Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy
Specialisation in Religious Studies
DOCRS-2021-01: EPISTEMOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
Warrant is that ingredient that turns mere true belief into knowledge. Alvin Plantinga’s theory of warrant centres around the thesis that in order for a belief to be warranted, the belief needs to be the result of properly functioning cognitive faculties. Plantinga then utilizes his theory of warrant to argue that Christian belief could be warranted apart from argumentation. Baldwin and McNabb (2018) have argued extensively that various other religious traditions cannot follow Plantinga. Often (though not always) this has to do with the religious tradition not being theistic and thus lacking a designer for our cognitive design plan. As Baldwin and McNabb put it, these religious traditions lack the resources necessary to make proper function intelligible. There are, however, various other epistemic theories in competition with proper functionalism that have yet to be thoroughly vetted as to whether they are compatible with various religious traditions. Specifically, do these religious traditions possess resources needed to make these epistemic theories intelligible? Epistemic theories that should be further explored include the following: classical foundationalism, phenomenal conservatism, disjunctivism, and virtue responsibilism, and virtue reliabilism. Researcher would argue in depth whether various religious traditions are compatible with the aforementioned epistemic theories.
Supervisor: Tyler McNabb (tyler.mcnabb@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Philosophy of Religion; Epistemology; Alvin Planting
DOCRS-2021-02: THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CHANGING SOCIAL ROLES/INFLUENCE OF THE DIFFERENT ETHNIC CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES AND THEIR ECCLESIAL/PAROCHIAL INVOLVMENT IN MACAU SINCE THE 1999 HANDOVER
Like in many Lusophone territories, Catholicism in Macau is one which exhibits high interdependency and intricate subtleties between ethnicities, nationalities, cultural identities, languages/dialects, customs, social statuses, and beliefs. An investigative and integral research into the demographic transitions of the various Catholic ethnic communities (Portuguese, Macanese, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indian, other European and Anglophone expats, etc.) in connection with their levels of engagements in the local Church since 1999 would definitely fill a lacuna in the area of Macau Studies.
Supervisor: Cyril Law (cyril.law@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Macau Studies; Migration; Parish; Catholic Church History of China
DOCRS-2021-03: THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILOSOPHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL TRAINING IN MACAU SINCE THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (1962-65)
The intellectual and humanistic formation of missionaries has long been one of the features that defines Macau’s place in the history of the Catholic Church in the far East. Scholarly studies on this missiological aspect of Macau abounds. But research is much needed when it comes to an “introspection” of how the Church in Macau implemented the post-Vatican II reconfigurations of clerical studies according to developing canonical requirements. Topics tightly connected with such studies include the social and political circumstances of Macau from the 1960s onwards which continue to exert considerable influence in shaping the local institutions of philosophical and theological training.
Supervisor: Cyril Law (cyril.law@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Macau Studies; Seminary; Formation of Missionaries
DOCRS-2021-04: DOCUMENTING THE USE OF MODERN CHINESE LITURGICAL AND SCRIPTUAL TRADITIONS AMONG CANTONESE SPEAKING FAITHFUL IN MACAU
The introduction of the vernacular in Catholic worship is not something new, but with the use of each language or dialect comes a plethora of associated linguistic phenomena which sometimes defy literary, oral, and auricular consistencies. And one prominent example of this would be the practice of using written Chinese liturgical and scriptural texts (composed according to Mandarin grammar) but pronouncing them with Cantonese sounds, which is virtually unintelligible to those who only speak Cantonese but do not read Chinese (at one time a significant proportion of Macanese Catholics belonged to this category, as although they were conversant in colloquial Cantonese, their schooling would have been mainly in Portuguese; as are the less educated older population from Guangdong and parts of Guangxi province). How is Truth, then, effectively proclaimed, preached and perceived? A detailed documentation of this particular liturgical practice and a critical analysis of its merits or pitfalls will be a useful take on a yet to be fully explored living pastoral reality.
Supervisor: Cyril Law (cyril.law@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Cantonese; Liturgy; Mandarin; Translation
DOCRS-2021-05: EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD) AND THE ROLE OF SPIRITUALITY FOR SUFFICIENCY
For societies to reach a sustainable development path, the three strategies of efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency are suggested to pursue by sustainability research. While higher efficiency is linked to technological innovations, consistency aims at new societal and economic systems (e.g. public transport replacing individual vehicles in cities; zero-waste systems; circular economy). But efficient and consistent systems need the third strategy of sufficiency to reach a stable sustainable development path. The research explores the potentials of spiritual and religious resources for sufficiency in view of reaching sustainable development paths in modern societies.
Supervisor: Franz Gassner (franz.gassner@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Education for Sustainable Development; Sustainability; Spirituality; Sustainable Development Goals
DOCRS-2021-6: POTENTIALS FOR MITIGATING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS THROUGH DIETARY CHANGES, FOOD WASTE PREVENTION AND FASTING: SOCIETAL, THEOLOGICAL AND INTERRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON SUSTAINABLE LIFE-STYLES
Dietary changes and food waste prevention are significant factors in view of mitigating global Green House Gas Emissions. They “can reduce demand for land conversion, thereby potentially freeing land” (IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse gas fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems Summary for Policymakers Approved Draft Subject to copy edit and layout, 7th August 2019, p.3 and p.20). From 2010 to 2016, global food loss and waste contributed 8-10% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions, and currently, 25-30% of total food produced at the global level is lost or wasted (IPCC 2019). Strategies and policies that aim at reducing food loss and waste and influence dietary choices, improve overall food security, serve low emissions trajectories, and thus have the potential to contribute significantly to climate change adaptation and mitigation. COP 21 (Paris 2015) aims at reducing per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 50 % until 2030 (SDG Goal 12.3).
Supervisor: Franz Gassner (franz.gassner@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Catholic Social Teaching; Sustainable Development; Foodwaste Prevention; Spirituality
DOCRS-2021-7: CANON LAW WITH THE SPECIFIC THEMES OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CANON LAW AND CIVIL LAW, CANONICAL JURISPRUDENCE ON MARRIAGE, NATURAL LAW AND CANON LAW, AND THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF CANON LAW IN PARISH LIFE
Never people have grown so concerned about “human rights” as in our time. Yet, human life has seldom been so much threatened by permissive legislations, bio experimentation, violence and abuse of any kind, as nowadays. This has an explanation: The legal has been dissociated from the rational; the law, from the human nature, to become a political deterrent. This makes it urgent invoking the ever-dynamic Natural Law as the rational foundation of all human law. Canon law, a vital instrument for the ecclesial society, is a unique example of a legal body composed of norms of both divine and human origin. In it, the general principles of law are called to be observed with “canonical equity,” meaning, “justice tempered with mercy.” Marriage life is one of its fields that most eloquently speaks of this.
Supervisor: Javier Gonzalez (javier.gonzalez@usj.edu.mo)
Keywords: Canon Law; Civil Law; Natural Law; Human Rights
