Postmodernism,” Relativism, and Fake Reasoning
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CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2014 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 2 2014 Vol XI No 2 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL ISBN 978-3-631-66062-1 www.peterlang.com CULTURA 2014_266062_VOL_11_No2_GR_A5Br.indd 1 03.12.14 12:11 CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2014 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 2 2014 Vol XI No 2 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL www.peterlang.com CULTURA 2014_266062_VOL_11_No2_GR_A5Br.indd 1 03.12.14 12:11 CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology E-ISSN (Online): 2065-5002 ISSN (Print): 1584-1057 Advisory Board Prof. Dr. David Altman, Instituto de Ciencia Política, Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile Prof. Emeritus Dr. Horst Baier, University of Konstanz, Germany Prof. Dr. David Cornberg, University Ming Chuan, Taiwan Prof. Dr. Paul Cruysberghs, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Prof. Dr. Nic Gianan, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines Prof. Dr. Marco Ivaldo, Department of Philosophy “A. Aliotta”, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy Prof. Dr. Michael Jennings, Princeton University, USA Prof. Dr. Maximiliano E. Korstanje, University of Palermo, Argentina Prof. Dr. Richard L. Lanigan, Southern Illinois University, USA Prof. Dr. Christian Lazzeri, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France Prof. Dr. Massimo Leone, University of Torino, Italy Prof. Dr. Asunción López-Varela Azcárate, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain Prof. Dr. Christian Möckel, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany Prof. Dr. Devendra Nath Tiwari, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Prof. Dr. José María Paz Gago, University of Coruña, Spain Prof. Dr. Mario Perniola, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy Prof. Dr. Traian D. Stănciulescu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iassy, Romania Prof. Dr. Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek, Purdue University & Ghent University Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief: Co-Editors: Prof. dr. Nicolae Râmbu Prof. dr. Aldo Marroni Faculty of Philosophy and Social- Dipartimento di Lettere, Arti e Scienze Sociali Political Sciences Università degli Studi G. d’Annunzio Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti Scalo, Italy B-dul Carol I, nr. 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania [email protected] [email protected] PD Dr. Till Kinzel Executive Editor: Englisches Seminar Dr. Simona Mitroiu Technische Universität Braunschweig, Human Sciences Research Department Bienroder Weg 80, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University 38106 Braunschweig, Germany Lascar Catargi, nr. 54, 700107 Iasi, Romania [email protected] [email protected] Editorial Assistant: Dr. Marius Sidoriuc Designer: Aritia Poenaru Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology Vol. 11, No. 2 (2014) Editor-in-Chief Nicolae Râmbu Guest Editors: Sonia Catrina and Cyril Isnart Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Umschlagabbildung: © Aritia Poenaru ISSN 2065-5002 ISBN 978-3-631-66062-1(Print) E-ISBN 978-3-653-05406-4 (E-Book) DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-05406-4 © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Frankfurt am Main 2014 All rights reserved. Peter Lang Edition is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH. Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Warszawa · Wien All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems. This publication has been peer reviewed. www.peterlang.com CONTENTS Sonia Catrina & Cyril Isnart 7 Introduction: Mapping the Moving Dimensions of Heritage Nicolito A. Gianan 19 Heritage-making and the Language of Auctoritas and Potestas Susan LT Ashley 39 Re-telling, Re-cognition, Re-stitution: Sikh Heritagization in Canada Michel Rautenberg & Sarah Rojon 59 Hedonistic Heritage: Digital Culture and Living Environment VintilĈ MihĈilescu 83 “Something Nice.” Pride Houses, Post-peasant Society and the Quest for Authenticity Meglena Zlatkova 109 (Re-) Settled People and Moving Heritage – Borders, Heirs, Inheritance Ema Pires 133 Re-scripting Colonial Heritage Eloy Martos Núñez & Alberto Martos García 145 Tourist Neoreadings of Heritage in Local and Transnational Contexts Elena Serdyukova 163 Keeping of Cultural Heritage in Emigration: Experience of Russia Abroad VARIA Thorsten Botz-Bornstein 18 Believers and Secularists: “Postmodernism,” Relativism, and Fake Reasoning 10.5840/cultura201411221 Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology 11(2)/2014: 183–198 Believers and Secularists: “Postmodernism,” Relativism, and Fake Reasoning Thorsten Botz-Bornstein Gulf University, PO Box 7207 Hawally 32093, Kuwait [email protected] Abstract. In spite of the long tradition of coexistence, and in spite of the emergence of some kind of “postmodern relativism,” the positions of believers and secularist remain very distinct. What is it more precisely that distinguishes secularists from be- lievers? In this article I explore the topics of “postmodernism” and relativism in or- der to establish parallels and differences. In particular, I compare two critiques of “western” relativism, one formulated by Muslim scholar Ziauddin Sardar and the oth- er by the American philosopher Allan Bloom who criticizes relativism as a belief. Keywords: secularism, postsecularism, postmodernism and religion, nihilism, relativ- ism, Allan Bloom, Ziauddin Sardar In Western countries, religious and secular worldviews have coexisted for at least three centuries, and also in non-Western countries, believers and secularist have learned to accept each other during the twentieth century. The postmodern world is often characterized as a place in which boundaries of the secular and the religious have collapsed. However, in spite of the long tradition of coexistence, and in spite of the emergence of some kind of “postmodern relativism” that will be examined below, the positions of believers and secularist remain very distinct. Those dif- ferences extend into the deepest layers of culture and politics. In Ameri- ca, polls have shown that one third of Americans are dominated by the fundamentalist, Pentecostal, and charismatic Protestant denominations (cf. Himmelfarb, 2001: 90) and religiosity might now be “a better predic- tor of voting behavior than religious affiliation” (Wilcox and Robinson, 2007: 2). The Christian Right controls over 2000 radio stations and 250 T.V. stations, has established universities and colleges, and home-schools at least two million children. The evangelical novel series Left Behind has sold over 60 million copies and 60% of all Americans (according a Time/CNN poll) believe that predictions in the Book of Revelation, par- ticularly of Judgment Day, will come true. One out of four Americans think that the Bible predicted the 9/11 terrorist attacks (Scherer, 2004). 183 Thorsten Botz-Bornstein / Believers and Secularists In the Muslim world things are not very different. Research from 2013 shows that Muslims around the globe are “deeply committed to their faith and want its teachings to shape not only their personal lives but also their societies and politics (Pew Research Center survey). A recent Gal- lup study concludes that, by far, the largest part of the population in Muslim countries indicates that they are attached to religious beliefs and want to “bring religion back into life” when asked “what do you admire most in your own society?” (Esposito and Mogahed: 6). Since the late 1960s, secularism has become an unusual position in the Middle East, even among intellectuals: “Only a handful of Arab thinkers have em- braced secularism as a liberating and dynamic philosophy,” writes Ibra- him Abu-Rabi (2004: 112). In many Arab countries, regimes still set secularists against Islamists. God makes a difference in the twenty-first century. However, what is it more precisely that distinguishes secularists from believers? In this ar- ticle I explore the topics of “postmodernism” and relativism in order to establish