In this paper, I’ll argue that we need to stop talking about paradigms. ‘Paradigm’ is a word thrown around in philosophy, the sciences, and everyday life – even though people using the term often don’t have a clear definition of what a ‘paradigm’ is. A specific area of study in which the term ‘paradigm’ is …
Empowerment over Diversity: Why the Diversity Discourse is Misguided
In her paper ‘What’s Critical about Critical Theory?’, Nancy Fraser allies herself with Marx’s definition of a critical theory. In her words: ‘[No] one has yet improved on Marx’s 1843 definition of Critical Theory as “the self-clarification of the struggles and wishes of the age.”[1] In this paper, I intend to place myself in this …
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[Postmodernisme] als Modernistische Term
In dit paper zal ik de term ‘postmodernisme’ onder de loep nemen. Het is een controversiële en veelzijdige term – zo kan het onder andere slaan op een stroming binnen de kunst, literatuur, architectuur, filosofie, of zelfs een cultureel tijdperk. Ik zal mij in dit paper alleen bezighouden met ‘postmodernistische’ filosofie. Ik zal pleiten voor …
Are We Morally Responsible for Our Actions?
In this paper I will examine whether we are morally responsible for our actions and whether it is important that we are. The intuitive conception is that we are morally responsible for our actions, but I will challenge this view with a theory called ‘situationism’. The situationists claim that we are not responsible for our …
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Is Islam a belligerent religion?
“I think Islam hates us” is a shallow claim made by Donald Trump, which depicts a certain narrow-minded mainstream image of Islam in society nowadays. It reinforces the apparent gap between the West and the Middle East, defining Islam as a belligerent religion, instead of trying to understand its multiple facets. What Islam are we …
Varela and Dignaga shake hands: The Value of Buddhist Praxis and Theory for Cognitive Science
This essay discusses Dignāga’s theory of perception, whereby close attention is payed to the contemporary relevance of his phenomenological analysis of cognitive processes. At first I give a brief overview of the general discussion surrounding Dignāga’s theory to situate his ideas within the philosophical climate of his time. Afterwards I describe the twofold process of …
Does Allah command Muslims to wage War in the name of Religion? A reflection on Qur’anic prescripts on armed conflict
Popular opinion concerning Islam is shaped by an Anglo-American dominance of the media, which influences the image that its consumers have of Islam. Groups such as ISIS or Al Quaeda terrorize the minds of people with their cruel and inhumane deeds. Both the creation of a misinformed, polemicised and poorly researched image by the media …
What is ‘Islam’? A philosophical inquiry into the conception of Islam as a multi-faced web of perspectives
Certainly, it seems natural for us to have some preconceptions in mind when we hear the word Islam or Islamic but do we really know what it means? In this essay I would like to go beyond these commonly held preconceptions in order to put emphasis on its multi-faced dimensions. By keeping ‘What is Islam’ …
On Diversity
This is the paper that provided the basis for my paper 'Empowerment over Diversity'. It is not necessary to read this paper to understand that paper, although it does provide a more in depth look at diversity and discrimination. In keeping with this year's theme of the Ayudh Europe summit, I thought it would be …
Islam: a body of Cultural Abundance: Ongoing creation and the celebration of Love & Knowledge
Islam in contemporary times is a concept laden with biases, preconceptions and ambiguity. It is often judged to be a strictly conservative, traditionalist and repressive religion that strictly binds its believers to an unbreakable religious codex, the Sharia. Such an opinion however is uninformed and does not at all explain the phenomenon of Islam in …
