Abstract
The human person is a being defined by sociality as a primary condition of being human in the world. However, to be a social being is not something that is abstract. It is a praxis of being that is fundamentally grounded in an embodiment that is oriented towards by the concrete possibilities of space and place. Consequently, embodiment allows for the production of space and place and reciprocally, space and place define the contours of embodiment from which the consciousness of the self as a subject-in-relation arises. Grounding this work in a Levinassian consciousness and such interlocutors as Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Simone de Beauvoir, Jacques Derrida, and Georg Simmel, this paper explores how a rethinking of space and place can birth forth a a polyphonic consciousness that can serve as the locus for the praxis of a spirituality of inclusivity. To do this well, this work offers a robust understanding of what a spirituality of inclusivity means for our times and how it can serve in the work of ecumenism and interfaith encounters as the Church calls for an embrace of a synodal way of being in the world.
Presenters
SimonMary Asese AihiokhaiAssociate Professor of Systematic Theology and Affiliate Faculty of Ethnic Studies, University of Portland, Oregon, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
IDENTITY, PLACE POLYPHONIC CONSCIOUSNESS, RADICAL SECULARISM, RELIGIOUS OTHER, SPACE
