<<

RVP Newsletter — 2017

Message from the Executive Director Indeed, 2016 has proven a quite productive year, but also a year of a great loss. The late Professor George F. McLean (1929-2016), founding father of the RVP, left us a rich legacy and profound heritage. Throughout his life-long effort, he never stopped his dedication and devotion to the world of philosophy by means of traveling whenever and wherever possible promoting dialogue, cooperation and friendship among peoples, cultures, religions and civilizations. In this effort across the globe he organized regional conferences, conducted research projects and published philosophical studies. The last research project Professor McLean initiated and planned was in December 2015 at his residence in the Boston area. It was entitled “Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Challenges and Opportunities.” The purpose of this George F. McLean project is to prepare for the World Congress of Philosophy “Learning to Be Human” to be held in August 2018. It is pleased to note that a number of research teams have begun to work on specific issues under this general theme; regional conferences have been conducted and related publications have been developed. For detailed information of the RVP activities in 2016 œŽŽȱ‘’œȱŽ’’˜—ȱ˜ȱ’œȱ—Ž œ•ŽĴ Ž›ǯ As always, the RVP invites all philosophers and scholars to join this research effort to conduct in- depth studies and cooperative research on issues important to their cultures and regions. The RVP is delighted to publish and disseminate the resulting research, both in print and on the web. Please continue to send your ideas and suggestions for future projects and cooperation. The RVP is ready to work with you in whatever ways to promote peace, dialogue and cooperation among peoples, cultures, religions and civilizations in these complex global times. The RVP wishes to express its deep gratitude to all who have joined the effort and made rich contributions over many years. Hu Yeping February, 2017

Highlights in this Edition

Seminar (Washington, DC): 2-4 International Conferences (India, , Europe): 5-42 Other Academic Activities: 43 Publications: 44

For more information on the work, projects and publications of The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP), visit the website: www.crvp.org Page 2 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

ANNUAL SEMINAR

Washington, D.C.

August 8-September 9, 2016: “Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Structure and Role of Compassion and Mercy.” The five week seminar focused on the issues of love and compassion, of gratitude and responsibility. Indeed in these complex global times, the human family still faces great challenges. Such questions arise as what are the constancies or consistencies in human self- understanding? What role must be played by ethics and morality in the advancement of political and economic process, in science and technology? In what sense must the great religions of the world advance their own self-understanding, their identity and their mission? How to treat strangers or others in a pluralistic world? The seminar tried to treat issues related to the openness for compassion between self and other; compassion as social freedom in community; compassion as motivation of a progressive globalization; etc. To philosophically pursue the role of compassion across cultures and civilizations is to search for cultural/spiritual elements capable of transforming human beings into citizens of a new global community. This requires human freedom to rediscover the high moral values associated with compassion as João J. Vila-Chã constituting a manifestation of humanity and benevolence. Compassion, thus, has the structure and the potential to transform the human person in terms of the dialectic of immanence and transcendence as well as the relational universe of each concrete human being. The seminar was directed by João J. Vila-Chã, Philosophy Professor of Gregorian University (Rome) and RVP Vice President. The seminar participants came from such countries as Austria, China, Ethiopia/India, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, etc. This was the 33th annual seminar held in Washington. Seminar materials covered all major religions and civilizations, such as , Islam, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity; from ancient to contemporary. During the seminar readings included such authors as ǯǯȱ‘ŠĴ ȱon Buddhist understanding of compassion and Noel Sheth on the comparison between Christian and Buddhist notions of love; Aref Ali Nayed and S.M. Zaman on Islamic concept of com- passion; Confucius and Mo Tzu on Chinese under- standing of benevolence; Robert C. Miner on classical understanding in terms of Thomas Aquinas; Miguel Unamuno on tragic sense of life. Edith A Group Photo Page 3 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Stein on empathy; Paul Tillich on love, power and justice; ǯȱŒ˜Ĵ ȱ ŽœŽŸ˜•, Edmund Hill, Jeffrey Hopkins, Nigel Walker on mercy; Hermann Cohen’s book Religion of Reason: Out of the Sources of Judaism; and Martha C. Nussbaum’s Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Gholamreza Aavani, Philoso- phyer of Islamic Philosophy, Philo- sophical of Iran, joined the seminar to speak on the seminar theme from Muslim perspectives. Seamus Finn, Institute of Peace and Justice (USA), was invited to speak on how com- Gholamreza Aavani Bayor Chantal Ngoltoingar Seamus Finn passion and mercy could play a role in the financial system. Bayor Chantal Ngoltoingar from the Republic of Chad also spoke to the seminar participants by using her own experience to manifest that compassion and mercy is much needed in our complex world. During the seminar each participant presented his or her own research paper: Shakil Abdul (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia/India) presented his paper on “Tagore's Humanism: An Integral Part of Human Ethos”; Sayed Hassan Akhlaq (CSCV, Washington) on “Renewing an Islamic The- ology of Compassionate God”; ›’’Ĵ ŽȱžŒ‘‘Š– – Ž›(University of Vienna, Austria) on “Philo- sophy as an Advocate of the Whole Humanity: Moral Enhancement Theories – a Current Philosoph- ical Problem”; Olga V. Chistyakova (Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Russia) on “Self and Other in Contemporary Culture (Context of Spiritual Life and Compassion)”; Pavol Dancák (University of Presov, Slovakia) on “The Thought of Karol Wojtyla on Suffering and Compassion”; Luis Miguel Torró Ferrero (Pontificio Collegio Spagnolo di Sant Giuseppe , Italy/Spain) on “Compassion and the Posthuman Age”; Le Thuy Hanh (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vi- etnam) on “Tran Duc Thao’s Humane Dialectical Materialism with Learning to Be Human for Pre- sent Times”; Robinah S. Nakabo (Makerere University, Uganda) on “The Struggle for Recognition Blurred by Lack of Knowledge: Should There Be a Moral Obligation?”; Mallika Rajaratna (University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka) on “Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy’s Contribution towards Philosophy of Asian Art Comparative Aesthetics and Cross-Cultural Understanding ”; Michal Reka (John Paul II Catholic University, Poland) on “Man as Subject of Gift of Oneself - Revealing Human

Seminar Sessions Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Page 4

A Visit to Philadelphia A Visit to Mount Vernon by Compassion and Solidarity”; Tikumporn Dhammajoto Rodkhunmuang (Mahachulalongkorn- rajavidayalaya University, Thailand) on “Realization of Compassion in Buddhist Com- munity”; Yuan Xin ( Foreign Studies University, China) on “Compassion and Personhood in Confucius and Mencius”; Zhang Zhixing ( Polytechnic College, China) on “Translationwith Compassion”; Wu Yandong (Southwest University, China) joined the seminar discussions. During the seminar John Farina, Professor of George Mason University, arranged some trips for the participants in order to provide opportunities for them to experience and explore the diverse American cultures, especially the American democratic tradition. The participants visited Mount Vernon, where George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife stayed as their plantation house and Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. In order to understand the real meaning of the seminar thematic compassion and mer- cy, the participants spent a day at TASH, an non-profit organization which helps the disabled peo- ple, to contribute some of their volunteer service. During the seminar a special service was also dedicated to the late Professor George F. McLean. The seminar participants expressed their respect, admiration and gratitude for his lifelong efforts in bringing peoples with different backgrounds to- gether in dialogue and friendship. As usual the Graham Family invited the semi- nar participants to spend a day at their house locat- ed on the shore of Chesa- peake Bay in Maryland. The visitors enjoyed not only the natural beauty, but more so experienced the true spirit of generos- ity and kindness of the An Outing at the Grahams American people. Page 5 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

Delhi, India

January 9-10, 2017:“Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Justice and Responsibility.” This conference was one of the five conferences held in India and supported by the Indian Council

William Sweet Balaganapathi Devarakonda S.R. Bhatt S.P. Aggarwal João J. Vila-Chã for Philosophical Research (ICPR). It was planned and organized by Balaganapathi Devarakonda, Philosophy Professor of the University of Delhi (UD) and RVP Regional Coordinator. He took part in the RVP annual seminar in 2005. Reetu Jaiswal and Ayesha Gautam (UD) and Anumita Shukla (Ramanujan College ) were the Co-Conveners for the Conference. At the opening ǯǯȱ‘ŠĴ , Chairman of ICPR, was the chief guest of the conference. William Sweet, Philosophy Professor of St. Francis Xavier University (Canada) and RVP Vice President was the keynote speaker. S.P. Aggarwal, Principal of Ramanujam College and João J. Vila-Chã were special invitees. During the two day conference participants presented their papers and actively engaged in dis- cussion and dialogue. Indra Nath Choudhuri (Chief Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Literature, Delhi), chaired the first session “Justice: Past and Present” when R.P. Singh (Jawaharlal Nehru Uni- versity, India) presented his paper on “Realm between Perfect Justice and Minimizing Injustice”; Varun Tripathi (Sri Mata Vaishno Devi University, India) on "Justice in context of Absence of Injustice vis-a vis Nyaya in Bud- dha's Teachings"; Jeremiah (UD) gave the sum- mary of the ses- sion. Sebastian T. Velassery (Pun- jab University, India) chaired the second ses- sion. “Moral Re- sponsibility” when Saral A Group Photo Jhingran (Inde- Page 6 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Conference Sessions pendent author, India) presented her paper on “Justice Demands the Responsibility of the Moral Agent”; and Hu Yeping (RVP Executive Director) on “Personal Responsibility: A Chinese Perspec- tive.” Jayati Saxena (UD) gave a report on the session. Reetu Jaiswal chaired the third session “Justice in a Global Context.” Thomas Menamparampil (Peace Center, In- dia) presented a paper on “Dialogue in the Context of Perceived Injustice,” while both Anthony J. Carroll (University of London, UK) and Ouyang Kang (Huazhou University of Science and Technology, China) spoke about their unique experience during the visit across India. Samiksha Goy- al (UD) reported the session. Thomas Menamparampil chaired the fourth session “Indian Perspective.” Chrysoula Gitsoulis (City University of New York, USA) presented a paper on “Sources of Unethical Behaviour in Corporate Environment”; Geetesh Nirban (UD) on “Eco- as a Con- cept of Responsibility: Ethical Analysis through the Readings of Select Sub- narratives of Mahabharata.” Sudeep Raj Kumar (UD) gave a report. Wil- liam Sweet chaired the fifth session when Pragti Sahni (UD) presented her Swami Vivekananda paper on “On Responsibility” and Ruzana Pskhu (Russian People’s Friendship University, Russia) on “The Evolution of Concept of ‘Other’ in History of Philosophy and its Interpretation.” Puja Raj (Ramanujan College) reported on the session. In the concluding session, Jayshree Jha (UD) reported the entire event. Many participants also spoke about their ideas, suggestions and experiences. Some partici- pants visited the Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi where they spent India Gate sometime in the temple and the Vi- vekananda muse- um. Later they vis- ited the Indian Gate and other cultural sites. Ramakrishna Temple Page 7 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Santiniketan, India

January 6-7, 2017:“Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Humanity and the Modern Pre- dicament.” This conference was held at the Visva-Bharati University (VBU) which was established by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. As an influ- ential figure in India he reshaped the Bengali literature and music as well as the Indian arts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

From left to right: Kausik Bhattacharya, Sirajul Islam, Kalyan Kumar Bagchi, Swapan Kuma Datta, João J. Vila-Chã, Asha Mukherjee

Asha Muhkerjee, Professor of Philosophy and founding Director of Gender Studies, along with her colleagues Šžœ’”ȱ‘ŠĴ ŠŒ‘Š›¢Š, Chairperson, Sirajul Islam, Professor of Islamic Studies and other colleagues and students from the Department of Philosophy and Comparative Religion of   ȱ™•Š——ŽȱŠ—ȱ˜›Š—’£Žȱ‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ž›Ž—ŒŽǯȱ‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ž›Ž—ŒŽȱ‹ŽŠ—ȱ ’‘ȱ’—Šžž›Š•ȱœ˜—œȱ ›’Ĵ Ž—ȱ‹¢ȱ Tagore and sung by a group of students from the School of Music of VBU. Lighting the lamp was also part of the opening ceremony.  Š™Š—ȱ ž–ŠȱŠĴ Š, Vice Chancellor of VBU, gave the presiden- tial address; Sirajul Islam, introduced the conference theme; Kalyan Kumar Bagchi (retired Proffes- sor from the Department of Philosophy, VBU) was the chief guest; Asha Muhkerjee gave the key- note speech; João J. Vila-Chã and Šžœ’”ȱ‘ŠĴ ŠŒ‘Š›¢Š gave thank notes respectively. Vanlalnghak (North-Eastern University, India) chaired both first session on “Globalization and Modernity” and the second session on “Finding Ways of Humanizing.” Speakers included Ouyang Kang (Huazhou University of Sciences and Technology, China) who presented a paper on

A Group Photo Page 8 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Conference Sessions

