The global integration of economic, social and cultural activities has pushed the importance of translation to a new level. With the sheer volume of translation, and the increased demand for near instantaneous translation, there is a growing reliance on technological systems. This paper begins from the assumption that an examination of the conceptual foundations of translation is needed to understand the growing reliance on technological systems. The philosophy of language in later Wittgenstein provides ...

Spinoza’s philosophy and Buddhism have often been compared based upon their tendencies towards seeing the world as a single order and moving beyond our passions and desires. But the comparison of these philosophies also creates interesting problems. One problem is the way we relate to this order itself. In Spinoza we achieve enlightenment when we recognize that we are a part of a single substance which has its own order and necessity. This leads us to transcend the bondage of our passions through reason. And w...

A great scholar of the Abhidhamma in Myanmar, Mehm Tin Mon interpreted alobha as a mental state. He considered non-attachment to sense-objects and greedlessness as the chief characteristics of alobha. To put alobha into practice he recommended generosity, morality called abstinence from sensual objects and non-covetousness, meditation called tranquility meditation and insight meditation. They are generally practices to reduce and remove greed. He explains how to practice these techniques in connection with contemporary soci...

This research studies the educational approach to the environmental crisis called Scientia Sacra which was developed by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a perennial and a contemporary Islamic philosopher. The paper aims to understand the background and underpinnings of this philosophy. It will discuss Nasr’s critique of modernism as the root cause of our environmental crisis, and the manner in which he sees an educational approach informed by the concept of scientia sacra as the solution. The researcher also discusses various critiques of Nasr’s approach a...

In Islamic philosophy the relationship between God and the Human subject has been an interesting and difficult problem. While mystics claim a direct connection with God, philosophers and other theologians find that the use of reason creates a distance between God and the Human subject. This is reflected in the way Islamic philosophy attempts to ground itself through the concept of selfevidence. Avicenna, who was a follower of Aristotle, believed that existence is self-evident, and the reason for the existence of all beings is God. But this app...

This paper’s aim is to explore the moral topics raised in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Season 2 Episode 9 entitled “Measure of Man”. In this episode Commander Data, an Android, is put on trial to determine if can be considered human, or if he has the same rights as a human being. This paper discusses ethical issues raised by this trial. Picard’s argument in defence of Data appeals to epistemological doubts about whether or not Data is sentient. But this paper will take an alternative approach. It will show how inanima...

As a renowned philosopher of Song Dynasty, Zhou Dunyi played a significant role in creating a new approach for Chinese philosophy. This involved a reinterpretation of Confucianism inspired by the ideas of Daoism and Buddhism. This was a huge influence in the development of Neo-Confucian thought. He did not write many works in his life, but he did write a very significant work entitled Taiji Tushuo, which explains the famous Taiji diagram. This paper mainly introduces the historical context and formative influences on Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji...

University courses in ethics are designed to help a student develop their moral character. But while classroom work provides students with knowledge, it is often not sufficient for deeper character development. The students also need some sort of practical engagement with people in their surrounding communities. This interaction creates both individual reflection and social awareness. Service-learning is a program which encourages the participants to learn and develop their moral characters through working in the community. During this...

At present, there is no generally accepted account of what philosophical counselling is or why we should practice it. The aim of this article is to propose an account of philosophical counselling in terms of an Aristotelian concept of Eudaimonia. I argue that this concept provides an apt description of what philosophical counselling, in many cases, consists in. One benefit of construing philosophical counselling in terms of Eudaimonia is that it provides a natural justification for the practice: since it is plausible that Eudaimonia is...

Georg Simmel in his book Philosophy of Money,described how money evolves through history and predicted that it will evolve to the point where it no longer relies on any substance. He called this stage “perfect money,” which he described as “money detached from every substantial value”. Today we are faced with the development of cryptocurrencies, of which Bitcoin is the best known. Bitcoin presents a new system of transaction which does not require governments or middlemen to regulate trade. Since such currencies are completely beyond s...

