to its dissolution, mainly due to internal national movements in the name of new ideas and principles of Democracy and National Emancipation as they were first mentioned in the decade of French Revolution (1789 1799). In consequence, the Habsburgs have made serious efforts to maintain the unity and cohesion of the multinational state and from 1860 to 1867 enlarged rights including autonomy and self-government in many regions of the Empire were accorded.

This short “liberal” period was ended in 1867 when under the pressure of conservators and external geopolitical interests the Austro-Hungarian Dualism authoritative regime was created.

Transylvania was incorporated to Hungary practically by a simple bureaucratic approach. As a consequence the non Hungarian peoples, including Romanians have lost their rights previously gained. The period from 1867 to 1918 is characterized by an intense process of de-nationalization and Hungarization of Romanian, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Serbs and other ethnicities.

The ideas of nation and nationalities evolved in a different way in Hungary in the time of Dualism (or the Austrian and Hungarian compromise). The Hungarian elite was inspired by racial and social Darwinist theories and according to them they considered Hungarian as superior nation from cultural point of view and therefore Hungarians are predestined to lead in comparison with other ethnics which are not so developed and are not capable to lead by their owns [9]. Furthermore Concha Gyozo14 considered that that state is corresponding becomes the leader of German Confederation. It was one of the wars for unification of Germany.

14 Concha Gyozo (10 February 1846 Marcalto – 10 April Budapest) – Lawyer, Professor of Hungarian Academy of Science, politician of conservative orientation, specialist in Constitutional Theory

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to its destiny if it is based on the hegemony of the most capable ethnicity. In the same note Beksics Gustav15, a representative of Hungarian liberal nobility stated that the solution of Hungarian problem, being a minority in the own state, is to transform Hungary in a national state and not in a federation as proposed the other nations from the Empire. A deep contradiction between Hungarian state social politics consisting in recognition of Germans and Hungarians as the main citizens of the State and the aspirations of other people of Empire to be recognized equal to Germans and Hungarians was formed, a crucial issue which had not been solved until to the end of Empire in 1918. The official AustroHungarian state politics relative to other non Hungarian and non German ethnics also defined the main laws, directives and documents of the national unitary state.

After 1867, in the process of enforcing of Austro-Hungarian Dualism a series of important juridical documents, like the Law for Education (1868), Electoral Law (1874), the Law of Press (1872) and other normative acts were adopted. The results of these new regulations were the accentuated decreasing of the Romanian ethnics and schools in Transylvania or of the Romanian representatives in the Parliament of Pesta.

According to the 1910 census Romanian language speakers represented 16% from the total population after Hungarian speakers (54.5%) but in the Parliament were less than 5% of Romanians [10]. Another example of discriminations was the Banffy16 Law (1899) which provided that the original 15 Beksics Gusztav (9 February 1847, Gamas, Hungary – 7 March 1906, Budapest) – Lawyer, journalist, translator, member of Parliament 16 Dezso Banffi (28 October 1843, Cluj-Napoca, former Austro-Hungary, (AU) now Romania – 24 May 1911, Budapest) – Hungarian politician, Prime Minister of Hungary from 1895 to 1899. Initiators of laws in order to maintain Austrian and Hungarian Compromise of 1867 with Hungarian predominance.

non Hungarian and non German name of persons, localities and geographical regions must be changed to “real and harmonious” Hungarian and German ones.

The Romanian intellectuals and elite from Transylvania had intensified their actions for the social, political and economical emancipation of Romanian ethnics with a general defined purpose to obtain equal rights with Hungarian and Austrian citizens in the spirit of the ideas of democracy and national principle. Political struggle of Romanian leaders from Transylvania passed from passive to actives forms.

Representatives of passive approach were: Ioan Ratiu17, George Baritiu18, Ilie Macelariu19.

They have chosen to not participate to political life of the Empire, as sign of protest. The representatives of active form like Alexandru Mocioni20, Alexandru Vaida 17 Ioan Ratiu (19 August 1928, Turda, former AU, now Romania – 4 December 1902, Sibiu, former AU, now Romania) – Romanian lawyer, politician, one of the founders of Romanian National Party from Transylvania and Hungary 18 George Baritiu (24 May 1812, Jucu de Jos, Transylvania – 2 May 1893, Sibiu, former AU, now Romania) – Romanian historian, publicist, 1848 revolutionary founder of Romanian press in Transylvania (Transylvania Journal 12 March 1838), founder of Romanian National Party from Transylvania and Hungary, President of the Romanian Academy 19 Ilie Macelariu (30 April, Miercurea Sibiului, Transylvania – 1891, Sibiu, former AU, now Romania) – 1848 revolutionary, Romanian politician, president of Romanian National Party from Transylvania and Hungary. Macelariu was one of those who did not admitted the annexation of Transylvania to Hungary after the Austrian and Hungarian compromise of 1867 20 Alexandru Mocioni (4 November 1814, Pesta, Austrian Empire – 1 April 1909, Birchis, Romania) – Romanian politician, deputy in Hungarian parliament.

He supported the foundation of Romanian National Party. He was a fighter for Romanians rights and emancipation in Transylvania. Many of his legal initiatives were related to affirmation of Romanians in the time of Dualism

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Voievod21, Aurel Popoviciu and others have used all legal possibilities in their political actions and activities. In the beginning the main purpose of Romanian Leaders was to obtain a large autonomy for Transylvania in the frame of Austro-Hungarian Dualism.

These ideas were concentrated in the program of Romanian National Party (RNP) founded in 1881 and the so-called “Memorandum” from 1892 especially sent to Emperor. The reasons of the apparition of the Memorandum could originate in the fact that Romanians in Transylvania were in majority, but they have not had equal rights like Hungarians. A large delegation of 237 persons, leaded by Ioan Ratiu went to Vienna to meet the Emperor and to hand him the Memorandum. The Emperor did not read the requests and had sent the Memorandum to Hungarian parliament in Budapest. Here also the solicitations of Romanians were neglected and the Memorandum was returned to the delegations [11].

Later, taking into account the incapacity of Austrian elite to solve the national problems of the Empire and of Transylvania in particular (mainly due to the conservative position of Hungarian leaders) RNP and Romanian activists gave up the autonomist approach choosing an active and intense approach oriented to self-determination and reunification with Romania. In the large diversity of Romanian emancipation activities from Transylvania the project of transformation of the Empire in a Federation (using USA or Switzerland model) really deserve attention, originated in national principle and based on ethnic territorial 21 Alexandru Vaida Voievod (27 February 1872, Dabaca (today Bobalna), former AU, now Romania – 19 March 1950, Sibiu, Romania) – diplomat, politician, doctor, prominent leader of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and Hungary, activist for Romanians rights in Transylvania in the time of Dualism, Prime Minister of Romania (9 December 1919 – 19 March 1920)

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autonomy proposed by Aurel Popoviciu (author of few fundamental works in this field). The First World War and the early dead in 1917 of Popoviciu have canceled the possibility of birth of a new multinational federative state in Europe but his ideas can be found in the present in the principle foundation of the European Union.

V. Religious Aspects Of National

Question. Possible Explanations

An aspect that was not fully investigated was the origin and the starting point of such differentiation betweens Romanians on one side and Hungarians and Austrians on the other side. The explanation can be found far in the history. In the time of peasants uprising of Bobalna22 (Transylvania) [12] from 1437 an important document was adopted which will have consequences for centuries.

Behind of political and economical aspects of adopted document some religious sides can be found as origin of discrimination.

Already hundred years ago, in 1366, King of Hungary, Ludovic I of Anjou23 decreed some anti-Romanians stipulations which in fact had religious roots. One of these established that the quality of member of nobility is determined by allegiance to Catholic Religion. Many representatives of Romanian nobility of Transylvania did not give up their Orthodox belief and therefore they lost their material conditions, their status and became poor peoples and peasants and they could not participate and to represents Romanians to a social, economic and political life of Transylvania.

22 At 1437 – 1438 Bobalna peasants uprising have participated Romanian and Hungarian peasants and representatives of small nobility against the Catholic clerics and King of Hungary due to severe increasing of taxes and religious reasons.

23 Ludovic I of Anjou (Ludovic the Great) (3 March 1326 Visegrad, Hungary – 10 September 1382, Trnava, Slovakia) – King of Hungary (1342 - 1382) and Poland (1370 - 1382), son of the Carol Robert of Anjou

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At these reasons, in 1437 the Catholic Bishop of Alba Iulia24, Gheorghe Lepes, decided that Romanian and Hungarian representatives of small nobility must to pay taxes to the Church, starting to 1434 year, despite the fact that before the small nobility was free of taxes.

In 1438 when the revolt was defeated Hungarians, Saxons adopted a crucial document, Szeklers citizens and Catholic clergy which represented a political and military alliance of signatories against possible future revolts and uprisings. The documents were named “Unio Trium Nationum” (The Union of Three Nations) or “Fraternia Unio” (Fraternal Union) [13]. The alliance was signed at 16 September 1437, at Capalna, Transylvania. As one of the main consequences peasants were eliminated from social and political life of Transylvania including also Romanians Orthodox and peasants (Universitas Vallachorum25).

As a result for centuries, Romanians will be considered “a tolerated nation” in Transylvania. It is worth remembering that Hungarian and Romanian insurgents, in time of revolt had founded a new social state of Romanians and Hungarians based on the principles of equality named Universitas Hungarorum et Vallachorum [13 - 15].

Conclusions In this study the activity of Romanian personalities from Transylvania in their fight for same rights and emancipation, 24 Alba Iulia – important city in Transylvania, Romania, founded by Romans, at about 106 years after the conquer of Dacia. The ancient name of the city was Apulum. Former capital of Transylvania between 1541 - 1711 years. At 1 December 1918 in Alba Iulia took place the Great national Assembly that proclaimed the Union of Transylvania with Romania 25 Universitas Vallachorum – latin name which designates

social state of Romanians in Transylvania with their own controls which had own institutions leaded by Romanian nobility

based on national principle, like Germans and Hungarian in the time of Dualism, was analyzed. Due especially to conservative politics of the Hungarian elite, a reactionary ideology was put into practice which was in deep contradiction with ideas of equality of nations living in the Empire. Some of the personalities of Romanian elite of Transylvania were mentioned and a short description of their activities was done. A special attention deserves Aurel Popovici which defined the National Principle and proposed real measures in the spirit of equality between nations, as reformer of Austro-Hungary Empire. The fail of national politics of Empire related to Romanian citizens of Austro-Hungary determined Romanian elite to orient their efforts to Romania.

Also an important aspect of Catholic religion inference in social and economical life of the country in time of Middle Age was analyzed together with the important consequences for centuries until our days. It is necessary to not forget that in time of Middle Age Catholic Church participated directly to the governance and administration of the kingdoms. The strength of Catholics in one direction was benefic for Christianity, like in the case of Arabian expansion but in other cases had stopped for a long period of time the development of other nations.

The National questions in the time of Dualism were not a singular problem of Romanians. It was a general common issue for all non Hungarian and non German ethnics like Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Serbians, Italians and others, of course, with different conditions and evolutions.

The end of bipolar world in 1990 has brought in actuality the national and ethnical issues. The insufficient and superficial approach of these questions, based on the particular examples of Romanian from Transylvania, leads to deep fundamental

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state crisis therefore. These issues represent a serious challenge nowadays as well as in the future and therefore their investigation are relevant and of interest.

References Michelet, Jules. History of Revolution (Istoria Revolutiei). Translated in Romanian by Angela Cismas. Bucharest: Minerva, 1973 [2] Tarle, Evgeny V. Napoleon. Bucharest: Literatura Universala, 1964 (in Romanian) [3] Chirea, Mihai. “Horea ‘s Revolt, a Masonic Experiment (Rascoala lui Horea, un experiment francmasonic)”, Historia (No. 43, July 2005) (in Romanian), [4] https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/ articol/rascoala-lui-horea-un-experimentfrancmasonic [5] Berindei, Dan. Romanian Uprising from 1821 (Revolutia Romana din 1821). Bucharest: Romanian Academy, 1991 (in Romanian) [6] Ingrao, Charles W. The Habsburg Monarchy 1618-1815, Second Edition”. Cambridge: University Press, 2000 [7] Bauer, Otto. The Question of Nationality and Social Democracy (Die Nationalitaetenfrage und die Sozialdemokratie), Vienna: Verlag der Wiener Volksbuchnandlung., 1907 [8] Iorga, Nicolae. National Principle, Origins and its Development, (Principiul National, Originea si Dezvoltarea lui). Neamul Romanesc, Iasi, Romania, 1917 (in Romanian) [9] Popovici Aurel C. Nationalism or Democracy.

A Critique of Modern Civilization.

(Nationalism ori Democratie. O critica a civilizatiunii moderne). Bucharest: Albatros, 1997 (in Romanian) [10] Sigmirean, Cornel. “Romanian Elite from Transylvania at 1918: Education, Projects and Political Options” (Elita Romanilor din Transilvania la 1918: Educatie, Proiecte si Optiuni Politice), Annual of “G. Baritiu” History Institute, Supplement No. 1, pp. 181205, 2016 [11] Rotariu, Traian (coordinator), Maria Semeniuc, Elemer Mezei. Census of 1910 in Transylvania (Recensamantul din 1910 Transilvania. Studia [1]

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Censualia Transsilvanica). Bucharest: House, 1999 (in Romanian) [12] Lungu. Corneliu M, Simona Ceausu, European Diplomacy and Memorandum Movement: 1892-1896 (Diplomatia Europeana si Miscarea Memorandista: 1892-1896). Bucharest: National Archive of Romania, 1995 [13] Dologa, Laurentiu. “Romanian Uprisings: Bobalna uprising (Rascoale romanesti: Rascoala de la Bobalna)”, ziare.com, (23 September 2010) (in Romanian) [14] http://www.ziare.com/cultura/documentar/ rascoale-romanesti-rascoala-de-labobalna-1043313 [15] Giurescu Constantin. C. Dates of Romanian History (Istoria Romaniei in Date), Bucharest: Enciclopedica, 2010 (in Romanian) [16] Sedlar, Jean W. East Central European in the Middle Age, 1000 – 1500, Washington: University Press (1 March 2013) [17] Vinogradov, Vladilen N. Danubian Principality and Transylvania: National Question and the Task of Unification (18481849). European Revolutions of 1848.

National Principle in Politics and Ideology, Moscow: Russian Academy of Science (2001) (in Russian).

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Intellectual capital solution to performance in economics condition: Descriptive study from Indonesia as a religious State Ahmad SUBAGYO

Lecturer at the STIE GICI Depok Indonesia

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 3 July 2018 Received in revised form 16 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.16

This paper aims to explain and review about intellectual capital in improving the economic conditions of a nation and state in Indonesia. In explaining and reviewing this capital, intellectual capital, using descriptive analysis capital. From the explanations and reviews that have been put forward in the literature review, the results of research and discussion can be concluded that intellectual capital is very important for the company and the State. The first for intellectual capital companies contains organizational mechanisms and structures that can help employees to achieve optimal intellectual performance and overall business performance. If the company has highcapability employees, good competencies, satisfied employees, the company has a good and structured organization, clear organizational processes, good organizational culture, good marketing-related skills, satisfied customers, good market intensity, as well as good relationships with the community then it can improve the business performance of the company. Increased performance of employees and companies, will ultimately improve the performance of the nation and the State, in because individual income increases and nn improves, by itself increasing the income of the nation and the State.

Keywords: Intellectual capital; macro economy; Descriptive statistic;

Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Preliminary

A condition of measurement, in which intellectual capital is considered a very valuable asset today. Intellectual capital has a very complex and complex basic concept, so it requires many experts who do research on this subject does not have this definition. Intellectual capital can be interpreted something that is true and

certain and can explain what intellectual capital that can be accepted by the general public is. Some experts define intellectual capital as something acceptable to society in the sense that the intellectual capital is information and knowledge applied to the work, and it provides value creation, see in [1]. While some other experts explain and express opinions related to intellectual capital is the intellectual capital is regarded

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as a science that results from the formation and experience, where the formation of science and experience can create wealth owned by the intellectual capital [2, 3]. if it means human beings who have wealth. On the other hand, some opinions are emerging about the definition of intellectual capital and all of it leads to intellectual capital as a resource that is owned by the company, where the company has the potential to provide benefits to the company’s performance. If the intellectual capital is a society, then the State has intellectual capital that can make the State condition to be good.

However, several sentences appear related to Disclosure and Disclosure, in standard language can be interpreted is a money mine for companies, investors and countries when associated with intellectual capital. Not to mention, intellectual capital is often interpreted to be incompatible with market prices and how much it will cost to make it into an intellectual capital is unknown.

Previously disclosure is the hope of some researchers to investigate the relationship held between intellectual capital with the company’s financial performance. For now there are more efficient and quantitative measurement methods (Disclosure is nonquantitative) that is Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC).

II. Three ways to measure VAIC:

1. Human Capital Efficiency. Human Capital Efficiency is an indicator of value added Human Capital or Human Capital in the Indonesian language which is one component of intellectual capital. The relationship between Human Capital Efficiency and Human Capital shows that human capital has the ability to create value in a company. Human Capital Efficiency also means as the company’s ability to generate

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value added every rupiah spent on human capital.

2. Structural Capital Efficiency. Structural Capital Efficiency is an indicator of efficiency to the added value of Structural Capital or Structural Capital in the Indonesian language as well as Human Capital, is also one component of intellectual capital.

Structural Capital Efficiency is an indication used to see how the success of Structural Capital in value creation.

3. Capital Employed Efficiency. Capital Employed Efficiency is an efficiency indicator of value added of Capital Employed or Capital Used in the Indonesian language.

Capital Employed Efficiency provides an overview of the value added of the company based on the capital used. Capital Employed Efficiency is a form of calculation of the ability to manage the company.

These three systems have one common ground on which to measure. The similarity is all the ratio of each field to Value Added.

A. Literature review

For a change in intellectual capital, it must lead to the creation of an innovation that is inseparable from one and part of intellectual property rights. Intangible assets within the company including patents, trademarks, licenses are critical factors in the company’s ability to keep competition in the short and long term. To see and measure the capacity of an existing innovation within a company, the concept of application of research and development costs can be made one component to represent the level of change and innovation undertaken by the company.

With the investment process at the level of research and development costs can increase the opportunity to employees and stakeholders of the company to develop and realize the various science and technology that exist for the company’s progress, and can create product innovation for the

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company with the main purpose of vision and mission of the company achieved. To assess and measure the capacity of a company’s changes, it uses the burden of research and development costs incurred in the current year. The process of charging the cost in the current year and the previous year in the intensity of research and development costs will be made as a component of profit per cost of research and development costs.

There have been many studies dealing with construction and intellectual capital, as this focus is part of the definition and scope of some concepts. However, in this study it is separated to break down the constituent elements of intellectual capital, making it relatively easy to see the benefits of this intellectual capital recognition [4,5].

In particular, the construction and meaning of the word human capital is anything that consists of all the capabilities possessed by humans without the help of technology or with the help of technology, the skills gained from the educational process, and human experience itself in the implementation of activities that are routine. Capital structure contains the infrastructure in the form of supporting facilities, can be technology or other. However, if viewed from the side of the philosophy of management science, the intellectual capital can be said as a part of the ability of each individual in his possession in the work, and how the individual can work according to the placement for the internal and external parts of the company.

According to [6,7] this model, divided into 4 asset models: 1. Value-Added Intellectual Capital Coefficient 2.Value-Added Capital 3.Human Capital 4.Structural Capital No different constructs of [6.7] in [8,9,10] exclude structural capital or internal structure components, but there

is no splitting into parts. Assets in the form of infrastructure include the processes, methods, and technologies that are produced. Meanwhile, the intellectual property contains copyright and patent.

According to Indonesian accounting standards, for the intellectual capital process are grouped into two major constructs namely tangible assets and intangible assets, where the intellectual capital is inserted into the category of intangible assets.