“World Complexity, Values Conflicts and Human Wisdom in Global Times”; R.C. Sinha (University of Patnam, India) on “Globalization and India Values System”; Thomas Menamparam- pli on “When Great Achievements Fail to Combine with Fairness: Economic in-equality and World Justice: A Plea for Fairness”; Naresh Kumar Ambasta (P.K. Roy Memorial College, India) on “Relearning: Future Course of Action”; Anup Barman on “An Amayika (Humble) Nyayayika Per- spective”; Marzenna Jakubczak (Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland) on “The Limits of Sharing and Transcending: Language, Memory Management and Meditation in the Process of Hu- manizing.” Marzenna Jakubczak chaired the third session on “Relearning to be Human in Action.”  Š‘ž– ’Šȱ‘ŠĴ Ž›“ŽŽȱ(Barasat Government College, India) presented a paper on “Need to Be- come Humane: Looking through an Ecological Perspective”; Samik Mitra (VBU) on “Buddhist Feminist and Modern Predicament in the Indian Context”; Patitapaban Das (Ravenshaw Universi- ty, India) on “Hearing the Uphead”; Sirajul Islam on “Sufi Concept of Man and the Modern Predic- ament.” William Sweet chaired the fourth session on “Religion and Culture.” João J. Vila-Chã pre- sented a paper on “The Secularization of Modernity: Approaching the Gaps of Religion and Mean- ing”; Wang Xiaoning (Remin University of China, China) on “Postmodernism: Patching and Re- minder of Chinese Culture”; Wang Shiyu (Minzu University of China, China) on “The Differences and Similarities between bar-srid and bar-do in the Tibetan Religion according to the Dun Huang Manuscript P.T. 1042 and P.T. 239”; Niranjan Jena (VBU) on “Humanitarian Hindhism in the Vedas and Its Relevance in Con- temporary Age.” Ouyang Kang chaired the fifth session “Identity and Per- son.” William Sweet presented a paper on “The Predicament of Self-Owning”; M.P. Terence Samuel (VBU) on “Critical Peda- gogy and Relearning to be Hu- man: Perspective of Paulo Freire”; Lunch Break Page 9 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Hu Yeping on “Identity Crisis and Metaphysical Being.” Ramesh Chandra Sinha chaired the ses- sion sixth on “Self and the Other.” Sanjit Chakraborty’s paper was on “The Citizen of Humanity”; Subhrajyoti Das on “Sankara’s Notion of Self as the Foundation of Non-violence: Some Reflec- tions”; Sudeshna Saha on “Relearning the Value of Human Existence in the Fast Changing World”; Chrysoula Gitsoulis also presented her paper. In the concluding session Šžœ’”ȱ‘ŠĴ ŠŒ‘Š›¢Šȱand William Sweet spoke on behalf of the De- partment and the RVP respectively. A good number of participants also expressed their ideas, sug- gestions and experiences. The conference ended in an amiable atmosphere.

Rabindranath Tagore Tagore’s Residence During the conference the local organizers arranged some cultural programs. One evening all enjoyed the musical performance by the students of School of Music of VBU at the Lipika Auditori- um. Beside songs and dances composed by Tagore some Boul songs were also presented to com- municate the profound sense of humanist philosophy. Some participants also visit Tagore’s resi- dence located in Santinitekan, which means the “abode of peace” to learn his life, literature, art works, philosophy, but more importantly his notion of nature, religion, spirituality and humanity. Participants enjoyed not only the intellectual exchange among themselves on the seminar thematic but also the rich local culture and tradition and enriched by the short but deep experience.

Musical Performance Page 10 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Varanasi, India

December 30-31, 2016:“Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Culture, Religion and Demo- cratic Values.” This conference was held at Banaras Hindu University and organized by Sach- chidanand Mishra, Scholar and Professor of Indian Philosophy, Department of Philoso- phy and Religion of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). At the opening , U.C. Dube, Professor of Philosophy from the Department of Philosophy and Religion of BHU, chaired the session, Sachchidanand Mishra gave welcome remarks, P.K. Mukhopadhyay, Professor of Philosophy and Religion (Jadavpur University, India) was the keynote speaker, João J. Vila-Chã gave a spe- cial address on the theme, and P.K. Bagde, Professor of Indian Philosophy of BHU, and Hu Yeping convened the conference on behalf of the University and the Sachchidanand Mishra RVP respectively. The first session chaired by Chryssoula Gitsoulis and D.B. Chaube (BHU) was on “Cultural Tra- ditions and Democracy.” D.N. Yadav (Gorakhpur University, India) presented a paper on “Religious Pluralism, Cultural Diversity and Democratic Values”; Shruti Mishra (BHU) on “Gender Inequality and Women Empowerment in Our Tradition.” During the session two Anthony J. Carroll

From left to right: Baleshwar Prasad Yadav, P.K. Mukhopadhyay, P.K. Bagde, Sachchidanand Mishra, U.C. Dube presented a paper on “Panentheistic Humanism and Global Challenges to Justice and Personal Rights”; Chrysoula Gitsoulis on “Contemporary Challenges for Moral Relativism”; Rajen Lakra (BHU) on “Religion and Morality: Related but Distinct.” D.A. Gangadhar (BHU) chaired the third session “Democratic Values and Action.”  Š‘ž– ’Šȱ‘ŠĴ Ž›“ŽŽȱ(Barasat Government College, India) presented a paper on “Man-Woman-Nature-Nexus: A New Way to Look at Gender Equality from a Global Perspective”; Vivek Kumar Yadav (Indian Institute of Technology, India) on “Loosing Dissent in Democracy and its Relevance: A Philosophical Understanding”; Zahira Kha-

Conference Sessions Page 11 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Fellow, India) spoke on the theme in Hindi. The sec- Lunch Break ond day the conference continued with the session four chaired by Mukul Raj Mehta (BHU) and all the speakers spoke the various issues related to the con- ference thematic in Hindi: Nandini Singh (Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, India), Mishra Jayant Up- dhyay (BHU), Archana Tivari (Vasanta College, In- dia), Vivek Kumar Pandey (BHU) and Devdas Saket (Vikram University, India). Anthony J. Carroll and Jata Shankar (Allahabad Central University, India) chaired the fifth session “Religion and Democracy.” S. Mishra (Allahabad Central University) spoke on the comparative study of religions: East and West; Thomas Menamparampil on “Religious Convictions at the Service of Society”; Rishikant Pan- dey (Allahabad Central University, India) on “Role of Religion in the Contemporary World”; Pitambar Das (Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, India) addressed his concern in Hindi. Thomas Menamparampil and Ananda Mishra (BHU) chaired the sixth session “Democracy, Glob- Ganga River

Ritual Ceremony alization and Peace.” Jata Shankar spoke on “On Democratic Values”; Kismat Kumar Singh (BHU) spoke on the issue in Hindi; R.C. Sinha on “Globalization and Cultural Conflict”; Hu Yeping on “Peace and Harmony as the Ultimate Goal of Justice.” During the valedictory session R.C. Sinha chaired the session, Sachchidanand Mishra gave a vote of thanks; Baleshwar Prasad Yadav and Jo- ão J. Vila-Chã also expressed their gratitude on behalf of BHU and the RVP respectively. Some of the participants spent New Year’s Day in Varanasi and visited Ganga river, a most sacred river for Hinduism and observed the rit- ual ceremony in the evening of the new year day. Varanasi (known as Banaras) is one of the important cultural and religious centers in In- dia, especially famous for its number of ghats along the bank of the Ganga river. For Hindus they believe that cremation after their death in Tianjing City the city will bring salvation. It is also a place where Buddha gave his first sermon in nearby Deer Park . Those visits enriched their stay there. Page 12 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Jaipur, India

December 26-27, 2016:“Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: The Cross-Cultural Way.” This con- ference was held at Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ), a new and beautiful university in the old pink city of Rajasthan in the northern India. Anthony Savari Raj, Professor of Philosophy and Head, Department of Arts at MUJ and a Fulbright Schol- ar, planned and organized the conference. ǯǯȱ‘ŠĴ , Chairman, Indian Council of Philosophical Re- search, drove all the way Manipal University Jaipur from Delhi and gave the in- Anthony Sarari Raj augural speech at the opening session. Sandeep Sancheti, President of the Univer- sity, gave presidential remarks. Anthony J. Carroll, Professor of Philosophy, University of London, gave the keynote speech on “Panentheistic Humanism: The Cross-Cultural Way”; Anthony Savari Raj introduced the conference thematic; Mridul Srivastava, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Law of MUJ and João J. Vila-Chã gave welcome remarks and thanks note respectively on behalf of MUJ and the RVP.

From Left to Right: Mridul Srivastava, Anthony J. Carroll, S.R. Bhatt, Sandeep Sancheti, João J. Vila-Chã, Anthony Sarari Raj

The first session on “Cross-Cultural Humanity” was chaired by Sharada Jain (Secretary, Sandhan, In- dia). B.M. Jain (Cleveland State University) presented a paper on “Bridging Cultural Divides: A Critique of Psycho-cultural Prophylaxis Approach”; Ramesh Chandra Pradhan (ICPR Fellow and University of Hyderabad) on “On Being Human: The Exis- tential Predicament and Its Al- ternative Resolution”; Vidu Soni (International Human Resources Consulting) on “Diversity and Cross-Cultural Management in the Contem- porary Workplace: An Interna- tional Perspective”; Geeta Ra- mana (University of Mumbai, A Conference Session Page 13 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

India) was a Respondent to the papers presented during this ses- sion. Ramesh Chandra Pradhan chaired the sec- ond session on “Cross- Cultural Foundations.” Ajay Verma (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India) presented a paper on “Constituting ‘Otherness’: An Enquiry into Constructionist and A Group Photo Non-Construc-tionist Ac- count”; Alok Tandon (Hardoi, India) on “’Ÿ’—ȱ˜Ž‘Ž›DZȱ ž•ž›Š•ȱ Ž—’Ĵ ¢ȱŠ—ȱ ’ě Ž›Ž—ŒŽ”; Bharth Ku- mar (Indian Institute of Technology, Indore) was a discussant of the session. R.S. Bhatnagar (University of Rajasthan, India) chaired the third session. João J. Vila-Chã presented a paper on “Religion and Transfiguration of Inter-Human Violence”; Kanchana Natarajan (University of Delhi, India) on “The Two Women Contemplatives: An Inter-cultural/in-religious Dialogue”; Hu Yeping on “The Integration of Two Asian Cultures: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s Global Times.” At the end of the session, Saral Jhingran, Independent Researcher, New Delhi, presented her book Why b e Moral: A Search for Justifi- cation. It was jointly discussedby R.S. Bhatnagar and Anthony J. Carroll. The deliberation of the second day began with the recapitulation of the first day deliberations by Gisela Carrol. The focus of the first session was on “Cross-Cultural Orientations” chaired by K. L. Shar- ma (University of Rajasthan, India). Anthony Savari Raj presented a paper on “Imparative Philosophy for Cross-Cultural Times”; Devasia M Antony (Hindu College, Delhi) on “Raimon Panikkar the Rsi and the Interlude between Avadya and Advaita”; Saral Jhingran (New Delhi) on “Meaning of Being Human: Sources of Inspiration”; George K.J. (Indian Institute of Technology, India) was a discussant of the ses- sion. The second session chaired by Pradeep Kumar Sinh (Ranchi University, India) was on “Cross- Cultural Values” in which Chrysoula Gitsoulis (City University of New York) presented a paper on “Utilitarian vs Rights-based Constructions of Values”; George K.J on “Cross Cultural Ethics: Normative Moorings of Conflicts and the Promising Framework of Convergence”; Kriti Vashishtha (MUJ) on “Happiness and Emotional Intelligence of Working Women: A Cross-cultural Study”; João J. Vila-Chã responded to the papers of the session. During the valedictory ses- sion, Sandeep Sancheti came to give the concluding remarks; Thomas Menamparampil gave the valedictory address on “Relearning to be Human for Global Times: The Cross-Cultural Way.” Anthony Sarari Raj and Hu Yeping also spoke on behalf of MUJ and the RVP respectively. The confer- ence ended with the vote of thanks by the co-convener Robin Luke Varghese Dinner Party (MUJ). Page 14 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Chennai, India

December 22-23, 2016:“Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Religious Pluralism: An Her- meneutic Understanding for the 21st Century.” This conference was the first of the set of Indian conference and planned and organized by S. Panneerselvam, Professor of Philosophy of University of Madras, ICPR fellow and Director of Chennai Philosophical Forum (CPF). The conference was held at the ashram of Sri Vishnu Mohan Foundation, Chen- nai. K. Padmavathi (Sathya Nilayam Research Institute, India) was the pro- gram coordinator. At the opening Lalitha Rama- murthy, President of CPF, gave a wel- come address; Swami Shrihariprasad, S. Panneerselvam Trustee of Sri Vishnu Mohan Founda- tion, gave a presidential address; Ravichandran Moorthy, Swami Shrihariprasad at the Ashram Professor of International Relations of National University of Malaysia and Moosa Raza, Former Secretary of South Indian Education Trust, and Hu Yeping gave inaugural, keynote and special ad- dresses respectively; Sreekala M. Nair, Professor of Philosophy of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kwon John Yoo, Professor of Philosophy of Chung-Ang University, Korea, João J. Vila-Chã and Sripathi, Sri Vishnu Mohan Foundation, expressed their vote of thanks individually. The first session was on “Religious Pluralism: Ancient and Contemporary” chaired by João J. Vila-Chã; speakers included Anthony J. Carroll who spoke on “Panentheistic Humanism: An Her- meneutical Understanding of Contemporary Pluralism”; Kwon Jong Yoo on “How to Be an Au- thentic Human Being: Revisit to the Confucianism”; Varghese Manimala (Henry Martyn Institute, India) on Call to be Authentic Religious in the Contemporary World: Respect for Pluralism and In- terreligious Dialogue”; T.V. Vasudev (Kuppuswami Shastri Research Institute, India) on “Religious Pluralism in the Context of Rg. Veda”; K. Padmavathi reported on the session.

