This essay presents the result of a quantitative study made among contemporary pagans in Sweden. The study, which is based on an Internet survey, examines which types of pagan practices that are most common and what kind of troubles pagan faith could cause in the practitioners daily life. The study also examines whether the historical tradition and the archaeological facts behind a contemporary pagan movement serves as a pattern or an inspiration for the practitioners way of leading their lives or performing rituals. It also examines the correlation between the participants sex and their pagan tradition. The study shows that a vast majority of the 132 participants claimed to belong to an Old Norse tradition, but also believed in different beings of nature and nature religion. A majority of the participants viewed historical and archaeological facts with a connection to their faith more as an inspiration to their religious practices than actual religious rules.

Sverige blev först i världen 1981 med att officiellt erkänna teckenspråket som dövas första språk. Det görs en uppdelning av döva teckenspråkiga personer i äldre och yngre döva, eftersom deras språkliga situation i hem och i skola är olika. Uppdelningen går mellan dem som gick i skolan på 1960-talet och tidigare och dem som började skolan vid 1980-talets början och fram till nu. Under 1970-talet användes en svenskanpassad undervisningsform där teckenspråket mer och mer började accepteras, men där döva hamnade mellan två stolar. Uppsatsen tar sin utgångspunkt från en representant från gruppen äldre döva och hans berättelse. Syftet är att undersöka teckenspråkskommunikationen i förskola och skola för barn i gruppen yngre döva. Genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie är syftet att belysa pedagogernas teckenspråkskommunikation vid bemötandet av barnens eventuella frågor om död. För att besvara uppsatsens frågeställning har åtta pedagoger verksamma i förskola och skola, för döva och hörselskadade barn, intervjuats enskilt. Alla åtta pedagoger är hörande och har talad svenska som sitt första språk. Tidigare forskning gällande barns tankar om döden, teckenspråkskommunikation och livsfrågor har studerats. Resultatet visar att pedagogernas livserfarenhet har gett dem öppenhet att kommunicera livsfrågor, men det råder stor kunskapsbrist i teckenspråk för att möjliggöra detta. Det finns ett stort samverkansbehov hos pedagogerna för att ge barnen tillgång till ett meningstolkande sammanhang.

Denna text tar sin utgångspunkt i frågan om moralisk pluralism i dagens Sverige är möjlig. Forskning visar på att en grupp präglad av mångfald kan drabbas av samarbetssvårigheter, men det motsatta är inte garant för ett gott resultat. Enligt Fredrik Gregorius anpassar sig religiösa minoriteter ofta till det omgivande samhällets ide om etik och moral. Denna text undersöker om det finns något som skulle kunna benämnas hednisk etik i Samfundet Forn Seds egen tidning. Källmaterialet består av ett flertal artiklar från #20 respektive #35-36. De teoretiska begrepp som använts är antropocentrism samt universalism, vilka härrör från judisk och kristen etisk idétradition. Materialet har studerats med en metod för argumentationsanalys framtagen av Stephen Toulmin, vilken lämpar sig väl för att lyfta fram implicita antaganden om exempelvis människan. Det huvudsakliga resultatet pekar på att det finns minst två olika typer av hednisk etik en värdeontologisk och en dygdetisk. Båda antas ha sin grund i en föreställning om förnuft och därmed betraktas som universella värden/dygder. Naturen antas dock ha värde och rättigheter oberoende av människan i och med sin helighet, vilket innebär att exempelvis värden som frihet begränsas av naturens existensberättigande. Antropocentrismen är således inte lika framträdande som inom kristendomen och judendomen, men det finns andra beröringspunkter såsom en föreställning om en naturlig lag och att etiken är förnuftsbaserad, dessa likheter sammanfaller dock inte med samtliga judiska/kristna traditioner. / This paper starts with the question whether moral pluralism is possible in Sweden or not. Research shows that a group characterized by diversity is subjected to difficulties in cooperation, but the opposite is not a guarantee for a good result. According to Fredrick Gregorius, religious minorities often adapt to the surrounding societies' idea of ethics and moral. This text investigates if there is something that can be called pagan ethics in the community Forn Seds own newspaper. The source material consists of several articles from #20 and #35-36. The theoretical concepts that have been used are anthropocentrism and universalism, which is derived from Jewish and Christian ethical traditions. The material has been studied with a method of analysis of argumentation formed by Stephan Toulmin, which is suitable for highlighting implicit assumptions. The main result shows that there are at least two different types of pagan ethics, a value ontological and a virtuous theory. Both are assumed to have their foundation in the notion of reason and thus are regarded as universal values/virtues. However, nature is believed to have values and rights independent of humans because of nature's sanctity, which means that values for example, such as freedom, is limited because of the rights of nature to exist. Anthropocentrism is not as prominent as in Christianity and Judaism, but there are points of reference such as a notion of a natural law and that ethics is based on reason, these similarities, however, do not coincide with all Jewish/Christian traditions. Keywords

Uppsatsarbetet syftar till en förförståelse för hur studie- och yrkesvägledare arbetar och reflektera kring vägledningssamtal med elever i migration. Ett annat syfte är att lyfta fram elevernas migraionsberättelser som en del i vägledningssamtalet.