In an additional paper submitted, it is sufficiently aligned with that performed by [8,9,10] in his studies. In the paper describes the framework that can serve as the main hand in discussing intellectual capital, including the composition of intellectual capital divided into 4 Dimensions. In the paper, they also explain things related to the existence of relational relations, because when discussing intellectual capital, also means to discuss and concern about social relationships between actors in intellectual capital, which is always embedded in it. With this concept of understanding, the concept of intellectual capital also summarizes how interaction and integration with the concept of social capital. 4 dimensions within the intellectual capital, d consider the proportion of the construction that constructs a taxonomy of resources of intellectual capital, as described in [8,9,10], where intangible assets are divided into autonomous concepts and dependent elements that contain elements of the intellectual capital dimension.

See [11,12,13] a proposed model for an intellectual capital that focuses on the context and level of corporate and state analysis. Therefore, intellectual capital at the level of the nation can be interpreted and understood as the hidden values​​ of the people of the nation, companies, institutions, and communities around the region, which have real and potential resources for the creation of community

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welfare value/welfare massive. If you look further, some of these penalties have a formula that deals with the components of intellectual capital in the context of the nation as well as the wider community. In their opinion, in this context, intellectual capital is shared on human capital, human capital, and market capital. Together they form and become wealth or capital financially. With the existence of intellectual capital will ultimately form the wealth and welfare of the community, the nation and the State or can be paired with the concept of the market value of a company.

In various studies, researchers typically use counting methods in the process of measuring the company’s financial performance. For components that do the calculations such as Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), Revenue Growth, and employee productivity.

Some researchers used the VAIC method by adopting to observe the relationship between intellectual capital and the company’s financial performance. Many of the few studies they do use profitability analysis (return on assets), productivity, and market value. In the following studies [14,15,16] mentioned four variables of financial performance that are often in use are: 1. Return on Equity (ROE). ROE = pre-tax income ÷ average stockholder’s equity. ROE continues to provide income to shareholders and investors and has always been one of the essential financial considerations for investors and shareholders.

2. Return on Total Assets (ROA). ROA = pre-tax income ÷ average total assets.

ROA is a manifestation of the efficiency of the company in the use of assets owned.

3. Growth Revenue (GR). GR = ((revenue this year ÷ income last year) - 1) x 100. The role of GR is to measure changes in corporate earnings. Increased revenue is usually seen as a sign that the company is ready to grow.

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4. Employee Productivity (EP). EP = pre-tax income ÷ number of employees. EP aims to measure the added value generated by each employee that reflects the level of employee productivity.

III. Research Methodology

This study is a qualitative study of [23] using the Narrative study approach. A narrative study approach can be interpreted as a study that focuses on narratives, stories, or descriptions of the series to be carefully examined. This study uses the primary intellectual capital variables such as Value-Added Intellectual Capital Coefficient (VAICM), Value-Added Capital (VACA), Human Capital (VAHU), Structural Capital (STVA) as descriptive analysis. The authors conducted this study on May 2018.

A. Result and Discussion Research

[8.16] Normatively in a condition of global economic slowdown that is still unclear in its direction until 2017 and added all the business people in the world also still wait & see Donald Trump’s victory as President of the United States recently, the old way to survive for the business world is complicated and when it is simulated in the form of nominal money or expects additional capital from shareholders. The financial capital aspect as a support for business improvement is unreliable and it is clear that the owners of capital will not want to increase their capital in any business in this difficult economic condition. Thus we can no longer rely on financial capital aspects again.

For this article, a little discussion the theory in order to be associated with the common thread between financial capital and intellectual capital. What is Intellectual Capital (IC) that is currently being discussed, and considered as part of seeking solutions to get out of the crisis quickly?

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When we have read about the theory that Adam Smith once wrote with The Wealth of Nations, it will be remembered by Adam that as production factors are: Land (natural resources). Workforce (human resources).

Capital goods (machines, buildings); but in line with the development of the era and technology and the complexity of the business world comprehensively then in this digital era there is a shift in the classification of factors of production, among others, by separating human assets (human capital) of the labor (labor). Human capital at the moment is focused on knowledge possessed (knowledge) and its contribution to aspect of value creation (value) company.

In general human knowledge is basically intangible so that when the development of knowledge aspect as one aspect of production is also referred to as the era of intangible perspective growth [15,16].

Intellectual Capital (IC) is part of the process of developing an intangible perspective pioneered by economists and practitioners in Western Europe which further generates a variety of terms, words, sentences, titles or other terms related to intangible assets. Words such as: knowledge-based assets, tacit knowledge, know-how, and IC began to emerge and are often used either in research or in the business world.

IC is the most excited and hot topic in the area of ​​ management and accounting in Asia, such as Japan, China, Malaysia and Indonesia (Andriessen and Boom, 2007).

It is acknowledged that it is obvious that there are still many business people who are unaware of the growing importance of Intellectual Capital aspect, but intentionally or intangible, that IC is essential and very important but not formulated in a real or visible way. This is unique about this IC, where, there is felt but not seen, and certainly not belonging to the superstition category of course.

The author believes that we can both agree that the aspect of IC is still not

widely known or even some people find it strange in Indonesia, and sometimes no logic treats IC as part of capital [18,19,20].

The demand for IC is actually in line with the rise of Knowledge Management (KM) concept which is now starting to infect in Indonesia and there is a lot of evidence that when companies refer to knowledge-based business (KM), companies in Indonesia can compete by using competitive advantage obtained through innovation creatively generated by the company’s Intellectual Capital (IC). Intellectual Capital has been identified as an intangible set of (resources, abilities, and competencies) that drive organizational performance and value creation. Aspects or factors of a company’s added value can be created through both physical and financial resources (Tan et al, 2007). While Intellectual Capital is an intangible asset that is not easy to be measured in accounting, but it is ultimately in line with the times, there is a way of measuring it and there are tools to see the extent of its effectiveness.

Based on the above, a solution is needed to measure and report the company’s Intellectual Capital and how Intellectual Capital adds value to the company.

Therefore, the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) concept emerged for the condition as a method for Intellectual Capital measurement.

According to [21,22], the method of measuring intellectual capital developed can be grouped into two categories: methods that do not use the Intellectual Capital monetary valuation and methods that place monetary value on Intellectual Capital.

In various studies revealed that the magnitude or scale of business of a company to the disclosure of IC there is a positive correlation firm size is one variable that indicates the size or size of a company.

The larger the size of the company, the information disclosed to the public is also

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increasingly widespread. Maulany and Nugrahanti (2013) argue that companies with relatively small resources may not have as complete and detailed information as large firms, so there is a need for a relatively large expense to make full disclosures that can be done by large companies. Large companies due to business situations and external pressures of the business world are automatically encouraged to reveal more about information, such as intellectual capital to reduce agency costs incurred [17].

Conclusion From this descriptive study can be concluded that Intellectual capital has a considerable influence for the company, because essentially intellectual capital is a resource that is owned by companies that can create and create a competitive advantage of the company. In addition, the intellectual capital owned by the company, will have the potential to increase and make the income earned by the company increases. With the increase in wealth owned by the company and the individual wealth of employees, it will ultimately be able to increase purchasing power, which ultimately can increase the creation of the State’s income to be increased. This intellectual capital is one of the factors of human resources and science that can support the progress and success of the company.

In the midst of today’s advancement, intellectual capital should be the mainstay for companies that want to compete and want to succeed in competing, and this intellectual capital can be made by companies to get out of a multidimensional crisis. With the intellectual capital possessed by the firm, the level of intelligence and skill of the individuals contained within a company, is considered to be far more valuable and can increase the capitalization of the company’s value, if a company depends only on the needs that it wants to the power of Session 13. Mathematics, Technology, Industry, Networking & Religion

wealth (money) and sophistication of the technology system owned.

But if viewed from the science and economic perspective, the occurrence of an increase in economic growth in a nation and the State will be able to point to the level of the knowledge-based economy, which will ultimately be implemented in all knowledge management. With this, it will make the economic system becomes divided. That is, there will be various opinions and opinions on the definition of capital in a conventional way. Literally, this conventional capital can be financial resources, natural resources, and tangible assets resources and intangible assets. It could be intellectual capital that can have a capital-based knowledge of human and capital resources based on technological sophistication. Thus the implementation process that will be carried out and done on capital based on human knowledge and technological sophistication will be made to accelerate into the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of human resources, and make the resources owned can support the profits to be gained company and make the company more competitive.

Reference [1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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Williams, M. (2001). Is intellectual capital performance and disclosure practices related ?. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 2 (3) : 192203.

Abdolmohammadi, M.J. (2005). Intellectual Capital Disclosure and Market Capitalization.

Journal of Intellectual Capital. Vol 6, No. 3, pp. 397-416.

Chen, M, C. et. all. (2005). An empirical investigation of the relationship between intellectual capital and firm’s market value and financial performance. Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 6, Issue 2, pp.159-176, https:// doi.org/10.1108/14691930510592771.

Boudreau, et, all. (1996). Measuring Intellectual Capital: Learning from Financial History. School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, NY.

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Fitz enz, J. (2000). The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance. New York: Publishing AMACOM. [6] Roos, J., et, all.. (1997), Intellectual Capital – Navigating in the New Business Landscape, Macmillan Press, London.

[7] Smith, G.V. (1994), The New Role of Intellectual Property in Commercial Transactions, Wiley, New York, NY [8] Sullivan, P.H. (2000), Value-Driven Intellectual Capital: How to Convert Intangible Corporate Assets into Market Value , Wiley, New York, NY. [9] Petty, R. and Guthrie, J. (2000), Intellectual capital literature review measurement, reporting and management, Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 155-76.

[10] Nielsen, C., et, all. (2006), “Intellectual capital statements on their way to the stock exchange: analyzing new reporting systems”, Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 221-40.

[11] Bontis, N. (1998), “Intellectual capital: an exploratory study that develops measures and models”, Management Decision , Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 63-76.

[12] Bontis, N. (2002), World Congress on Intellectual Capital Reading, ButterworthHeinemann, [13] Boston, MA. [14] Bontis, N., et, all. (1999), “The knowledge toolbox: a review of the tools available to measure and to manage intangible resources”, European Management Journal, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 391-402 [15] Pulic, A. (2000), VAIC - an accounting tool for IC management. Available at: www.vaicon.net [16] Pulic, A. (2002), Intellectual Capital: Efficiency in Croatia Economy, International Business Efficiency Consulting LLC [17] Pulic, A. (2004), Pulic, A. (2004): Intellectual Capital – does it create or destroy value?, in Measuring Business Excellence, Emerald, Volume 8, Number 1, 2004.

[18] Jensen and Meckling, (1976), The Theory of The Firm: Manajerial Behaviour, Agency Cost, and Ownership Structure, Journal of Financial and Economics, 3:305-360.

[19] Andriessen, D. (2004) : Making sense of intellectual capital: designing a method for the [5]

valuation of intangibles, Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, Burlington, USA. [20] Mouritsen, J., et, all. (2005), A reporting perspective on intellectual capital, in Marr, B.: Perspectives on Intellectual Capital, Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 69-81.

[21] Gan, K and Saleh, Z (2008), Intellectual Capital and Corporate Performance of Technology Intensive Companies: Malaysia Evidence, Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, Vol. 1 No 1, pp. 113-130.

[22] Chu, S.K.W., Chan, K.H., Yu, K.Y., Ng, H.T. and Wong, W.K. (2010), “An Empirical Study of the Impact of Intellectual Capital on Business Performance”, Journal of Information & Knowledge Management.

Forthcoming 2011. Available online at: http:// www.edu.hku.hk/samchu/docs/Chu-2011Empirical-Study-of-Impact-of-IntellectualCapital-on-Business-Performance.pdf [23] Clarke, M., et, all. (2010), Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance in Australia, Paper accepted for presentation at the AFAANZ Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, July 2010.

[24] Cohen, L , et all. (2007) Research Methods in Education, 6th Edition (Oxon: Routledge publishing).

Further reading Daum, J.H. (2003), “Intellectual capital statements: basis fur Rechnungswesen und Reporting modell der Zukunft?”, Controlling , Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 129-35.

[26] Kothari, S.P., et, all. (1998), “Capitalization versus expensing: evidence on the uncertainty of future earnings from current investment in PP&E and R&D”, working paper, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. [25]

Additional website: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/ruey.tsay/ teaching/introTS/ [28] http://wenders.people.ua.edu/appliedeconometric-time-series.html [29] http://econ.lse.ac.uk/courses/ec220/G/ieppt/ series2/ [30] http://riaupos.co/4854-opini-intellectualcapital-solusi-atasi-perlambatan-ekonomiglobal.html#.Ww8hjbiZlJk [27]

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Asymmetric Consumer Information in Behavior Relationship with Marketing Management A provocation to the religious thinking Hery Winoto Tj

Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jakarta, INDONESIA ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 3 July 2018 Received in revised form 16 September Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.17

This paper aims to provide input and reviews related to consumer behavior in Indonesia, from the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective based on analysis and literature review. This paper will cover the understanding related to consumer behavior, primarily related to how the mechanism and how a consumer to get, meet and seek all forms of wants and needs. In this paper we provide suggestions and inputs for capital analysis of consumer behavior in Indonesia, it is closely related to the field of study and marketing studies in general.

From the paper review that has been done, we propose some concepts and ways to study consumer behavior in Indonesia, in the form of a study proposal. This paper uses narrative descriptive analysis techniques to be able to and obtain some suggestions in viewing and studying consumer behavior in Indonesia.

Keywords: Behavioral consumer; Asymetric information; Marketing management;

Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. PRELIMINARY

Consumer behavior is a process through which a person/organization searches, buys, uses, evaluates, and disposes of products or services after being consumed to meet its needs. Consumer behavior can be made into three stages, the first stage is the prison consumers before making a purchase, the second stage is the stage in which consumers will make a purchase, and the third stage is the stage after consumers do the purchase. Before undergoing these three stages, consumers will usually search for various information related to products and services. At the stage of purchase, the

consumer will purchase the product; in the stage after purchase, the consumer takes the consumption (product use), evaluates the product performance, and finally discards the product after consuming it. In another word, individual activities that directly involved in obtaining and using goods and services, including the decision-making process in the preparation and determination of such activities.

Therefore, consumers can be individuals or organizations; they have different roles in consumption behavior, they may act as initiators, influencers, buyers, payers or users.

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II. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR THEORY

In the economy, there are three talented players, namely producers, consumers, and distributors. But in this review, we will discuss about one actor who has an important role in the course of a country’s economy that is a consumer. Consumers are economic actors who engage in consumption activities. Where they buy or use a good product or service. In conducting activities or activities will certainly appear about the behavior it does, this behavior is better known by consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior is a process undertaken by a person or an organization in the form of activities of searching, buying, using, enjoying, evaluating and releasing products they have used or enjoy (consumed) to perform consumption activities to meet their needs. Consumer behavior applies at several stages, ie in the early stages before purchase, on purchase and after purchase.

Before making a purchase the consumers dig information about the product they want. While at the stage of purchase, the consumer will make transactions with the manufacturer, pay for the product.

Moreover, at the stage after purchase, consumers use and enjoy the product they buy, evaluate and remove or discard the product when they are bored.

Judging from the consumption of a product of consumer behavior is divided into two, namely: 1) Rational consumer behavior A consumption activity can be said to be rational if some of the things below are considered: • The product can provide optimal satisfaction and value for use • Consumers really need the product.

• The quality or quality of the product is assured or good.

• The price of a product is appropriate

and equal to the ability of the consumer.

2) Irrational consumer behavior Irrational behavior is the opposite of rational behavior. A behavior that is performed by the consumer can be said irrational if the consumer made a product purchase without estimating the usefulness of the product, examples of irrational behavior include: • Interested and enthralled in the promotion and advertising of a product either through print, electronic or social media.

• Brand owned only famous brands • Priority prestige or prestige III. Consumer Behavior Approach

Consumer behavior can be seen from several approaches, where the approach will answer the intent of consumer behavior.

There are two approaches related to this, namely the approach of cardinal use (utility) and ordinal use value approach (utility).

1. The cardinal value approach The cardinal approach is a useful or usable value that can be measured by units of money or utility, the value of use has a level corresponding to the subject matter.

The approach has the assumption that a product has more usability for the consumer then that is the most desirable. For this approach is often referred to the approach with subjective judgment.

In the cardinal’s approach there is one legal basis: Gossen’s law.

• Gossen I law: states that consumer satisfaction will decrease as their needs are continuously met.

• The law of Gossen II: states that a consumer will continue to meet his needs until they reach the same intensity. The intent of the same intensity is the ratio between the marginal utility and the price of

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the one product to the marginal utility ratio and the price of the other.

The cardinal hypothesis of this cardinal approach is the decreasing marginal utility, indicating that the value of use obtained by consumers will decrease as they continue and continue to increase their consumption of the product. Talking about marginal usage value must have something to do with how to maximize value for consumers perceived.

There are several conditions for maximum can happen that is when consumers are in the following circumstances: • A consumer will maximize the use value of a product that is consumed if the comparison between the marginal use value of the various products is equal to the price ratio of the product.

• A consumer will maximize the use value of the product they consume if there is a similarity between each dollar spent with each product consumed.

In this cardinal approach there are several assumptions, among others: • Power or use value added with parameter unit price or utility.

• Consumers are rational, in which they will meet the needs of their lives in accordance with the limits of income ability.

• Consumers will experience a decrease in utility when continuing to consume the product (diminishing marginal utility).

• Consumers have a fixed amount of income.

• The power or value of money is constant or constant.

• The total utility can be complementary (additive) or independent (independent).

• Products consumed commonly and their consumption periods close together.

With these assumptions, the cardinal approach can formulate a well-demanded function formulation. However, this approach has several weaknesses, including:

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• Effectiveness that is viewed only regarding subjective makes the absence of appropriate measuring instruments and accordingly.

• Have the concept of the constant marginal utility of money, which assumes the value of money will decrease when the more money jumping.

• The concept of diminishing marginal utility is a very difficult problem regarding psychological and challenging to accept as an axiom.

2. Ordinal value approach In contrast to a karinal approach that focuses on the study of the power or value of a good, but in the ordinal pendampan the usefulness of not one hundred percent is noteworthy enough to be known and the consumer is able to compile a high order of the low usability obtained when consuming a product. The rationale of this approach is that the more products consumed the higher the satisfaction the consumer will get. In analyzing the satisfaction level of this approach using the indifferent curve which shows the combination or mixture between the consumption of two kinds of products that provide the same level of satisfaction and budget line that shows the combination of different kinds of goods that can be purchased by consumers with limited income.

IV. Principles in Consumer Behavior

Analysis

After discussing about the kinds of consumer behavior, then we will discuss about the basic principles of what is in the analysis of consumer behavior.

1. Limited income and scarcity Limited income and scarcity is a problem that consumers must address properly. Given these two problems force a consumer to think twice in determining the

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expenditure or consumption to be done but still within the budget already pre-set. Must be a balance in mengkoinsumsi a product.

If you want to increase the consumption of a product or service goods must be accompanied by a reduction in consumption of other products. (Read also: factor causes of scarcity) 2. Consumers can distinguish between cost and benefits Costs and benefits are two aspects that are always thought by a consumer in consumption. If in a condition where two of the same products provide the same benefits or efficacy then the consumer will automatically see the price and cheaper. On the other hand if in conditions where there are two products that cost the same, then the consumer will see and pay attention to the benefits and value of the use for the community and choose which has greater benefits.

3. The consistency of consumers in estimating the right benefits The consistency of a consumer is influenced by experience and people around. The consistency of the consumer to a product will easily falter when there are products that have better benefits at a cheap price or equivalent. With so consumers will be able to provide an estimate of the product to be consumed. However, it does not rule out that consumer consistency will persist if the consumed product is qualified and has a good use value.