K. Padmavathi

A Group Photo Page 15 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

The second session was on “Religion and Spirituality” pre- senters were Sivapalan Selvadu- rai, Anindita Dasgupta, Mandy Wong Shiet Chin and Vandana Saxena (National University of Malaysia) who presented their paper on “Salience of Religion and Nationality on Team Effec- tiveness in SME ICT Sector: Ma- laysian Case Study”; Thomas Menamparampil on “›˜ęĴ ing from Religious Pluralism: Re- learning to be Human in the Con- text of Diverse Spiritual Tradi- A Conference Session tions”; Rogi Thomas (Uni-versity of Dundee, UK) on “Post-secular Return of Religion: A Religion of Being-for-the-Other”; Faizlur Ra- haman (Independent Research, Chennai) on “Religious Pluralism from Islamic Perspective.” Sreekala M. Nair chaired the fourth session “Identity, Diversity and Pluralism in Asian Context” when Arjunan Narayanan (HELP University, Malaysia) presented on “Religious Pluralism: A Chal- lenge to Spirituality to Malaysia in the 21st Century Globalized World”; Uma Shankar (South Indian Education Society, Mumbai, India) on “Being Human: Exploring the Ethnic and Religious Identity as well as Diversity in India”; P. Seshadri (Guru Nanak Khalsa College, India) on “Adding Value to Life through Religion”; Satyendra Kumar Srivastava (University of Delhi) on “Religious Tolerance vs Re- ligious Acceptance: An Analysis of Swami Vivekananda’s Views.” The fourth session “Hermeneutic Discourse and Feminist Interventions in the Context of Religious Pluralism” was chaired by Arjunan Narayanan and included such speakers as João J. Vila-Chã spoke on “The Art of Interpretation and the Model of the Text: Aspects of the European Continental Approach to Meaning and Action”; Chrysoula Gitsoulis on “Contemporary Challenges for Moral Relativism”; Sreekala M. Nair on “Scope of Feminist Discourses in a Multi Religious Community”; T.P. Deshpande (Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, India) on “Poornvd: An Hermeneutical Understanding for the 21st Century.” The fifth session “Situating Religious Pluralism” was chaired by Patrick Laude (Georgetown Uni- versity, Doha, Qatar) and Ananta Giri (Madras Institute of Developmental Studies, India) spoke on “Re-thinking and Transforming Religious Pluralism as Meditative Verbs of Pluralism: Multi-topical Hermeneutics, Transpositional Dancing and the Calling of Global Responsibility”; P.K. Pokker (ICPR fellow) on “Guru Darshanam and Gnostic Multi-culture”; Aditya Angiras (Sadhu Ashram, India) on “Humanity in Upanishads”; Pad- ma Padmanabhan (University of Madras, India) re- ported on the ses- sion. Opening Session Page 16 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Anthony J. Carroll chaired the sixth session “Re- understanding Religion in the Contemporary World.” Satyana- rayan S. Aboti (Poornavad Edu- cational Trust, India) spoke on “Dr. R.P. Parnerkar’s Mono- graph on ‘Humanism’ Revisited in the Context of Relearning to be Human for Global Times: Re- ligious Pluralism”; V. Chandra- sekar (RKM Vivekananda Col- lege, India) on “Religion for the Conference Break Transformation of Man: Human to the Divine”; Lalitha Ramamurthy (CPF) on “Relearning to be Human for Global Times: Religious Pluralism”; Chenchulakshmi Kolla (Sri Venkateswara University, India) on “Some Reflections on Facts and Theories of Religious Pluralism and Diversity”; Thanigaivelan (Annamalai University, In- dia) on “Religious Pluralism and Modern World”; N. Veerapan (Vivekananda College, India) gave a report on the session. “Different Religious Traditions and Their Significance for 21st Century” was the theme for the seventh session chaired by Uma Shankar. Speakers included Sharad G. Paralkar (Poornavad Shiskan Prasarak Mandel, India) who presented a paper on “Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Reli- gious Pluralism”; T.K. Badrinath (Vivekananda College) on “The Integration of Science and Religion in the Philosophy of Swam Vivekananda”; E.M. Prasannakumar (University of Madras and ICPR fellow) on “A Cognitive Approach to Religious Pluralism and Culture”; E. Jeris Emmanuel (Pachaiappa’s College, India) on “Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Religious Pluralism”; T.K. Parthasarathy (Independent Researcher, India) on “Re-Learning to be Human for Global Times: Religious Pluralism”; P.R. Padmakumar (International Center for Spiritual Studies and Amrita Uni- versity, India) on “Religious Pluralism in the Context of the Teacher and the Taught: Amirtanan- damayi’s Interpretation of Bhagavad Gita”; A. Subramanyamu (Sri Venkateswara University) on “An Interpretation of Buddhism and Modern Religious Thought”; Vidya Sainath (Independent Re- searcher, India) gave a report on the session. At the valedictory session, Swami Shrihariprasad, Thomas Menamparampil and C.T. Indra, Pro- fessor of English, Universi- ty of Madras, spoke re- spectively. S. Panneer- selvam and Hu Yeping concluded the conference. Local musicians per- formed traditional Indian music. Chennai is well- known for its Southern In- dian dances and other Music Performance Concluding Session forms of music and art. Page 17 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Poznan, Poland

September 12, 2016:“Ethos and Violence.” This conference was planned and organized by Dariusz Dobrzański, Professor of Philosophy and RVP Regional Coordinator and took part in the RVP annual seminar and Przemysław Strzyżyński, Professor of Theology. Both are professors at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland. The conference theme was specifically concerned in relation to the com- plex world situation in these global times. The main goals was to explore and clarify the characteristics of historical and cultural contexts in which the current ethos has come into being and the important aspect which determines the violence potential of ethos. Without confining a diag- nosis with utopian thinking, the conference participants tried to formulate normative projects for the emancipa- Dariusz Dobrzanski Przemyslaw Strzyzynski tion of ethos from violence and looked into a violence- containing ethics which could be a sound basis for a universal communicative cooperation. Dariusz Dobrzański chaired the first session when Peter Jonkers (Tilburg University, Nether- lands) presented a paper on “Religion as a Source of Evil” and Tadeusz Buksiński (Adam Mickie- wicz University) on “Ethos and Violence in Quran.” Yaroslav Pasko (Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Uni- versity, Ukraine) chaired the second session. Edoardo Martinelli (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland) spoke on “Praxis and Violence in Contemporary Human Society”; Przemysław Strzyżyński (Adam Mickiewicz University) on “The Ethos of Communication Without Violence”; Krzysztof Przybyszewski (Adam Mickiewicz University) on “Globalisation Processes vis-à-vis Human Trafficking from The Vantage Point of Forced Labour.” Tadeusz Buksiński chaired the third session when Yaroslav Pasko presented a paper on “Colonial Society: The Modernization of Values or Post-Soviet Version of Neotraditionalism?”; Dariusz Dobrzański on “Ethos and Violence in Witold Gombrowicz`s ‘Diary’.“ Although the number of participants was small, presentations and discussions went well. The dialogue and exchange among participants were productive and fruitful in a friendly atmosphere. During the conference one session was devoted to the late Professor George F. McLean. Partic- ipants expressed their gratitude for his life-long contribution to the philo- sophical world through- out his lifetime. After the conference, some cultural programs were arranged for the participants. A Group Photo Page 18 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Beijing, P.R. China

July 10-11, 2016:“Dialogue of Religions and Beliefs in China.” This conference was planned and organized by Gan Chunsong, Professor of Chinese Philosophy, School of Confucianism, Peking Uni- versity and RVP Regional Coordinator. He also took part in the RVP annual seminar in 1998.

From left to right: João J. Vila-Chã, Hu Xuefeng, Yue Daiyun, Huang Xinyang, Yi Xue, Yao Xinzhong Gan Chunsong

The conference was sponsored by and held at the Beijing Institute where Tang Yijie was the Director. Now Yue Daiyun is the Director and Gan Chunsong Associate Director. Gan Chunsong chaired the opening session. Yue Daiyun gave opening remarks; Huang Xinyang, Vice President of Chinese Daoist Association and Daoist Master, Hu Xuefeng, Vice President of Beijing Tibetan Buddhist Association and Great , and Yi Xue, Great Monk of , and João J. Vila-Chã gave remarks on the conference thematic respectively. Yao Xinzhong, Professor of Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Remin University of China, chaired the first session “Dialogue of Religions.” Hu Yeping represented a paper by Vincent Shen, Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, on “The Dimension of Interculturality in Professor Tang Yijie's Philosophy”; João J. Vila-Chã on “Religion and the Transfiguration of Human Vio- lence”; Zairunisha and P. Gautam (Jawaharlal Nehru University) on “Revisiting the Cul- tures of Dialogue: Towards a Hermenuetics of Inter-Religious Dialogue”; Cheng Lesong (Peking University) on “Inclusion and Exclusion: Two modes of Daoist Mysticism”; Peter Jonkers (Tilburg University, Netherlands) on “How to Understand the Religious Other?” Joanna Grela (Jagiellonian University, Poland) on “Buddhist Messages about Cross-species Friendship as Allegories of Inter-

A Group Photo Page 19 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Conference Sessions Harmony”; Zhang Yaonan (Research Institute of Education, Taiwan) on “A Study on Comparative Philosophy and Religion in Tang Yijie’s Philosophical Thought.” Yao Xinzhong also chaired the second session “Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity.” Philip J. Rossi ǻ Š›šžŽĴ Žȱ —’ŸŽ›œ’¢ǰȱ USA) on “Recognizing Human Fragility: The Dialogue of Religions as Enactment of Hospitality”; Katia Lenahan (Fujen University, Taiwan) on “The Possibility of Dialogue between Religion from an Artistic Perspective and Its Relation to Religious Education”; Dai (Huazhong Normal Uni- versity, China) on “On Marx's ‘Free Labor’ and the Meaning of Sabbath Day”; Prakriti Mukerjee (Jawaharlal Nehru University) on “Confucian and ”; Wang Xinli (Juniata College, USA) on “ ‘¢ȱ˜Žœȱ’ȱ– ŠĴ Ž›ȱŠ—ȱœ‘˜ž•ȱ’ȱ– ŠĴ Ž›ȱ ‘Ž‘Ž›ȱŒ˜—žŒ’Š—’œ– ȱ’œȱŠȱ›Ž•’’˜—ǵ” Katia Lena- han chaired the third session “Religious Belief and Chinese Society.” Yao Xinzhong presented Sha Lianxiang’s paper on “Breaking the and Opening to the World”; L.P. Singh (University of Delhi, India) on “Religion of China and Interfaith Dialogue”; Lin Kuohsiung (Taiwan Jiaotong University) on “On Divine”; Asha Mukerjee (Visva-Bharati University) on “Globalization and Religion: Dynamiscs and Dichotomies”; Yan Zhenze ( University, China) on “Christianity and Confucianism on Love”; Yi Zhihua (Huazhong Normal University) “Dao of Dao- ism: Explanation of the Foundation of Daoist Teaching.” In order to deepen the thematic understanding, participants visited the Buddhist temple associ- ated with the Institute; , a Lama temple of ; , a Daoist temple; and the Temple of Confucius, the second largest Confucian temple in China.

