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LandoSr
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« on: October 16, 2007, 09:50:58 AM » |
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Hi all,
I just registered for this forum.
I am interested in an interdisciplinary approach that combines mainly Philosophy, Theology, most Humanities and the Sciences.
In which category is an article placed; how is it decided?
I could not divide an article up into categories or disciplines, but obviously there could be a main emphasis.
An example would be systematic theology, which academically is not the same as religious studies or dogmatics.
Religion and dogmatics are very similar, as both could be viewed from the perspective the CZ main 'Religion' article suggests.
It also involves different disciplines, but all strongly presupposed by particular religious metaphysical assumptions, that determine the epistemology and resulting world view with its accompanying ethical practice in religious behaviour.
Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology in particular, is an attempt to evade religious dogma and search for an understanding of the phenomena of faith and its resulting behaviour. I need to say that most religions also have started a systematic theology of its faith, but mostly subdivides it into the religious context, like in western Christian traditional seminaries. In a systematic theological investigation, all other disciplines are used to systematically describe faith. Systematic Theology originally was not meant to be understood as a systematisation of dogma, it is a (for the lack of a better word) 'scientific' approach that is supported by philosophical reflection on the metaphysical and epistemological bases that faith indicates to, with some ethical, psychological and sociological interpretations. What each religion understands in its dogma as 'the divine' and what it entails is of less importance to the fact that man has an apparent affinity to need and perceive it as such, which could turn out to be an anthropological investigation. Rational argumentation about the existential reality of the divine and the rather primitive conflicts about being "right and wrong" are not issues of interest, but a philosophical phenomena to be reflected upon. The article could have a philosophical, psychological, sociological or religious slant, but does not actually fit into any one of the classical categories.
An encyclopaedia like Britannica could be an indicator of the way this endeavour may be directed. Classical categorisation of the pre 1990's in its books has given way to multimedia form and mind-map clustering rather than categorising articles, which was not possible in printed form.
In most universities, systematic theology has a separate faculty. In European Universities, Theology Faculties are mostly not affiliated to denominational groups as in most US colleges, because of its interdisciplinary nature and non-dogmatic approach. Systematic Theology and Dogmatics are treated synonymously by most US schools.
Where can such systematic theological articles be categorised?
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