Meno

The Meno is Plato‘s celebrated dialogue in which his theory of knowledge as “recollection” is forwarded. Plato believed in reincarnation and the idea that individuals possess an all-knowing, immortal soul. According to Plato, the trauma of being born causes amnesia … Continue reading →

Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a branch of philosophy dealing with individual experience, although the term has related applications in psychology, religion, archaeology, architecture and several other disciplines. For the philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), phenomenology would include a thorough analysis of all aspects … Continue reading →

Visistadvaita

Monotheists, especially fundamentalist Christians, sometimes criticize Hinduism by saying it’s polytheistic. This kind of critique, however, doesn’t necessarily hold up. The actual picture in Indian philosophy is far more complicated than the one painted by some Christian fundamentalists.¹ So a … Continue reading →

Joachim Wach

Joachim Wach (1898-1955) was an influential German Christian scholar of religion. His family had converted to Christianity from Judaism. But the Nazis blackballed him in the 1930s, forcing him to seek a teaching position elsewhere. He ended up at the … Continue reading →

Werewolf

In ancient and medieval European folklore and myth, a werewolf is a kind of shapeshifter. Basically, a person changes into a wolf-like creature, willfully or through a curse. Often transforming during the full moon, werewolves delight in human flesh, prowling … Continue reading →

Witch

From his study of African witchcraft, the anthropologist E. E. Evans Pritchard distinguished witchcraft from sorcery: Witches are physically born as such while a person may become a sorcerer later in life. Both are traditionally associated with evil. In legend … Continue reading →

Yogi

Traditionally, a Yogi is a male practitioner of yoga. The term also relates to a male saint and teacher of spiritual knowledge. Until fairly recently, the term yogini was generally reserved for women. Today, however, the word “yogi” can relate … Continue reading →

Zombie

Zombies are usually taken as the fictional living dead, sometimes called the ‘undead.’ The idea apparently originates from Haitian voodoo legends. Zombies are found in B-movies (notably The Night of the Living Dead), the horror genre, folklore, urban legend, music … Continue reading →

The Science Of The Commercial Media & Society

With the rise in the monitory, political, social & advertising power of the commercial media, journalistic integrity & professional presentation of news & information has gone out the back in society. Integrity & professional standards are not underlying values in … Continue reading →

Alien Possession Theory (APT)

A corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit —Luke 6:43 The Theory Alien Possession Theory (APT) considers the possibility, common in science fiction, that hostile extraterrestrials (ETs) from another world, realm or plane use psi to produce damaging effects on psychologically vulnerable individuals. … Continue reading →