A Visit to a Buddhist Temple A Visit to a Daoist Temple Page 20 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Wuhan, P.R. China

July 6-7, 2016:“Hermeneutic Understanding of Translation of Early Buddhist and Christian Scriptures: Theories and Praxis.” This conference was planned and organized by Huang Chao, Pro- fessor of Religion, Department of Religious Studies, School of Philosophy, University (WU) Š—ȱ  ȱ ˜˜›’—Š˜›ȱŠȱ  ǯȱ ŽȱŠ•œ˜ȱŠĴ Ž—Žȱ‘Žȱ  ȱŠ——žŠ•ȱœŽ– ’—Š›ȱ’—ȱŘŖŗŖǯȱ œȱžœžŠ•ȱ‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ȭ

Wu Genyou Vincent Shen Zhai Zhihong Chen Hiuming ference was held at the conference hall of the School. Chen Hiuming coordinated the conference. Although one of huge floods in the city history took place during the conference, local partici- ™Š—œȱ– ŠŽȱ›ŽŠȱŽě ˜›œȱ˜ȱ Š•”ȱŠŒ›˜œœȱ‘Žȱ˜ —ȱ˜ȱŠĴ Ž—ȱ‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ž›Ž—ŒŽǯȱZhai Zhihong, Chairper- son of the Department of Religious Studies of WU chaired the opening session when Wu Genyou, Dean of School of Philosophy of WU, Vincent Shen, Vice President of the RVP, and Zhou Zhijia, Di- rector of Zhengzang Library, spoke respectively. Zhai Zhihong also chaired the first session. Vincent Shen spoke on “On the Nestorian Translation of Christian Scriptures: In Comparison with the Bud- dhist Successful Model”; Wu Genyou on “The Reflection of Three European Philosophers on Con- fucius’ Thought and Methodology”; João J. Vila-Chã on “The Transfiguration of Violence and the Hermeneutics of Peace.” Hu Yeping chaired the second session when Sun Jinsong (WU) present- ed a paper on “Lotus and Sect”; Cao Yan (WU) on “A Basic Human Right Revealed by the Buddhist Concept of Lose”; Shen Ting (WU) on “A Re-discussion of the Reason and Essence of Revival of the Modern Zang Chuan Dharmalaksana”; Yuan Jingwen ( University of Pub- lic Administration, China) on “Resolving Confusions Regarding the Academic Expedi- tion of from Consciousness-only Doctrine: Discussion based on the Concep- tion of ‘Future Con- stant’ and ‘Present Constant’.” Sun Jin- song chaired the third session. Du Xiaoan, A Group Photo Page 21 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy an old friend who translated most of the conference presentations ( University of Science and Technolo- gy, China) spoke on “The Compari- son between ‘Prajna’ in Buddhism and the ‘Wisdom’ in Christianity”; Xie Jinsong (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China) on “The Difference between Soul and Word: Prajnaparamita vs The Gospel of John”; Gu Rouyan (Hong Kong Chinese University, Hong A Group Photo Kong) on “Dialogue between Bud- ‘’œ– ȱŠ—ȱ ‘›’œ’Š—’¢DZȱ ’Ž ’—ȱ‘Žȱ ˜– ™Šœœ’˜—ȱ˜ȱ˜‘’œŠĴ ŸŠȱ’—ȱ›ŽŠ’œŽȱ˜—ȱ‘ŽȱŒ›’™ž›Žȱ˜ȱ Adoring the Great Vehicle from the Perspective of Christianity.” Du Xiaoan chaired the fourth ses- sion. Lu Youxiang (WU) presented a paper on “Brief Discussion on Buddhism and Truth, Goodness, Beauty and Joy”; Wimal Hewamanage (University of Colombo, Sri Lanka) on “Language for Peace ž’•’—DZȱž‘’œȱ Ĵ ’žŽœ”; Sang Jingyu (WU) on “The Three Steps of the Development on Reli- gious Spirituality: A New Explanation of Unified Thought of Zong Mi Sect.” Xu (WU) chaired the fifth session. Philip J. Rossi presented his paper on “Remarks on Translation as Inculturation: The Language of Otherness and the Otherness of Language in Sacred Texts”; Peter Jonkers on “Lost in Translation”; Hu Yeping on “Hermeneutic Interpretation and Un- derstanding in Contemporary Communication Across Cultures, Religions and Civilizations.” Sang Jingyu chaired the sixth session when Sang Dapeng (Three Gorges University, China) spoke on “Interpretation of Semiology on Consciousness-only”; Li Jie ( University, China) on “Revival of Civilization and Realization of Truth: Enlightenment on Spread of Xuanzang’s IIntercul- tural Buddhism”; Fang Yong (WU) on “Chinanization: The Fate and Historical Enlightenment of Nestorian in China.” Xie Jinsong chaired the last session when L.P. Singh spoke on “Translation of Buddhist and Christian Scriptures in Chinese”; Liao Zhaoyu (Tarim University, China) on “The Sinification of Islam and the Governance in Northwest Borderland of China”; Xu Tao on “The Argu- ment and the Influence of ‘Intermediate State’ in early Christianity.” In the concluding session, Zhai Zhihong and Hu Yeping spoke on behalf of WU and the RVP and expressed their wishes and willingness to continue the long-term future cooperation.

Conference Sessions Page 22 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Shangrao, P.R. China

July 6-7, 2016:“Moral Responsibility and Human Character.” This conference was initiated by Gong Qun, Professor of Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Remin University of China (RUC) Š—ȱ ’›ŽŒ˜›ȱ˜ȱ  ȱ Ž—Ž›ȱŠȱ   ǰȱŽ’“’—ǯȱ ŽȱŠ•œ˜ȱŠĴ Ž—Žȱ‘Žȱ  ȱŠ——žŠ•ȱœŽ– ’—Š›ǯȱ‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ž›Ȭ ence was organized and held at Shangrao Normal University (SNU) in Shangrao, Province.

Gong Qun Lai Minggu Zhan Shiyou Vincent Shen

Lai Minggu, Vice President of SNU chaired the opening session when Zhan Shiyou, Presi- dent of SNU, and Vincent Shen spoke on behalf of the University and the RVP respectively. Qong Qun chaired the first panel presentations: Vincent Shen spoke on “Philosophical Reflection on Moral Responsibility: Moral Duty, Choice and Sense of Compassion”; Chen Zhen (Nanjing Univer- sity, China) on “Moism and Our Responsibility to the World Peace”; Philip Rossi on “The Enduring Value of H. Richard Niebuhr’s The Responsible Self as a Framework for Human Responsibility”; Zhan Shiyou on “Kant’s Morality and Responsibility.” In the afternoon, participants were divided into two groups. Han Dongping (Huazhou University of Science and Technology, China) chaired the first group when Asha Mukherjee spoke on “Moral Responsibility: Moral Action and Motiva- tion”; Wu Jinqing (Jiangxi Normal University, China) on “Moral Education of Young Girls in the ”; Arkadiusz Gut (Catholic University of Lublin, Poland) on “Interaction between Moral Judgement and Conceptual Thinking.” Peter Jonkers chaired the second group. Gao Zha- oming (Nanjing Normal University, China) presented a paper on “Moral Responsibility of Science and Technology: Reflections on Artificial Intelligence”; Bo R. Meinertsen ( Jiaotong Uni-

Conference Sessions Page 23 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy versity, China) on “Responsibility to Nature”; Zairunisha and Satya P. Guatam on “The Transfor- mation from Power and Duty on Ecological Issues.” The third group was chaired by Asha Mukherjee. Han Dongping spoke on “Human Free Will and Moral Responsibility”; Prabhu Venkataraman (Indian Institute of Technology, India) on “Educa- tion and Moral Responsibility.” Haiping (Southeast Univer- A Group Photo sity, China) chaired the fourth session. Peter Jonkers presented a paper on “Moral Responsibility and Practical Wisdom in Global Times”; Wu Tongli (Shangdong University, China) on “Objection to Fact, Intention and Free Will.” Xiang Yuqiao ( Normal University, China) chaired the first group in the following morn- ing. Gong Qun spoke on “Augustine on Goodness and Evil”; Marcos Jaramillo on “Property and True Natural Law in Confucianism”; Li Yong (Wuhan University) on “Needs, Responsibilities and Rights.” Chen Zhen chaired the second group. Jia Lingchang (SNU) presented a paper on “Socialist Core Values and Common Sense”; João J. Vila-Chã on “Violence and Peace”; Zou Linping (SNU) on “Relationship between Morality and Happiness.” Arkadiusz Gut chaired the third group. Xiang Yuqiao spoke on “On Moral Memory”; Tian Haiping on “Am I the Protector of My Brothers?—A Moral Question.” Satya P. Gautam chaired the fourth group. Lin Guoxong spoke on “On Four Lives”; Wu Lanli (Huazhou University of Science and Technology) on “Moral Responsi- bility of Choice and Freedom.” In the concluding session, Gong Qun gave a thematic summary of the conference and Hu Yeping expressed the gratitude to SNU and all the participants. Participants also visited old streets in the old town, the well-known Daoist mountain, San Qingshan and Ehu Academy (Goose Lake Academy) one of the four well-known academies in Jiangxi Province and where New Confucian scholars Zu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan met in Song Dynasty. Page 24 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Shanghai, P.R. China

June 29-30, 2016:“Reciprocity: A Human Value in a Pluralistic World.” This conference was planned and organized by Wang Tianen, Professor of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Shang- hai University (SU) and RVP Director at the SU. He took part in the RVP annual seminar in 2015 when he expressed his interest in the theme of reciprocity.

Wang Tianen Vincent Shen Tao Qian Cheng Sumei

‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ž›Ž—ŒŽȱ Šœȱ‘Ž•ȱŠȱ‘Žȱ ȱ —Ž›—Š’˜—Š•ȱ ˜—Ž›Ž—ŒŽȱ Š••ȱŠ—ȱ Ž••ȱŠĴ Ž—ŽȱžŽȱ˜ȱ‘Žȱ interest due to the thematic interest. Wang Tianen chaired the opening session. Tao Qian, Dean of Social Sciences of SU, Chen Sumei, Professor of Philosophy, Vice Director of the Institute of Philoso- phy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Vincent Shen gave opening remarks respectively. Chen Sumei chaired the first panel “Reciprocity as a Radical Anthropological Characteristics.” Vincent Shen spoke on “Reciprocity and Generosity: Ethical Praxis and Ontological Foundation”; Wang Tianen on “Reciprocity: From Mutually Beneficial Cooperation to Radical Anthropological Characteristics”; Maija Kule (University of Latvia, Latvia) on “Human Reciprocity: Communica- tiveness and Participation”; Zou Shipeng (Fudan University) on “The Existential Way to Plural

A Group Photo Page 25 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy ism”; Philip J. Rossi on “The Relational Anthropol- ogy of H. Richard Niebuhr as a Conceptual Frame- work for Dynamics of Hu- man Reciprocity.” Yan Menwei (Nankai University, China) chaired the second session “Nature and Characteristics of Hu- man Reciprocity.” Svitlana Shcherbak (Skovoroda’s Institute of Philosophy, Ukraine) presented a paper on “Inter-subjectivity as A Conference Session Equality and Reciprocity”; Qiu Renfu (SU) on “Reciprocity and Human Symbiosis”; Astrid Vicas (Saint Leo University, USA) on “Reference and Reciprocity”; H. Kalbasi (Allameh Tabatabaie University, Iran) on “The Other- ness in Contemporary Philosophy and the Possibility of Transition from Crisis”; Sun Yong (Shanghai Finance University, China) on “The Reciprocity in Chinese Traditional Philosophy.” Vincent Shen chaired the third session “Dimensions and Levels of Human Reciprocity.” Yan Menwei spoke on “Reciprocity and Kant’s Personal Rights of Citizen of the World”; Asha Mukher- jee on “Reciprocity and Justice as the Boundaries of Human Relationship: A Philosophical Con- cern”; Li Liang (SU) on “An Investigation on the Nature and Origin of Reciprocity in China in Re- cent Three Decades”; Denys Kiryukhin (Skovoroda’s Institute of Philosophy, Ukraine) on “Reciprocity as Source for Reconciliation”; Andrew Tsz Wan Hung (Hong Kong Polytechnic Uni- versity, Hong Kong) on “Reciprocity in Friendship: The Dialogical Transformation of Friendship.” Xu Mengqui ( University, China) chaired the fourth session “Reciprocity and Global Ethics.” Peter Jonkers spoke on “Can Reciprocity be the Prin- ciple of a Global Ethics?”; Ning Lina (SU) on “Reciprocity of Thinking and Thoughts: A Logical Perspective”; R.P. Singh on “The Value of Reciprocity in a Pluralistic World.” Ma Ni ( Academy of Social Sciences, China) chaired the fifth session “Reciprocity as a Fundamental Val- ue for Cultural Communication.” Chen Xinhan (SU) pre- sented a paper on “The Collective Consciousness and Collec- tive Unconsciousness in Interelations”; Irina Boldonova (Buryat State University, Russia) on “A Hermeneutic Dia- logue for Sustainable Development”; Yan Tianmin (Capital University of Physical Education and Sport, China) on “Athleticism: A Cultural and Value Activity Based on Reci- procity”; Shen Haiyan (SU) on “Exploring the Reciprocity as the Sign for Buddhist Understanding of Truth.” Page 26 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Dai Pan (Xiamen Uni- versity) chaired the sixth session. (Shanghai Acade- my of Social Sciences) pre- sented a paper on “Infor- mation Tchnology and Ex- tension of Mind”; Chari- laos Harry Platanakis (Koc University, Turkey) on “Aristotelian Reciproci- ty”; Yang Song (Xiamen Dinner Party University) on “A Re- search on the Issue of Su- pervenience”; Zairunisha and Satya P. Gautam on “Vedic Principle of Reciprocity for the Era of Globalization”; Tu Xiaofei (Appalachian State University, USA) on “Confucian Reciprocity and the Debate in Humanitarian Intervention”; V. Prabhu on “An Enquiry into the Case of Animal Welfare through Reciprocity.” Liu Xiaotao (SU) chaired the seventh session “Reciprocity and Morality” when Zhang Yanfen (SU) spoke on “Information, Community and Reciprocity: A Consideration on the Issue of Reciproc- ity from Value Theory”; Ionu Untea (University of La Rochelle, France) on “From Games of Truth to Games of Identity”; Rachel Chan (HELP University, Malaysia) on “Reciprocal Bilingualism: The Base of Bananas, or Purely English Speaking Malaysian”; Yin Yan (SU) on “Reciprocity: Moral and Ethical Principles of Individual Identification.” Shen Haiyan (SU) chaired the eighth session “Reciprocity and the Pluralistic World.” Li Hai- feng (Beijing Normal University, China) spoke on “Reciprocity in Traditional Chinese Culture”; Kunawi Basyir (Islamic University Government (UIN), Indonesia) on “Pluralist Movement in In- donesia”; Wu Liqun (SU) on “A Preliminary Analysis of Reciprocity from the Perspective of Confu- cian Philosophy”; Wiwik Setiyani (Islamic University Government) on “Bisosiative Dialectic in Pluralism.” Hu Yeping chaired a session with the student speakers. Rafael Van Damme (University of Leuven, Belgium) spoke on “Violence: A Reciprocal Vice and a Unilateral Value? A Reflection on State Violence and Reciprocity in Criminal Law”; Li Xuyang (Renmin University of China) on “Art: The Realization of Reciprocity in Human Creativities”; O. Victor Ojo (SU) on “Sino-Nigerian Relations: Exploring the Roles at Play”; Li Huali (SU) on “Cultural Reconcili- ation in Perspective of Globalization.” Ouyang Guanmin, Vice Dean of SU School of Social Sciences and Hu Yeping spoke at the concluding session and wished to con- tinue our future cooperation in various ways. After the conference some participants vis- ited the city, especially the Bund area. Shang- hai is the largest city in China. Page 27 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Klaipeda, Lithuania