This research critically investigates the soteriological ground of John Hick’s religious typology and his understanding of Religious Pluralism. It begins by considering the criticsims of Gavin D’Costa who, in his early work, favored Hick’s typology in Theology and Religious Pluralism, but later became critical of it in his work, Impossibility of a Pluralist view of Religions. It will also consider Paul Knitter’s alternative fourfold typology introduced in his work, Introducing Theologies of Religions, and Mark Heim’s ideas concerning r...

This paper will assess some sociological interpretations of Theravada Buddhism and Holy Monks which rely on such concepts as charisma, millenarianism and utopianism. In the past, sociologiests like Weber and Murti misinterpreted Buddhism as focusing upon individual enlightenment rather than the welfare of society. But these interpretations of Theravāda Buddhism overlook that the Buddhist concept of enlightenment has a deep relationship with social development and social responsibilities. Buddhism has a highly developed sociological bas...

This paper, will be a reflection on the changes in labor and alienation in the information age. It will focus specifically on the concept of immaterial labor and how this effects human autonomy and the consciousness of alienation. The paper will trace these concepts from the writings of Marx, to the approaches of Hardt and Negri and Franco “Bifo” Berardi. It will then show how the shortcomings of these theories which concern human autonomy in the face of the alienation of material labor can be complemented by the insights into practice...

For the Roman Catholic Church beginning with Vatican II, interreligious dialogue has been promoted as an instrument to obtain mutual understanding. This has been outlined in the document Nostra Aetate. The Bishops of Myanmar, fully aware that interreligious dialogue is highly necessary for witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ in this Buddhist-majority nation, have taken steps in their respective dioceses to further promote this approach. This paper is an analysis of the ways this has been implemented. It will show that a positive atti...

In this paper I argue that the symmetric approach to moral responsibility, proposed by John Martin Fischer, should be focused merely on the consequence-particular. Fischer employs the symmetric approach with the intention to solve the asymmetric problems on moral responsibility. The problem arises from Frankfurt’s case, which rejects the principle of alternate possibilities (PAP), and relies on the action, rather than omission resulting in asymmetric problems. Fischer solves the problem by using his guidance control and returns the sym...

The impact of modern technological society on the human spirit and on human values is undeniable. But the ability to philosophically engage with this impact and also to gain the means whereby we could evaluate it lucidly and soberly is a whole other matter. It is difficult for us today to find a place where we could stand outside the contemporary cultural matrix that has come to create our very selves, so as to identify and assess the aspects of our humanity that have always managed to outstrip the cultural conditioning and constructio...

This paper examines questions regarding the alleviation and management of religious conflict. It will first examine the philosophical framework of Chantal Mouffe as a response to Carl Schmitt’s critique of pluralism. Then it will give examples of conflict resolution and the preservation of diversity in such regions as, Lebanon, Indonesia and Thailand. Finally, it will examine these examples as exercises in “agonistics” as understood by Mouffe. This will be shown to be a valuable framework for conflict resolution and democracy in the AS...

This paper investigates the ‘metaphysical’ perspectives of the French philosopher named René Guénon. Although Guénon was French, he was often critical of Western ways of thinking. Especially with regard to the concept of the metaphysical. Turning to the etymology of the word metaphysics, for Guénon metaphysics stands for whatever lies ‘beyond physics.’ This is different than the Aristotelian understanding of metaphysics, since it is always directed to the idea of the natural sciences viewed as a whole. This is a kind of thinking recogn...

The paper’s objective is to analyze the concept of sovereignty in political philosophy with special reference to Thomas Hobbes for the purpose of understanding the changes facing Thai sovereignty from the origin of the modern state to the present time. Especially relevant is Hobbes’ distinction between internal and external sovereignty. Internal sovereignty can be used to understand the factionalism in Thai society resulting to the escalation of tensions since 2005. For the security of state, the Thai military staged a coup and has tak...

The religiously and culturally or traditionally pluralistic harmony and tolerance of Buddhists and Muslims in the southern part of Thailand is the necessary condition for the ever lasting peace, for it is based on the mutual respect for the diversity of pluralistic harmony between two religions. Tolerance is the essential condition of harmony in Buddhism as well as in Islam. Tolerance as the essence of sustainable harmony can be conducted through the method of inter-religious dialogue of life. To solve the problem in the Deep South of Th...