Invitation to an International Conference

Re-Learning to Be Human for Global Times: 

Contemporary Tendencies of Studies in Philosophy of Religion: Hermeneutical Approach

People's Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia

December 19-21, 2017

Conference Program

Theme

The conference will entail a general discussion on philosophical, religious and methodological issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. It will include specialists in various branches of philosophical and religious studies who are interested in this topic.

It seems modern Western civilization finds itself in a deep spiritual crisis. This has affected the development of traditional religious institutions especially in the Western countries. The inversion of this situation could see in various radical and even extremist religious trends in recent years as well as ultraconservative trends within traditional religions to fill in the void of people’s worldview created by this crisis.

These two trends are actually similar because both restrict the freedom of their believers and hence limit the personal contact with the Divine. Freedom and its growth are an integral part of a true religiosity, which helps promote, rather destruct, genuine personality of the human being. Research on this problematic is pertinent for today’s world; it can be conducted and realized in a range of paradigms and with the help of various methods. For instance, the religious hermeneutics of Gerhard Oberhammer can offer such a forward-looking method. Although his method was formed based on the European philosophical tradition in the West, it can be employed in other parts of the world to analyze different sacred texts from different religions and cultures, such as the Indian, the Chinese, the Jewish, the Muslim, etc. However, it is essential to compare Oberhammer’s writings and his method with the earlier philosophical views and other philosophical traditions on religion and religiosity in the field of philosophy of religion. The development of this particular discipline is the continuation of its past.

Papers are invited to address the following topics:

1. Philosophy and religion

2. Religion and identity

3. Dialogue between religions

4. The history of philosophy in the context of religious-philosophical investigations

5. The religious hermeneutics of Gerhard Oberhammer and the investigation of the philosophical traditions of India

6. Visa advaita and contemporary investigations of Indian philosophy

Conference Information

The conference’s working languages will be Russian and English.

The abstracts of all conference presenters along with full papers will be published before the conference.

Dates: December 19-21, 2017.

Venue: Campus of the Russian Peoples’ Friendship University (PFU), Moscow, Russia

Please submit a one-page abstract by June 15, 2017 to Professor Ruzana Pskhu [r.pskhu@mail.ru]. The presentation of accepted papers will be 25 minutes in length, followed by 10-minute discussion. Final papers, for which there is no upper page limit, will be due by September 1, 2018 for publication.

Logistics: All travel expenses and accommodations will be covered by participants (or their institutions); visa support will be provided by PFU.