June 30-July 1, 2016:“Dialogue of Cultures: Contemporary Thomism and Postmodern Society.” The two-day conference was planned by Dalia Marija Stančienė who took part in the RVP annual seminar 2012. It was held at Klaipeda University (KU), Klaipeda, Lithuania, which regularly con- ducts workshops and seminars on Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy and theology. At the opening session Kęstutis Dučinskas, Vice-Rector of KU, Dalia Marija Stančienė and Zbig- niew Pańpuch, Professor of Philosophy, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, gave opening remarks. Dalia Marija Sta nčienė and Vytis Valat- ka (Vilnius Gediminas Technical Uni- versity) chaired the first session. Ernesta Molotokienė (KU) on “Thomistic Ethics vs. angeletics: The Search for Dialogue”; From left to right: Kęstutis Dučinskas, Dalia Marija Stančienė, Zbigniew Pańpuch Gintautas Vyšniauskas (KU) on “Thomas Aquinas’s Concept of Marriage and Contemporary Problems of Marriage.” Ernesta Molotokienė (KU) and Gintautas Vyšniauskas (KU) chaired the second session. Tomas Kačerauskas (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania) spoke on “The Resonanceof St. Thomas Aquinas’ Ideas in Philosophy of M. Heidegger”; Tautvydas Vėželis (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania) on “A Priori Structures of Dasein’s Existentiality in Heidegger’s Book Being and Time”; Tomas Kaulius (Telšiai Bishop Vincentas Borisevičius Priest Seminary) on “The Links Between Edmund Husserl and Thomas Aquinas: Philosophy according to Edith Stein.” Dalia Marija Stančienė and Gintautas Vyšniauskas chaired the third session. Zbigniew Pańpuch (The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin) presented a paper on “The Immigration: The Ancient Solution of One Present Problem.” Ernesta Molotokienė and Vytis Valatka (KU) chaired the fourth session. Māra Kiope (Latvia University, Lativia) spoke on “The Problem of the Third Intentionality in Thomas Aquinas: Unity of Mind and Will in the Perspective of Inter-cultural Dialogue”; Dalia Mari- ja Stančienė on “Thomistic Concept of Ontology”; Andrius Kulikauskas (Vilnius Gediminas Tech- nical University) on “God’s Dance: Reconceiving the Holy Trinity for Non-Christians.” The confer- ence was concluded in an active exchange of ideas and insights.

A conference session Page 28 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Lviv, Ukraine

June 22-24, 2016: “Philosophy of Dialogue and Understanding: The Construction of European and World Communities.” The conference was planned and organized by Anatolij Karas, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Lviv National Ivan Franko University (LNIFU), Lviv, Ukraine. He is especially specialized in the notion of Civil Society.

Edward J Alam Volodymyr Melnyk Anatolij Karas Jan Łaszczyk Serhiy Rudenko At the opening Volodymyr Melnyk, Rector of LNIFU, Jan Łaszczyk, Rector of Academy of Spe- cial Pedagogy, Warsaw, Poland, Serhiy Rudenko, Vice Dean of Department of Philosophy of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University and Edward J. Alam, Director of the RVP in the Near East gave opening remarks respectively. Anatolij Karas chaired the first plenary session. Serhiy Prolyeyev (Kyiv) presented a paper on “The European Identity and the Ukrainian Perspective”; Vasyl Gluhman (Slovakia) on “Dialogue of Ethical Theories: Kant and Consequentialism”; Wilhelm Dancă (Romania) on “For Sake of United Europe: Tollerance, Dialogue and Hospitality»; Olha Homilko (Kyiv) on “Values Dynamics under Conditions of Global Uncertainty and Local Instability: Risks and Prospects”; Tadeusz Buksiński (Poland) on “Nationalisms and the Possibility of Dialog.” Serhiy Prolyeyev chaired the second ple- nary session. Anatoliy Yermolenko (Kyiv) spoke on “Global Ethos and Universality Ethics of Dis- course in the Contemporary World”; Helena Ciążela (Poland) on “Philosophy of Global Responsi- bility as a Basis for Philosophy of Dialogue in the 21st century”; Ouyang Kang (China). World Complexity, Value Conflicts and Human Wisdoms in the Global Time”; Edward J. Alam (Lebanon) on “Phil- osophy of History and Political Trans- formation: Remem- bering Walter Ben- jamin”; Anatolij Ka- ras on “Civil Socie- ty as a Phenomenon of Civilizational A conference session Page 29 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Mutual Understanding.” Mariya Bratasiuk, Yaroslav Pasko, Oksana Kozhemyakina and Mariya Bratasiuk chaired the first session “Civil Society and Civilizational Process.” Pre- senters included Lyudmyla Yaroshenko (Kyiv) “Civil Society and Civil Identity in Globalized Space of Contemporaneity”; Mariya Bratasiuk (Lviv) “Defense of Hu- man Rights as a Core Component of the Ukrainian National Idea Content”; Dan Chițoiu (Romania) “European Cultural A Conference Session Horizon and the Meanings of Reason»; Oksana Kozhemyakina (Cherkasy) “Dialogic Background of Philosophy of Trust: in Context of Globali- zation”; O. Korzhov (Kyiv) “European Identification and Forming of Mutual Continental Public Space”; Yaroslav Pasko (Kyiv) “Postcolonial Society: Values Modernization or Post-Soviet Neo- Traditionalization?”; Nataliya Satohina (Kharkiv) “Peace as Utopia of Law”; Ivan Lysyi (Kyiv) “Intercultural Dialogue as Ideologeme”; Valeriy Dzhun (Lviv) “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding in Situation of Intercivilizational Dissonance”; Ihor Karivets (Lviv) “The Importance of Philosophical Cul- ture for Reaching of Mutual Understanding between Ukrainians and European Nations”; Nina Balasa- nian (Kharkiv) “Civil Society and Civil Identity in the Perspective of Mutual Understanding in the Globalized Space”; Kostiantyn Bratko (Cherkasy) “Religious, Political and Ideological Dimen- sions of the National Messianism Idea”; Hanna Korzh (Kharkiv) “Post-Conventional Patriotism as a Premise for Sustainable Devel- opment of the Nation”; Mykhay- lo Hordiienko (Irpin) “Patriotism A Dinner Party as the Tool of Opposition to Ex- ternal Expansion”; Volodymyr Kovchak (Lviv) “Sign in the Context of Social Reality Semiotic Constructing”; Mariya Holiash (Lviv) “Necessity as Transformed Human Freedom in Hegel’s Philosophy of History.” The second session was on “Scientific and Educational Factors of Formation of Mutual Understand- ing Intentions Scientific and Educational Factors of Formation of Mutual Understanding Intentions” and chaired by Lyudmyla Horbunova, Serhiy Rudenko, Lyudmyla Horbunova and Serhiy Rudenko. Speak- ers were Tomasz Zimny (Poland) «Role of Educational Constructivism in Democratic Competences For- mation”; Natalya Boichenko (Kyiv) “Counterfactual Status of University Communities Ethical Norms: due in particular”; Oleh Perepelytsia (Kharkiv) “Actualization of Enlightenment Strategies of Emancipa- tion”; Anna Laktionova (Kyiv) “Relative Normativity”; Hanna Hubenko (Kyiv) “Bioethics as an Educa- tional and Philosophical Perspective”; Nataliya Pytetska (Kharkiv) “Bioethics as a Method of Human Activity Regulation and Control”; Viacheslav Artiuh (Sumy) “On the Term ‘Historiosophy’”; Natalia Page 30 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Hromakova (Irpin) “Integration of the Ukrainian Humanities to the Intellectual World Space: Prob- lems and Prospects”; Svitlana Balinchenko (Chernivtsi) “Social and Cultural Foundations for the Ukrainian Education Moderniza- tion under Conditions of Identity Drift”; Janina Świrko-Pilipczuk (Poland) “Neoliberalism in Uni- versity Upbringing, Its Values and Aims”; Serhiy Rudenko (Kyiv) “Methodological Foundations of Dialogue’s Historical-Philosophi- A Conference Session cal Reconstruction in the Ukraini- an Philosophical Culture”; Oleksandr Habovych and Volodymyr Kuznietsov (Kyiv) “Critique as sine qua non of Scientific Progress”; Lyudmyla Horbunova (Kyiv) “Cultural Citizenship from Cosmopolitan Perspective as a Strategy of the Ukrainian Education”; Vadym Tytarenko (Kyiv) “Dialogueness as a Principle of Non-Classical Historical-Philosophical Theory”; Tetiana Shсhyrytsia (Kyiv) “Dialogue and Monologue in Social Ethics Teaching”; Tetyana Sobol (Kyiv) “Influence of Philosophical Education up- on Sustainable Development of the Ukrainian Society”; Olha Lishchynska (Lviv) “Ukrainian Actual Art as a Way to Social Mutual Understanding”; Volodymyr Sabadukha (Ivano-Frankivsk) “Priority of the Spiritual over the Material, or Worldview Foundations of a New Way of Being”; Iryna Salyha (Lviv) “Ideas of Human Progress in I. Franko’s Philosophical Views.” Andriy Dakhniy, Teresa Żółkowska, Teresa Żółkowska and Andriy Dakhniy chaired the third ses- sion “The Question of Identity: Religious and Secular Dimensions.” This session included Nadiia Hapon (Lviv) “Transformations of Contemporary Identities: from Baumanian Types of Lifestyle to Civil Re- sponsibility”; Ihor Pasko (Kyiv) “Archetypes and Culture, Poesy and Philosophy – Place in History”; Teresa Żółkowska (Poland) “On the Relation with the Otherness”; Ruslan Halikov (Kyiv) “Counter- Secular Religious Identity as a Challenge for European Community Constructing”; Anatoliy Saliy (Poltava) “Human Loneliness in Yevhen Zamyatin’s Anti-Utopia ‘We’; Uliana Lushch (Lviv) “Сhristian Origins of Secularity and Contemporary Challenges of the Multicultural World”; Mariya Kohanovska (Lviv) “Religion in the Age of Anthropocentricism”; Oleksiy Haletskyi (Lviv) “Contemporary Religious Identity and Secularization”; Nataliia Ishchuk (Kyiv) “Dialogic Basis of Christian Paradigm of Commu- nication”; Lidiia Tymish (Drohobych) “Transformational Tendencies of Youth Religiosity”; Liudmyla Ryzhak (Lviv) “Network Society: Challenges of Social Consolidation”; Olesya Pan’kiv (Lviv) “Speed as a Key Fea- ture of In- formation Society”; Olha Hra- brova (Kharkiv) “Gustatory/ Nutritional A Conference Session Page 31 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Exchange: a Model of Intercultural Dialogue”; Barbara Więckowska (Poland) “Discourse of Body in Pla- to’s State. Medicalization as a Symptom of Totalitarism”; Petro Petrovskyi (Lviv) “Methodology of Post- modernism in the Context of the Ukrainian Identity Forming”; Tetyana Kozyntseva and Serhiy Chyrkov (Sumy) “Nomadiness of Postmodern Cinematography”; Dominika Gruntkowska (Poland) “The Catastrophe at Smolensk as Polish ‘Romantic Spectacle’.” Mykhaylo Boychenko, Borys Polyarush, Borys Polyarush and Mykhaylo Boychenko chaired the fourth session “Communicative Con- ditions and Specificities of Dialogue.” Ivan Karpenko (Kharkiv) “Link be- tween Meaning and an Individual Perception as Overcoming Contradic- tions of Misunderstanding”; Ihor Hoian (Ivano-Frankivsk) “Individual and Social, National and Global Val- ues Conforming as a Basis of Civili- zational Dialogue”; Friedrich von Petersdorff (Germany) “Temporal Structures of Dialogue and Under- A Conference Session standing”; Svitlana Kutsepal (Poltava) “Lack of Dialogue in Network Society”; Mykhailo Boichenko (Kyiv) “Ethos of Communicative Communities as a Reason for Generalization of Social Values”; Mariya Kashuba (Lviv) “Knowledge/ Cognition of History as a Means of Mutual Understanding”; Vasyl Lysyi (Lviv) “Dialogue in the Con- text of the Theoretical and the Practical: L. Feuerbach, G. Hegel and Contemporaneity”; Mykola Tur (Kyiv) “Apriori Сonditions of Dialogue”; Halyna Budz (Ivano-Frankivsk) “Axiological Aspects of Dia- logue of the Ukrainian and the European Communities”; Hanna Besiedina (Kyiv) “P. Bourdieu’s Social Theory as a Factor for Intercultural Mutual Understanding”; Kateryna Horbenko (Donetsk-Vinnytsya) “Argument to the Justice in as an Aim to Restore Harmony”; Borys Poliarush (Lviv) “J. Habermas: Pecu- liarities of Dialogue in the Contemporary Society”; Serhiy Ishchuk (Kyiv) “Specificity of Internet Com- munications”; Yevhen Laniuk (Lviv) “Historical Principles of Dialogue between Politics and Art”; Mykhaylo Skrynnyk (Lviv) “Brokeness of the Ukrainian Being as an Object of Artistic and Philosophical Reflection in Ivan Franko’s works”; Volodymyr Budz (Ivano-Frankivsk) “Self-Organization of Informa- tional and Existential Identifications of Dialogue”; Oleksandr Tiahlo (Kharkiv) “Towards Qualitative Evaluation of Dialogue Argumenta- tion”; Iryna Dobropas (Lviv) “Problem of Mutual Understanding: Gender Context”; Lidiya Safonik (Lviv) “Winding Road of Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”; Oleksandra Kachmar (Ivano-Frankivsk) “Communicative Competence of a Person as a Guarantee for Prevent- ing Aggressiveness”; Anna-Mariya Luchak (Lviv) “Electronic Govern- ance as a Way of Establishing Deliberative Democracy Values”; Yevheniy Lebed (Sumy) “Guidebook as a Space of Dialogue.” Oresta Losyk, Olexandr Bilokobylskiy, Oresta Losyk and Olexan- der Bilokobylskiy chaired the fifth session “Discursive and ethical Page 32 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Features of Dialogue and Axiology of Mutual Un- derstanding.” A group of scholars presented their papers: Victor Levytskyi (Kyiv) “Values and Mo- dernity: towards Posing a Question”; Volodymyr Protsyshyn (Cherkasy) “Ethical and Socio-Cultural Factors of Human Dialogue; Piotr Rosół (Poland) “ ‘¢ȱ Š—’Š—ȱ Ĵ ’žŽȱ˜ Š›œȱ‘’ŒœȱŽŽ– œȱ˜ȱŽȱ at the Same Time Tempting and Unsustainable?”; Svitlana Loznytsia (Kyiv) “Multiculturalism as the Problem of Reconciliation”; Viktoria Omelchenko (Kyiv) “Dialogue of Cultures in the Context of In- telligent World Community Construction”; Anto- nina Kosykh (Nikopol) “Spiritual and Moral Po- tential of Dialogue in the Contemporary World”; Olena Tytar (Kharkiv) “Hermeneutics of Dialogue as a New Humanistic Ethics of Responsibility of E. Levinas and J. Kristeva”; Oksana Sarabun (Lviv) “¡ ’œŽ—’Š•ȱ Ĵ ’žŽȱŠœȱŠȱ Š¢ȱ˜ȱ ’Š•˜žŽȱ ’‘ȱ National Community”; Dmytro Fokshey (Lviv) “Twilights of Multiculturalism Narrative”; Kateryna Karpenko (Kharkiv) “Dialogue between A Conference Session the «Center» and «Periphery» of Ecological Dis- course as a Gender Problem”; Tetyana Yaroshenko (Lviv) “Suggestion in Socio-Cultural Discourse of the Contemporary Age: Ethical Aspects”; Jacek Moroz and Oskar Szwabowski (Poland) “Parrhesia and Relativism in Ethical Perspective”; Oresta Losyk (Lviv) “Memory as the Experience of Human Culture: Historiosophical and Ethical Contexts”; Valentyna Luchanska (Kyiv) “Developmental Tendencies of Ecology of Culture in Information Society”; Iryna Puhta (Lviv) “Dialogue of Cultures: Postcolonial Di- mension”; Olexandr Shykula (Lviv) “Peace and Justice – Lost or Gained Values for the Dialogue of Cul- tures of the Contemporary Europe?” Iryna Surmai (Lviv) “Ethization of Thinking in Overcoming the Conflict between Noosphere and Technosphere”; Maryna Sabadukha (Ivano-Frankivs’k) “Problem of žœ’ŒŽȱŠœȱŠȱ ŠĴ Ž›ȱ˜ȱ ’Š•˜žŽȱ‹Ž ŽŽ—ȱ‘Žȱ Ž›˜™˜•’Š—ȱ —›Ž’ȱ‘Ž™¢œ”¢’ȱŠ—ȱ ŸŠ—ȱ›Š—”˜ǯ” A plenary session was dedicated the to Lviv-Warsaw School and chaired by Ian Lashchyk, Myhaylo Zarichnyi, Andrzej Góralski and Ihor Derzhko. Speakers included those from Poland Włodzimierz Tyburski “Dialogue as a Possibility of the Contemporary Formation of the World”; Stepan Ivanyk (Poland) “On the Multicultural Dimension of Lviv-Warsaw School”; Jacek Moroz “Ajdukiewicz’s Radical Conventional- ism and Alethic Relativism”; Hubert Bożek “The Question of Intersubjectivity. On the Margin of Izydora Dąbska – Ludwik Fleck”; Andrzej Ciążela “Agnosticism and Realism in Theory of Cognition and Philosophy of Science as Sugges- tions for Defining the Plane of Pluralist Dialogue of Contem- poraneity”; Andrzej Góralski “Human and his deed. Semi- nar on Philosophy of Values”; Jan Łaszczyk “Andrzej Grzegorczyk – Pedagogical Inspiration”; Krystyna Najder “Andrzej Grzegorczyk’s Ethics”; Urszula Wybraniec “On the Page 33 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Life according to the Logics of Gift, Work and Challenges”; Rafał Kur “The Lviv-Warsaw School of Multiculturalism.” Speakers from Ukraine were Myhaylo Zarichnyi “Philosophy of Lviv Mathematics School”; Andriy Synytsya “Possibility of Dialogue between the Continental and the Analytic Philosophy on the Example of the Lviv-Warsaw School”; Yaroslav Hnatyuk (Ivano-Frankivs’k) “Dialogic Communi- cation Model in Logical Theory”; Ihor Derzhko “Towards the Problem of Dialogue in Historical- Philosophical Context”; Yaroslav Prytula “Search for the Rational Basis of Dialogue by Lviv-Warsaw School: Philosophy-Mathematics- Art”; Oleh Hirnyi “Professor An- drzej Grzegorczyk’s Heritage as a Significant Factor of Communica- tion, Dialogue and Social Reality.” A special round table “Europe and Ukraine: Axiolofy of Mutual Understanding” was chaired by Anatoliy Karas’, Vakhtang Kebu- ladze, Andriy Dakhniy and Ihor Derzhko. Vakhtang Kebuladze (Kyiv) spoke on “Change of Meth- Conference Participants odological «Optics» of Humani- ties”; Oleksandr Bilokobyl’skyi (Donetsk-Kyiv) on “Discussion of Particular Axiologies as a Factor of Global Ethics Formation”; Andriy Dakhniy (Lviv) on “Identity and «zwishenization»: Ukraine between Europe and Russia (Philosophical-Historical and Intercultural Perspectives)”; Roman Dodonov (Donetsk-Vinnytsya) on “Discoursive Factors of Conflict in Donbas”; Volodymyr Hurzhy (Donetsk- Vinnytsya) on “Use of Religious Symbols as a Component of Worldview Influence during the events in Donbas 2014”. At the beginning of the conference a music performance was conducted by Nazar Dzhuryn, Cellist and Professor of Music from Chicago. He played Johann-Sebastian Bach Prelude from Suite No1 and Sarabande from Suite No 5 for cello solo; Gyorgy Ligeti (Hungary) Sonata for cello solo and Yuri Laniuk

