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Writing \u27new\u27 decalogues: Martin Luther’s development of the Pauline-Augustinian tradition of natural law
Get PDFThis essay argues in favour of Martin Luther subscribing to the theory of natural law in his theology. An in-depth study of Luther’s views on natural law finds support for Brown’s thesis that Luther’s contribution to the tradition of natural law cannot be taken to form the basis of the theory of divine right prominent in the seventeenth century. Without venturing into the debate on natural law versus legal positivism, it is found that the perspective emanating from Luther’s natural law theory has an important political message for mankind as a whole in its implicit warning against positivistic and legalistic perspectives on law because these are apt to lead to confusion, relativism and historicism. Man, according to Luther’s view, therefore, has to revert to more fundamental principles (or values), representative of “ideal,” “good,” or “true,” norms for testing manmade law. The more specific implications of Luther’s views on natural law for Christians concern an eschatological vision of Christians’ involvement and work in God’s creation. This vision concerns man’s divine appointment to hold office and promote peace in society, and to contribute humbly towards God’s involvement in societies suffering from the effects of legalism or torn apart by conflict
Godsdiens as ’n moontlike faktor in onderwysstelsels en die beplanning daarvan
Get PDFReligion as a possible factor in education systems and their planning Students of education systems distinguish a number of factors that can impact on education systems and their planning. Religion, however, is rarely if ever mentioned as a factor in education system planning. In this article, the authors reflect on various facets of the question as to why religion has not been acknowledged as a factor in education systems in modern societies. The following aspects of the problem are addressed: the nature of the education system; the influence of secularism on education systems and their planning; problems which would be encountered if religion were to be taken into account in education system planning; and the accommodation of religions and religious diversity in education systems. The conclusion is drawn that in the contemporary world, religion is recognised as a factor in education system planning only in the form of secularism (with a few exceptions, such as in mono-religious Islamic states). All other religions are relegated from public life to the private spheres of people’s lives. Because secularism embodies the notion of a public morality that can potentially be shared by (and should be promoted among) all citizens of a particular country or society, secular values tend to be incorporated in the constitutions and other laws of countries. As a result, this value system tends to be promoted by means of the public education system. The article ends with two scenarios of what can be expected to happen if the opposite were allowed to happen, and schools, for instance, were not expected to adhere to secular values, but rather to the “sectarian” religious values of their choice
The moral appropriateness of shame
Get PDFIn this article I explore the much neglected moral emotion of shame and consider the senses in which it may be regarded as morally appropriate. I argue that there is a connection between coming to terms with shame for those who feel ashamed, and judgments concerning its moral appropriateness. The elucidation of normative connections between shame, self-respect and autonomy implies the need to accept certain aspects of shame as regrettable yet, sometimes, as valuable
Die grondwet as gedenkteken en die werkdadigheid van onopvallende, grondwetlike kragte
Get PDFMemorialising a constitution: the power of unspectacular constitutional forces Annette Combrink’s appointment as rector of the (new) North- West University’s Potchefstroom Campus is telling of modest beginnings – for both the North-West University as a new institution and for the “principle of CHE” in terms of which the previous Potchefstroom University asserted the right to be a confessional university with a Christian-Reformational (or Calvinistic) profile. The point of this article is that modest beginnings need not be equated with weakness, inconsequeuntialness or failure: strength is often to be found not (only) in the spectacular, the ostentatious and the triumphant, but (also) in the unspectacular, the unassuming and the restrained. This point is illustrated by the various modes of functioning of South Africa’s constitution in protecting fundamental rights. Such (contrasting) modes of functioning are investigated and assessed in this article
Switserland en die beginsel van nie-inmenging in die internasionale reg tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog, 1899-1902
Get PDFSwitzerland and the principle of non-intervention in international law during the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902 The outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War on 11 October 1899 hit the world like a bomb blast. The news of the war produced strong anti-British sentiments in certain quarters: not only did poets, writers and politicians of international stature, as well as the press, exert strong influence on the public, nations also pressurised their governments to side against Britain. This article investigates the complex position of Switzerland in terms of its official policy of non-intervention in the international world. The following concomitant aspects are also investigated: the pressure exerted on Swiss authorities to express sympathy with the Boer Republics; the growing awareness of the humanitarian implications of Britain’s scorched-earth policy of massing together the civil population of the Boer Republics, and the resultant pleas to stop these methods of warfare. The Swiss position of non-intervention in international affairs was severely tested in its efforts to remain legally neutral in the international arena. Switzerland’s decision to remain neutral in the war, was finally determined by various factors in the sphere of inter-national law and politics. The developments in Switzerland during the war reflect the transition from positivism towards a stronger humanitarian spirit in international law and politics
