Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons^™

Delusional Mitigation In Religious And Psychological Forms Of Self-Cultivation: Buddhist And Clinical Insight On Delusional Symptomatology, Austin J. Avison

The Hilltop Review

This essay examines Buddhist forms of self-cultivation and development that enable a psychosocial capacity for emotional, cognitive, and behavioral adjustment by improving an individual's characteristic mode of interaction within the world. First, we will consider the religious form of self-cultivation seen in the context of Buddhism and its desire to remove delusional perspectives through developmental practices. In this, we will consider the cultivating function of clinical psychology through the therapeutic application of cognitive restructuring techniques as a form of cultivation. Next, considering psychological self-cultivation, training, development, and education concerning the treatment of schizophrenia and its characteristic criterion of delusions. Further, …

Magic, Alchemy, And The Spiritual But Not Religious, John C. Marshell Jr.

The Hilltop Review

In this paper, I identify a problem within the growing phenomenon of the "spiritual but not religious" community based on the particular experiences of German pilgrims attending a retreat at a Chinese Daoist monastery. Despite interests and affirmations in Daoism, the German pilgrims reacted negatively to Daoist supernatural attitudes and practices. Their SBNR beliefs clashed with Daoist orthodoxy. My research is largely based on a historical examination that contextualizes the problems the German pilgrims experienced and offers a possible remedy to their trans-cultural spiritual dilemma in alchemy and Jungian psychology.

Theorizing About The Self In Panpsychism And The Extended Mind Using The Dao De Jing (道德經) And Zhuangzi (莊子), Ryan Lemasters

The Hilltop Review

In this paper, I begin by briefly showing how the problem of self has been understood and approached historically in Western philosophy. I follow this by focusing on some of the recent literature in the philosophy of mind that suggests that the self is extended, meaning it is not solely located within the boundaries of the brain (Clark and Chalmers 1998). It will be evident that this is in conflict with the traditional Western understanding of the self. Since it seems to be the case that there are strong arguments for endorsing the view that the self is extended (to …

Free Zone Scientology: The Social Structure Of A Contemporary Reform Movement, Kyle D. Byron

The Hilltop Review

In lieu of an abstract, a short excerpt is provided:

"

The Church of Scientology has a notorious history of controversy. The sources of this controversy stem from both the legal realm (most notably in the acquisition of the legal label of “religion” and, therefore, tax exempt status) and the social sphere, with critics from both the Christian and secular “anti-cult” movements publishing polemics against the Church. There also, however, exists a third source of criticism: self-identified Scientologists who have chosen to leave the official institution of Scientology. These understudied groups, practicing outside of the Church, are known as …

A Fourteenth-Century Augustinian Approach To The Jews In Riccoldo Da Monte Croce’S Ad Nationes Orientales, Lydia M. Walker

Comparative Religion Publications

No abstract provided.

Powwows As An Arena For Pan-Indian Identity Formation, Megan L. Macdonald

Masters Theses

This study investigates the powwow and its role in pan-Indian identity formation. Powwows are regional gatherings that simultaneously employ sacred and secular rituals, and as such, they provide one arena for the negotiation of American Indian identity in the modern world. Through a discussion of the history and general format of the powwow, I will demonstrate that the powwow is a dynamic locus of cultural transmission through which both reservation and non-reservation Indians are able to construct and maintain identity on tribal as well as inter-tribal (pan-Indian) levels.

To illuminate the process of identity formation within the powwow, this study …

From Sexual Prejudice To Patriarchy And Its Agents: The Radicalization Of Mary Daly's Analysis Of Sexism, Teresa Bellow-Stratton

Masters Theses

This thesis interprets key concepts in Mary Daly's analysis of sexism as they are developed in her first three books. It highlights the continuities more than the discontinuities in Daly's writing. The constant features of Daly's writing are her existentialist orientation and a complex synthesis of ideas that relates the subjective experience of individuals, the objective social circumstances of individuals, and socially constructed stereotypes, especially those stereotypes expressed in religious language.