The Full text of RVP publications are available for free download on the web

In order to share the work of the many teams and build a truly global network the full texts of all RVP books and their individual chapters are available not only in print, but also for free down on the RVP web: www.crvp.org. Please see the “Publications” section of that website. Page 34 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Moscow, Russia

May 27-29, 2016:“Interaction of Cultures and Values: Philosophical Corssroad.” This conference was planned and organized by Nur Kirabaev, Vice Rector and Professor of Philosophy and Ruzana Pskhu, Professor of Philosophy, Department of History of Philosophy, People's Friendship University of Russia (PFUR), Moscow, Russia and RVP regional coordinator. Both of them took part in the RVP annual semi- nars in the past. PFUR and the RVP have a long history in cooperative efforts started by Nur Kirabaev and Yuri Pochta, Chair of Department of Politics of PFURǰȱ‹˜‘ȱ˜ȱ‘Ž– ȱŒŠ– Žȱ˜ȱ Šœ‘’—˜—ȱ˜ȱŠĴ Ž—ȱ the RVP annual seminars in the past. The PFUR has organized conferences almost every year since the early century.

Vladimir Tsvyk, Nur Kirabaev, Yuri Pochta Ruzana Pskhu

At the opening session Nur Kirabaev and Vladimir Tsvyk, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of PFUR gave welcome remarks. Nur Kirabaev and Yuri Pochta chaired the first session. Vladi- mir Mironov (Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow State University, Russia) spoke on “Philosophy and the Word”; Andrei Smirnov (Russian Academy of Sciences) on “Cultural and non- Cultural Islam: The Consequences of Scrapping Meaning of Paradigms“; Bianca Boteva-Richter (University of Vienna, Austria) on “Moving Cultures: Migration and Intercultural Identities”; Valeri Gubin (Moscow State University of Humanities) on “Is a person the highest value?” Aleksandr Pertsev (Ural Federal University, Russia) on “Philosophy and National Self-conscience”; Alexei Rut- kevich (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia) on “Facts, Fictions and Values in Historical Knowledge”; Anatoli Lukianov (Russian Academy of Sciences) on “Value Arche- types of Confucianism and ”; Anatoli Kolesnikov (Saint-Petersburg State University) on “From Multiculturalism to a Dialogue of Philosophical Cultures.” Ruzana Pshu and L. Krishtop (PFUR) chaired the second session. Nur Kirabaev spoke on “Philosophy and Culture”; Yuri Pochta on “Limits of the Intercul- tural Dialogue in Postmodern Sit- uation”; Gilles Bertrand (Institute of Political Studies, France) on “The Values and the Economic-Political Challenges of the Modern World”; Sergei Niz- nikov (PFUR) on “Is There a Moral Position in Niccolo Machi- avelli?”; Abbas Jong (Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran) on A Conference Session “Identity and Third Culture in a Page 35 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Globalizing World”; Jama Ab- dullahi (Somalia) on “State Col- lapse in Africa: A Comparative Analysis”; Daria Kazarinova (RPFU) on “The Image of Rus- sia’s Future: Value Aspects”; Ma- ria Mchedlova (RPFU) on “Religion and the Contemporary Value Context”; Viacheslav Naidish (RPFU) on “Anthropological Crisis in the Modern World: The Different Reading”; T. Korneeva (Russian Academy of Sciences) on A Conference Session “Ismailism and the West: Experi- ence of a Successful Cultural Dialogue”; Chloe Vodelen (RPFU) “Civil Society: Identity and Values”; Elizaveta Zolotareva (RPFU) ”Analytical Model of Deliberative Discourse: Antiquity and Modernity”; Vladimir Ivanov (RPFU) on “Value Foundation of the Contemporary ‘Rating Power’”; Y. Fedorova (Russian Academy of Sciences) on “Poem of Farid al- ’—ȱ Ĵ Š›ȱ‘The Language of Birds’ (Mantiq ut-Tair) in the Dialogue between Russian and Iranian Philosophical Cultures “; Olga A. Burukina (Financial University, Russia) on “Cultural Studies and Cultural Philosophy in the Globalizing World.” Marina Mchedlova (RPFU) chaired third session. Ruzana Pshu spoke on “The Main Principles of the Religious Hermeneutics of Gerhard Oberhammer and New Interpretation of Vishishta-advaita Ve- danta of Ramanuja”; L. Krishtop on “Phenomena of Holiness in the Light of Schopenhauer’s Views: Christianity vs. Indian thought”; Ivan Negreev (Orthodox Institute, Russia) on “Between Aesthetics and War. Vedic Vrātya in the Light of the Indo-Germanic Parallels”; Maxim Demtchenko (Russian Or- thodox University, Russia) on “Place and Role of Saniyasa in the Interreligious Dialogue in Modern In- dia”; Ella Driaeva (Moscow State University, Russia) on “Quest for Identity in New Communication Environment”; Maxim Mikhalev (Institute of Global Ethnology and Anthropology, Russia) on “Burkhanism as a Religion of Dialogue”; Vahid Mahdavi Mehr, (Iran) on “Language Games, Integra- tion And Extremism: A Philosophical look at the Effect of Imported Islamic Thought V.S. Organic Devel- opment of Islam in Christian Countries.” Yuri Pochta chaired the fourth session. Natalia Kanaeva (National Research University, Russia) presented a paper on “The Treatment of the Methodology of Cognition in Traditional Indian Medicine (based on the «Carakasa- hitā»)”; I. Grebeshev (RPFU) on “Philosophy of N. Berdyaev in the Context of the Western Phi- losophy”; A. A Conference Session Kosichenko Page 36 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

(RPFU) on “Cultural and Spiritual-value of Civili- zation Dialogue”; P. Loginova (RPFU) on “The Philosophical Aspect of the Relationship of Inter- cultural Communication, Language and Conscious- ness Linguo-cultural Concept of ‘Wine’”; T. Var- khotov, (Moscow State University) on “What Comes after the Cultural Differences: The Limits and Capacities of Mass-media Manufactories of Re- ality”; Anna Ribakova (Russian Orthodox Univer- sity) on “Nevar’s Buddism: Religious and Philo- sophical System at the Cultural Cross-roads of Ti- bet and India”; N. Danilova (Moscow State Uni- versity of Linguistics) on “Borrowings in the Mod- ern Russian Language as a Reflection of World- outlook.” Cultural Differences: The Limits and Ca- A Conference Session pacities of Mass-media Manufactories of Reality”; Anna Ribakova (Russian Orthodox University) on “Nevar’s Buddism: Religious and Philosophical Sys- tem at the Cultural Cross-roads of and India”; N. Danilova (Moscow State University of Linguis- tics) on “Borrowings in the Modern Russian Language as a Reflection of World-outlook.” During the conference a special round table was dedicated to the theme of “Philosophy and Values: Tolerance in Comparative Analysis.” Nur Kirabaev chaired the session. V. Naidish, A. Likianov, Y. Pochta, M. Mchedlova, D. Kazarinova, V. Ivanov, R. Pskhu, L. Krishtop, S. Nizhnikov, S. Ru- danovskaya, P. Rezvykh, V. Zhdanov and others joined the discussion.