4. Distribution of products with each other.

Distribution of a product with other products is a great way to meet all the needs and wants of consumers who never finished. Also, with the distribution of this consumer will be easier to get satisfaction from various sides.

5. Consumers are obedient to the law of diminishing additional applicable

satisfaction.

In this law applies about the increasing amount of goods consumed, the smaller the satisfaction or benefits generated. This means that with the additional cost of the consumer will stop consuming the goods.

V. TIME AND RESEARCH METHOD

This study was conducted during June 2018. This study uses the method of narrative analysis Qualitative by using techniques with storytelling form, where the decomposition methods that obscure the boundaries of fiction, journalism and academic reports. While the study techniques in use by narrowing and focus the discussion. So in a report that contains about how the description of events, based on specific themes or perspectives.

VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION A. Consumer Behavior

In an increasingly intensive market competition, the ever-increasing demands of consumers and desperately need to get special treatment, an understanding of consumer behavior is of importance.

Consequently, necessary knowledge of consumer behavior in order to satisfy consumers and win the competition.

Understanding of consumer behavior is very useful to prepare the strategy and marketing mix. Through understanding the consumer’s psychography and usage behavior, marketers can segment by that variable. Based on consumer attitudes, marketers can apply various strategies of promotions, especially ads appropriately.

Studying consumer behavior for the company would also enable the company to understand precisely the needs of its customers so that it can help them to satisfy customers, apply marketing concepts and

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broaden their legitimacy to society. Here are seven theories about consumer behavior.

1) Theory of motivation Motivation is a condition that encourages a person to behave in order to achieve goals in Yuwono et al, (2005). Motivational theories can be classified into several groups. According to the origin or source, the theory of motivation is divided into two namely drive theory and incentive theory.

Drive theory is a theory that explains that the drive from within the individual itself in achieving its goals. While incentive theory is a theory that explains that the impulse comes from outside the individual self in the form of external stimuli that affect the individual to move to achieve its goals. In addition there is also content theory and process theory. Content theory is theories that explain the concept of individual behavior as the product of the psychological characteristics that are brought about from birth. While Process theory is the theories that view behavior as a result, or at least in the decision-making process in behaving. Instinct can also be interpreted as a hereditary behavioral pattern that was born from no previous experience or without a fundamental purpose. Together with impulses, instinct becomes the driving factor for all human behavior and activity and becomes a dynamic force deeply embedded in human beings.

2) Theory Drive Reinforcement The “drive” theory can be described as motivational theories of motivation, behavior driven toward the goal by encouraging circumstances within a person or animal. Freud (1940-1949), for example, based on his ideas about personality in congenital, in birth, sexual and aggressive drives, or drives (his theory will be explained in more detail in the personality chapter). In general, drive theories say the following: when a state of internal impulse arises, the

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individual is encouraged to organize it in a behavior that will lead to a goal that reduces the intensity of the pushing state. So motivation can be said to consist of 1. Some circumstances that encourage, 2. Behavior that leads to goals inspired by circumstances are encouraged, 3. Adjustment of adequate goals, 4. Reduction and subjective satisfaction and relief to the level of goals achieved. After that situation, the pushed state will reappear to encourage behavior toward the appropriate destination. The repetition of events just described is often called a correlation loop. Drive theories differ in the source of a compelling state that forces humans or animals to act. Some theories, including Freud’s theory, are understood by a state of being unborn, or instinctive.

3) The Incentive Motivation Theory Motivation comes from two sources: from within himself, and others or outside himself. These two sources are called intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is to do something to get something else (a way to achieve goals).

Extrinsic motivation is often influenced by external incentives such as rewards and punishments. Intrinsic motivation is the internal motivation to do something for itself (an end in itself). Bachtiar, A. (2010) and Iram. (2008) There are two types of incentives: 1. Positive incentives, positive incentives are incentives that provide positive assurance to meet needs and wants. Positive incentives generally have an optimistic attitude and incentives are generally given to meet a person’s psychological needs. for example, promotion, praise, recognition, benefits and loans, etc.

2. Negative incentives, negative incentives are incentives whose goal is to correct a person’s mistakes or standards.

The goal is to correct errors in order to get

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effective results. Negative incentives are generally forced when positive incentives do not work. For example: demotions, transfers, fines, penalties, etc.

4) Attribution Theory Although the theory of attribution is attributed, the theory of attribution includes several attribution theories that have been formulated by psychologists, such as attribution theory of Fritz Heider, attribution theory of Edward Jones and Keith Davis, attribution theory of Harold Kelley, and attribution theory of Bernard Weiner. a. Attribution Theory of Fritz Heider Fritz Heider is the first researcher to introduce attribution theory when learning theories from behaviorism approaches (eg operant conditioning theory), memory theories and psychoanalytic theories dominate academic psychology.

Such theories are rarely used to explain human behavior. By contrast, through his attribution theory, Heider tries to emphasize that studying attribution is very important because attribution affects what is felt and what man does. b. Attribution Theory Edward Jones and Keith Davis In 1965, Edward Jones and Keith Davis published a correspondent inference or correspondence inference theory. Based on correspondence inference theory, we tend to use information about the behavior of others and its effects to describe a correspondent inference where the behavior is associated with disposition or personality characteristics.

5) Cognitive Theory Cognitive Theory - The term “Cognitive” comes from the word cognition meaning is understanding. Understanding the extent of cognition (cognition) is the acquisition, arrangement, and use of knowledge. In

later development, then this cognitive term becomes popular as one of the areas of human psychology / a general concept that encompasses all forms of recognition that include any mental behavior that is related to the problem of understanding, paying attention, giving, presuming, consideration, information processing, problem solving, consideration, imagining, estimating, thinking and confidence. This psychiatric, brain-centered psyche also relates to cones (wills) and affections (feelings) that are related to taste.

6) Personality Theory Understanding Personality Theory Theory is one of the essential elements of any scientific or scientific knowledge, including personality psychology. Without the personality theory of the business of understanding human behavior and personality, it must be difficult to implement. What is a personality theory?

According to Hall and Lindzey Koeswara, (1991), the theory of behavior is a collection of assumptions or concepts that each other related to human behavior. Just as in general scientific theories have descriptive and predictive functions, so does the theory of personality.

7) Economic Theory Consumer behavior theory based on economic theory is as follows: (1) Theory of Micro Economics. This theory assumes that every consumer will try to get maximum satisfaction. They will endeavor to pass on their purchases to a product if they obtain satisfaction from the products they have consumed, where this satisfaction is comparable or greater to the marginal utility derived from the same expenditure for some other product; (2) Psychological Theory. This theory bases itself on individual psychological factors influenced by environmental forces.

This psychological field is very complex

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in analyzing consumer behavior because mental processes cannot be observed directly; (3) Anthropological Theory. This theory also emphasizes the buying behavior of a group of people whose scope is extensive, such as culture, social classes and so forth.

CONCLUSION This study suggests seven theories that underlie marketing management in companies which can be used to see consumer behavior. These 7 theories can also be used to analyze how consumers will make purchases of goods or services that the company will sell on the market later. In conclusion, this study can provide suggestions that the company’s management can use to view, study, and provide input to marketing managers of the company in particular.

REFERENCE [1]

[2] [3]

[4]

[5]

[6] [7]

[8]

Aboody, D. and Baruch, L. (2000).

“Information Asymmetry, R&D, and Insider Gains”. Journal of Finance. 55 (6): 2747– 2766. doi:10.1111/0022-1082.00305 Andreu, .M. C. et, all. (1995). Microeconomic Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bachtiar, A.(2010). Psiklogi Teori-teori Motivasi. http://bachtararif.blogspot.com /2010/10/dalam-pengetahuan-psikologi-kitaseri ng.html acces at November, 8 2017 Beth, H. (1984). “Unions and Strikes with Asymmetric Information”. Journal of Labor Economics. 2 (1): 57–83. doi:10.1086/298023.

Boeree, CG. (1997) .Personality Theories :Melacak Kepribadian Anda Bersama Psikolog Dunia. (Alih bahasa : Inyiak Ridwan Muzir).

Yogyakarta : Primasophie.

Buck, R. (1988). Human Motivation and Emotion, 2th Edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons Charles Wilson (2008). “adverse selection,”

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The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics 2nd Edition.

[9] George, J. A. (1970). “The Market for ‘Lemons’: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism”. Quarterly Journal of Economics. The MIT Press. 84 (3): 488–500. doi:10.2307/1879431 [10] Hörne, J. (2008). “signaling and screening” The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition.

[11] Iram. (2008). Need Drive And Incentive Theory Of Motivation. http://nicefun. net/need-drive-and-incentive-theory-ofmotivation-vt2657.html diakses pada 8 November April 2017 [12] Kenneth J. A. (1963). “Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care”.

American Economic Review. American Economic Association. 53 (5): 941–973.

[13] Koeswara, E. (1991) Teori-teori Kepribadian.

Bandung Eresco.

[14] Leonard Webster and Patricie Metrova (1953),Using Narrative Inquiry as a Research Method in Metode Penelitian Naratif. https:// rumahfilsafat.com/ donwload 12/11/2017.

[15] Petri, H.L., (1981), Motivation: Theory and Research, California: Wadsworth, Inc. [16] Stenberg, R.J. (2008). Psikologi Kognitif Edisi Keempat. Yogyakarta. Pustaka pelajar [17] Yuwono, I. dkk. (2005). Psikologi Industri dan Organisasi. Surabaya: Fakultas Psikologi Universitas Airlangga.

Additional websites https://dosenekonomi.com/ilmu-ekonomi/ teori-perilaku-konsumen [19] https://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/13421_ Chapter4.pdf [18]

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held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Beyond the low-cost strategies in Indonesia of the AirAsia company How religious thinking finds this improvement?

Teguh SUGIARTO

Jamaludin ISKAK

FEB Universitas Budi Luhur and AAJ Jayabaya, Jakarta, Indonesia

FEB Universitas Tarumanagara Jakarta, Indonesia

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 3 July 2018 Received in revised form 16 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.18

To deal with competition, corporations must develop appropriate and efficient strategies to ensure that in the long run the company can still survive and grow. Strategy becomes a part that must be prepared as early as possible and implemented in such a way as to ensure the continuity of corporations or companies. The strategy is not something that is formulated simply because it is asked, then never evaluated whether it is effective or not. Instead, strategies are structured to ensure that the organization can run in a predefined design.

Keywords: low-cost strategy; descriptive analysis; cost efficiency;

Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Preliminary

Model Cost Leadership or leadership model with low-cost implementation is one of generic strategy. This strategy is mostly done by producing goods at a lower cost, but with a relatively similar quality compared to its competitors. To be able to run this strategy, companies need to have higher economies of scale or have an advantage in productivity. In other words, the self-directed company becomes a lowcost manufacturer in the industry for every level of quality; the company has been running Porterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy every year [6,7,8].

This strategy has two kinds of derivative strategies, namely (1) a company sells products sold in average industry prices to

gain greater profits from competitors and (2) a company sells products sold below the industry average price to reach marketshare a wider.

[1,2] But on the one hand, there are some environmental circumstances that can be profitable or detrimental to the company when it will execute a leadership strategy using this cost system. When buyers do not have too much value differentiation with other products, buyers tend to be price sensitive, or competitors will not immediately adjust to lower prices (through game theory analysis), then this situation will support the running of this strategy [4,5,6]. Conversely when there is no change in the tastes of consumers, technology and

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price or cost; activities taken to achieve low cost are very rare and expensive to replicate, then this strategy becomes less effective.

Companies that run this strategy will be able to serve various industry segments or maybe some industries. Source of cost advantage can be obtained from various sources such as economies of scale, exclusive technology or access to raw materials. Low-cost producers often sell standard products and place emphasis on the scale of exploitation and take advantage of absolute cost advantage.

By running this strategy model, the company must have advantages in the broader market share aspect or access to resources such as raw materials, components, better labor [6,7]. With the advantages of those two things, and in combination with an efficient business process then the company can run this strategy well. Some of the features of efficient business processes will look at such aspects as having strong financial capabilities to invest in specific assets, being able to design production processes efficiently, having high industry expertise due to high learning/experience curve, and having efficient distribution channels.

Without one or more of these advantages, this strategy can be easily duplicated by other competitors [9,10,11].

II. Discussion study

Business Low cost or low cost is a business that chooses a strategy to cut some product attributes in order to minimize the cost than can offer products at lower price. No frills (no frills) is a term used to describe any service or product where its non-essential features have been removed to keep costs low. The use of the term no frills or no frills refers to different decorating styles. Something offered to customers at no additional cost can be designated as ‘frills’ -for example, free drinks on airline trips, or radio mounted in rental cars. No business frills operate Session 13. Mathematics, Technology, Industry, Networking & Religion

on the principle that by removing the customer’s fancy attributes can be offered a lower price. Non-frills products and services such as airlines, supermarkets, vacations, and vehicles.

There are several more detailed aspects to the successful implementation of this strategy such as process engineering skills, products designed for manufacturing convenience, sustainable access to cheap capital, directional supervision of labor, sufficient control costs, quantitative targeted incentives, stored costs are at a minimum level. In essence, companies that run this strategy should be able to build the value chain of products offered from upstream to downstream in a most efficient business process. Some retailers such as Wal-Mart, KwikSave TI, Dell, and Lenovo have proven how cost leadership strategies work [6,7,10,11].

Companies that have been successful in cost leadership typically have internal strengths such as access to capital required to make significant investments in production assets, this investment causes a barrier to entry that can not be overcome by many companies; skills in designing products for efficient manufacturing processes, for example, have a small count component used to streamline the assembly process; high-level expertise in manufacturing engineering processes; and efficient distribution channels. In addition, the company achieves cost advantages by improving process efficiency, gaining unique access to large low-cost material resources, making optimal outscoring and vertical integration, or avoiding multiple costs at once. If a competing company can not lower the same amount of costs, it can maintain a competitive advantage based on the cost of leadership. It can be concluded that cost leadership can be achieved by first decision Outsourcing decision and vertical integration optimal, second Increase

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efficiency in each value chain, and last to get a source of cheap input.

Implementation of this strategy is expected to bring the company into a lowcost leader and out of existing competition as the concept of Blue Ocean Strategy which makes the competition become irrelevant anymore. The problem is how to create a strategy that can not be followed by emulated by competitors [4,5,6].

There are several keys to becoming a low-cost leader, namely: - Identify what the cost driver is, and how to manage the cost so that it can be decreased annually.

One way to manage the use of the cost is quite good is to create a budget to monitor the achievement vs cost incurred.

- Restructure value chain to eliminate unnecessary and unnecessary work stages.

- Grow a corporate culture that is aware of the use of costs.

- More aggressive investments in resources that enable to lower high-cost activities.

Characteristics of low-cost providers, ie - A corporate culture that is aware of costs.

- The participation of each employee to control the costs.

- Continue to benchmark against the use of costs, especially how much benefit is received from the allocation of cost usage.

- Intensively review demand and budget usage - Continuous cost improvement.

Strategy residing in one corporation has a different function. For corporate purposes, the strategy can be differentiated in three ways [1,2,3]: 1. Firm’s directional strategy. The company’s general orientation concerns growth, stability or subtraction. Such

orientation serves as a guide in acting for all divisions of the corporation.

2. Firm’s portfolio strategy. The market in which the goods and services of a company must compete against other goods and services of the corporation.

3. Firm’s parenting strategy. Company management must coordinate in activities, transfer resources, and process proficiency among line products and business units of the company.

The following are some of AirAsia’s strategies to reduce costs so Air Asia ticket prices can be made as low as possible: 1.

AirAsia negates food and beverages on board. Passengers who need food and drinks can still order them on the plane.

2. Air Asia travel route generally takes between 3 - 3.5 hours. This enables Air Asia to use the same cabin crew for the flight back from the destination of arrival back to the destination of departure while carrying new passengers thus the salary cost of cabin crew can be reduced. 3. No fees are required for cabin crew accommodation at the destination of arrival as they return home on the same day, after 8-10 hours.

The time is the same as the normal time an ordinary office person works. 4. Customers are encouraged to purchase tickets via the internet, so Air Asia can save costs to rent the ticketing places and staff. Other savings are no printed tickets. Customers simply print their flight code with details. 5. Air Asia seeks the cheapest airstrip for landing, as Air Asia prefers Macau’s cheaper airfield than Hong Kong. From Macau, passengers can board the hovercraft to Hong Kong.

Conclusion This study is a descriptive analysis that deals with how to explain and see the lowcost strategy model that many applied in some companies, but some are successful, and some are not. This strategy is an

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alternative that can be done by companies to build competitive advantage, especially in times of crisis like this, where every company is required to perform cost efficiency and cost saving. By looking at and referring to one of the companies in the example and explained, then some companies in Indonesia, in particular, can create or create their model of low-cost strategy by looking at the success of Asian water in implementing low-cost strategy [6,7,8].

Some things should also be considered in implementing this low-cost strategy such as services that are more suitable for the consumer, the convenience of the consumers, make all the process easier, make the security element as the main where in all things, can translate and convert fixed cost costs into variable costs because the income of the company is also not fixed or variable, meaning that efficiency is done by not decreasing the quality, but the operational cost is made minimum [9,10,11].

[2] [3]

[4]

[5] [6]

[7]

Additional website: Http://www.airasia.com/id/id/about-us/ corporate-profile.page [15] Http://www.gudono.com/apps/forums/topics/ show/3446744 [16] Http://www.indo-aviation.com/2013/04/25/ ini-strategi-sukses-indonesia-airasia/ [17] Http://www.slideshare.net/viciy/strategicmanagement-by-vidyara [18] H t t p : / / w w w . s u a r a p e n g u s a h a . com/2013/04/23/ini-dia-strategi-airasiasingkirkan-lion-air-dan-kuasai-langitindonesia/ [14]

Reference [1]

industries and competitors, Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press [8] Porter, M. (1985), Creating and sustaining superior performance.

Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press [9] Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. New York: Free Press.

[10] Porter, M. E. (1991). Towards a dynamic theory of strategy. Strategic Management Journal, special issue, 12, 95-117.

[11] Prof, H. (2000), Hybrid Strategies as a strategic challenge. The case of the German automotive industry. The International Journal of Management Science, 28, pp 541-553.

[12] Speed, R. J. (1989). Mr. Porter! A reappraisal of competitive strategy. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 77 , 8-11.

[13] Womack, J. P. (2018, May. 13). Why did Toyota win? Economist’s View. Retrieved April 02, 2018, from http://economistsview. typepad.com/economistsview/2018/04/why_ toyota_is_b.html.

B.V., & P. M. (2005), Porter’s Three Generic Strategies. Retrieved from www. provenmodels.com/27 Miller, D.. (1992a). The generic strategy trap.

Journal of Business Strategy, 13, 37-41.

Miller, D.. (1992b). Generic strategies: Classification, combination, and context.

In: Shrivastava, P., Huff, A. & Dutton, J. (Eds.), Advances in strategic management, 8, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 391-408.

Miller, A. and Dess, G. G.. (1993). Assessing Porter’s (1980) model in terms of its generalizability, accuracy, and simplicity.

Journal of Management Studies, 30(4), 553-585.

Mintzberg, H.. (1988). Generic strategies: Toward a comprehensive framework. In: Lamb, R. & Shrivastava, P. (Eds.), Advances in strategic management: A research annual, 5, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1-67.

Porter, M. (1980), Techniques for analyzing

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Relationship in Good Corporate Governance (GCG).

Operational Efficiency and Financial Performance Jamaludin ISKAK

Teguh SUGIARTO

FEB Universitas Tarumanagara Jakarta, Indonesia

FEB Universitas Budi Luhur and AAJ Jayabaya, Jakarta, Indonesia

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 6 July 2018 Received in revised form 16 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.19

The purpose of this research is to build an analysis model with the PCA data panel.

