What will become a Wiki for the PCTS.
What will become a Wiki for the PCTS.
Maps of the CDSP area in the GTU,
where the meeting will occur.
Friday we will hear from William O'Neill, SJ, (JSTB), The Wisdom of Serpents? Religion in the Public Realm and Nazeer Ahmed, Ph.D., Faith and the Dialogue of Civilization. (Dr. Ahmed was Chief Engineer on the Hubble Space Telescope and worked on the Saturn, Apollo, and Moon Landing projects. His two books, Islam in Global History and What Makes Us Human? A Spiritual Perspective earned him international recognition.)
At 5:30 p.m., our usual convivial Happy Hour and dinner will take place at D'Autremont Hall, Pacific School of Religion. The charge for the meal will be $25. If you are planning to come please let Sharon Burch know so she can tell the dining room how many meals to prepare. Sharon can be reached at spburch@att.net or (415) 256-1842.
At 7 p.m. Ted Peters will deliver a free public lecture in the Tucson Room ``The Wolves of Jack London: Darwin, Sin, and Human Nature.''
On Saturday, a continental breakfast will be available at 9:30 a.m. in the Tucson Room at CDSP.
We will hear from Erin Brigham (USF), Communicative Rationality and Public Theology: Some Implications of Contemporary Critical Theory on Theological Method Today and Daren Erisman (GTU), Hilm, Kenosis, and Tzimtzum: Power and Public Policy.
We will adjourn promptly at noon. We hope to see you there!
Dues are $45 per academic year for actively employed scholars and $22.50 for retirees and students.
After dinner,
Details:
Erin Brigham,
``Communicative Rationality and Public Theology:
Some Implications of Contemporary Critical Theory on Theological Method Today''
Current debates on the role of religion in the public sphere
challenge theologians to develop methodologies that address the
possibility of religious discourse in a secular, post-modern
context. This paper responds to that challenge by revisiting the
classic debate between David Tracy and George Lindbeck on the
possibility of public theology. By analyzing the underlying
philosophies of language behind their respective positions and
critiquing both approaches with Jürgen Habermas's framework of
communicative rationality, I construct a methodological proposal that
presents religious discourse as public narratives.
Bill O'Neill:
``The Wisdom of Serpents?: Religion in the Public Realm''
Religion remains a stubborn inheritance. The ``ultimate and most
sublime values'' have not, as Weber believed, retreated from public
life; nor is the rights talk of Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, or
Benedict XVI ``godless and prophetless.'' But what is the role of
religious belief in complex, pluralist societies? Should religion
disturb our undogmatic slumbers? In this essay, I will explore the
place of religious belief in public life, with particular attention
to modern Roman Catholic social teaching. In part (i), I analyze the
threefold role played by religion in interpreting, motivating, and
justifying political reasoning. Underlying my argument is the
proposition that we best conceive modern human rights discourse as
neither a narrative nor a meta-narrative, but as practical ``grammar''
of narration. Religious narratives may thus play a critical role in
redeeming basic human rights. In part (ii), I explore the
implications of this role for our public, religious rhetoric. For in
their shared, public reasoning, citizens of faith, I argue, are bound
by its maxims, i.e., of respect, reasonableness, and responsibility.
In the final part (iii), I apply the fruits of our analysis to the
vexed issue of abortion policy.
The PCTS Endowment at the GTU: .doc, .pdf .
The Spring Meeting was Friday and Saturday April 9 and 10, at CDSP in the Tucson Common Room.
Joan Roughgarden:
Animal Behavior papers
and
God, Science, Sex, Gender
Respondents were Oliver Putz and Tony Battaglia
Braden Molhoek, ``Undermining Determinism: Stuck Between a Rock and a Sandy Place.'' Respondent was John Braverman, SJ, of the University of Santa Clara.
The Saturday Morning session was a discussion of Mark Graves' book, Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul (Ashgate Science and Religion Series).
Respondents were Alejandro Garcia-Rivera, Michael Dodds, and Andrew Porter.
A map of CDSP, showing the Tucson Common Room, where we met. More CDSP maps.
Meeting info is also here, at the PCTS wiki.
We meet in the Badé Museum both Friday (2:00 pm until 8:00pm) and Saturday (9:30 am untill noon). Friday, discussion of papers from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, followed by business meeting, happy hour, dinner, and autobiography; Saturday, Continental breakfast at 9:30, with papers from 10:00 am until noon.
The autobiographer will be Norman Gottwald.
Papers for the 2009 Fall Meeting, October 23-24:
Friday, October 23:
Oliver Putz, ``Do Apes Pray? The problem of Human Theological Uniqueness''; respondent is Tony Battaglia. (This paper has recently appeared in Zygon.)
Brian Green, ``Cognitive Science and Aristotelian Virtue: Nature and Telos''; respondent is Michael Dodds, OP.
Saturday, October 24:
Sheila Taylor, ``Original Sin and Narrative Orientation''; respondent is Herman Waetjen.
Jennifer Veninga, ``Imagination as an Instrument of Social Change:
Soren Kierkegaard and Percy Bysshe Shelley in Dialogue'';
respondent is Norman Gottwald.
Order of papers and respondents TBA
Treasurer's report: .doc, .pdf .
The PCTS Endowment at the GTU: .doc, .pdf .
(2008-11-25)
The Secretary is Ted Peters,
[tpeters2ct -at- aol -dot- com]
The Treasurer is Sharon P. Burch, [spburch -at- rcn -dot- com].
Email to [info -at- pcts -dot- org]
presently forwards to Andrew Porter;
hopefully, it will soon forward to others
on the executive committee also.
Andrew Porter
is the maintainer of this web page for the time being,
though that is changing.
He can be reached by email at [app -at- jedp -dot- com].
774 Joyce Street
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 443-4041
Email doesn't always make it through the spam filter, alas;
the GTU may or may not know what to do with mail for the PCTS,
and the secretary may or may not remember to pick up the mail.
Telephone is often best.