RVP Past Council Members Carlo Giacon (1900.12.28-1984.12.17) † Lywel David Lewis (1910.05.21-1992.04.06) † Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900.02.11-2002.03.12) † Paul Ricoeur (1913.02.27-2005.05.20) † Jean Ladrière (1921.09.07-2007.11.26) † Venant Cauchy (1924.05.18-2008.03.30) † The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Semou Pathe Gueye (1948.03.01-2009.03.04) Gibbons Hall B-20, 620 Michigan Avenue, North East Józef Mirosław Życiński (1948.09.01-2011.02.10) † Washington, D.C. 20064 Tomonobu Imamichi (1922.11.19-2012.10.13) † Telephone: 202/319-6089 Tang Yijue (1927.02.16-2014.09.09) Email: [email protected] Yu Wujin (1948.06.21-2014.10.31) Website: www.crvp.org George F. McLean (1929.06.29-2016.09.06) †

The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP) expresses its deep gratitude and admiration to those who served the RVP in the past in promoting mu- tual dialogue and understanding among peoples and cultures. Page 37 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Visakhapatnam, India

March 29-31, 2016:“Being Human in Multi-cultural Traditions.” This conference was planned and organized by K. Remi Rajani, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of Satchidananda Murty Center for the Religious Studies, Department of Philosophy, Andhra University (AU), Visakhapatnam and Director for the RVP Center at AU. She also took part in the RVP annual seminar in 2015.

Opening Session K. Remi Rajani The conference was supported by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), Ministry of Human Resource Development and Prof. K. Satchidananda Murty Centre for Religious Studies. The participants included Hon'ble Sri Jaya Surya Garu, Principal and District and sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam. ǯǯȱ‘ŠĴ , Chairman of ICPR sent his paper on “Onto Perfection Asato Ma Sad- gamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya Mrtorma’mrtam Gamaya”; K. Rama Krishna Rao, Director of the Institute of Human Sciences and Service delivered the keynote address on “Meditation: Mind- less and Mindful Discovering the Human and Realizing Peace and Harmony” and P. George Vic- tor, Professor of Indian Philosophy and Director of Center for Religious Studies at AU gave val- edictory address on “Infusing Aham Brahmasmi In Synchronizing Tat Tvam Asi.” At the opening Thomas Menamparampil read the late Professor George F. McLean’œȱ•ŽĴ Ž›ȱ˜ȱ‘ŽȱŒ˜—Ž›Ž—ŒŽǯ Under the main theme there were seven subthemes: 1. Multicultural Education for a Changing World; 2. Humanity and Diversity; 3. Global Ethics and International Development; 4. Multicultur- alism and Personal Identity; 5. Beyond Cultural Identity. Reflections on Multicultural Traditions; 6. Intercultural Dialogue and Social cohesion; 7. Inter Faith Dialogue. During the conference participants presented their papers in relation to the thematic. Dilipku- mar Mohanta (University of Kolkata, India) spoke on “Religious Pluralism And Interfaith Dia- logue”; C. D. Sebastian (IIT Mumbai University) on “Aporia of Tension and Value in Multicultural

A Group Photo Page 38 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy alism”; Thomas Menamparampil on “Being Human Amidst Multicultural Traditions”; Ganesh Prasad Das (Utkal University, India) on “The Identity and Destiny of Man in a Multi- Cultural World”; Veerasamy S. George Joseph (Chennai Loyola College, India) on “Hindu Scriptural (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam And Lo- kasa Graha) and the Other Religious Insights Enhancing Healthy Healthy Family Living Through ‘Multi-Cultural and Inter-Religious Co -Existence’”; Nesy Kuriakose (Kerala Universi- ty, India) on “Do We Need Multiculturalism?”; A Conference Session J.K.K. Herndon (University of Pune, India) on “Inter-Cultural Philosophy: Growing through the Myriad Approaches to Oneness”; Aditi Dasgupta (West Bengal State University, India) on “Alienation and Solidarity: The Dialectics of Culture”; B. Sambasiva Prasad (GITAM University, India) on “Beyond Cultural Identity: Gandhian Perspec- tive”; Š—’™ȱ‘ŠĴ Ž›“ŽŽȱand ž”•Šȱ‘ŠĴ Ž›“ŽŽ(Derozio Memorial College, University of Kolkata) on “Global Ethics and International Development: The Mission of the Vedanta as Envisaged by Swa- mi Vivekananda”; K. Bhima Kumar (University of Allhabad) on “Inter-Faith Dialogue as a Means to Resolve Conflict: Some Preliminary Observations From Buddhism”; Pratick Mallick (University of Kalyani, India) on “Philosophy of Being Middle Class”; Š™Š’ȱ‘Š”›ŠŸŠ›Ĵ ¢ (Mahila Maha Vidhyalaya University, India) on “Radhakrishnan on Spiritual Reality in Which All Mankind Is One”; B.R. Shanta Kumari (Pondicherry Central University, India) on “Being Human: Virasaivism Perspective”; Abha Singh (Bihar University, India) on “A Peep into Global Ethics And Internation- al Development”; MD Sirajul Islam on "Sufism and Inter faith Dialogue for Global Peace & Har- mony”; T.K. Parthasarathy (Independent Researcher, India) on “Council for Research in Values and Philosophy”; D. Uma Devi and M. Vijaya Prasad on “Multicultural Education”; George Kara- kunnel on “Religious Philosophy of Sri Narayana Guru”; Theavy Ser (Phnom Pen Bible School, Cambodia) on “Humanity, Diversity Characteristic of the Modern World.” Scholars from William Carey University, Shillong, India, presented their pa- pers: Paul Mohan Raj “Issues in Indian Plurality and Multiculturalism,” Gita Pyal on “Socio- Cultural Changes in the Khasi Tribe of Meghala- ya,” and Baiaphira G. Lyngskor on “Intergrated  žĴ ’Œž•ž›Š•ȱžŒŠ’˜—ȱ’—ȱ the Indian Society”; from A Conference Session Bangalore Acts Academy Page 39 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Higher Education, India: John Mohan Razu on “Essentializing Humanity Amidst Plurality: India a Case in Point” and Rajesh on “Being and Becoming Human: A Biblical Position on Human Rights”; from S.V. University, India: P. Chinnaiah on “Humanity Crisis in Multicultural Traditions World” and Chenchulakshmi Kollaf on “Samkhya-Yoga Gunas as Reflections of Multi-Cultural Identity.” Scholars from Andhra University also presented their papers: K. Gayathri Devi on “Kaivalyadarsanam of Swami Sri Yukteswargiri: An Inspiration to Inter-Faith Dialouge on Christi- anity and Sanatanadharma/Hinduism,” M. Rajeswara Rao on “Upanishads: Global Teachings,” M. Solomon Raju on “Global Perspective of Multicultural Education And Some Important Aspects” and Satya Pal and C. Pradgna “ žŠ—Š›¢ȱ˜ȱŽ’—ȱ ž– Š—ȱ’—ȱ‘Žȱ ˜—œŠ—Œ¢ȱ˜ȱ—Œž•ž›Š•ȱŠĴ Ž›—œȱ of Life: Call for re-learning to Be Human”. The host professors and scholars also spoke at the conference. They were: A. Subramanyam, A. Dhanalakshmi, D. Srinivas, Indu Mani, Sony Havilah, K. John Sudheer, M.V.V.P. Kumar, M. Vi- jaya, S.M. Indira, Padma Meenakshi, V. Eswara Rao, Satyavani, Nireekshana K. Kancharla, Roshan Nisar, John Christopher, Y. Devadanam, Mantri Madhan Mohan, T. Sambasiva Rao, Damodar Singh, Reddeppa V., and Venkata Rao. On January 12, 2017 K. Remi Rajani orga- nized the first endowment lecture on interreli- gious dialogue. The lecture was entitled “Re- Learning to be Human for Global Times: Friendship as a Fundamental Value.” It was From left to right: G. Nageswara Rao, K. Remi Rajani, V. Uma Maheswara Rao endowed by G. Nageswara Rao, Vice-

Chancellor and V. Uma Maheswara Rao, Registrar as well as the Members of the Executive Council of An- dhra University. This endowment lecture was the con- tinuation of the joint efforts between the University and the RVP initiated by K. Remi Rajani . The Endowment Lecture João J. Vila-Chã and Hu Yeping were invited to speak at the lecture on the thematic issue on the role of friendship in these complex global times from both Eastern and Western perspectives, especially from the Confucian and the Christian traditions. Both referred to the notion of friendship articulated by Aristotle in ancient Greece and argued how friendship can play an important role in reli- gious dialogue and cooperation today. After the lecture, the vis- itors visited the beautiful coast city with different historical The Endowment Lecture and religious sites. Page 40 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Bucharest, Romania

March 4-5, 2016:“Religion, the Sacred and Hospitality.” This conference was planned and organized by Wilhelm Dancă, Professor of Philosophy, Faculty of Theology, University of Bucharest (UB) and RVP Regional Coordinator. He took part in the RVP annual seminar in 2006.