This study is based on building a model performed by [1 & 2], in their study of the use of several parameters in management science using panel data analysis. The variables used in this study consist of proper corporate governance variables in the banking industry, operational efficiency banking industry consisting of NIM and ROA variables, performance analysis banking industry that consists of variable growth, size, and leverage. The data in this study comes from the financial statements of banks listed on the Stock Exchange during the period 2008-2017. Data analysis in this research using PCA panel data. How would a theologian find this marketing result and relate with it?

Keywords: Principal component analysis; financial performance; Good Corporate Governance; operational efficiency;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Preliminary

This research is done, in the background by empirical evidence obtained from the research [3]. Where in his research, shows still weak public companies in Indonesia in managing the company, when compared with several companies in other Southeast Asian countries. This empirical evidence can be seen and demonstrated by the weakness of accounting and regulatory standards, accountability to shareholders, disclosure and transparency standards and corporate governance processes. This indirectly indicates the weakness of public companies in Indonesia in running good management in satisfying the stakeholders of the company, especially the shareholders and investors.

Given this empirical evidence, making the appropriate financial statements to provide information to stakeholders is unable to

present a description of the company’s non-financial conditions required by investors and creditors. Thus many capital market and banking regulators in Asia require and require companies to present their company’s non-financial information such as the implementation of Good Corporate Governance principles. Thus the application of the principles of Good Corporate Governance will be achieved. So that the resulting financial statements can be disclosed in a transparent and accurate, so it can help investors and other parties interested in a company to make decisions, and ultimately will be able to improve the financial performance of the company.

The bank is a risky business because the Bank’s assets are liquid and very easy to misuse. Risks cannot be avoided but in order not to cause harm to the risks must be faced and managed well (Good Corporate

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Governance) aimed at one of them to be able to strengthen the national banking industry.

II. LITERATURE STUDY

[4,5 & 6] Provide empirical evidence on the usefulness and function of GCG and the use of CSR variables that ultimately can create financial performance and efficiency in the company’s operational activities. In the financial statements of the company, some funds and costs are charged for social activities, which indeed this can bring benefits and good name, and will eventually form a circle of goodness for the company.

With the costs and CSR funds that have been issued earlier, can change the profits for the company itself in both the short and long term. Several studies have provided empirical evidence of the proper use of CSR funds in the financial performance of firms, which in turn can increase efficiency gains.

Some of the feedback that may be obtained by companies, among others, the CSR is considered as one of the feedback from investments that have been done, then the investment in CSR can improve indirectly over financial improvements. Lastly from the empirical and theoretical side can revise some literature.

In their research, empirically explain the theory of GCG gives the most solid result to the overall components of corporate finance. However, it is possible to use other approaches, such as normative theory and instrument theory. Their research is an important note of an empirical study that takes place in European countries, in addition to the use of CSR variables, other variables that are used as referrals to ROE, ROA and NPL. By implementing sustainable GCG, it can provide financial benefits and open decision makers to extrapolate. If viewed from the academic and empirical studies, make this study can be made a recommendation for the implementation Session 13. Mathematics, Technology, Industry, Networking & Religion

of GCG in a company. Beginning in the previous study, indeed 2 variables that are often made in the research tool is the ratio of profitability and the size of a company’s performance against the implementation of GCG. If at the conclusion of the End, the study they do can and can prove if the financial ratios are considered positive in the implementation of GCG. Also, some countries in Asia, in studies conducted by [7], have their characteristics and culture in the practice of corporate governance. In the study [7], it was found that GCG implementation in South Korea and India was the average of companies in the two countries implementing corporate governance, which is better compared to some of the big companies in the USA. However, in line with the turnaround time of some changes in the study they found, so the change requires some rules and legislation in the implementation and practice of corporate governance. In because of the studies they run by concentrating on familyowned firms, so the research they undertake for a corporate governance practice has an impact on stock prices of companies in the capital market. But it is made a limited impact, so other factors such as financial performance can be made in the main size.

III. RESEARCH METHODS

In this research using PCA data analysis method with banking industry variable that used good corporate governant, operational efficiency of banking industry 2 variable and performance analisys banking industry 3 variable. Data used in this research, using period of financial report data for the year ended 2008-2017 for banking industry. As for data analysis in this study using PCA modeling analysis as described by [8,9, and 10].

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IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In [11] reviewing how the method in the study, if it will reduce the number of variables to be analyzed, one of which is widely known in statistical methods is the PCA. With PCA will be found, if there is a significant difference from the variable model in use. In one study, the final result is paramount, but with the development of time and technological sophistication in data analysis in [12], it explains the analysis if we will perform the technical specifications of the product or variable analyzed along the time trend. The PCA aims to find linear combinations of numbers on the variables analyzed, with the use of correlation models and the covariance of the final results in the study. If we look at the use of PCA in this study can be made as input material as a tool of analysis such as multiple regression. The following PCA applications in the financial ratios of a number of values from the main component replace the values of the initial variable component or where k <p for the study and empirical applications in Table 1.

Table 1 : Result PCA analysis correlation

Source : Proceed author with statistic software

In table 1 above, it presents the value of the engine that explains the cumulative percentage value obtained from the analysis of the variables used, from the variance to be projected in this study. With the many variable components maintained and used in the posterior procedure for this PCA analysis, it can be ensured that the model that is in shape and produced will be subjective. In [13] for example, it provides an argument about how the variables of a component are maintained, can be determined by the number of variations to be taken into account. However, the existence of matrix correlation in variables that are in form, statistically the procedure is no longer valid and the criterion of variance maintained in the assumption has no clear meaning. Furthermore, this approach model is called the extraction approach using the “root of more than one” criteria, which is popularly popularized by Kaiser [14]. The proposed eigenvalue is smaller than one, and it is suggested that the eigenvalue is greater than one.

The results in Table 1, almost the same as table 2, but in Table 1 show the eigenvalues of the correlation of the observed variables, whereas in Table 2 it explains the eigenvalues of the covariance of the variables in the form. If in the order from the first to the last column, then the first part provides a summary of the eigenvalues of the correlation which is in the form of the correlation matrix of the variables in detail, for table 2 of column 2 describes the corresponding eigenvector value of the model in the form of variable proposed in the study. In table 1 and table 2, table 1 explains how the value of PC1 to PC6 for the number of variables analyzed in the study, while PC1 to PC6, contains the correlation eigenvalues described in the form of linear combination coefficients. Similarly, for table 2 it explains how the value of PC1 to PC6 for the number of variables analyzed in the study, while PC1 to PC6 for the covariance

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matrix of the eigen of the observed variable.

Table 2 : Result PCA analisys covariance

Source: Proceed author with statistic software

CONCLUSION For a study done by [15] has explained the usefulness of PCA use, if we examine to analyze the form of classification. The use of correlation criteria and variance criteria based on the Huygens, decomposition model. This Huygens decomposition forms a total inertial value over a set of points that have been produced in the PCA model in form, but in this study does not display this form. With this PCA modeling, there will be a result that can explain if there is an increase in the variables in the analysis such as financial ratios to the total financial ratios, it will be able to create homogeneity in a group, which is explained by the value of financial ratios. In this study, provide empirical evidence of the intended explanation.

This is presented in the results of table 1 and table 2.

BIBLIOGRAPHY [1] Hanssens, D., et, all.(2001), Market Response

Models.

Boston/Dordrecht/London: Academic Publishers.

Kluwer

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[2] Leeflang, P., et, all. (2000), Building Models for

Marketing Decisions, Boston/Dordrecht/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

[3] Zhuang, J, et al. (2000), Corporate Governance and Finance in East Asia, Vol. 1, Asian Development Bank, Philippines, Manila, hlm. 1.

[4] Surroca, J., et, all., (2010). Corporate responsibility and financial performance: the role of intangible resources.Strateg. Manage. J. 31, 463---490.

[5] Stanwick, S.D., (1998), The relationship between corporate social performance and organizational size, financial performance and environmental performance: an empirical examination. J. Bus. Ethics 17 (2), 195-204.

[6] Fernandez, M.R. (2015), Social responsibility and financial performance: The role of good corporate governance, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. brq.2015.08.001.

[7] Gupta, P and Sharma, A.M, (2014), A study of the impact of corporate governance practices on firm performance in Indian and South Korean companies, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 133 ( 2014 ) 4 – 11,doi: 10.1016/j. sbspro.2014.04.163.

[8] Dumitrescu, E.I and Christophe, H.(2012). “Testing for Granger Non-causality in Heterogeneous Panels,” Economic Modeling, 29, 1450-1460.

[9] Phillips, Peter C. B. and Hyungsik R. M. (1999).

“Linear Regression Limit Theory for Nonstationary Panel Data,” Econometrica, 67, 1057-1111.

[10] Hilleberg, S. (1992), “The X-11 Method in Modelling Seasonality Advanced Texts in Econometrics.”,Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[11] Anderson, T. (1984), An introduction to Multivariate Statistical Analysis, 2nd ed., New York: John Wiley and Sons.

[12] Arguea, N., Hsiao, C. (1993), “Econometric Issues of Estimating Hedonic Price Functions.” Journal of Econometrics, 56, pp. 243-267.

[13] Dillon, W., and Goldstein, M. (1984), Multivariate Analysis, Methods and Applications. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

[14] Kaiser, H. F. (1958), “The Varimax Criterion for Analytic Rotation in Factor Analysis.”

Psycometrika,23, pp. 187-200.

[15] Lebart, L., et, all. (1984), Multivariate Descriptive Statistical Analysis, New York: John Wiley and Sons.

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LSAW pipe residual stresses study as result of human intelligence or wisdom of the God? Dmitri DELISTOIAN, Phd. Student

Mihael CHIRCOR, Phd.

Faculty of Naval ElectroMechanics Maritime University of Constanta Constanta, Romania

Faculty of Mechanical, Industrial and Maritime Engineering Ovidius University of Constanta Constanta, Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 2 October 2018 Received in revised form 6 October Accepted 15 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.20

Transport by pipelines is a result of technological progress. In present days, it is also a global policy tool. The development of this branch was made possible by technological progress through researchers in the field of strength of materials. Technological advances offer clear and visible benefits to modern society, but a price is reached that touches the moral side of man.

Keywords: bending; rectangular plate; thin cylinder; residual stresses; military industry; researches; arms race; technological progress; the wisdom of God;

I.

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

LSAW pipe as a result of human intelligence

Pipes are one of the oldest constructive elements. The idea of which was borrowed from nature, because she gave the first seamless pipes: stems of reeds, bamboo, etc.

Over the years and thanks to the development of metallurgy, steel pipes began to appear. Unique contribution was made by the brothers Reinhard and Max Mannesmann in 1885, the first process of rolling seamless steel pipes was invented. In 1897 the company also began manufacturing longitudinally welded steel pipes [1]. All these discoveries in the field of steel pipes

have led to the development of society.

In the present, the development of the world oil industry has led to the imposition of drastic conditions on producers: „The diameter of the pipe is increasing, the working pressures and distances are getting bigger, but also the strict rules on environmental protection.” All this led to the appearance of new types of steels and processes for their processing[2].

All of the above has been made possible by researchers in the field of strength of materials and material technology.

Based on countries global ambitions, valuable scientists are at the service of the military industry.

This paper will focus on the issue

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of technological progress and people relationship with God. The basis of this study is taken residual stresses in longitudinal submerged arc welding pipes (LSAW).

II. ANALYTICAL MODEL OF LSAW

PIPE

LSAW pipe manufacturing process represents a correlation between two physical models: a rectangular plate and a thin cylinder. The main element that connects these two is stress and strain state.

This type of pipe is manufactured according to JUOE method [3]. Abbreviation JUOE represents four main technological steps as presented in figure 1.

Fig. 2 Thin steel plate bending

After loading removing, residual stresses analytical value is determined by the Heinrich Hencky (1924). According to Hencky: residual stresses are equal with the difference between real stresses in the elastoplastic body and those stresses which would be formed on the assumption of an ideal elastic material - σyres=σy- σy* [4].

Residual stresses distribution resulted after moment applying/removing, is presented in figure 2:

Fig. 3 Residual stresses distribution resulted after plastic deformation, by [4]

For z= 1/2 h, residual stresses - σyres are equal with following expression:

Fig. 1 JUOE pipe manufacturing process

In this section was conducted an analytical study of the entire manufacturing process. For analytical study was applied physical models namely residual stresses study is starting with thin steel plate bending and finishing with a thin‐walled cylindrical shell with applied radial oriented internal pressure. In the same time, pipe stress and strain state are represented by following analytical relations.

The study begins with the first operation in the manufacturing process, namely edge crimping.

In figure 2 is represented bending moment acting on a rectangular plate.

Plastic deformation after the bending process gives birth to residual stresses.

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For z= 1/2 h1, residual stresses - σyres are equal with following expression:

Must be mentioned that during manufacturing process, thin steel rectangular plate becomes thin‐walled cylindrical shell and residual stresses - σyres becomes circumferential residual stresses σθres.

Next step is the moment when rectangular plate became a cylindrical shell and study continues with stress and strain analysis in pipe body (Fig. 3). In this situation, cylindrical shell appears with initial deformations (3-5)[5].

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where σz, σθ, σx, represents radial, circumferential and axial stresses; ε0z, ε0θ, ε0x represents radial, circumferential and axial initial deformations; μ = represents Poisson ratio.

Distribution of the residual stresses is presented in figure 3.

Fig. 5 Residual stresses in-wall pipe with a certain value of the initial deformations

Fig. 4 Residual stresses distribution in thin-walled cylindrical shell

Residual stresses determined according to initial strains are represented by the next expressions 6, 7 and 8[6]:

This analytical model corresponds to J-U-O steps. The analytical study for expanding (E) operation is presented below.

Last and most important step is expanding operation. Expanding is the operation when pipe body is calibrated by loading with radial oriented internal pressure (Fig.5).

Fig. 6 Pipe walls radial subjected by internal pressure

Distribution of the residual stresses is presented in figure 4.

Residual stresses resulted after expanding operation is represented by expressions 9-10[6]:

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The expressions outlined above, represents analytical relations of the pipe stress and strian state during manufacturing process.

All this analytical studies, it was possible due to researchers in the strength of materials field [7].

III. RESSIDUAL STRESSES FOR THE

of industrialization and protection of the environment, the rational use of natural resources, the peaceful development of the world’s oceans and outer space, the fight against oncological and cardiovascular diseases, other modern diseases, the fight against hunger and the expansion of food production, the solution of the energy problem and much other.

The arms race is placing an increasingly heavy burden on the economies of all countries in the world. Expenditures for military purposes from the economic point of view are the same as if a nation had thrown a part of its capital into the water.

Today, the volume of such „thrown into the water” material resources is constantly increasing. Over the past 10-odd years, over 4,000 billion dollars have been spent on military purposes around the world.

This is truly a fantastic amount! And it is meaningless, unproductive, at the very time when many hundreds of millions of people live in poverty and deprivation .

BENEFIT OF WAR OR FOR PEACE?

The development of the subject “residual stresses” took birth from military industry.

Since the late 19th century and early 20th century, researchers from military companies starting measuring the residual stresses. For example, researcher N. Kalakoutzky studied residual stresses in guns [7]. In present, military and civil industries use their effects for their own purposes. Residual stresses study is a small example of the involvement of the researchers in military industry.

Since the second half of the 20th century, the course of world social development has increasingly come face to face with a fundamentally new socio-historical reality - with the emergence and exacerbation of universal, so-called global problems that to some extent affect the destinies of all countries and peoples. It is the overcoming of the negative consequences

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Fig. 7 The arms race, by [9]

Overworld more than 50 million people are working for the military industry. Just in small UK for defence industry are working 300.000 of peoples [8]. A fifth of scientists and engineers on the globe are engaged in research and development of military equipment. Only scientific research in this direction for the same period absorbed more than $ 35 billion. If the situation does not change and the costs continue to grow at the same rate, it will lead to a permanent

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loss of huge resources, which are so necessary for other purposes [9].

Being based on information presented above, the light at the end of the tunnel also appears. This is represented by academician Andrei Sakharov, a man who went down in history as an outstanding physicist, academician, creator of the “hydrogen bomb” and human rights activist. In the world, great discoveries have been made by many famous scientists of his time.

Often a person’s activity is dictated by the achievement of glory, promotion and simply getting pleasure from the fact that you are first, i.e., from the superiority and exclusiveness of self and discovery. This was alien to the scientist Sakharov. Work on the hydrogen bomb and many of its discoveries in nuclear physics were not for him a means of promoting fame and receiving benefits. He simply believed that it was necessary to do it in order to eliminate the insecurity of Russia. His uniqueness as a scientist is that he could see with the vision of a great man the consequences of the latest discoveries in nuclear physics and his responsibility as a scientist made him not only talk about emerging problems but also fight. In the tests of a hydrogen bomb and other weapons, he realizes that every new test, due to an increase in the general level of radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, entails new victims in the future. It was these considerations and experiences that led to the advocacy of the prohibition of trials. In his biography he wrote: “Since the late 1950s, I began to actively advocate the cessation and limitation of nuclear weapons.

In 1961, in this connection, I had a conflict with Khrushchev, in 1962 with the Minister of Medium Machine Building Slavsky. I was one of the initiators of the conclusion of the Moscow Treaty of 1963 on the prohibition of testing in three environments (ie, the atmosphere, water and space)”[10]. The creator of the hydrogen bomb addresses the Chairman of the Council of Ministers

of the USSR G.M. Malenkov with the requirement to stop testing the hydrogen bomb. The government did not listen to the demands and appeals and proceeded to this organized persecution of this person. No pressure will force him to change his beliefs; he will remain true to his thoughts. Actions.

Conscience of man and scientist.

Regarding to paper’s subject, one of the victims of military politics was German engineer Heinrich Hencky, the one who is the founder of the theory of plasticity.

His principal research activity was in the Second World War within MAN Company (manufacturer of Panther tanks) [11].

In the same situation, was Isaac Birger, who centralized and contributed to residual stresses research but in the same time he worked at a secret defense company. [12].

It may be said, starting from World War II, the scientific world has divided into several camps that have led to the counterproductive struggles.

IV. IS TECHNICAL PROGRESS AS THE CORRELATION BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE OR WISDOM OF GOD?

All the slogans of modern society are talking about peace on earth. Over the years, the risk of a third world war is sustained by the increasing military spending and by the world’s mass media. In same time a galloping development of the human intellect is observed, not of morality.

What did the twentieth century give us? What did he teach? In the material for thought there is no shortage: two terrible world wars, which claimed hundreds of millions of lives; ecological crisis; attempts at manipulation of consciousness; reduction of a person to the level of an almost inanimate detail, a simple structural unit of the total biomass of the planet - on the one hand. Absolutism of exclusively material,

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consumer, egocentric attitudes, with the complete domination of seemingly different, but similar in essence godless ideologies on the other. Scientific and technological progress constantly changes the conditions of human existence, discoveries and technologies constantly generate world outlook and ethical issues that are acute for society and the Church.

Initially, scientific and technological progress is nothing more than, first, an attempt at knowledge of God by examining the created world. „God commanded Adam to meditate and return mind to all other elements and their different qualities, as well as to his own nature, and from here glorify God. Undoubtedly, here we are talking about the knowledge of the world by man in the primordial, heavenly state of his feelings, mind and heart, but this command of the Creator finds its realization to one degree or another always, even in the fallen world, which, bearing the stamp of man’s sin, continues to testify of his Creator.

Technical means, being, as a matter of fact, projections of our intellect and organs of the body (Greek ὄργανον - tool) expand the perception of nature, reveal to the man the depths of the universe, prompting to glorify the Creator.

Secondly, technological progress allows a person to realize God’s unique aspect of His image - the creative potential, the ability to create a qualitatively new, inextricably linked with the categories of freedom and love, not lost an irretrievably humankind and in a fallen state.