Abstract Purpose: In this essay a limited and specific selection of poems by the Swedish poet Nils Ferlin, has been analyzed in order to find various images of Christ. By using these images of Christ, a possible Christology within the poems by Ferlin, will then be elucidated, a so called Ferlinian Christology. The theoretical perspective used in the analysis is one of high versus low Christology i.e. whether the emphasis is focused on Christ as divine, or Christ as human. Method: The used method is hermeneutic, and the chosen poems have been ascribed autonomy in order to verify their message, rather than the message of the author. The poems have been read and analyzed with a text oriented focus. Result: The result of this study is that a various number of images of Christ can be found within the selected poems by Ferlin. In some poems the image of Christ is described by the views of others; persons in the immediate surroundings of Jesus, or first-hand witnesses to the events of the Gospels. Some images show Christ as an explored tool in the hands of dogmatic structures, where the death of atonement on the Cross is problematized, along with people’s misuse of the death of atonement as a free pass to heaven, instead of taking responsibility of their own sins. Other images of Christ in the poems are more positive; showing Jesus as an inspiration, a beacon and a compass of morality. The most striking image, however, is the one of Christ as someone who places mercy above all. Conclusion: A Ferlinian Christology can be seen primarily as low Christology since it is putting the emphasis on the humanity of Christ, and partly problematizing the divinity of Christ. A Ferlinian Christology emphasize the living Christ and the Christ one finds in the Gospels. The Christ found in the dogmas is not showing the truth. The Christ living and acting in the interest of the weak and marginalized people, is the one who ought to be seen upon with respect and as a beacon of morality and truth. Key words: poetry, Christology, Christ, hermeneutics, Ferlin

We live in a so-called late-modern age where religion and various world-views are something one must relate to in society, no matter what one thinks of that and wherever one lives in the world. This statement applies not least if we are to be able to live in consensus with each other and if we want a world with fewer conflicts, which I, without any evidence, claim that the majority of the world´s population wants.     The fact that people with different truth claims, religions an world-views live side by side as today, is not a new phomenon globally and historically, but the Christian conformity that was formerly the practice in the West has today been replaced by a multitude of world-views through increased immigration and through increased secularization.     The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and describe the mission of religious philosophy in a late-modern, multi-religious, pluralistic world. And in the first place to find out what the three religious philosophers Kevin Schilbrack from USA, Mikael Stenmark from Sweden and Nick Trakakis from Australia say about this. By comparing their perceptions with each other, I want to point out similarities and differences and see why I mean that the discipline should be developed for one or the other direction.     I advocate that religion of philosophy continues to work with the methods by which one seeks to understand, describe and explain different religions ans world-views, as well as critically review, assess or evaluate them. This is because the philosophy of religion is to be taken seriously in order for philosophy of religion to take society seriously. Religion of philosophy should also study lived religion as a complement to the textculture.     Moving the starting point to the religion you are studying can also be of benefit to the study of religious philosophy in order to get a more accurate picture of foreign religions. The advantage of what I advocate here is that in the future we can get a philosophy of religion that is not normative, defined that it has the starting point in theism, that the confessional is the norm, or relativistic.

No description available.

In this essay I have taken a look at the discourse surrounding the cunning folk of Swedish folklore. By analysing folk legends I have attempted to discover what place the cunning folk held in religious and secular society. Through analysis of the thoughts, beliefs and discourse surrounding what help, harm and use of religious symbols were ascribed to the cunning folk in the material I have come to the conclusion that the cunning folk existed in an ambivalent state within society. They were seen and talked of as both helpful and harmful, and they were placed on the outskirts of the practices of the Christian church. All of this in turn gave them a set a part position, both in a positive and negative sense, in both the religious and secular society alike. Through the theory and method of discourse analyses I will show how the societal discourse surrounding the cunning folk both shaped their place and was shaped by their presence in society.

No description available.

The aim of the present thesis is twofold: first, to analyse some practical ethical problems that stem from the workplace and the working environment and to offer guidelines concerning how such problems can be solved; second, to illuminate how the specific nature of work and the working environment is intimately connected to the relation between the employee and the employing entity, as set forth in an employment contract, and how the form and content of such contracts are, among other things, determined by culturally and socially established ideas. The normative question to be addressed is thus: which of these ideas should be maintained? This can be seen as a second-order, or more fundamental, ethical question whose answer depends on determining which normative principles are right. An additional aim of this thesis is thus to illuminate that the contract relation has relevance to practical ethical problems in the workplace context in this second-order mode. The thesis consists of an Introduction and five papers. In Paper I (written together with Sven Ove Hansson) we argue that employees have a prima facie right to privacy, but that this right can be overridden by competing moral principles that follow, explicitly or implicitly, from the contract of employment. A set of ethical criteria is developed and summarized in the form of a guideline for determining the moral status of infringements into workplace privacy. In Paper II these criteria are applied to three broad classes of privacy-intrusive workplace practices: (1) monitoring and surveillance, (2) genetic testing, and (3) drug testing. In relation to some scenarios on these themes, it is shown that it is possible to handle such practical ethical problems systematically by way of the proposed guideline. Paper III deals with the fact that employees are protected by health and safety standards that are less protective than those that apply to the general public. Emphasis is put on the distinction between exposure and risk, and this distinction is claimed to be a key determinant for the relevance of arguments put forward in support of such double standards. In Paper IV the nature of the contract of employment is explored from an ethical point of view. An argument is developed against the claim that (a) the individual’s freedom of decision and (b) the practice of institutional arrangements are sufficient to justify a contract of employment. Paper V questions the standpoint that the voluntariness of the contracting parties in an employment relationship has substantial value. One overarching issue concerns the meaning of voluntariness in the employment context, another, its normative importance. It is argued that it is indeterminate exactly where the line should be drawn between voluntary and non–voluntary agreements in this context. Concerning the latter issue, it is claimed that even if we were able to draw such a line, this fact does not tell us anything about the normative importance of the voluntariness condition, nor how much normative weight we should assign to the fulfilment of its conditions in the workplace context. / QC 20100915