IngentaConnect Philosophies of Difference and Religious Diversity

Author: Hofmeyr, H. Murray¹

Source: Religion and Theology, Volume 11, Numbers 3-4, 2004 , pp. 219-238(20)

Publisher: BRILL

Abstract:

The so-called postmodern era is charactherised by attempts to formulate a new concept of difference. These attempts belong within the discourse of Nihilism. Nothingness is usually see as the negation of the one and only. But it can also refer to the one's transformation into many others. The way into nothingness then no longer falls into an abyss, but becomes the way into multiplicity without unity. Preliminary meaning replaces ultimate meaning. Difference is the many without unity. But the many are also one, many times one. Multiplicity does not equal chaos, the fertile mythological chaos that cannot be repeated. But the between-us can become a creative space in which we weave Lyotard's patchwork of minorities. This in-betweenity is the precondition for respect for the other, which is more than tolerance. Against this theoretical background, and in view of some insights from intercultural plailosophy, the following issues are investigated: the equality of religions, universalism and relativism, and inter-religious dialogues.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1163/157430104X00104

Affiliations: 1: Departments of Philosophy and Religious Studies University of Venda for Science and Technology Private Bag X5050 Thohoyandou 0950 Republic of South Africa

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