Thirdly, technological progress, as a consequence of the concerted activity of reason, mental and physical efforts, could, as far as possible in the conditions of a fallen world, contribute, at least in part, to alleviating the burden of suffering, unnecessary cares for “daily bread” “(Genesis 3:17-19) [13], freeing up time and effort for the communion and knowledge

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of God. Any culture, any art of any nation has always been religious: „Most cultures, in accordance with their etymology (culture is what should evolve from the cult), it was because of the germination of the grain of religion, the mustard tree grew from the seed of faith.” Any dwelling, house or city becomes an artificial likeness, an extension of the sphere of corporeality to the surrounding world, the land of which generates „thorns and thistles” (Gen 3:18), and at the same time a sacred place for a special divine presence, the image of a lost paradise. Modern biblical archeology indicates that the oldest settlements (for example, the Neolithic Jericho) always arose or were planned around the sanctuaries [14].

However, the realities of biblical history, as we see from the subsequent chapters of Genesis, are completely different. With general secularization, secularization of culture - art, architecture, science - its degradation begins. Instead of God, an idol was established, a self-deified person, and then the necessary consequence was the entire further development of a culture that had to justify human self-deification everywhere. Inspiration and motivation of creativity is no longer from God and not in love with God and His creation, but in the words of the devil – „murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) [15]: „Your eyes will open, and you will be like gods”( Gen. 3: 5) [16].

Resistance to God in “scientific and technical” activity begins even from the time of the builders of the first cities - Cain and his immediate descendants. Knowledge of the world around, with the unchanging goal of dominating it, and hence technology, are gradually becoming idols. When building the right sequence of hierarchical steps in the cognition of the world through God and God in the world, “nature and science receive their interpretation from their ultimate destiny and purpose,” a consistent,

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consistent attitude of man to God, to himself and to the surrounding world is formed.

However, where only the intellect and „technical power” are absolutized, a person finally loses a holistic, adequate perception of God and all created reality with alleged domination over it. Thus, technological progress begins to serve the man’s grossest attachments, a utopia of the construction of „earthly paradise”, the industry of „bread and circuses”.

So, from the standpoint of biblical theology, are coming three generalizations.

1. Scientific and technological progress must serve the transformation of man and develop in the channel of progress of the spiritual, moral. In other words, for man and mankind there is no progress without the God-man of Christ, the sole victor of death.

2. Works of scientific and technological progress in themselves, like reason, are neutral, but the spirit of man finds them either evil or good use. In the pages of the Bible we see examples of technical thought, embodied not only as an evil that brings suffering and death but also as an image of service to God and evidence of His special benevolence toward man: the first leather garments, the Noah’s ark, the “zootechnical” techniques of the patriarch Jacob, the Tabernacle, and later, the Temple, with everything that fills it, including musical instruments and writing technology, the holy city-fortress of Jerusalem.

3. Scientific and technological progress can and should serve the knowledge of God, revealing opportunities for exploring the created world, with the goal of glorifying the Creator. In this situation, one of the roles of the scientists is to be the transmitters of God’s will on this earth.

References [1] Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH,.Accesed 29.10.2018 https://geschichte.salzgitter-ag.

com/en/history-of-the-business-units-and-sites/ business-unit-mannesmann/mannesmann-linepipe-gmbh.html.

[2] Delistoian D., Chircor M., „UOE pipe manufacturing process simulation:equipment design and construction”, ACTA Universitatis Cibiniensis, 2017.

[3] Europipe, Mulheim Pipecoatings, UOE pipe manufacturing process Accessed 15.08.2018, http://www.europipe.com/products/ manufacturing-process/Germany.

[4] Hencky H, „Über einige statisch bestimmte Falle des Gleichgewichts in plastischen Korpern”, ZAMM – Journal of applied mathematics and mechanics, 1923.

[5] Birger I.A „Ostatochinie napreajenia,” Gos. Naucino – Teh. Izdat,1963.

[6] Kumbetlian G., „Calculul plăcilor (Teorie și aplicații)”, Ed. Fundaţia Andrei Şaguna, Constanța,1999.

[7] Kalkoutzky N., “The study of Internal Stresses in Cast Iron and Steel”, London, 1988.

[8] Telegraph, „UK defence industry: in numbers”, Accessed 27.08.2018 https://www. telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/ defence/8244152/UK-defence-industry-innumbers.html [9] Curiosidades de la Guerra Fría que quizá no sabías, Accessed 28.09.2018 https://www. taringa.net/posts/info/18516836/Curiosidades-de la-Guerra-Fria-que-quiza-no-sabias.html [10] Buzuev V, “Scientists in the struggle for peace and progress”, Nauka, 1969.

[11] Sakharov A., “My Country and the World”, New York: Knopf, 1976.

[12] Kurrer Karl – Eugen, “The History of the Theory of Structures”, Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH, Berlin, 2008.

[13] Kosmik Memorial “Issac Birger”. Accesed 25.08.2018 http:/sm.evg-rumjantsev.ru/des3/ birger.htm [14] The Bible, „Genesis 3:17-19.” Accessed 01.10.2018 https://biblia.com/books/esv/Ge3.17 [15] Ancient History, „Early Jericho,” Accessed 29.10.2018. https://www.ancient.eu/article/951/ early-jericho/ [16] The Bible, „John 8:44.” Accessed 01.10.2018 https://biblia.com/books/esv/Jn8.44 [17] The Bible, „Genesis 3:5”. Accessed 01.10.2018 https://biblia.com/books/esv/Ge3.5

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Biography

Phd Student Delistoian Dmitri was born in Republic of Moldova at 31.10.1983.

Graduated Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania with engineer degree (Department of Shipbuilding) at 2008. In present he is a Phd Student at Constanta Maritime University (Department of Engineering Sciences in the Mechanical Field and Environment), Constanta, Romania. Field of study is pipeline construction.

Between 2008 and 2012 it was engineer at steel construction company and from 2012 he is Assistant at the Faculty of Mechanical, Industrial and Maritime Engineering from Ovidius University of Constanta.

Ovidius University of Constanta.

He is the author of the following books: Operational research – Bren publishing.

Industrial Robots – Ovidius Univeristy press,1999.

Elements of kinematics, dynamics and planning of industrial robot trajectories – publishing house of the Romanian Academy, 2001.

He is part of the following affiliations: DAAAM, AMIER, CIER, CNFIS.

Phd. Mihael Chircor was born in 01.08.1954. Graduated University Politehnica of Bucharest at 1979 with mechanical engineer degree and in 1997 obtained his Phd in the same unievrsity.

His work experience is starting with Design Engineer position and continuous with entire stage and reaching the Director position at Autonomous Regime Public and Private Exploitation. In parallel is engaged in teaching from 1990 till present occupying the position of Chief of the Department of Technologies and Mechanical Engineering at

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Religion, science and theology, similarity and differences Bruno Marchal, PhD

IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 1 October 2018 Received in revised form 5 October Accepted 15 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.21

In this short paper I explain why the discovery of the universal machine is a major discovery, totally unexpected, and quite extraordinary. I will explain, as much as possible in layman terms, what meant “theology” in the general sense of the Greeks who invented the theological science, and I will explain why the universal machine has a canonical theology in that sense. Some knowledge of the notion of functions is required.

I do not claim any ontological truth. I will make my hypothesis, Mechanism, clear, and all statements that I will assert must be understood as belonging to the consequences of the hypothesis. The hypothesis itself cannot be proved but can be refuted, and so it will appear to be scientific in that sense. I will compare it to the human theologies, but also to human religion, and try to find an explanation of why religions, which are supposed to be “good thing” can sometimes look so bad. Unlike some of my previous paper, I will abandon a bit of rigor for reason of length, clarity, and ease, but everyone is invited to consult my other publications for more rigorous exposition of the basic theory. Any critics or comments are encouraged, cela va de soi!

I use the hypothesis of Mechanism, not because I would believe in it, but because it makes possible to translate the problems into mathematical problems and to test the consequences empirically. Nevertheless, I begin to expose the basic theory of computability, so that the reader gets the taste of the “real thing,” before providing a sort of panorama of the machine’s theology, before a loose and succinct application in the human domain. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Universal Machine; modesty; Church; Turing; religion; theology; science; sin;

I. Introduction: the main hero, and the

(other?) sin

I think that the main error made by us, the humans, is that we have forgotten that God’s love is unconditional and that it applies to all creatures, not just the humans.

I have joked sometimes that God made the

Bacteria in his own Image, but even that would be a sort of sin, as I will justify later. I have also joked that God made the Universal Machine or the Universal Number in its own image, but despite this will appear to be close to the truth in the frame of my working hypothesis, to be sure, it will remain a sin to say so, and there is a reason why there is a

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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sort of theological trap in which sometimes a religion can fall into, and indeed that is part of the possible fate of our main heroine, the universal number/machine.

To say that we are the favorite of God is something that can be said in private, and between us, but which is an impolite statement of superiority when asserted to the other, and this witness some ignorance which can be shown necessary for the universal machine, as I will explain below.

The vanity is not necessary though; there is no fatality here. Eventually, that superiority statement is an argument of authority in theology, and I want to explain that theology is the place where the argument of authority is, in that Mechanist setting, is a blasphemy, it is a sin, somehow.

Another problem is that once we have trained people in believing arguments per authority, it encourages people to believing in anything. The theology, including spirituality, will easily be institutionalized, and become an instrument of political oppression of the other. That lead to atheism, nihilism, despair, death, etc. That leads to fake debate. In fact, I suspect the whole God/Not-God debate to be a tool used by dogmatic Aristotelians (believer in a physical cause) to make us forget the original doubt of Plato: is reality what we see? Alternatively, is it that what we see is only the shadow or symptom of something else, perhaps conceptually more straightforward, but not physical, perhaps mathematical, musical, but obviously metaphysical or theological by definition?

II. The Universal Machine

The universal machine, once implemented in some other universal machine, will play the role of the body of a possible person. Somehow, we need two universal machineries or machines.

But is there a universal machine?

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N is the set of natural numbers. N = {0, 1, 2, …}. A function from N to N is said to be computable if we can explain how to compute it with a finite set of nonambiguous instructions, based on some fixed formal language. I will call “program” such a finite set of instruction. Imagine we have a language in which we can define, through the instruction to compute them, exactly all computable functions from N to N. Then we can enumerate *all* and *exactly all* computable functions (from N to N).

f_0, f_1, f_2, f_3, …

Let us define a function g by g(n) = f_n(n) + 1. To compute g on n, you search f_n in the list of the f_i, apply it to n, and then add one.

Is g computable? At first sight it should.

All f_n are computable, and adding one is certainly a computable operation.

But if g is computable, it has to belong to the list f_0, f_1, f_2, f_3, …

That means that there is number k such that g = f_k.

But then g(k) = f_k(k), by the definition of equality of functions, but then, also, by definition of g, g(k) = f_k(k) + 1. So

f_k(k) = f_k(k) + 1 By subtracting f_k(k), which is a number, on both sides of that equation, we get

0=1 Thus, g cannot be computable, and thus the computable function are not enumerable, at least not in a computable way. It is the very bijection between N and the f_i, which associate n with f_n, which is not computable. That entails that the set of computable functions from N to N does not admit a universal function.

But then how could Church, Post, Turing, Kleene, and all the founders of computer science claimed that the computer is an implementation of a universal machine, capable of computing all computable functions.

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The answer is that such a computer, or a universal programming language, describes MORE than the computable functions from N to N. Some program are unable to stop on some input. So, if we claim that some machine compute all computable function from N to N, it will also compute some restricted computable functions, defined only on some subset of N. In that case, the claim of universality still makes sense, and when we get the equality

f_k(k) = f_k(k) + 1 It will mean that f_k(k) is simply not defined on k. The machine will run forever, and there is nothing to subtract on both side and get the 0 = 1 fatal conclusion. The nonstopping behavior saves the consistency of the Church-Turing or Kleene-Post thesis: that there is some universal language, and that the enumeration of those functions, through their coded instructions, contains all computable function from N to N. Let us write F_i for this new enumeration.

There is a miracle lurking there. Indeed, now we know that no programs or digital machine could ever decide correctly if a coded instructions or program is the code of a total function (that is a function from N to N), or the code of a strictly partial function.

Indeed, if such a program could exist, we could use it to eliminate mechanically the code of the strictly partial functions, and we would obtain a mechanical enumeration of all computable functions again from N to N, and the diagonal procedure above can be used again to derive 0 = 1.

This also leads to incompleteness, at least concerning any useful theory about those universal enumeration F_i.

A theory is effective if its proofs can be checked mechanically, and thus, by CT, (i.e.

Church’s Thesis, or Church-Turing Thesis) checked by a Machine in some universal formalism. If there was an effective theory complete about the F_i, we could use it again to check if a set of instructions code for a

total (from N to N) computable function or not, and would be again led to 0=1 by the diagonal above.

So, we see that the belief in a universal machine + the belief that we are ourselves such machines, has to make us MODEST, at least with respect to universal machine (and a fortiori more general universal entities). We cannot control arbitrary (digital) machines.

The price of Universality, for a machine, is that not only it is undefined on some argument, but we have no tools permitting us to know in advance if a machine will stop or not stop on all its argument. A refinement can be made: we can indeed show this is true even for individual argument: the famous Halting problem is thus not algorithmically solvable.

Now, all this reasoning, which is rather elementary, can be done by some machines themselves. Indeed, if the machine can do a bit of logical reasoning, and is rich enough to know, or correctly-believe/assert its own Turing universality, such machine will prove its own modesty, and will in fact, realise that as far as she is sound (believe only true arithmetical sentences) she will be incomplete with respect to any notion of truth rich enough the encompass itself.

Example of such machine or program are given by any Turing complete theory with enough induction axioms, like Peano arithmetic or Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory.

I call such machine Gödel-Löbian, or simply Löbian. The reason is that Löb found a generalization of Gödel’s theorem, called Löb’s theorem, and that later this theorem has been shown enough to derive formally all (propositional) consequences of incompleteness (Löb 1955). In 1976, Solovay proved the arithmetical completeness theorem of the modal logics G and G* which axiomatise the logic of provability.

G formalizes what the machine can prove, and G* formalises what is true, but that the machine can or cannot prove. The

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Löbian machine is aware of G and G*, and their difference (conditioned by their consistency or soundness). That leads the machine to a sort of revelation: insofar as she is arithmetically correct, she knows that truth is bigger than herself: she develops the intuition that there is something transcending her.

Note that theology can already be defined in this general setting as the study of the self-halting problem (phi_x(x) converge, x in W_x). No “rich” (Löbian) machine can solve that problem in finite time, about itself, and both theoretical cognitive science and quantum mechanics without the reduction of the wave postulate confirms the difficulty of the notion of a first-person death, and the plausibility that this might not exist.

The physicist Otto Rössler said about this that consciousness is a prison (personal communication). See Marchal [2017] for more on the machine “illumination”.

By universal machinery I mean a sequence of (strictly or not) partial computable functions F_i. Note that a total function is a particular case of partial function, as N is a subset of N. By a universal machine, or universal number, I mean precisely a number u, related to some universal machinery F_i, such that F_u(<x, y>) = F_x(y). I say that the computer u emulates the program x on the data y. Such relations have been shown to be arithmetical: they can be defined using only the language of arithmetic (with symbol “0”, “s”, +, *). Its existence comes from the computability of their enumeration (unlike the total, from N to N, computable functions).

A theory admits a provability notion, for which no “universality” notion applies, but if the theory is enough rich, it might be able to be Turing universal, not with respect of provability, but with respect to computability. When a theory can mimic a universal machine, it is said Computably

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complete, or Sigma_1 complete.

Let us look at least one example of a such theory, or recursively enumerable set of formula/beliefs. Robinson’s theory Q, which is Turing complete (and thus Turing Universal if used as a computer programming language).

The axioms of Q are the axioms of classical logic with equality together with the so called non-logical axioms: 1) 0 ≠ s(x) 2) x ≠ y -> s(x) ≠ s(y) 3) x ≠ 0 -> Ey(x = s(y)) 4) x+0 = x 5) x+s(y) = s(x+y) 6) x*0=0 7) x*s(y)=(x*y)+x In English, the intended intuitive meaning is 1) The number 0 is not a successor, 2) Different numbers have different successors 3) All non null numbers have a predecessor 4) A number added to zero gives itself 5) x + (successor of y) gives the successor of x + y 6) A number multiplied by 0 gives 0 7) x times a successor of y gives x times y, added to x.

It is not too much difficult to see that the infinite tables of addition and multiplication are derivable from those axioms. I illustrate this with a proof of 2+2=4 below. Much more impressive is the fact that those axioms, due to Robinson, are already Turing universal.

Any proposition like “the machine X on the argument Y (which might be number or anything finite coded by a number) stop on the result Z”, if true, can be proved in that theory. That is even more astonishing as it can be shown (easily) that a propositions

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as “obvious” as 0+x = x, or x+y =y+x, are not provable in that theory (called Q in the literature, see [Tarski, Mostowski and Robinson].

Example of proof: a proof that 2+2=4.

s(s(0)) + s(s(0) = s(s(s(0)) + s(0)) by axiom “5)” with x = s(s(0)) and y = s(0).

s(s(s(0) + s(0)) = s(s(s(s(0))) + 0), again by axiom “5)”.

But s(s(s(0))) + 0 = s(s(s(0))) by axiom “4)”.

By replacing this in the line just above, we get

s(s(0)) + s(s(0) = s(s(s(s(0)))), QED. Q is *essentially* undecidable. It means that not only that Q is incomplete and undecidable, but that all its consistent extensions are also incomplete and undecidable. All consistent machine agreeing with the axioms above will be incomplete and undecidable. It can be shown that this is false for any theory obtained by Q minus one of the axiom “1)”-“7)”. Those are incomplete with respect to the arithmetical truth (0+x = 0 is non provable), but are completable and decidable with supplementary axioms, with respect to some other structure (of course, it can no more be the structure of standard arithmetic of the natural numbers). This also means that none of such weakened Q theory (Q minus any one of its nonlogical axiom) is essentially incomplete. Incompleteness and essential undecidability is the price of universality.

Now some extension can be very powerful (although incomplete) with respect to provability. Indeed, with just the scheme of induction axioms, that is, if we add to Q all axioms with the following shape:

P(0) & [For all n (P(n) -> P(s(n)))] ->.

For all n P(n) with P(x) being any (first order)

arithmetical formula, we get a theory so strong that many suspect that it proves all interesting theorems in mathematics (by which mathematicians means theorems out of logical or set theoretical considerations).

Indeed such a theory, known as Peano arithmetic, can prove everything I have justified so far. That is not obvious, and would need many pages to be proved. This is what Gödel has foreseen in 1931, and was proved explicitly by Hilbert and Bernays in 1937 (Hilbert and Bernays 1968, 1970), and it concerns again all (mechanical, recursively enumerable) extensions. It concerns us if we assume mechanism, and hope or pray for our consistency.

This is very often ignored by the many people, who like Lucas en Penrose, have used Gödel’s incompleteness theorem as an argument that the human is not a machine.

The answer to this is that the machine can already prove their own incompleteness theorem. They get already the point made above. They discover that they are incomplete, and necessarily so as far as they are consistent.

Such a machine, when indeed they are consistent, cannot prove their consistency, but can justify that very fact: they can prove that IF they are consistent, then they cannot prove their consistency: ~[]f -> ~[](~[]f), or using the dual <> of [], (<>p = ~[]~p, and is read “it is consistent with me (my beliefs) that p”.

Note that “Consistent”, by a completeness theorem, also due to Gödel (1930) (Not incompleteness!) is equivalent with “there is a reality (called a model by the logicians) which satisfies my belief. So, consistency is a statement equivalent with “there is a reality which satisfied my beliefs”, and this is the best mechanist candidate for faith. The machine will know it is true, but not in any communicable or justifiable way.

The machine can only apprehend this reality above itself as transcendental, and she

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knows that a belief in such reality requires an ontological commitment, which is above their mean of justification.

