mgr Aneta Rumak

ORCID: 0000-0003-2718-0323

The topic of my dissertation is: Religious and eschatological pluralism in postmodernity

The Enlightenment was expected diminish the influence of religion; and in its most radical form – particularly in the French Enlightenment – to lead to its disappearance. However, despite the progressive secularization of society, the anticipated decline of religion did not materialize.

Contrary to Enlightenment expectations, especially those of Auguste Comte, religion has not vanished either from private or public life. In the public sphere, Jurgen Habermas perceives religion as a reservoir of symbolic resources that sustains the communicative ideals of free individuals in a culturally diverse world. In the private sphere, religion aremains a fundamental for thinkers such as Gianni Vattimo and Richard Rorty. Yet here, too, one encounters a pluralism of privatized religiosity. While for Vattimo's religion serves as a way to overcome human frailty in the form of finitude (contingency),and offers believers path to salvation for Rorty's, it becomes a deeply private tool of self-creation – one that which, in principle, is excluded from participation in public life.

The aim of the research is to examine eschatological and religious pluralism in postmodernity and to offer a novel interpretation of ideas rooted in modernist thought. Postmodern pluralism enables individuals to choose a among religious systems and to distinguish religion from spirituality by emphasizing the existence of alternative models of salvation in this domain as well. According to Vattimo, a return to religious sources is inevitable. However, this presuppose the presence of God, or perhaps only a “trace” of God. Hence, the central research hypothesis beis as follows: Eschatological and religious pluralism in postmodernity is closely related to a return to religion, yet to a religion without God. Postmodernity is seen as an era of decline transcendence or deconstruction of metaphysics. My analysis of the phenomenon of religion in the postmodern condition is closely related to the attitudes of critically reconstructed thinkers (Vattimo, Rorty, Kołakowski, Habermas, Sloterdijk) towards metaphysics.

Postmodern pluralism reveals the profound significance of this phenomenon. A key aspect of the research beis not only to describe its presence, but also to identify its causes and assess its potential future implications.

In the global literature, key studies ont Vattimo have been written by Santiago Zabala and John Caputo. In Polish scholarship, publications on Vattimo's concept of weak thought are becoming more frequent [e.g.,A. Kobyliński, O możliwości zbudowania etyki nihilistycznej: propozycja Giannego Vattimo Wydawnictwo WKSW, Warszawa 2014; I. Romanowicz, Idea doświadczenia religijnego jako powrotu hermeneutycznej wizji chrześcijaństwa Giannego Vattimo u kresu metafizyki, „Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny” 2021, no. 4 ]. However, there is a noticeable lack of texts devoted to the concept of Habermas or Rorty. The present study aims to address this research gap in the literature.

The research problem is situated in a broader context—primarily in relation to metaphysical frameworks (changes in Western metaphysics, Heidegger's notion of the collapse of metaphysics, Rorty's pragmatic overcoming of metaphysics; and Kołakowski’s idea – of the transcendental source of escape from metaphysical horror through myth), against which religion in postmodernity is exposed. An important component of this research project is an attempt to show the functions of religion in postmodernity. These are diverse: from the eschatological dimension, through private self-creation, to the safeguarding of communicative ideals of free from violence.

Publication:

Articles

  1. Rumak A., Starożytnych filozofów ćwiczenia w umieraniu, „Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny” 2020, no. 4, pp. 117-129
  2. Rumak A., Paula Feyerabenda „poszukiwania” równowagi, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2020, nr 15, pp. 13-25
  3. Rumak A., Boyhood (2014). Od pojęcia biegu życia ludzkiego przez metodę biograficzną do koncepcji wiecznej teraźniejszości [w:] Film i filozofia. Rozprawy i eseje z filozofii kultury, ed. W. M. Nowak and P. Paczkowski, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów 2022, pp. 85-106
  4. Rumak A., „Próby” Michela de Montaigne’a i „Rozmyślania” Marka Aureliusza – bliskie i dalekie związki, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2022, no. 16, pp. 40-51
  5. Rumak A., Idea humanizmu ewolucyjnego Michaela Schmidta-Salomona, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2022, no. 16, pp. 65-69
  6. Rumak A., Wokół relacji nauki i filozofii. Problem (nie)obecności wartości w nauce, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2024, no. 18, pp. 31-42
  7. Rumak A., Eschatologiczny wymiar antropozofii Rudolfa Steinera. Zmartwychwstanie Chrystusa, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2024, no. 18, pp. 107-115

Reviews:

  1. 1. Lazari-Radek K. de, Godny pożądania stan świadomości. O przyjemności jako wartości ostatecznej, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź 2021. Rev. Rumak A., Przyjemność. Status: wartość ostateczna godna pożądania, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2022, no. 16, pp. 93-94
  2. Leszczyński D., Puste naczynia. Studia z filozofii współczesnej, Universitas, Kraków 2023]. Rev. Rumak A, Quo vadis, filozofio?, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2024, no. 18, pp. 147-150
  3. Plantinga A., Gdzie naprawdę jest konflikt. Nauka, religia i naturalizm, translated by E. Łukasiewicz, PWN, Warszawa 2023. Rev. Rumak A., Nauka i religia nie są wrogami. Mają za to wroga wspólnego, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2024, no. 18, pp. 151-153
  4. Zięba W., Ontologiczne modele tożsamości osobowej. Symplicyzm Romana Ingardena i redukcjonizm Dereka Parfita, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów 2022. Rev. Rumak A., „Bądź sobą!” – jak to łatwo powiedzieć. Rozwikłanie zagadki tożsamości osobowej, „Forum Filozoficzne” 2022, no. 16, pp. 91-92