*-- Please distribute this announcement to anyone who may be interested. --
*The Evolution, Complexity and Cognition research group hereby invites you to a *Full-day Workshop on* *Worldviews and religiosity:* a non-theistic perspective on human experience, meaning and purpose In this age of change, uncertainty, and confusion, many people experience the need for a coherent worldview that would give direction and meaning to their life, and that would help them to feel part of a larger whole. Such feelings are sometimes described as "spirituality" or "religiosity", and are often used as a justification for a return to the traditional religions, such as Christianity, Islam or Hinduism. On the other hand, the philosopher Leo Apostel has eloquently pleaded for the development of an "atheist religiosity". We too would like to separate the experience of religiosity from the a-priori belief in a personal God(s), and investigate in the most fundamental way how an integrated worldview could give meaning to people's lives. This international and interdisciplinary workshop is intended to bring together a number of scholars who have worked on this issue from different perspectives, and to foster a constructive discussion. *Workshop Organization* *Date:* Friday, December 2, 2011 *Time:* 9.00-18.30h *Place:* VUB Campus Etterbeek<http://www.vub.ac.be/english/infoabout/campuses/index.html>, Room 3B217 (building B, 3rd floor, end of corridor) *Organizing committee*: Francis Heylighen, Clément Vidal & David R. Weinbaum (Weaver), Evolution, Complexity and Cognition group <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/> (ECCO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel *Participation*: Free, but to facilitate the organization please* register* ASAP by sending*your full name & affiliations * (if any) to this Email<[email protected]?subject=My%20participation%20in%20the%20Workshop:%20Worldviews%20and%20Religiosity>. Registered participants will receive the final program with additional information (such as abstracts and references of the talks) as soon as it is available. Due to space limitations, we cannot guarantee non-registered participants a place to sit. Coffee and tea are freely available, but lunch is your own responsibility. *Website*: http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/151 *Program* 9.00 Francis Heylighen <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html> & Clement Vidal<http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com/> (ECCO & Center Leo Apostel, VUB) Introduction: Worldviews and Meaning 9.30 Wim Van Moer <http://vub.academia.edu/WimVanMoer> (Dep. of Philosophy, VUB) Religious atheism - a framework and a case study 10.20 Jan Van der Veken <http://upers.kuleuven.be/en/titel/9789061869863> (Prof. Em. in Metaphysics and Theology, KULeuven) From atheistic to non-theistic religiosity 11.10 -- Coffee Break -- 11.25 S.N. Balagangadhara <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._N._Balagangadhara>(aka Balu) (Center for Comparative Science of Cultures, University of Ghent) Who needs a World View? 12.15 Geert Drieghe <http://glasgow.academia.edu/GeertDrieghe> (Dep. of Philosophy, University of Glasgow) TBA 13.00 -- Lunch Break, at the VUB Student restaurant -- 14.20 Francis Heylighen <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html> (ECCO & Center Leo Apostel,VUB) Animism, Evolution, and the Meaning of Life: how God helped to alienate us from our true nature 15.10 Anja Van Rompaey<http://www.ulb.ac.be/rech/inventaire/chercheurs/0/CH12720.html>(Center for the Study of Religions and Secularity, ULB) From exemplarism to representationalism: the difficulty of creating an atheistic concept of truth 16.00 -- Coffee Break -- 16.20 David R. Weinbaum (Weaver) <http://clea.academia.edu/DavidWeinbaum> (ECCO, VUB) God is dead, where do we go from here? Nietzsche and a post human perspective on spirituality <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/156> 17.10 Clement Vidal <http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com/> (ECCO & Center Leo Apostel, VUB) Cosmological Immortality: Evolutionary Developmental Ethics on a Universal Scale <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/155> 18.00 General Discussion ------------------------------ Final announcements with abstracts and additional information will be distributed to registered participants by email before the workshop. -- David R. Weinbaum (Weaver) ECCO Seminar Coordinator http://clea.academia.edu/DavidWeinbaum