In this sense, “rich enough” machines, like Q + the induction axioms, are aware of their necessary modesty concerning *any* ontological commitment. They are ignorant, but they are not ignorant of their ignorance, and thus they are modest and wise. I called such “enough rich machine “Löbian” in honour to Löb who found the formula which has its name []([]p -> p) -> []p. A particular case is given by []([[]f -> f) -> []f Which is []<>t -> []f, that is <>t -> ~[]<>t.

(A -> B is equivalent with ~B -> ~A, in classical logic).

That form of necessary modesty is the main key to understand the theological meaning of incompleteness. I can go as far as suspecting that the religious attitude *is* exactly the scientific attitude: that form of modesty, which should not be seen as a normative attitude, but as a rational consequence of the machine discovering that something transcend it. As the provability notion formalizes a notion of rational belief, it is natural to claim that this modesty attitude might also the scientific attitude, making science very close to religion, if not identifying them completely.

But that is surely not the case, so what happened?

III. The (other?) sin revisited

“Religion” sometimes means simply “cup of tea”, like in the expression “this is not my cup of tea”, which means that it is outside my conception of the world (although it could also mean outside my interest). In French the expression “it is not my religion” is used for the same effect.

So religion is mainly a fundamental conception of reality.

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Is it Turtles all the way down? Is it something material created by some Creator? Or is it something material which would have always existed? Or perhaps it is a dream or a thought of God? The early humans did not distinguish the legends from the historical facts, and the sacred books can be seen as compendium of the state of the art of knowledge. Religion have always existed, and that is natural if we take it in this large sense. Like universal machines, the human have intuited that something is out there. Then, even the theory of evolution can explain why it has been natural to identify that intuited transcending thing with the collection of what we can see. After all, it was very important for the survival of the animals to take seriously the presence of possible preys and possible predators into account, and our physiology confirms the importance of our sense organ, adding some credit to the idea that there is a reality out there, and that it might be the “physical” (observable) reality.

But there has been some doubt on this, and modern science is born from that doubt.

First, there has been, at least in Occident, the idea brought by Pythagorus that the fundamental reality might be given simply by the Numbers, and this has led some platonist to conceive that the fundamental reality might be mathematical, musical, or perhaps something else, which would not be physical.

That is the case in the mechanist theory.

Mechanism is born from observation of how things seem to work, followed by some abstraction relating different incarnation of similar machine, up to the discovery of the universal machine and their many relative incarnations in arithmetic.

Then, the work of Gödel, Löb and Solovay, which shows that not only the Löbian machine are incomplete, but that they are aware of their incompleteness and of its intrinsic, unavoidable character.

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In fact Solovay succeeded in showing that a special modal logic (simple propositional logic + a new symbol “[]”), known as G, with the Löb formula as main axiom, formalizes completely the (propositional) arithmetical or formal provability, that the machine can justifies. But he also found a modal logic G*, extending G, formalizes completely the true provability logic of the machine, provable or not by that machine. Incompleteness is reflected in the non-empty difference between G and G*, the proper theology.

The theology can be succinctly described by the following distinct self-referential mode imposed by incompleteness.

First, incompleteness prevent the machine to prove the identity of p and []p, nor even of []p -> p for all proposition p. By the Löb formula, the machine will prove [] p -> p only for those proposition p that she actually prove. From this Rohit Parick said that it is hard to conceive something as modest as arithmetic (see Boolos 1993). So we have the truth (arithmetical truth) which transcend provability, and that provability, not obeying the knowledge modal rule []p -> p, as to be a sort (at least) of believability on the par of the machine. Then, as []p differ from p, the standard definition of knowledge (true justified belief) makes sense, and indeed, it associates canonically a logic of knowledge to the machine. That is described in the line 1), 2) and 3) below.

4) and 5) appears to be other nuances brought by incompleteness, and involving directly the notion of consistency. They are used to extract physics from the machine theology, something that I usually motivated through robust experience and/or the Neopythagorean and the Neoplatonist philosophies. That does not concern this paper, see the references for more, notably my paper on Plotinus (marchal ) for a more detailed comparison between the theology of the machine and Plotinus three primary hypostases and his two notions of matter

(intelligible and sensible).

1) p TRUTH, GOD (Reality) 2) []p INTELLECT (Justifiability) 3) []p & p SOUL (Knowability) 4) []p & <>t INTELLIGIBLE MATTER (Observability) 5) []p & <>p & p SENSIBLE MATTER (Sensibility) There are 8 logic here. Indeed the G/G* (provable/true) distinction is inherited by three “hypostases”, or mode of the Self: the intellect divides itself directly into G and G*, and the intelligible and sensible matters too. Amazingly, the soul does not.

It is a semantical fixed point. Yet, the price of the conjunction of truth and knowledge will be that the soul cannot “name” itself or provide any third person description of itself. The soul of the machine does not believe that she is a machine, and she *is* correct from its soul perspective.

It is that precise “meta-arithmetical” G/G* split of the hypostases which makes it possible to get a general theology, that no machine can take granted for itself, and only hope or pray for, or fear perhaps, as no machine can prove its consistency (unless inconsistent already) nor define its truth predicate, nor, as I just explained, define its knowledge predicate.

Moderatus of Gades, according to Wallis, saws similar five modes of the “one”, but we have lost the text, and eventually all this is very well described by Plotinus, especially if you read the Enneads in the chronological order, where the fifth modes appears in that order: the three primary hypostases (One, Intellect, Soul) and the two matters (intelligible and sensible).

A remarkable books by Gerson, “Ancient Epistemology”, makes an interesting critics of what he called the standard theory of

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knowledge, and which is that idea, suggested

by Theaetetus to Socrates, that to know is to believe and justified when true. Gerson critics is indeed validated by the universal machine, if the “and” between []p and p is used informally, but it becomes invalid, if it is used, like here, in a formal way. We might say that Gerson confused “[]p & p” with “[] p and p” (formal “&” and informal “&”).

Indeed, the fact that p is true does not make []p non formalizable, when it does make the conjunction “[]p & p” not formalizable, in the language of the machine. We could try to define it by []p and true(p), but that is not possible by the theorem of Tarski which shows that True(p) is not definable in the language of the machine.

Now, before Gödel, most mathematicians thought that in arithmetic, []p would be equivalent to p. Gödel’s result was a shock, and I would say that few today realize how deep that shows can be. It makes the machine already modest, doubting, and aware of a transcendence. It makes the machine mystic at the start. And its theology (G*) warns the machine: <>t -> ~[]<>t. We can read it as “If you believe in Me, then stay mute on this”. It is like there was an eleventh commandment telling Moses that all what God told me was for personal use only.

G* cut the proselytism right at the roots.

Only half illuminated person will talk, and nobody should listen. Proselytism becomes a symptom of a lack of faith, as it looks that the genuine believer will trust God for the advertising.

IV. The “solution”

Have we not just solve the problem of what is science and what is religion? And why we get so much problem with the religious phenomena? G would describe the logic of science, and G* would be the logic of religion, and the problem would come from half-illuminated person talking too much and asserting truth which is false when asserted, Session 14. General Topic: Science and Theology in dialogue

cf <>t -> ~[]<>t. Alternatively, is the fault only due to nonilluminated persons, just stealing the fundamental science (theology, by definition) to manipulate people, as the Soviets did with genetics? Certainly the first helps the second.

However, would that solution not be again self-defeating? Am I not justifying the proposition of G*. G* is weird, you can read its two simple first theorems, <>t, and ~[]<>t, as “thou are consistent”, “you will not assert that thou are consistent”, or “a Reality/God (satisfying your belief) exists”, “thou will not attempt to justify or take this as axiom”. Is that not contradictory, if we try to apply this to us?

Here the solution resides in the fact that all that is said here concern consistent or sound machine, and nobody told us that we are consistent, nor machine. G* proves <>t, not because I am consistent, but only *if* I am consistent, and despite we might bet that we are consistent, if we are consistent machine, we, indeed, cannot justify it, or even take it as a new axiom, and that is something which can only be hoped or prayed for. We, the Löbian universal machines, can prove all this, but only for a machine which is presupposed at the start to be sound or consistent. That is something that we cannot prove to ourselves in any communicable (to a third person) way. We can prove the adequacy of G and G* for some simpler machine (recursively enumerable set of beliefs) than ourselves, but we can only lift to us the “surrational” corona G* \ G (G* minus G) at our risk and peril. It has to be private, or with interrogation mark, or conditionally on Mechanism. We fall back on the non-proselytism. Somehow, we have to trust Truth/God, and cannot invoke him in any way, without getting the Devil at Its place. I assume that the lie/error []f (provable false) plays the role of the Devil.

Somehow, we get the perhaps frustrating understanding that there is a scientific

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theology (G*), and it tells us that we cannot apply it. We can live it, intuit it, love it, or hate it, but we cannot normatively apply it. It is a bit like “love.” We cannot make love into an obligation. If we do that we get the hate.

Love as to come from the inner heart, and when the brain takes decision on the heart domain, the laws of the contrariety effect [] x -> ~x is triggered and we get the opposite of what was researched. That just becomes more true for the love of truth and/or the love of the one-without-a-name. The truth becomes itself a Protagorean virtue, that we can teach only by exemplary behavior, and this only with a complete detachment from the goal of communicating a virtue.

The matter will have to be handled by poets, artists, and perhaps priests, if they are capable of blinking the eyes and prevent any literal interpretation of the “texts”.

If Mechanism is true, we must encourage people to read between the lines, and get the idea beyond the prose. We can prove theorem in the scientific theology of the ideally sound machine, but never claim that we are sound, nor transform a theorem of G* into a normative rule. Some grain of salt must be mixed with the Holy Water, so to speak.

V. Religion, theology and

(fundamental) science: what is the difference?

They are the same thing, but not playing at exactly the same level, which requires subtle caution principles, and warnings for the theological trap. It is the search of the truth, which needs the belief in some idea of truth. The revelation is the understanding that truth is beyond us, yet we intersect it in the noncommunicable zone, the soul place, and we can’t invoke it in any direct argument, still less in some normative application.

A. Science.

Science is modesty. It is born with the doubt, lives with the doubts, and lead always to more doubts and more questions. It never answer any question. It only asks questions.

A theory is such a set of questions. Nature, God or reality answer locally and temporally those question, in-trospectively and outtrospectively.

If certainties rise, they remain as such private. The question can remain neutral, like “do you agree on this and that, at least for the sake of the argument”. Science never claim truth, but can decide to work on truth itself as a domain of inquiry. Science as such might be not really existing. What might exist is the scientific attitude, which is curiosity and modesty toward the unknown.

Now, as humans, that attitude lead to something called also Science, which are a collection of theories, or beliefs, but (in the honest case) always with the (implicit) interrogation mark.

A scientist will never say “we know that…”, unless colloquially, for being short.

It always means, I can prove this from such hypothesis, and I can provide some evidence or justification for the hypothesis or some of its consequence(s).

Fundamental science was theology, by definition, for the greek. God is somehow defines as being the absolute fundamental truth or reality from which all the rest follows or emanates. The main question was: “-is the fundamental reality physical or mathematical or musical or what?”.

The doubt for some could be succinctly describe as the doubt between physics or mathematics as a fundamental science. The word “mathematician” has been, among the platonicians, used to designate those who were skeptical that physics, the science of Nature, was the fundamental science.

The earlier doubt has never been about the existence of God, which exists by definition

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(see above), but on the ontological, primary, existence of a physical universe. The dream argument was a catalyst to recall that we can easily be illusionned, and that an observation might not be the best criteria of reality. Whatever can convince me about some object supposed to be external to me, can convince me also in a dream, making observation per se rather doubtful.

In science, there is no disagreement, or then it will be only an agreement on the disagreement—an assessing that the protagonists are working in different theories. For the fundamental theory, the disagreement is only before the testing, and the honor consists in being refuted.

Confirming the last theory in fashion is considered as boring as we learn only when we are surprised, or contradicted. The arithmetical truth promised a transfinity of such surprises for all universal machines.

B. Theology.

Theology is a science. It is born, at least as a science, even if naïve and lacking some rigour, with Pythagorus. Pythagorus can be considered as the one who discovered theology as a science, but fall quickly into its trap, with the elitism (mechanistically wrong), the secrecy (partially wrong, mechanistically), and the superstition (mechanistically wrong). Its disciples will be divided in two, those who will develop arcane and ludicrous esoteric numerology, without some adorable poetry, but dangerously misleading on the fundamental, and those who will be distracted somehow by the beauty of the numerical relations, and will discover or generate the field of Mathematics, as understood today. Some will develop the basic doubts on the nature of Reality. They are those who will influence more or less directly Plato. The sciencetheology ended with Damascius, the last representent of Plato Academy, when the Emperor Justinian closed the Plato Academy

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in Athene (529). That will entails the stealing of theology, and all sciences by the more and more authoritarian Church.

All the sciences died, as at that time, theology was still supposed to contain potentially all sciences, so when freeresearching was abandoned, all sciences were under the joug of the argument per authority. They did to theology, but also to cosmology, physics, biology, what the Soviet Power did in USSR with genetics, when Lyssenko stole it from the biologists, and imposed a Marxist Genetic, leading to gigantic population starvation. Like in the ex-USSR, some theologian, despite belonging to the Church, will remain sincere and serious, and with some luck be listened to, but the use of the argument of authority will taint the whole field.

The question by Plato will be dismissed after the closure of the academy, and the early Christians, which were open to Neoplatonism, will be less and less influential, if not exiled in the Middle-East, where Neoplatonism will survive until the Middle-Age, mainly through Judaism in the Kabbala, and through the Sufi, and the Mutaselite, the Bektashi and the Alevi Muslims. But there too, science will end, in 1258, when Al Ghazali will “win” his debate with Averroes. Averroes defended the idea that the Text must be submitted to Reason, which is consistent with Mechanism, and Al Ghazali will defend the idea that Reason must be submitted to the Text, which is basically a form of falling in the theological trap. Islam will decline since, but, thanks to Averroes, the enlighten Judaism and Islam will flow in Europa and trigger the Renaissance, also called the Enlightenment Period. What is really enlightenment?

Alternatively, an half-enlightenment? All the natural science will come back to the school and university except the most fundamental one: theology, which will remain an object of mockery to the atheists, and remain in

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the hand of the authoritarians. That will help neither the theologian nor the philosopher and the metaphysicians. In fact, the whole human science will remain in the obscurity, with a diverse form of idolatry, like the one we can sometimes see in psycho-analysis, with some Freudians and some Lacanians.

Just opening the current Newspaper can give a measure quickly how catastrophic the human science can be, in the concrete sense of the quality of life of most humans on the planet. The only big progress has been the rise of the democracy, with the regular votes and a leader supposed not to be above the laws. Yet, the democracies are fragile, and not immune against the lies, like with the invention of the “drug”, which are only medication whose potential danger becomes actual, and multiplied, when its prohibition offers the market to the criminals, which makes the products available at each street corner, without the need of an identity cart, nor a medical prescription. Moreover, that is only one example among many.

During the 19th century, Victorian England almost resurrected scientific theology, through a conflict between unionist Anglicans, who desired get some independence from the Anglican Church and the Trinitarians, closer to the “authorities”.

Benjamin Pierce (the father of Charles Saunders Pierce), August de Morgan, George Boole, and Charles Ludwige Dodgson (Lewi Carroll) created a new field, just by the willing of making the debate in theology more rigorous. That field has become known as Mathematical Logic. However, then, in the very professionalization process of making Mathematics into a recognized science, the early mathematical logicians were quickly forced to hide their spiritual motivation. That has been a good thing for mathematics, but a failure again concerning the idea of letting theology coming itself back to science. See the interesting work

by Daniel Cohen (Cohen 2007). Even today,

I have personally many problems with the inclusion of mathematical logic in the option “Pure Mathematics”, and despite the obviousness of the interest of mathematical logic in computer science, it was a sort of sacrilege for some mathematicians, usually strong non-agnostic atheists, to dare to apply mathematical logic even just to computer science, not to mention application in theology. For those strong atheists, they conceive only God as the Abrahamic God, even just to deny its existence, and they do not conceive or accept that even a shadow of a doubt could exist for the existence of Aristotle Primary Matter, and/or Physicalism.

C. Religion.

Religion is a conception of absolute or transcendent reality, usually shared by individuals. The community is not a problem concerning the mechanism, and even clergy can be allowed or can make sense, as long as no literal truth are imposed. Legends, allegories, tales, and even a mass is not a problem, as long, like Alan Watts said, the “priest” is able to blink. God is a so serious notion, that when you talk about God, you can only be joking. Only the Devil can mention its name, and looks serious.

So, somehow, a religion has to have some sense of Humour, and cannot, in anyway, take itself too much seriously, in any applied situation, except for suggesting that you look deeply in yourself and listen to your conscience, which is the link between the truth and the living situation.

We will never know if Mechanism is true, but the question is actually practical, and it is “do you accept that your daughter or your son marry a universal machine”. Eventually, it is a question of human and machine’s right.

We will explore soon or later the cosmos, but it will be easier to adapt our bodies than to adapt the entire cosmos, and

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mechanism will probably make it possible to move at speed light, or near, so that only the religion open to mechanism will, plausibly, be able to be believed in large cosmic environment. Mechanism could also refrain such exploration, as the mystical experience provides a sort of shortcut, telling us the “end of the story”, but again, this is not truly justifiable. Only the experience counts here, and if it is true that it is hard to come back from it, it can also be a source of force and courage making the cosmic terrestrial adventure more easy.

All humans are a universal machine, you can imitate all machines, but you can’t necessarily believe all machines, even among the truthful. Still, you can listen and learn, and sometimes refute the untruthful.

All humans are universal machine, at the least. Mechanism asserts that we are not much more than machine, except by being machine having very unique set of personal beliefs, which makes our terrestrial, personal but temporary, identity.

The mystical experience recall our deeper identity, which is not attach to particular events or memories. We are not living here, but truly living there, yet, there are some reason why we forget our initial “virgin”, “unprogrammed” universal identity, although that point is far from clear, both from Mechanism or any human religion or theory.

Each of us is everyone, in a palpable way through mystical experience, and thus instead of hating a person for its action, it calls for understanding how could “I” have done such an action. It enlarge the empathy spectrum a lot. This can lead to self-protection without hate. God might be a kid which play hide and seek with itself in the divine dream-garden, and losts itself innumerably to recognize itself innumerably. That garden looks like an Indra net, where the pearls are the universal number reflecting each others. With mechanism, those are the F_i

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and their domain the W_i, and the nuances of incompleteness makes possible to care about the difference between a quanta and a qualia, between form and sensations.

And what about the spiritual experience itself? Should it be discouraged or should it be encouraged? Is the universal machine neutral on this? The idea of stopping to listen to the “authority” might help to listen to oneself, and get the mind open to listening to our conscience, and that helps to listen to the Others, too, machine included. All experiences are encouraged.

What about rite and theurgy? Plotinus was quite skeptical. Can it work? The whole point will be in giving experience reports, never presented as true as such. If that is ever possible when the experience is genuinely concluding. The wise is expected to be silent.

God tell you <>t, and immediately after ~[]<>t. We have seen one logical reason for this in the case of the machine, but could not any reasonable man understand that if he says “God told me that …”, even if true, would either be sent in an asylum, which would be the best scenario or worst, be believed just per-authority by “disciples”, demolishing the very meaning of what it could mean to get the truly but private point by oneself? The logic of ([]p & p) is truly different from the logic of []p. They cannot avoid an internal conflict. Only the []p can do the talk, but only the []p & p can provide the meaning, yet not in any verbal way. Again, the wise will remain silent.

D. We get near a paradox.

If someone got even just a millionth of a (genuine) mystical experience (in the mechanist sense) they know that they can trust only God for the advertising. They will never say “I met God”, as they know that this will make about everything they say tainted with the Argument per Authority.

