Welcome to the workshop
Peace and Understanding: A Ricoeurian View
September 14-16, 2023
Åbo Akademi University, Turku (Åbo), Finland
Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy is known for its emphasis on the unceasing conflict of interpretations. Taking this as Ricoeur’s philosophical grand thesis would, however, be gravely misleading. In spite of acknowledging such conflict Ricoeur always sided with the possibility of shared meaning, as well as of translation and communication between different cultural contexts. Moreover, Ricoeur stressed “living a good life with and for others in just institutions” as a summation of his ethico-political views.
This workshop on Ricoeur’s contribution to the questions of war, power, violence, social justice, interreligious understanding and reconciliation will explore the notion of peace in Ricoeur’s works from his early essays on Christian socialism to his last published work on recognition. Peace will be approached not merely as a social, political, ethical, or cultural concept but also as an existential and hermeneutical challenge and possibility.
Keynotes by Professor Brian Gregor (Philosophy Department, California State University) and Professor Marianne Moyaert (The Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven). Panelist and moderator Dr Cristina Vendra (Assistant Professor at the University Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech Republic)
Venue and preliminary schedule
Registration will open at a later stage
Workshop fee: 60€ inclusive of lunch (Friday), coffee, and dinners (Thursday+Friday)
Organizers:
Systematic Theology, Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, and Theology, Åbo Akademi University
Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, and Theology, Åbo Akademi University
Polin Institute for Theological Research, Åbo Akademi University
The Donner Institute for Research into Religion and Culture, Åbo Akademi University
Contact information
Prof. Björn Vikström, bjorn.vikstrom@abo.fi
Dr. Timo Helenius, timo.helenius@abo.fi