Applied Social Sciences: Philosophy and Theology - Tapa dura

This volume, Applied Social Sciences: Philosophy and Theology, provides the reader with an important set of essays related to the two aforementioned fields of study. Aesthetics plays a key role in contemporary philosophy and several authors examine its various aspects, such as the question of identification of works of art; the concept of "social aesthetics"; the social therapeutic function that art can have; and the relationships among hermeneutics, aesthetics and communication sciences. Other papers deal with ethical issues, such as the role of human values in applied ethics and moral determinations in public life. The meaning and role of postmodernism in philosophy and society is examined at length in various contributions to the volume, and the same is true for phenomenology at large. Even the theoretical seduction and practical failure of Marxism is addressed, while anthropological issues are studied with reference to truth and other key philosophical concepts. John Searle's theory of intentionality is seen as a factor for creating social institutions, and the real meaning of "globalization" is investigated in another article. Many essays deal directly with theological and religious topics. For instance the alleged "illusion" of religion versus its persistency is analyzed, along with the current relations between Church and civil government in Romania, the presence of different forms of Christianity in the Romanian nation, the dialogue between social theology and anthropological research, and the antinomic nature of the Church. All papers included in the volume are original and open new perspectives on the many issues addressed by the authors. Even the philosophical styles are different: hermeneutics, analytic philosophy, historical approach, postmodernism, communication theory and linguistic approach. Some papers are theoretical and others have a more empirical or historical flavour. There is however an underlying unity because they all purport to provide new ideas to professionals involved in the socio-humanistic field. The information is divided into chapters in order to help readers to form by themselves an image of the issues that are studied. However, the volume is not addressed only to specialists, and is accessible to a wider public interested in an interdisciplinary approach.

Georgeta Rata currently works as an Associate Professor at the Banat University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Timisoara, Romania. She holds a BA in French and English and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Bucharest, Romania. Her main areas of research interest include languages, communication, and education sciences. She has authored English for Business (2006) and co-authored Communication and Marketing: A Compendium of Technical Terms in Romanian, English and French (2005), The French of Commerce (2007) and Economics and Business: A Compendium of Technical Terms in English and Romanian (2008).Patricia-Luciana Runcan currently works as a Senior Lecturer at the West University of Timisoara, Romania. She holds a BA in Sociology from the same University, a BA in Law from the "Tibiscus" University of Timisoara, and a PhD in Sociology from the West University of Timisoara. She has authored Social Workers Face to Face with Their Clients (2006), Social Work: Family and Child (2008), Child Protection in Romania (2009), The National System of Social Work (2009), Depression in the Elderly (2010), Successful Scientific Paper in Humanities (2010), and The Case Management Method (2011).Michele Marsonet currently works as a Professor at the University of Genoa, Italy. He holds a BA in Philosophy from the same University and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He has published 26 books (including two in the USA, one in the UK, and one in Germany), and about 300 articles and essays in Italian, English and French, including Science, Reality, and Language (1995), The Primacy of Practical Reason (1996), The Problem of Realism (2002), Logic and Metaphysics (2004) and Idealism and Praxis (2008).