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That is why Mechanism might suggest this admittedly paradoxical advise: to approach God, avoid all creatures giving you an advise to approach God. And we are back somehow to the nonproselytism issue, except that we are meta-warned: no proselytism on nonproselytism too!

Conclusion?

There is no science. There is only a scientific attitude.

There is no religion. There is only a religious attitude.

They might be the same, as it is suggested by the theology of the sound machine.

The difference is that theology falls in the trap of the authoritative argument more often than others scientific branches, as it provides a powerful, yet invalid, quasiuniversal set of arguments of authority.

Atheists are trapped too, by this. They want to say that there is no god, and argue, let us say correctly, that the very concept of omniscience is contradictory.

But then a believer can say “Oh! Thank you, I will correct my theory, say, by “God is as much omniscient as logically possible” (like the arithmetical truth, or the sigma_1 arithmetical truth, which most believe are consistent set of formula). But then the atheist replies “you cannot change the definition”, just, like the clergical authorities, they disallow the progress in the field. Yet, that is what science is: the ability to change a theory when it is refuted. Yet, when we learned that Earth was round, we didn’t conclude that Earth does not exist. We just corrected our conception of Earth. Why not do that in all field, including metaphysics/ theology?

This shows that strong-atheism is de facto the ally of those daring to use the argument per authority in theology, which, if we listen to the sound Löbian universal machine, is the place where the argument

per authority is the most devastating as I explain here. That makes atheism (the strong non-agnostic version) an ally of the radicals, or of the special interests, and an ally of the statu quo concerning the separation of the human science (where lack of rigour is permitted, if not encouraged, like multiple form of idolatry) and the natural science (where rigour is encouraged as long as it does not violate the Aristotelian dogma in metaphysics, i.e. the existence of primary matter/physicalism).

I think that a large part of the human suffering comes from that lack of seriousness in the human domain.

Training people in believing contradictions make them open to believe anything, and notably what any minority might want them to believe, like hemp is bad, to name just one striking well-studied example.

We have to transform the Enlightenment period. The last science excluded by “religious authorities”, which is also the first science, theology, must come back to the academy of science, so to leave at last the Middle-Age or its obscurantist part. There is no need of any tabula rasa of any religion.

But there is a need to take a distance from any form of literalism with respect to any text.

Only bad faith fear reason. Only bad reason fear faith. Theurgy, like use of plants, or cathedral, and religious edifices, anything, is not a problem, as long as it does not harm people, of course, and as long as it does not generate dogma and fake certainties, so that we keep well our skepticism alive in front of the last theory.

At least with Mechanism we can understand why truth has to be always partially hidden by the theories which approach it.

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Bibliography (see also my other papers in the DIALOGO

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proceedings and the references therein).

[1] [2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6] [7]

Boolos, G. 1993, The Logic of Provability, Cambridge University Press, US. Cohen D.J., 2007, Equations from God, Pure Mathematics and Victorian Faith, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Hilbert D. and Bernays P., 1968, 1970, Grundlagen der Mathematik, Vol I (1968) and Vol II (1970), Springer, Berlin.

Löb, M.H., 1955, “Solution of a Problem of Leon Henkin”, Journal of Symbolic Logic XX, pp. 115-118.

Marchal B., 2017, “The East, the West and the Universal Machine”, Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Vol. 131, pp. 251260.

Gerson L.P., 2009, Ancient Epistemology, Cambridge University Press, UK, Cambridge.

Solovay R., 1976, “Provability interpretations of modal logics”, Israel Journal of Mathematics, 25, pp. 287-304.

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Systemic Approach of the Evolution in the History and Unexplained Gaps within A provocation to theological thinking Catalin Silviu NUTU

Dept. for General Engineering Sciences, Constanta Maritime University, CMU Constanta, ROMANIA ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 24 July 2018 Received in revised form 22 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.22

The paper is presenting the main stages in the history of mankind using the concept of system and how a certain system of a certain stage is evolving out of the previous stage into another new one using also the mathematical theory pertaining to the transition of a system between two different states. The paper is also dealing with the rational laws and rules governing the economy, laws and rules that are necessary to explain evolution.

One important fact which is resulting out of the paper is that although necessary those economical rules and laws are unfortunately insufficient to explain the gaps one can always find everywhere one looks in the history.

Keywords: n dimensional system of an economic structure; economic stages; utility fuction; economical rules and laws; evolution; transition between the states of a system; gap;

Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. INTRODUCTION

Throughout the paper, the reference to the n-dimensional structure or n-dimensional system is made concerning a certain stage of evolution of the mankind, each sector of that stage of evolution is being seen as a certain dimension in the respective n-dimensional structure/ system.

The n-dimensional structures are modeling a particular stage in the history of mankind could be evolving according to the various theories about the transition between states and laws pertaining to the theory of systems as in [1] and [2].

Together with the first transition in the

evolution of mankind, in order to understand a general transition between any two states of evolution, additional assumptions shall be made, in order to complete the model and to explain a general transition between two any consecutive states and in order to better represent the facts pertaining to such transition.

The transitions in evolution are explained using both concepts: the concept of system as in [1], [2], [3] and [4] and a special type of function called utility function as in [7] and [8]. Although these mathematical concepts seem to be very appropriate to use and could be seen in the first instance as sufficient to explain the respective transitions, we will

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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see that this is not the case, and even if the respective transitions are seen as being very natural for the men living nowadays, they cannot be explained using only the above concepts.

The facts presented throughout the paper are proving the existence of unexplained gaps in the transition from one stage to another, gaps which are leading to the conclusion that much of the transitions could not have taken place without admitting the existence unknown forces, acting and influencing the mankind in mysterious ways when passing from one stage to another.

II.

THE FIRST TRANSITION FOR THE MEN

The chapter is describing the first two stages in the history of men, namely the stage in which the man was hunter and gatherer and the second one when a man had become farmer and animal breeder. It is also enumerating the main assumptions used within the paper to explain the transitions in this ancient economy.

A. The first stage in the history of mankind:

man as hunter and gatherer

The first stage in the history of mankind, namely the stage when the man was hunter and gatherer could be represented in the theory of systems as a two-dimensional system having hunting and gathering of the fruits as the only two dimensions of the respective structure.

This was a rather simple structure, when the man was totally depending on its environment and exclusively on the richness of nature surrounding him. Although very simple, this structure was obviously not very friendly with the life of men, on the one hand, because hunting was a dangerous business to do at that time, and on the other

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hand, the fruits were not always close at hand of the primitive man.

B. The second stage in the history of

mankind: farming and animal breeding

The transition to the second stage in evolution, the stage of farming and animal breeding, although nowadays seemingly a very natural transition to happen, it is supposed to have been reached in a very long period and not entirely from itself.

By comparison with the first one, this second stage of evolution had the advantages that the man was not anymore entirely dependent on nature, he could have had food in every season, and the risks associated to hunting were sensitively diminished.

C. Assumptions made to explain the

transition from the stage of gathering and hunting to the stage of farming and animal breeding

In order to try to grasp somehow the way this transition has taken place more hypothesis, listed below, will be used: This paperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first supposition which seems to be both logical and close at hand, is that, at a certain moment in time, both two dimensional systems, the system of hunting and gathering and the system of farming and animal breeding should have coexisted.

The second assumption used when trying to explain the transition from the first stage to the second one, is related to the theory of systems, but also to theories dealing with the transition from one state to another. The theory of systems and related theories of transition between the states of a system, are very useful to help understand how this first very simple transition in the history of mankind has taken place.

Another third additional assumption

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besides the hypothesis that both, the first stage of evolution and the second one should have cohabited is that the respective transition has taken place, not directly, but by passing through many intermediary phases (intermediary transition states or points) when both of the systems have coexisted.

This assumption that the transition has been made gradually is another common sense assumption, and it is assuming that there were many transition points (combined states) in the whole process of transition.

Another fourth supposition made in order to explain such transitions is that one important necessary but, as we will see, not sufficient condition to explain such transitions is to introduce a particular kind of function, called utility function. The utility function is representing the total amount of benefits calculated for each dimension about the structure, the total utility function of that stage resulting by summing up the utilities of all dimensions at a certain stage.

One way to explain such transition would be to use the theory of closed-loop systems from the theory of systems and to assume that the transition has to take place when the utility of the new dimensions is exceeding the utility of the old structure with a certain significant value, able to determine the decision to give up the previous economic model.

The explanation of this first rather simple transition is holding within the essence of transition between any two stages of evolution and hence it could also enable to understand how a certain general n-dimensional structure can be transformed into another different structure.

III. EXPLAINING THE FIRST TRANSITION

The assumptions from the previous chapter are used therein to explain this first transition in the history but, as one will draw the conclusion, even in the case of this first

most simple transition between the first two rudimentary ancient stages in the history, one will see that one cannot “rationally” explain neither why such nowadays’ “very logical” transition between these two stages has taken place, nor why the first transition has been taken place toward the farmer/ breeder system and not to any another state of the economy.

A. Use of the assumptions in explaining

the transition between the first two economic stages

The four assumptions were made to help to explain this first transformation from a certain two-dimensional structure into another two dimensional one.

Using the assumption that both twodimensional structures should have coexisted and the transition between them has taken place gradually, is resulting in that, in the first phase of the transition process, an additional dimension about the second structure has been initially added, most likely the dimension of farming. This probably happened since it was easier to be added to the economy than the dimension of animal breeding. On the one hand, is much easier to do farming than animal breeding, and on the other hand the domesticized animal had to be fed with some of the farming products.

After this first step has been performed, the initial structure has grown into a three dimensional one, the farming being thus added.

After the utility of the newly introduced sector of farming has proven to be of superior value, the respective dimension is definitely added to the initial structure.

The efficiency of this first half transition could be quantified only regarding risks and of life safety because of food supply since back then no monetary quantification was possible; the men being at the disposal

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of nature were exposed to death due to missing food in the cold seasons.

This three sectorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; economy has been then completed with another important dimension, namely the dimension of the animal breeding, which has occurred like a natural continuation of the former three dimensional structure and has transformed this into the fourth dimensional structure where all the four dimensions pertaining to the first and second stage of history have cohabited.

After the utility of the new introduced sector of animal breeding has proven to be better, the respective dimension has been definitely added to the initial structure.

The advantages of the two added dimensions regarding utility were soon obvious and thus they are finally kept in the ancient economy.

Afterward, the initial two sectors are somehow assessed regarding utility based on the experience of the man and they are given up. Thus, the initial two-dimensional structure gatherer/hunter is replaced with the new one.

This somehow logical pattern will occur from now on, every time in history when a new sector will arise in the economy.

The new sector will be added to the old structure, will be then checked for durability from the viewpoint of its utility and then will be kept or eliminated. Eventually, some other dimensions in the economy will be given up if their utility is lesser than expected. This elimination of the sectors that are not profitable resembles very well to a business liquidation when in the final phase of its cycle, the respective business does not bring anymore the expected profit.

B. Critic to the explanation of the first

at a closer look, one can see that this transition is not actually as obvious and logical as it may seem.

The men could have stayed right in the area where was enough food, that is to say in the warm regions of the world or they could have improved the gathering and hunting techniques, so that the subsequent productivity could have permitted a better survival and the improvement of hunting techniques could have conducted to hunting with minimal or without any risks.

Instead, the initial structure has been totally transformed into another new one.

Asking now, whether the initial structure could have been evolved into another different one is also a very sound and valid question and is related again with the development of the gathering and hunting techniques. Perhaps by doing so, the craftsmanship could have developed in this case much sooner.

This critic which has been brought to this first transition is allowing that one assumes that this initial transition has been made with the intervention of additional unexplained and unseen forces, in such a way that the evolution to the craftsmanship has been made available gradually, when in fact could have been made in a more accelerated way.

The critic is also allowing to see one of the first important unexplained gaps in the history, that cannot be explained only by means of the utility in terms of diminishing risks for survival, because the developing of the gathering and hunting technics could have been produced, theoretically, an even better result. But looking back to this gap, one can easily admit that the divine hand making possible this transition has produced on the long term, a far better result for the humanity.

transition in history

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IV. NEXT MAIN TRANSITIONS IN THE

HISTORY

The next transitions in the history have taken place in a relationship and even determined by this first occurred transition.

Due to the increased quantities of food resulted from the farming and animal breeding which generated more production than the producers could consume, the men soon began to trade the supplementary quantities they did not need. The overproduction generated the commerce which soon in return gave birth to agglomerations of populations called cities. They were marketplaces or centers where the commercial transitions took place. Another consequence of the overproduction and trade was the slavery, which occurred due to the fact that some of the members in the population accumulated more wealth than the others. Then, as a further consequence, in order to protect the interests of the wealthiest, as well from within as well from without of their countries, their laws and accumulations and even to enlarge their wealth, by conquering other territories and creating empires, the armies were created.

The military power further thus supported the foundation of empires equipped with strong monetary systems which allowed the maximization of the quantity of commercial transactions.

The development of weapons and the experience gained in wars has accelerated and has produced new scientific discoveries useful and also very used in times of peace.

It was an interaction between the science and military discoveries, wherein each one influenced back the other. Science and military have been since always interdependent. In most cases, scientific discoveries have been unfortunately used to create better and more effective weapons, true killing machines, but in return, much of

the resources supplied by wars combined with science derived out of wars have been used to improve the scientific knowledge, technology further and eventually conducted to the invention of the industrial machinery.

The new concept of economic battle has appeared and has been used successfully in the literature by overtaking the war technics. The economic warfare was stating that much of the techniques, tactics and strategies used in wars could also be applied when carrying out economic battles, such as can be found in [5] and [6].

By the 18th century the foundation for the industry was laid down and the first industrial revolution begun to take place. It followed the mechanization era in industry and agriculture, the productivity being increased dramatically.

Less than two centuries afterward, together with the invention of the electricity and its applications the history once more deviated from its course.

The electricity initially permitted, among others, the longer and better illumination of homes, the transmissions of messages over long distances, but the best from electricity was yet to come.

The invention of the radio and television were to follow. The invention of the computer and of the increasing better techniques for the integration of larger and larger quantities of circuits on the same surface of circuit board allowed miniaturizing but also the related development of the software which have permitted the occurrence of the new economic sector Information Technology and Communication (IT&C) and of the 4th Industrial Revolution related to the new branch of Internet of Things (IoT).

The most significant result of these new developments is the globalization and the creation of the global market and of the global economy, the borders between the

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states being actually almost wiped out.

The reality of globalization of the world’s economy also has another important implication in modeling the transitions. Since the world’s economy can be now viewed as a closed system, it is actually allowing one to use the model of closed-loop system applied for a closed economy.

V. THE TRANSITION FROM ONE SYSTEM

TO ANOTHER

The theory of systems will be used in this chapter, in order to grasp somehow the transition from one certain state into another.

The mathematical concept of system will help to model a certain economy with n different sectors, each of them representing a dimension in the considered system.

As it has been seen already in the first transition described above, the transition process involves certain necessary steps, as follow: a) Occurrence of a new possible sector to be added to the economy b) Addition of the respective new sector to that economy c) Deciding about the keeping of the new sector based on its growth rate, the utility function and the future correspondent earnings d) Deciding upon elimination of one or more sectors/dimensions from the previous state of the economy, based on their growth rates, utility functions and the correspondent future earnings. Generally a sector is to be given away when its growth rate once very large has reached a maximal value and then, is constantly decreasing over time.

As it will be seen again, although the theory looks good and seems to explain all very well post factum, the evolutions occurred in the history, as one has already Session 14. General Topic: Science and Theology in dialogue

realized from the statements in the first part of the paper, there is no reason to prefer one particular evolution to another possible one that could have happened with almost the same probability rate. Seeing retroactively, all what has happened in the history seems to be extremely logic and somehow it seems to be the only path the things could have gone through, but it is not.

If it would have been so logic as it seems than one could have had always the opportunity to predict the future without any problem, which was never the case. The present always contains within a very large number of alternatives or options equally profitable. The fact that the road is taken in one direction or another cannot be actually explained without accepting unseen and unexplained forces at work, which are governing the evolution, sometimes for bad, sometimes for good.

A. Utility function and aggregated utility of

an economy and of an economic sector

Let us now analyze the evolution of each sector of the first economy. This evolution is usually described by the following utility functions, valid for any evolution of an economic sector:

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economic sector.

Fig. 1 is presenting the first phase of the evolution of any successful economic sector, sector which is to be added later to the respective economy. For this evolution the exponential growth function has been used.

Fig. 2 is presenting the second and last phase of the evolution of that economic sector, sector which is to be eliminated at a certain future time from that economy.

For this evolution the exponential decay function has been used.

By combining both exponential functions, it is resulting the general form of the utility function in the Figure 3, describing the evolution of an economic sector over its entire lifecycle.

From mathematical point of view, in order that the function represented in Fig. 3 does exists, it is necessary that for the inflection point between the graphs from the Fig.1 and Fig.2, the following necessary condition holds:

Because of the fact that most of processes in the economy are said to have exponential evolution over time, that is to say either exponential growth or exponential limitation based on the exponential decay function toward a certain value, both depending of the variable time, we have used in the model exactly this type of time-dependent exponential function to describe the evolution of a certain sector.

This is the reason why in the model of the evolution of an economic sector, the exponential function has been taken into account to represent the utility function associated to the evolution of the respective

By putting et=x and taking to account that since t is representing time, which has always positive values, and since the inflection point is always fulfilling t > 0, it is resulting that solution x should be always strict greater than 1.

The condition (1) is thus becoming:

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However, because x=et, only the second one solution is valid and it is valid only for the case B/A>1, that is to say, in order that the respective utility function of that sector exists, the condition B>A should be fulfilled and its positive solution is producing a time period of t=ln(B/A).

Although the monetary value system was not existing at that ancient time in the human history one can still use the above theory related to the utility function when explaining the elimination of a certain sector and the addition of a new one, because the human life can be expressed in monetary terms, as it has been done lately, in the recent times. According to the theory the value of a human life can be determined by means of the investments made by society, family a.s.o. in the respective person, as well as by the work value of the production that could be performed by the respective person over his entire work life.

This way of thinking can be extrapolated backward in the ancient times, when due to starvation caused by lacking gathered food and because of the deaths caused in the fights with the hunted animals the human lives were lost.

That is why the utility concept can be successfully applied also for the case of first transitions in the ancient economy, because of the greater utility of farming and animal breeding by comparison with the gathering and hunting.

B. Disappearance of an economic sector and

appearance of a new economic sector in a n sector economy explained based on the first transition

Now, using the facts expressed in the previous subchapter we can explain the transitions of the first economy to its second stage of development based on the previously described utility function and the evolution of the respective old and

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new sectors regarding the presented utility function.

A certain economic sector (gathering or hunting) has begun to disappear already when its utility was increasing at an always smaller rate (exponential limitation toward a certain value based on the exponential decay function, represented in the Fig.2 above). The disappearance of economic sectors in an economy is very much the same like the liquidation of a certain business with always lower profit margin rates.

In the very same manner, a certain economic new sector (farming or gathering) has appeared when its utility was increasing at an always higher rate (exponential growth represented in the Fig.1 above). The appearance of a new sector, with an everincreasing utility rate, resembles to the foundation of a new business, based on the financial accumulations from the previous liquidated old businesses.

The very same thing is happening also in a n sector economy where old economic sectors are on their way to elimination making place to newer, more attractive to occur.

Taking now again a look to the general evolution within an economic sector represented by the utility function graph from Fig.3 and taking a glance back in the history, one can see that the inflection points of the sectors of gathering and hunting have occurred after many tens of thousands years. After this initial move, the transition to and the elimination of new occurred economic sectors has happened at an ever accelerating rate. This is meaning that the time interval up to the inflection point, as well as the period until the elimination of the sectors latter occurred, have permanently shortened over the history.

As shall be stated in the next chapter, Conclusions, the moment of occurrence of the inflection points, as well the timing until the total elimination of a certain economic

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sectors, can be never determined and not even estimated, just as an evolution toward a new certain sector or another cannot be anticipated.

