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In this paper I examine the mythological references contained in Clem. Alex. Str. 4,19,118-123, a passage in which Clement develops the idea that perfection is equally attainable by men and women, and illustrates it by listing examples of female perfection, including biblical women, historical figures, and mythical heroines. After an analysis of Clement's technique of embedment of the mythical examples, I show that his wording conveys a subtle distinction between the mythical women on the one hand and the historical and biblical women on the other by signalling the poetical character of the former. In this context, it is the synthetic and selective nature of the references that allows Clement to exploit myth's illustrative function without explicitly distancing himself from it. Finally, I argue that his source on several mythical examples is a mythographical catalogue of figures grouped under φιλο- compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to illuminate Schopenhauer's notion of the negation or denial of the will by investigating the figure of the saint within his philosophy. We argue that various discussions in Schopenhauer's works of the possible role of Christ as exemplar reveals an underlying Christological understanding of self-denial as a model for the saint. The connection between Schopenhauer's approach to Christ and Kant's Christology in Religion within the Bounds of Mere Reason is also explored. We note how Schopenhauer builds on the Kantian demythologization of the Incarnated Christ in order to uncover the moral and existential spirit that underlies Christianity. In addition, we outline how a recognition of the symbolic importance of Christ for Schopenhauer suggests features of the denial of the will that have been overlooked in the literature, involving the intellectual transcendence of suffering through the cultivation of a state of emotional unresponsiveness. It is argued that this reflects a deeper connection between Schopenhauer's philosophy and Christian thought than is often recognised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THERE IS WIDESPREAD CONCERN among the Asian Canadian churches about trends in the departure from church of young adults. This article challenges that assumption by presenting an analysis of results from a survey entitled, "Religious Attitudes and Commitment among 1.5 and Second Generation Asian-Canadian Protestant Young Adults." The article seeks to answer the questions: Have Asian-Canadian young adults left the church? If so, what is the primary reason behind their departure? This paper highlights participants' stated yearning for a new theology and educational reform that will allow for a theology of a "bigger God." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the original Zen (Ch'an) approach to the ontological problem concerning the existential paradox of life and death, and the demythologization of Zen as a special pathway for a sort of magic, spiritualistic or transcendental goal. This question is addressed with a behavioral analytic conceptualization that employs a Relational Frame Theory (RFT) based analysis. Previous behaviorist approaches are criticized for contributing to the myth of Zen. RFT addresses the basic and complex relational discriminations involved in the life/death issue, and allows us to construct a taxonomy of life doctrines by considering the different relational frames entailed. Nine families of doctrines are finally established as possible categories. The relational frames which give rise to those families are: a) Hierarchical, b) Temporal and c) Sameness/Difference in the Self-as-context Hierarchical Frame. This paper examines how these frames are applied to life discrimination and finally, in which way Zen and Behavior Analysis are themselves instances of two different specific families of doctrines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconsiders the work of the Scottish biologist, sociologist, and town planner Patrick Geddes and his most famous intellectual disciple: the American independent scholar Lewis Mumford. It is argued that existing interpretations of their work, ranging from a dismissal of the two men as eccentric polymaths to the speculative emphasis on the importance of psychological theories in Mumford's oeuvre, are fundamentally flawed. Examining their writings and the letters they exchanged during their 17-year correspondence, this paper shows that the only way we can appreciate the scholarly conventions underpinning Geddes's and Mumford's work, as well as the context in which it was produced, is by looking to the principles of classical sociological theory. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chieftaincy institution is the most enduring establishment in the Republic of Ghana's political history. Its capacity to transcend the three phases of the country: pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras as well as the three regime types: one-party, multi-party and military, demonstrates its resilience. Further, it remains the medium of expression of social, political, religious, traditional and economic authority in most communities in Ghana. In spite of the persistent spirit of the institution, in the Akan areas of Ghana it is bedevilled with protracted succession conflicts which has become one of the major sources of conflict in the country, and a key party to these conflicts is the unseen role of the Queen Mothers. Hence, the central aim of this paper is to assess the contribution of Queen Mothers in these conflicts. Documentary sources and elite interviews were the methods of data collection; the study used the Conflict Development Analysis as framework to identify the various dimensions of these succession conflicts in four Akan regions. The study resolved among others that if all lines of succession of chiefs were documented and preserved, it would be a useful guide to Queen Mothers and king makers in the mitigation of chieftaincy conflicts in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper concerns the problem of the mythological origins of narrative and