The philosophical premises of the second King Report on corporate governance
Get PDFThis article focuses on the philosophical presuppositions of the second King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (hereafter referred to as the King II Report). Especially in the “Introduction and Background” section of the King II Report it is clear that the Report is premised upon a specific understanding of the present-day corporation and its moral obligations. The purpose of this article is to commit what Charles Taylor called “an act of retrieval” in which the philosophical premises of the King II Report will be unearthed and exposed. It will be argued that the view of the present-day corporation that underlies the King II Report could be related back to a number of debates on the notion of the comtemporary corporation and its moral responsibilities that have been played out since the 1970s. It will be indicated how these debates provide the philosophical foundations for the view of the comtemporary corporation and its moral obligations that is espoused in the King II Report. The claim made in the Report that the African world view and culture influenced the Report’s notion of corporate governance will also be critically reviewed. Finally it will be attempted to evaluate to what extent the recommendations of the King II Report live up to its own philosophical premises
Accounting for primitive terms in mathematics
Get PDFThe philosophical problem of unity and diversity entails a challenge to the rationalist aim to define everything. Definitions of this kind surface in various academic disciplines in formulations like uniqueness, irreducibility, and what has acquired the designation “primitive terms”. Not even the most “exact” disciplines, such as mathematics, can avoid the implications entailed in giving an account of such primitive terms. A mere look at the historical development of mathematics highlights the fact that alternative perspectives prevailed – from the arithmeticism of Pythagoreanism, the eventual geometrisation of mathematics after the discovery of incommensurability up to the revival of arithmeticism in the mathematics of Cauchy, Weierstrass, Dedekind and Cantor (with the later orientation of Frege, who completed the circle by returning to the view that mathematics essentially is geometry). An assessment of logicism and axiomatic formalism is followed by looking at the primitive meaning of wholeness (and the whole-parts relation). With reference to the views of Hilbert, Weyl and Bernays the article concludes by suggesting that in opposition to arithmeticism and geometricism an alternative option ought to be pursued – one in which both the uniqueness and mutual coherence between the aspects of number and space are acknowledged
Dertig jaar (1975-2005) internasionale aksie vir Christelike hoër onderwys: enkele persoonlike indrukke
Get PDFThirty years (1975-2005) international action for Christian higher education: a few personal reflections These personal reflections are written in view and commemoration of the fact that thirty years ago (9-13 September 1975) the formerly Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (today the Potchefstroom campus of the North-West University) manifested farsightedness when it planned and received the First International Conference of Reformed Institutions for Christian Higher Education. The aim of this article is to answer the following three questions: Firstly, how did this initiative develop? (a historical review); secondly, what was the harvest of the past thirty years? (a brief evaluation); and thirdly what can be expected from the future
Ouers se rol in die oordrag van etiese en morele waardes
Get PDFParental role in the transmission of ethical and moral values The primary focus of this article is to describe the characteristics and nature of the process of transmitting moral and ethical values from parents to children. The transmission of values within the framework of parents and family implies a horizontal as well as a vertical dimension. The role of parents and family can, however, not be evaluated in isolation. On a horizontal level the influence of philosophical trends and traditions, psychological theories, time-determined attitudes and social conditions are thus scrutinised in order to understand reality and different perspectives on man’s position in this world. In particular structuralistic and psychoanalytic views, as well as social determinants in the transmission of values, are discussed. Parents’ task as educators is also seen from the specific perspective of parental role in the process of instruction, parents’ modelling function and the influence of world view and attitude in transmitting moral and ethical values. In conclusion the vertical dimension of value transmission is also indicated: the influence of and the way in which children internalise religious values and a sense of religiosity is thus established