Conclusions The elimination of a certain sector and the evolution to a new one is always a straightforward matter only when considering it ex-post facto. Actually, although the things are very clear afterward, nobody can anticipate a certain move of the economy into one particular way or another.

Occurrence of a new economic sector can have a bunch of explanations, such as: poor or bad doings of men, like in the case of environment polluting and the consequent appearance of electric cars, the “soup” of new economic ideas which is somehow “floating” in the air around us, atmosphere which is in fact full of new science and scientific ideas not yet discovered, waiting to be found and also determined by those invisible and unexplained forces, some of them of divine inspiration.

Just as in the occurrence of a new idea in science cannot be explained, the evolution of species from one into another cannot be explained, in the theory of markets when the equilibrium price on the respective market is occurring as if an unseen hand has put it in the respective market to generate the maximization of the transactions, in the same manner the appearance of a new economic sector arising in an economy cannot be explained.

Not only its appearance cannot be rationally and logically ex-ante explained, but also the moment when the transition to another economy is to be made is floating in the very same uncertainty. Although the evolution towards a new economy sector is sometimes visible and can be intuited, the sure addition of the new sector and also the timing of this new addition are always

never known. Sometimes the humans are underestimating but some other times they are overestimating the timing of this new addition of the respective sector in the economy.

The same facts are valid also for the elimination of a certain sector from the respective economy.

This unpredictability of change is conducting to important losses for those companies that have either embraced too soon a new economic sector, or they are still keeping business in economic sectors which are endangered to disappear in the very next period of time.

Although the nowadays’ computing power is far more exceeding any imagination of let us say a person who lived some fifty years ago, even this very large computing power cannot generate enough alternatives with their related probability of occurrence for future evolution, not only for the economy, but for almost any other area of life.

References [1] B. Jora, C. Popeea, Metode de Calcul Numeric in Automatica, Sisteme Liniare [Methods for the Numerical Calculus in Automatics and Linear Systems] (Editura Enciclopedica, Bucuresti, 1996) [2] R. Bellman, Introducere in Analiza Matriceala [Introduction into the Matrix Analysis] (Editura Tehnica, 1969) [3] C. Bishof, The WY Representation of Products of Householder Matrices [4] V. Ionescu, C. Popeea, Conducerea Structurata a Sistemelor Lineare [The Structured Control of the Linear Systems] (Editura Tehnica Bucuresti, 1986) [5] Sun Tzu, Arta Razboiului [The Art of War]

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(Editura Nicol, 2012) [6] Sunt Tzu, Nobila Arta a Razboiului [The Noble Art of War] (Editura Incitatus, 2004) [7] Volkswirtschaftslehre Vorlesungsfolien [The Theory of Economics] (UPB, 1995) [8] Wirtschaftspolitik Vorlesungsfolien [The Economic Policies] (UPB, 1997)

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This paper was presented in the

The 5th Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology. (DIALOGO-CONF 2018)

Multidisciplinary JOURNAL journal homepage: www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

held online, from November 3 - 12, 2018

Can Tolerance be a valid Premise for Interfaith Dialogue?

Fr. Cosmin Tudor Ciocan, PhD Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta Romania

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history: Received 24 July 2018 Received in revised form 26 August Accepted 1 October 2018 Available online 30 November 2018 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2018.5.1.23

When speaking about dialogue we always start looking for methods of presenting best the content of our speech. Approaching another through dialogue does not seem to care much about the will or the desire to accept the other for dialogue since this is the basis of the binary formula of the dialogue. Yet, for the religious dialogue, the things are not at all so clear, I would like to say sometimes; instead, this is the usual issue with the interreligious dialogue. However, when, in the end, we manage to put together two or more religious representatives for dialogue the most intriguing aspect of the dialogue is less of its content and aspects to be put under the attention of the participants, and more about the issue of accepting, tolerating all others aside in this dialogue. Nervousness, anxiety, discomfort, and squirm are the habitual and, even more shocking, the expected features in interfaith dialogue. Well, if this is the main problem in interfaith, being able to bring tolerance in this “toxic” environment, it would be a step forward one would say.

Still, ‘tolerance’ is not the perfect tool for interreligious dialogue on various motifs that we will discover while reading this article. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

Keywords: acceptance; hospitality; intolerance; peace; cooperation; interfaith; dialogue; ignorance; otherness; heresy;

I. What seems to define the

A. Psychology and Physiology

“Tolerance”?

What is, in fact, religious tolerance? Could we consider it a proper and appropriate premise of interreligious dialogue or not?

Why? What are the reasons why religious tolerance (not) is appropriate to any general or inter-confessional relationship in particular? These are some of the reasons for conceiving this chapter.

From its Latin tolerare it was first considered that tolerance was defining the physical capacity of endurance, denoting the action of bearing hardship, or the ability to bear pain and hardship[1]. While an external [sometimes even internal] source of discomfort last more than usual, the capacity of enduring its effects over a prolonged period. This capacity is always subjective, depending on some psychological in principal and physiological in secondary

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attributes. The first are mostly strong will, determination, stubbornly, basic needs or survival instinct while the latter is referring to the adaptation, tolerance threshold, or the integrity of the tissue or organ in question. This physiological capacity of endurance is capable of educating through conscious control of the tolerance threshold performed in multiple and repeated tissue/organ stimulation sequences under discussion with an increasing amount of stimulus. This is the reason why, at this step of defining tolerance, we have placed Psychology and Physiology together. This self-education of the tolerance threshold usually accompanies performance in all sports by lowering it and rising the tolerance capacity. In neurophysiology, this action is translated by the critical level to which a membrane potential must be depolarized to initiate an action potential.

This depolarization is a change within a cell, during which the cell undergoes a shift in electric charge distribution, resulting in a less negative charge inside the cell.

Depolarization is essential to the function of many cells, communication between cells, and the overall physiology of an organism.[2]

Figure 1. Hypothesized sensitization process. The typical response curve (double line) portrays the relationship between pain perception and stimulus intensity. In the presence of sensitization, this curve shifts to the left (double-dashed line). (A) Represents pain onset in the average response condition; (B) represents hyperalgesia, in which a stimulus intensity that causes pain onset in the normal condition is perceived as more painful after sensitization; (C) represents allodynia, in which a stimulus Session 14. General Topic: Science and Theology in dialogue

intensity below that of usual onset is now perceived as painful.[3] While making a single, spot stimulus the ability of feeling is accurate, in its full capacity, the prolonged sensitization may further decrease the ability for interventions to be effective. “Changes in thresholds or sensitivity detected at non-painful sites indicate central sensitization. For example, in the patient with shoulder pain, increased sensitivity to thermal or mechanical input in the contralateral shoulder and/or leg would be interpreted as central sensitization.”[4] It is thus a fact that prolonged sensitization as well as progressing to chronic pain syndromes characterize the decrease of somatosensory thresholds, which is translated into the usual language by the habit/ordinariness of stimulus or tolerance.

For example, hearing a certain ‘visible’ sound makes us sharp to an external stimulus from the source location; while the prolonging of it makes us incapable of hearing it or other sounds coming from the same source. It directly goes into the background landscape of sound sensation, because the central nervous system enters the repressing stage, inhibiting the brain zone (i.e., in the auditory midbrain, thalamus, and primary auditory cortex) where the sound was reproducing (hyperacusis)[5].

Another possible factor that can be used to increase or decrease sensitivity in the tolerance interest is the association between two or more sensations over the same, single stimulus. It is known for humans and other animals that, regardless of the predominant sense that characterizes each species, every association between senses always lead to better sense the stimulus. For example, sounds can boost the awareness of visual events through attention without cross-modal integration[6]. Also, chirurgical intervention or accidental injuries can diminish to erase the feeling accuracy and thus increase the potential tolerance to

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infinity. It is also notorious that the use of drugs can alter this tolerance, either by increasing or by decreasing it, causing inactivation to the peripheral sensitivity or the central nervous system stimulation thus the threshold potential is reached prematurely.

Considering all these biomedical data, we can conclude to our present aim that the tolerance to stimulus is a capacity of resisting to unwanted, bad stimulus, that this capacity can be altered, positive and negative by prolonging its influence or by increasing it. We also acknowledge that for various compartments of life [usually the competitive ones] tolerance needs to be lowered so that the normal behavior of the individual can continue under the influence of this stimulus long after its occurrence.

Moreover, also that there exist internal and external factors that influence the tolerance threshold, such as motivation, strong will, basic needs, …The prolonged stimulation can alter the perception of the stimulus from tolerance to its disappearance from the conscious level. All these are relevant data to be regarded when researching for the best way of having an interreligious dialogue and cohabitation.

B. Social determination of the concept

In these circumstances [of homeostatic behavior] we can proceed now to the social level of defining tolerance. Conceived as the natural or developed ability to resist the effects of the continued or increasing use of drug tolerance, in general, is thereby an allowable deviation from a standard or the theoretical ideal[7]. As for the social acceptance, it is the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behavior that one dislikes or disagrees with[8].

C. Religious acceptance of tolerance

Phrases like ‘Racial and religious tolerance

is critical for a peaceful existence’ are increasingly used in the entire world in these later, conflictual days. It is mostly placed against the religious fundamentalism and defined as being an axiological value of the liberal theology, a critical position of secular humanism and liberal tolerance in religious matters. This became one of the central tenets of a liberal agenda, to enshrine the principle of religious tolerance and religious non-discrimination. It is a sinequanon condition of social existence to our cvasiplural existence. Still, it never became a problem its negative side of definition.

We have seen that tolerance is an allowable deviation from a standard. Tolerance can be seen as ‘a flawed virtue’ because it concerns acceptance of the differences between others and ourselves that we would rather fight, ignore, or overcome[9]. At the level of revenging equality of existence to plural entities, “live and let them live,” tolerance is assimilated with acceptance, but this is its best, top, ideal meaning. At this level, tolerance is consciously controlled, with all the negative sides overcame. That is the decreased sensitivity for normality, the repressing inhibiting stage, or adaptation to what is usually considered bad, unwanted, and harmful. Suddenly, from a negative reaction to bad stimulus, tolerance became the number one social virtue: ‘Good things automatically meet with approval; bad things test our ability to show tolerance.’

D. Singularity vs. Plurality

Envisioning a ‘culture of tolerance,’ Rev. prof. Emmanuel Agius (University of Malta) describes tolerance as a formula of civilized coexistence of all the participants in social relations with their diverse opinions, convictions, beliefs, points of view, and other characteristics.[10] This social new way of defining tolerance starts from a different angle of establishing wrong and bad. If up to 100 years ago the societies were based

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on wright and wrong, the stable, reliable, and lasting existence of social life were built mostly on singularity. There couldn’t be accepted a variety of truths. Alternative and parallelism was never a social philosophy; instead, majority and mainstream structure(s)/institution(s)/religion were the coordinates that methodized all the social actors. As so, tolerance and acceptance of otherness was a weakness, a deficiency, a drawback. What changed from 100 years ago? – Overpopulation and overcrowded metropolis, diversity, and cvasi-pluralism.

Therefore, however ‘flawed’ a virtue it may be, tolerance may be the only thing that stands between peaceful coexistence and violent intergroup conflict[11]. In nowadays societies singularity is no longer a standing point of measuring life. Instead, society began to foster multi-ethnicity, multiculturalism, and more and more the boundaries between cultures, beliefs, and habits tend to scatter while ‘default culture’ inclines to has no meaning. This globalized situation and structure of human society are disposed of such that all individuals, as well as the groups, have equal rights. This stands as the beginning of a meaningless wrong idea, improper conduct, evil belief, etc.

So, whereas the society became a crowd of antagonist things, a joint of dissonant existences, tolerance contains the inherent paradox of accepting the things one rejects or objects to. What is the need for tolerance, even at its negative acceptance? We have already seen the response from the medical perspective: unless you go tolerant with what is usually considered bad, unwanted, and harmful, the result is even worse and Devastator to the organism. That is why tolerance and adaptation are regarded as a homeostatic change, in the benefit of the organism/psychic with less loss then the endurance of full-awareness of stimulus would bring. It is less harmful to one to adapt by changing a conception, a position over something, previously considered bad Session 14. General Topic: Science and Theology in dialogue

as opposed to one’s thinking, than living with a continued fight against it. This is an adaptive process that helps you move on and get over the conflictual coexistence with others, while considering to deal with other more important things in your life.

“Otherwise, interpersonal and inter-group disagreements and conflicts, i.e. intolerance, will lead the society to destruction.”[12] II. Respect and tolerance, recognition

and redistribution, as means of conflict prevention and resolution According to UNESCO, the “Declaration of tolerance” 1995, “Tolerance is respect, acceptance, and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human”[13].

That way tolerance is no longer a negative reaction to unwanted stimulus, but a positive expression of generosity and courtesy thought appreciative respect of otherness.

The willingness to share positive sentiments may be further enhanced coexistence, leaving the negative definition of striving endurance repealing factors though social obligation. Tolerance is defined today as the old “brother in arms,” “sharing feelings of loyalty, devotion, obligation, investment, and even entrapment in salient relational bonds”[14].

Originated in the United States, in the writings of the American founders like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and in the United States Constitution with its provisions for the toleration of religious differences and the protection of religious freedom, this last concept was reinterpreted from its negative acceptation to a newer, rational and liberal form.

Thus, the term tolerance [i.e., referring to the religious association] went from a pejorative connotation, namely, “a permissive or complacent attitude towards evil”[15], from a “careless indulgence”

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when it was deemed as a heresy, from the neutral attitude of ignorance [i.e., of the differences between us], towards the very liberal meaning of acceptance, welcoming pluralism, and praising the Otherness, and towards hospitality. While some “understand toleration to signify no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter is looked upon with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful”[16], for others tolerance is a key principle of interfaith for its continue to struggle against persecution, fighting against the intolerance, fanaticism and religious hatreds. Due to this term, we can now construe interreligious dialogue on behalf of the principles of liberty of conscience, mutual tolerance, and religious coexistence and diversity.

In conclusion, for the religion to contribute to peace, we need tolerance in public space, an attitude that helps alleviate escalating conflict between religious strangers. Tolerance, however, is not enough. Robust hospitality is the key.

Hospitality reaches out to the stranger. It makes the religious stranger welcome. A primary difference between tolerance and hospitality is that tolerance can remake or reshape the other into an acceptable, that is, familiar or similar image, while hospitality requires acknowledging that the other, the stranger, really is different.[17] Indeed, when, in the end, we manage to put together two or more religious representatives for dialogue the most intriguing aspect of this picture is less of its content to be put under the attention of the participants, and more about the issue of accepting, tolerating all others placed aside in this dialogue. Nervousness, anxiety, discomfort, and squirm are the habitual and, even more shocking, the expected features in interfaith dialogue.

Well, if this is the main problem in interfaith,

being able to bring tolerance in this “toxic” environment, it would be a step forward one would say. Still, ‘tolerance’ is not the perfect tool for interreligious dialogue on various motifs that we will discover while reading this article. Barth said that dialogue requires love, not tolerance, and not only love for the sake of officially acknowledge God’s commandment, but a sacrificial love, a greater virtue than that of tolerance for “while tolerance pertains principally to ideas, love pertains to persons and in sitting with those who believe different things than we do, we do not simply play with ideas but engage in love for the other”[18].

In that sense, secular liberalism can also be called a passive pluralism: tolerance is understood as a passive respect for the individual and collective rights to religious freedom, and ends in the ideas of mutual noninterference and the (strict) neutrality of the government, public institutions, and public space.

Biography Ciocan Tudor Cosmin, born in Constanta/ Romania in 1977, has attended several theological and psychological schools (BA, MB, Ph.D.), obtained the Ph.D. in Missiology and Doctrinal Theology in 2010. I was ordained as an Orthodox priest in 2002. A high-school teacher from 1998, then Professor assistant and Lecturer from 2012, I have written more than 50 papers on theology and psychology, along with four single-author books in the past two decades.

In 2013 I started a multidisciplinary program aiming to engage scholars from different files into friendly and academic debates with theology and in the same year a Research Center was founded in Ovidius University with researchers from 11 fields.

In less than one year I manage to gather people from all over the world around this idea, and so we have started Dialogo Conferences project. In 2014 I received

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a Fulbright scholarship, and I spent the summer in California and four other States in the USA, gathering data and understanding how religious pluralism is possible at a high level of involvement; at the same time I made friends from many different countries and religions that are now involved in this project or another, helping in his endeavor.

(Endnotes) [1]

[2]

[3]

[4] [5]

[6]

[7]

The Oxford Living Dictionaries, https:// en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/ tolerance.

“Depolarization”, in Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depolarization, accessed May/June, 2018. Cited from Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, et al., eds.

(2001). Neuroscience (2. ed.). Sunderland, Mass: Sinauer Assoc. ISBN 0-87893-742-0.

John Borstad and Christopher Woeste, “The role of sensitization in musculoskeletal shoulder pain”, in Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, ISSN 1809-9246, Braz. J. Phys. Ther. vol.19 no.4 São Carlos July/Aug. 2015 Epub Aug 07, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/bjptrbf.2014.0100. Retrieved from http://ref.scielo. org/82yjwx.

Ibidem.

Primary auditory cortex, but not subcortical centers, showed elevated activation specifically related to tinnitus. The results directly link hyperacusis and tinnitus to hyperactivity within the central auditory system. Jianwen Wendy Gu, Christopher F. Halpin, Eui-Cheol Nam, Robert A., Levine, and Jennifer R. Melcher, “Tinnitus, Diminished Sound-Level Tolerance, and Elevated Auditory Activity in Humans with Clinically Normal Hearing Sensitivity”, in PresS. J Neurophysiol (September 29, 2010). doi:10.1152/jn.00226.2010 Márta Szabina Pápai & Salvador Soto-Faraco, “Sounds can boost the awareness of visual events through attention without cross-modal integration”. In Scientific Reports, 7, Article number: 41684 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1038/ srep41684. Retrieved from https://rdcu. be/9n8F, accessed October, 2018.

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright ©

Session 14. General Topic: Science and Theology in dialogue

HarperCollins Publishers.

Isbasoiu Iulian, „L’éducation religieuse en Roumanie et les Recommandations de l’Assemblée Parlementaire du Conseil de l’Europe”, in vol. Religious education in the european context, București: Ed. Didactică și Pedagogică, RA, 2014, pp. 252-267.

[9] Marjoka van Doorn, “The nature of tolerance and the social circumstances in which it emerges”, in Current Sociology, June 2014, 1. DOI: 10.1177/0011392114537281.

The online version of this article can be found at: http://csi.sagepub.com/content/ early/2014/06/11/0011392114537281 [10] Emmanuel Agius and Jolanta Ambrosewicz, Towards a Culture of Tolerance and Peace.

Montreal (Quebec): International Bureau for Children’s Rights, 2003, 11.

[11] Marjoka van Doorn, “The nature of tolerance…”, 1.

[12] Emmanuel Agius, Towards a Culture of Tolerance and Peace…, 11.

[13] Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, General Conference of UNESCO, November 1995, 9. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0015/001518/151830eo.pdf, accessed in October 2018.

[14] C. David Mortensen, Optimal Human Relations: The Search for a Good Life, New York: Routledge, 2008 (online book, unnumbered).

[15] Paul Mendes-Flohr, “The Promises and Limitations of Interfaith Dialogue”, in Criterion, vol 50.1/2013, 4.

[16] Perez Zagorin, How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006, 23.

[17] Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Trinity and Revelation: A constructive Christian theology for the pluralistic world, Michigan, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014, 683.

[18] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, ed. and trans.

G.W. Bromiley and T.F. Torrance, 14 vols.

(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956-1975), 1, pt.2:299 apud Tom Greggs, “Bringing Barth’s Critique of Religion to the inter-faith Table”, In: The Journal of Religion, Vol. 88, No. 1, 01.2008, p. 85.

[8]

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