narrative identity. Referring to works of such narrative researchers as D. Carr, B. Williams and K. Atkins and to F.W.J. Schelling's conception of a mythological consciousness, I prove that 1. in a narration - personal as well as collective (in a tale which constitutes given culture) - the type of necessity is similar to that which occurs in nature as well as in mythology (its higher potential) and which is responsible for a perfect story coherence that is unavailable in normal life and characteristic rather of art than of a usual experience; 2. although our personal narratives are shaped on the basis of a collective myth, they assume a first-person, reflective perspective, and this is the reason why an individual may in spite of such to some extent "untrue" origins keep personal freedom and autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are there new, emerging forms of nature reverencing religion? If so, what might these look like? This paper seeks to answer this question by drawing on both Bron Taylor's Dark Green Religion (and especially his nature religion schema found therein that includes the category of 'Gaian Earth Religion') and the work of environmental philosopher Donald Crosby (and his category of 'religion of nature'). I argue that science writers like Edward Wilson and Carl Sagan, along with ecopoets like Mary Oliver, are creating a new mythopoesis of post-supernaturalistic nature religion. I also look at the complex interaction of religion/science and the role reverence for nature plays in this dialogue. I argue that the nature religion schema put forth by Taylor and the 'physisology' put forth by Crosby can help us better theorize emerging strands of post-supernaturalistic religious-like sentiments and narratives that continue to grow 150 years after Darwin's theory revolutionized both science and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between development and religion is an uneasy one. Since the invention of modernisation theory in the 1950s religion has been marginalised-seen as something that would fade as secularisation increased. Although this has not occurred, religion is still considered a taboo subject which falls outside the gamut of development, despite the religiosity of many faith-based development organisations, donors, and recipient communities. In this paper I emphasise the importance of religion to development by tracing religious influences within transnational development networks operating in Aceh, Indonesia, after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Religious influences are analysed amongst donor communities in Australia and New Zealand/Aotearoa; within the activities of religious NGOs in Aceh; amongst recipient communities; and in the physical landscape of Aceh, where the rebuilding of sacred spaces has been slow and difficult. It is argued that the current approach to religion within development, and much development research, is outdated and inappropriate, reflecting and enforcing particular Western divisions between church and state. For more effective aid which attends to local concerns and priorities, transnational development networks need to acknowledge, incorporate, and involve religious spaces and institutions rather than continue to promote a culture of secularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines one aspect of the relation between philosophy and myth, namely the function myth has, for some philosophers, in narrowing the distance between appearance and reality. I distinguish this function of myth from other common functions, and also show how the approach to reality through myth differs from a more empirical philosophical approach. I argue that myth plays a fundamental role in Plato's approach to the appearance/reality distinction, and that understanding this is important to the interpretation of Plato's frequent use of language suggesting the existence of a world of unchanging ideal objects and a world of transient, variable particulars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines two attempts to offer a demythologised account of language (by Tony Crowley in Standard English and the Politics of Language and Peter Trudgill in Language Myths), and concludes that both theorists fall victim to the 'language myth' identified by integrationists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

McGrath JJ. Myths and plain truths about schizophrenia epidemiology– the NAPE lecture 2004.Acta Psychiatr Scand 2005: 111: 4–11.© Blackwell Munksgaard 2005.Science needs to constantly match research models against the data. With respect to the epidemiology of schizophrenia, the widely held belief that the incidence of schizophrenia shows little variation may no longer be supported by the data. The aims of this paper are (i) to explore data-vs.-belief mismatch with respect to the incidence of schizophrenia, and (ii) to speculate on the causes and consequences of such discrepancies.Based on a recently published systematic review of the incidence of schizophrenia, the distribution of incidence rates around the world was examined. In order to examine if the incidence of schizophrenia differed by sex, male vs. female risk ratios were generated.The distribution of incidence rates for schizophrenia is asymmetrical with many high rates skewing the distribution. Based on the central 80% of rates, the incidence of schizophrenia varies in a five-fold range (between 7.7 and 43.0 per 100 000). Males have a significantly higher incidence of schizophrenia compared with females (median male to female risk ratio = 1.4), and this difference could not be accounted for by diagnostic criteria or age range.The beliefs that (i) the incidence of schizophrenia does not vary between sites and (ii) males and females are equally affected, may have persisted because of an unspoken deeper belief that schizophrenia is an egalitarian and exceptional disorder. Our ability to generate productive hypotheses about the aetiology of schizophrenia rests on an accurate appraisal of the data. Beliefs not supported by data should be identified and relabelled as myths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]