The changes are of many different kinds. In the religious realm, the role of the Lutheran folk church that formerly was very influential in many parts of society has changed. The differentiation of society in Modernity diminished the immediate significance of religion outside a narrow religious sphere. Today one can see an increasing interest in religion but this does not mean a return to the r...

Throughout all of Rousseau’s works there is tension between reason and conscience. Reason binds men when they think correctly, but divides them when they place it at the service of self-interest. Conversely, the universality of conscience is immediate and transparent: it transmits the truth of the existence of God and of the universal principles that underlie human action, despite the differenc...

primordial nature, is the basis of islamic anthropology. according to the principles of transcendental philosophy could provide a tenable explanation of the nature. the nature in its specific sense is insight and tendencies of human nature. primordial nature can be regarded in terms of both ontological and epistemological notions. the nature in general epistemology could be defensible on the ba...

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates human actions. Philosophical ethics differs from legal, religious, cultural and personal approaches to ethics by seeking to conduct the study of morality through a rational, secular outlook that is grounded in notions of human happiness or well-being. A major advantage of a philosophical approach to ethics...

Despite the centrality of religion and fertility to life in rural Africa, the relationship between the two remains poorly understood. The study presented here uses unique integrated individual and congregational level data from rural Malawi to examine religious influences on contraceptive use. In this religiously diverse population, we find evidence that the particular characteristics of a cong...

The importance of shared reality emerges early in human development. Infants and young children notice when others share their beliefs, and information about shared beliefs influences their social judgments. This article reviews recent research on the importance of shared beliefs in three domains that have been widely investigated over the past several years-opinions, moral views, and religious...

Seven major constructs—belonging, meaning, hope, the sacred, morality, beauty, and acceptance of dying—were revealed in an analysis of the literature pertaining to patient spiritual needs. The authors embedded these constructs within a 29-item survey designed to be inclusive of traditional religion, as well as non–institutional-based spirituality. This article describes the development of a mul...