A Conference Session Wilhelm Danca Mihaela Voicu (UB) chaired the first session. Wilhelm Dancă spoke on “How Migrants Should Be Treated? Some Social-Christian Criteria of Hospitality”; Olga Burukina (Senkevich State Institute for Tourism Industry, Russia) on “Limitations to European Hospitality in the New Political Paradigm”; Daniel Barbu (UB) on “No Country for New Men? Welcoming and Belonging in Christian Ethics”; Untea Ionut on “Hospitality and the Religions of Humanity: from Clashes of Civili- zations to the Enlargement of the Human Family”; Martin de la Croix Melin (University Babeș Bolyai of Cluj-Napoca, Romania) on “Hospitalité et Bien Commun”; Iustin Alexandru and Petru-Ciprian Bradu (Academy of Economical Studies, Romania) on “The Hospitality a Characteristic of European Homo Oeconomicus?” Eduard Giurgi (UB) chaired the second session. Adanna James (Catholic Uni- versity of Leuven, Belgium) presented a paper on “Real Hospitability and Nowadays Crisis of Refu- gees”; Dan Chitoiu (University “Al. I. Cuza” of Iași, Romania) on “The Stake of Hospitability”; Irina Elena Buliga (University of Hamburg, Germania) on “The Guest is Equivalent to God, an Immersion in the Hospitality of Indian Religious Cultures”; Zhao Sikong (Academy of Social Sciences of Shanghai, China) on “Spiritual Resources for Hospitality regarding Migrant Peasant Workers: The Chinese and Eastern European Cases.” Ioana Iliescu (UB) chaired the third session. Seyed Seyed Javad Miri (Institute of Hu- manities and Cultural Studies Teheran, Iran) on “The Ques- tion of Hospital- ity in Sufism. A Glance at Abol- hassan Khara- qani’s Concep- tion of the ‘Other’”; Dumi- trana Magdale- na (The Theo- logical Advent- A Conference Session ist Institute Page 41 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Cernica, Romania) “Hazrat Ina- yat Khan: A Sufi Vision on Ego- Alter Relation”; Valentin Cioveie (UB) on “Acorporality and Eschatological Experience.” Emil Moraru (UB) chaired the fourth session. Bogdan Duca (Camera Deputaților, Romania) “The Foreign and Alienated Man: From Abrahamic to Phylo- genic Social Dimension”; Tarciziu-Hristofor Șerban (UB) A Conference Session on “Creativity and Hospitality and Theological Motivation in Helping the Christian Communities of the First Century”; Bălan Marin (UB) on “The Reception of the Alien in the Early Christian Era”; Lupu Ștefan (University “Al. I. Cuza” of Iași) on “Guest or Love in the Christian Tradition”; Lucian Dîncă (UB) on “Theological Hospitality of St. Atanasie”; Violeta Barbu (UB) on “Christian Solidarity and Political Correctness: Romanian Hospi- tality to the Patriarchs of Antioch (Syria).” Lucian Dîncă chaired the fifth session. Angela-Cristina Bar- bu (UB) presented a paper on “Europe and the Refugee Crisis between Hospitality and Fear”; Gabriel Sorescu (University of Craiova, Romania) on “Orthodox Church and the Immigration Phenomenon: Missionary Pastoral Opportunities and Responsibilities”; Florin Silaghi (UB) on “Hospitality between Tolerance and Responsibility”; Daniela Mare (UB) on “Hospitality in Catholic Schools.” Gabriela Nicolae Blebea (UB) chaired the sixth session. Elvira Groza (University of Babeș-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca, Romania) spoke on “The Construction and Deconstruction of Hospitality at the Bound- ary between Law and Moral Obligation”; and a few scholars from UB presented their papers: Daniel Duță on “Sacredness and Hospitality in Appearance as a Full Perspective of Communication Silence”; Elena Beca on “Let's be Hospitable to Life”; Iulia Nițescu on “Catholic Ambassadors in the XVI century in Russia: Herberstein and Possevino”; Daniel Duță on “Sacredness and Hospitality in Appearance as a Full Perspective of Communication Silence”; Elena Beca on “Let's be Hospitable to Life”; Iulia Nițescu on “Catholic Ambassadors in the XVI century in Russia: Herberstein and Possevino”; Costel Ghio- anca (Iași) on “War: Prophet of the End or the Stimulus of Philanthropy?.” Rodica Pop (Univer-sity “Al.I. Cuza” of Iași) on “A Foreigner Yester- day and Today, the Romani- an.” Stefan Lupu (University “Al.I. Cuza” of Iași) chaired the seventh ses- sion. Carmen Potra (UB) spoke on “Catholic Priests and Hospitality in Com- munist Prisons”; Anastasia Dumitru (Liceul “Lucian A Conference Session Page 42 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

Blaga” of Constanța) on “Mystic Inquiries in the Romanian Gu- lag”; Gabriel Badea (UB) on “Mircea Eliade and Religious Border”; Marta Andro (UB) on “Globalization and the Sacred. New Models of inculturation.” Wilhelm Dancă chaired the eighth session. Eduard Giurgi (UB) spoke on “Papal Teaching A Conference Session on Immigration in a Globalized World”; Mohamed Ahmed Suleyman (Beni Suef University, Egypt) on “The Concept of the Other in the Religious and Human Context”; Tănase D. Laurențiu (UB) on “Aspects of the Hospitality within Nowadays Romanian Society”; Florina Rodica Hariga (University “Al. I. Cuza” of Iași) on “Cosmopolitan Right and The Problem of Inconsistency regarding Unconditional Hospitality”; Ioan Dură (University Ovidius of Constanța, Romania) on “The Hospitality in the Horizon of Spirituali- ty: The Synthesis of Romanian Spirit as a Point of Religious and Cultural Convergence between East and West.” Ioana Iliescu (UB) chaired the ninth session. Călin Piescu (Vienna, Austria) presented a paper on “The Sovereign Military Order of Malta: One Thousand Years in the Service of the Poor”; Răzvan Albert Marcu (UB) on “The Nature and Character in Francisco de Vitoria’s De Indis (1539), and its Relationship with the Law of Nations”; Marin Aiftincă (Romanian Academy, Romania) on “Culture and Religion in Late Modernity.” Violeta Barbu (UB) chaired tenth session. Cristian Vacaru (Ierusalim, Israel) spoke on “Hospitality of Pilgrims to the Holy Land in the Past and Today”; Mihaela Voicu (UB) on “Gentle Aspects of hospitality”; Ana Petrache (Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research Š—ȱ ’Š•˜žŽǰȱ ’ĵ Ž›•Š—Ǽȱ˜—ȱ“Hospitality of God - the right sanctuary”; Dreptu Ruxandra (UB) on “Saints. Representations of Hospitality in European Painting.” Marta Andro (UB) chaired the eleventh session. Maria Luiza Oancea (UB) presented a paper on “The Beginnings of Diplomacy Re- flected in the Homeric epic”; Diana Popescu (UB) on “Hospitality from Jan Blahoslav, Bishop of Czech Brethren Union”; Ionuț Constantin (UB) on “The Phenomenon of Migration in Holy Scrip- ture and in the Present World”; Lorena Stuparu (Romanian Academy) on “Hospitality and the Ten- ant.” Tarciziu-Hristofor Șerban (UB) chaired twelfth session. Liviu Marius (Bacău) spoke on “What is Monotheistic Hospitality?”; Ileana Stănculeasa (Bucurest) on “Hospitality as a Witness of Faith”; Alexandru-Filip Popovici (UB) on “Hospitality: An Approach to the Psychology of Re- ligion”; Roxana Alexandra Ciurtin (UB) on “Hospitality of Inter-state Relations.” Lucian Dîncă (UB) chaired the thirteenth session. Ștefan Beca (UB) presented a paper on “Hospitality as Open to Friends and Foes”; Gabriela Nicolae Blebea (UB) on “As a Child but as a Guest or as a Nuisance”; Magda Stravinschi (Institute of Astronomy, Roma- nian Academy) on “Open Arms to the Sky.” A Conference Session Page 43 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

ACADEMIC VISITS

Washington, D.C.

May 7, 2016 and September 25, 2016: Nur Kirabaev and Ruzana Pskhu, Russian People’s Friendship University (RPFU), paid a visit respectively to discuss the future cooperation in various aspects. Since the early 1990s RPFUL and the RVP have been working together on various projects. During their visits some plans were under consideration. For instance, a 5-day seminar to be held in Washington and a 3-day conference to be held in Moscow were proposed and in the process of preparation. Both meetings will focus on the comparative Nur Kirabaev Ruzana Pskhu study of the Eastern and Western philo- sophical schools and thoughts. A few books resulted from the research projects and conferences conducted at RPFU were also published by the RVP. Both expressed their willingness and wishes to continue such long-term col- laboration.

January 11, 2016: Two Iranian scholars, Jafar Morvarid from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and Vahid Mahdavimehr also from Al-Mustafa International Univer- sity of Mashhad, came to Washington to pay a visit. The purpose of their visit was to explore the possibility of future cooperation. The mutual contact began with George F. McLean who visited their University and gave lectures there in 1990s. Hu Yeping, Frederick L Ahearn, Professor of Social Work of the Catholic Jafar Morvarid & Vahid Mahdavimehr University of America, Sayed Hassan Hussaini (Akhlaq), Scholar of Islamic Philosophy and Visiting Researcher at the CUA Center for the Study of Culture and Val- ues, Huang Qihong (Southwest University, China), Zhang Zhixiang (Yangzhou University, China) and others were at the meeting during their visit.

Photos during the Visit Page 44 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

PUBLICATIONS

Nine Books Published in the RVP Publication Series “Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change”

Series II. African Philosophical Studies  II.18 Universalism, Relativism, and Intercultural Philosophy: Nigerian Philosophical Studies IV. Joseph C. Achike Agbakoba and Anthony C. Ajah, eds. ISBN 9781565183162 (paper).

Series IIIA. East Asian Philosophical Studies  III.3 Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Chinese Culture: Chinese Philo- sophical Studies, III. Tang Yijie. ISBN 9781565180345 (2nd edition and enlarged).  III.29 Spiritual Foundations and Chinese Culture: A Philosophical Approach: Chinese Philo- sophical Studies, XXIX. Anthony J. Carroll and Katia Lenehan, eds. ISBN 9781565182974 (paper).  III.32 Care of Self and Meaning of Life: Asian and Christian Reflections: Chinese Philosophi- cal Studies, XXXII. William Sweet and Cristal Huang, eds. ISBN 9781565183131 (paper).

Series IVA. Eastern and Central European Philosophical Studies  IVA.55 Eurasian Frontier: Interrelation of Eurasian Cultures in a Global Age: Russian Philo- sophical Studies, IX. Irina Boldonova and Vensus A. George, eds. ISBN 9781565183186 (paper).

Series VII. Seminars: Culture and Values  VII.35 The Secular and the Sacred: Complementary and/or Conflictual? John P. Hogan and Sayed Hassan Akhlaq, eds. ISBN 9781565183117 (paper).

Series VIII. Christian Philosophical Studies  VIII.15 Seekers or Dwellers: The Social Character of Religion in Hungary: Christian Philosophical Studies, XV. Zsuzsanna Bögre, ed. ISBN 9781565183063 (paper).  VIII.20 Seekers and Dwellers: Plurality and Wholeness in a Time of Secularity: Christian Philosophi- cal Studies, XX. Philip J. Rossi, ed. ISBN 9781565183155, (paper).  VIII.21 Renewing the Church in a Secular Age: Holistic Dialogue and Kenotic Vision: Christian Phil- osophical Studies, XXI. Charles Taylor, José Casanova, George F. McLean and João J. Vila-Chã, eds. ISBN 9781565183179 (paper). Page 45 Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

COUNCIL MEMBERS REGIONAL COORDINATORS

A’avani, Gholam-Reza (Tehran) Africa Abu Laylah, Muhammad (Cairo) Agbakoba, Joseph C.A. (Nsukka) Asanova, Umut (Bishkek) Mabiri, Francis (Harare) Balasubramanian, R (Chennai) Wamala, Edward (Kampala) Bhatt, S.R. (Delhi) Buksiński, Tadeusz (Poznan) Asia Casanova, José (Washington) Erikovna, A. Cholpon (Bishkek) Choudhuri, Indra Nath (Delhi) Gan, Chunsong (Beijing) Desmond, William (Leuven) Panneerselvam, S. (Chennai) The Council for Research in Values and Phi- Dussel, Enrique (Mexico) Pham, Van Duc (Hanoi) losophy (RVP) is a 501C3 not-for-profit entity Gyekye, Kwame (Legon) Sriwarakuel, Warayuth (Bangkok) with the following goals, objectives and opera- Kirabaev, Nur (Moscow) tions. Lerner Febres, Salomon (Lima) Europe McBride, William (W. Lafayette) Carroll, Anthony (London) Goals: Nasr, S.H. (Washington/Tehran) Dobrzański, Dariusz (Poznan) To understand and appreciate the cultures Neville, Robert C. (Boston) Dancă, Wilhelm (Bucharest) and values that shape aspirations and motivate Ouyang, Kang (Wuhan) Jonkers, Peter (Tilburg) actions. Nysanbaev, Abdumalik (Almaty) Karas, Anatolij (Lviv) To understand one’s own and other cultures Ramose, Mogobe B. (Pretoria) Makariev, Plamen (Sofia) and develop a positive yet critical appreciation Scannone, Juan C. (Buenos Aires) Pskhu, Ruzana (Moscow) thereof. Stepanyants, Marietta (Moscow) To build cooperation among peoples by Taylor, Charles M. (Montreal) Latin America providing horizons that heal deep tensions and Tu, Weiming (Beijing/Boston) Dei, H. Daniel (Buenos Aires) promote peace and friendship on a global scale. Islam Objectives: UNIVERSITY CENTERS Crow, Karim (Kuala Lumpur) To mobilize research teams to study the na- Heriyanto, Husain (Jakarta) ture, interpretation and development of cultures Beirut—Alam, Edward J. Mohamed, Yasien (Cape Town) and to apply them to the challenges of contem- Notre Dame University Nobaha, Rahim (Tehran) porary change. Moscow—Pochta, Yuriy Rashid, Abdu (Karachi) To publish and distribute the results of these Russian People’s Friendship University Tatar, Burhan (Samsun) efforts. Iași-—Chițoiu, Dan To organize extended seminars for deeper Alexandru Ioan Cuza University exploration of these issues and regional confer- Beijing—Gong, Qun PRESIDENT ences for the coordination of this work. People’s University of China McLean, George F. † Shanghai—He, Xirong Operations: Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences VICE PRESIDENTS Research teams applying the resources of the —Wang, Xinsheng Halik, Tomas cultural traditions to contemporary issues, and Fudan University Heriyanto, Husain —Wang, Tianen six to ten week annual seminars in Washington, Shen, Vincent Shanghai University D.C., for international scholars and representa- Sweet, William Wuhan—Huang, Chao Vila-Chã, João J. tives of the research teams. Wuhan University Regional meetings for mutual critique and plan- Visahkapatnam—K.Remi Rajini EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ning by these teams, and periodic world confer- Andhra University Hu, Yeping ences for exchange of results on a global level. Publication of the results of this research and EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE critical reflection (over 300 volumes thusfar), Barbieri, William A. and a unique distribution network to 350 univer- Hogan, John P. sity libraries worldwide, as well as through the Hu, Yeping usual book outlets, with the complete texts avail- Kromkowski, John A. able on the web at www.crvp.org. Rossi, Philip J.