Texte remanié de: Proefschrift--Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 484-505.

Texte remanié de: Doct. th. / Bibliogr. p. 233-271. Index.

One issue that has been generating considerable debate within the philosophy of religion is whether or not certain religious experiences could provide at least some evidence towards justifying beliefs in the existence of a divine being. Within the literature, positive accounts are typically referred to as arguments from religious experience. I aim to contribute to this debate in two ways. First, many versions of the argument from religious experience rely on a simple perceptual model in order to understand and assess the evidential value of religious perceptual experiences. However, I shall be developing a specified perceptual model that allows for the relational dimensions of religious perceptual experiences to be taken into account. I refer to this model as the care relational model. Second. many versions of the argument from religious experience only include a superficial assessment of the role testimony plays in relation to justifying religious belief's grounded in religious experiences. I shall attempt to remedy this by assessing the evidential value of religious perceptual experiences in light of recent developments in the philosophy of testimony.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tamara Pereira de Souza.pdf: 1637759 bytes, checksum: 0b02e8cb66e06e2d13e24219345a9f99 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In recent years, more specifically since the modern era, the phenomena rituals have been object of formation of concepts both in the context of the studies of Sciences of Religion, as well as of the social sciences. Within this perspective, Edmund Leach proposed a model of time ritual where in each intermission of ritual festivities, situated between periods of social life, represents a change from the normal order-profane existence to the unusual order-sacred and thus retroactively. However, when addressing the knowledge about the intermission of Sacred Time, in Leach configured in his own time ritual proposal and conceived as a taboo area, marginal, from another world, we have identified that this represents an area insufficiently studied by the same author who interpreted this ritual domain exclusively, from mythological elements associated with the notion of Cronus, leading us to assume that some issues have been "hidden". .In this respect, and taking as a reference that, for some traditions of ancient Greece, the time was designed from a dual perspective, our research focused on an interpretation of Sacred time interval, in Leach in the light of Kairos. This research which was developed based on the bibliographical research method, reached results indicating that while the time interval, in Leach interpreted in the light of the myth of Cronus, manifests itself as part of a linear sequence which combines switchovers and stops between Sacred Time while this same interval ritual associated with kairological time, denotes not a part of time, but its origin or an outburst of eternity in time pulsing between speed (continuum) and immobility, follows an irreversible and one-way course when time rewinds and stops. It is expected from the results of this research to contribute to the context of the Sciences of Religion, Social Sciences and Psychology regarding the knowledge of the Sacred Time in Leach as benchmarks for future researchers who intend to discuss and deepen the theme / Nos últimos anos, mais especificamente, desde a era moderna os fenômenos rituais, tem sido objeto de formação de conceitos tanto no contexto de estudo das Ciências da Religião, quanto das Ciências Sociais. Dentro desta perspectiva Edmund Leach propôs um modelo de tempo ritual em que cada intervalo de festividades rituais, situado entre períodos da vida social, representa uma mudança da ordem Normal-Profana da existência para a ordem Anormal-Sagrada e, assim, retroativamente. Contudo, ao abordarmos o intervalo de Tempo Sagrado, em Leach concebido como uma zona tabu, marginal, do outro mundo, identificamos que este representa um domínio insuficientemente estudado pelo mesmo autor que interpretou este domínio ritual exclusivamente, a partir de elementos mitológicos associados à noção de Cronos, levando-nos a supor que algumas questões ficaram escondidas . Neste sentido e, tomando como referência a crença adotada por algumas tradições da Grécia antiga, de que Cronos e Kairos, representavam dois aspectos do tempo, distintos e em oposição embora, de mesma natureza nossa investigação centrou-se em uma interpretação do intervalo de Tempo Sagrado, em Leach à luz de Kairos. Esta investigação que foi desenvolvida tendo por base o método bibliográfico de pesquisa alcançou resultados indicando que o intervalo de Tempo Sagrado, em Leach interpretado à luz do mito de Cronos, manifesta-se como parte de uma sequência linear que conjuga repetições e paradas entre Tempo Sagrado e Tempo Profano enquanto este mesmo intervalo ritual associado ao tempo kairológico, denota não uma parte do tempo, mas, sua origem ou, uma irrupção da eternidade no tempo que pulsando entre velocidade (continuum) e imobilidade, segue um curso irreversível e unidirecional quando o tempo retrocede e pára. Espera-se a partir dos resultados desta pesquisa contribuir com o contexto das Ciências da Religião, Ciências Sociais e Psicologia a respeito do conhecimento do Tempo Sagrado, em Leach, bem como com referenciais de futuros pesquisadores que tenham a intenção de abordar e aprofundar o tema

The study of the phenomenon of religion is a field that has many challenges regarding what its object of study is and how to observe and interpret the different religious phenomenon in a way that reflects both its origin and how its practiced. The study is carried out through a philosophical approach. In this essay Lua Nazerian intends to address the four different theoretical perspectives: Critical Religion Theory, Cognitive Sciences of Religion, Positive Psychology and Platonic Idealism. The two former ones are well established theoretical frameworks in the study of religion, while the two latter ones are lend from the field of psychology and philosophy to test whether they could be used as analytical tools in the study of religion. Moreover the perspectives different view on the human nature in particular are further examined through the lens of the subcategories: Materialism, Conceptualism and Realism. Furthermore, by adding the two subcategories of 1) a virtuous life 2) transcendence, the essay examines whether the perspectives touches on these topics which seems to be central concepts in the majority of religious doctrine. Finally, some possible conclusions of the perspectives inherent premises impacting the understanding of religion are carefully examined and presented. Suggested further studies to be done cross-disciplines, such as religious studies, positive psychology and philosophy. Also by a combination of descriptive and prescriptive approach within religious studies.

This thesis argues that in order to demonstrate the possibility and sensibility of Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo's 'weak religious belief', it should be understood as the becoming uncertain of traditional, metaphysical (strong) belief. The difference between weak belief and strong belief can thereby be understood not as two distinct modes of belief, but as an event of weakening in the history of belief that has yet to be realized by those who believe with the support of metaphysical certainty. Since Vattimo aligns metaphysics with violence, and since he aligns traditional belief with metaphysics, to demonstrate and defend the possibility of Vattimo’s weak belief amounts to the reduction of violence in the world. However, the possibility and validity of weak belief has been called into question by thinkers such as Richard Rorty. In light of a review of the arguments and counter-arguments between Rorty and Vattimo, I argue that it is possible to distinguish weak belief from strong belief as long as this remains a weak distinction.