Cardinal Koch Talks on Recognition

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontificial Council for Promoting Christian Unity, visited the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Theology on Tuesday 28 April.

The event took place in the Faculty Hall, and the title of Cardinal Koch's presentation was "The Ecumenical Recognition of Baptism". The talk itself, together with the ensuing conversation, provided a very interesting case of the topic of recognition.

The occasion was chaired by the Dean of the Faculty, Ismo Dunderberg. The Faculty Hall was packed full of audience, and the University's Chancellor Thomas Wilhelmsson was also in attendance.

After the Cardinal's talk, there were responses by representatives of the two Centres of Excellence at the Faculty of Theology, Professors Anneli Aejmelaeus and Risto Saarinen.

Cardinal Koch then proceeded to comment the responses by Aejmelaeus and Saarinen.

Before conclusion, the floor was opened for discussion. Bishop emeritus Eero Huovinen was among those who used the opportunity.

Our CoE to Appear in Atlanta

As a result of our inspired teamwork, the Centre of Excellence Reason and Religious Recognition got a special 2,5-hour session to the program of the American Academy of Religion’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta USA in November 2015. Our session’s title is ‘From Tolerance to Recognition: Recognition and the Acceptance of Otherness’.

The speakers of our session include Olli-Pekka Vainio, Aku Visala, Panu-Matti Pöykkö, Minna Hietamäki, Elina Hellqvist, Ritva Palmén, Heikki J. Koskinen, Anna-Liisa Tolonen, Joona Salminen, and Timothy Riggs. The event will be presided by our CoE leader Risto Saarinen, and as distinguished commentators, we have Jan-Olav Henriksen from the Norwegian School of Theology and Robert Orsi from the Northwestern University.

For us, this is a great opportunity to present our work to an American and international audience. AAR’s Annual Meetings are the world’s largest events in the fields of religious studies and theology, bringing together around 10.000 people. In addition to the special session, our CoE will also make an appearance in the meeting’s Nordic Reception.

● A link to AAR’s page

● A link to the Annual Meeting’s page

Recognition Retreat

During 26-27 February, our CoE organized a two-day Recognition Retreat at the course centre Hvittorp in Kirkkonummi. The event was the first of its kind. Its idea was to get together, to get to know each others' research topics a bit better, and to develop the common strategies of our CoE.

Thursday lunch

In Thursday afternoon's programme, we had six presentations of individual research topics with a coffee break in between. The presentations were given by Joona Salminen, Tim Riggs, Panu-Matti Pöykkö, Hanne Appelqvist, Heikki Haara, and Aku Visala.

Attentive audience

After the papers, it was time for dinner. We then continued by discussing Risto Saarinen's book manuscript Recognition and Religion: A Historical and Systematic Study. A day before, on Wednesday 25 February, Saarinen had presented both the CoE and his own research topics at a meeting of The Philosophical Society of Finland in Helsinki.

Questions and comments

After the official proceedings of the first day, we continued our discussions in a more relaxed manner while enjoying some evening snacks, drinks, and good company.

Ring of Recognition

Returning to the big hall from Friday morning's breakfast gathering, we started the day by mapping and updating our overall timeline, listing various activities and events during the CoE period, most of which still remains in the future.

Discussion of book manuscript

We then divided into three groups in which various topics were discussed. These included academic research publications, popular writing and other forms of societal impact, and aspects of our research strategy.

After the final brainstorming sessions, we concluded by having lunch, and then proceeded to return to the world. Some of us came right back to the office, and prepared our proposals for the AAR Annual Meeting in Atlanta later this year.

Philosophical Analysis of Recognition Theory

After a year's work in the CoE, having written two papers on recognition and a third one on its way, I reformulated the short description of my research themes:

The aim of my research is to contribute to the understanding of the concepts and phenomena of recognition. My research is primarily based on contemporary discussions of recognition theory initiated in the early 1990s by Charles Taylor and Axel Honneth. Their ideas have been further analysed and developed by Heikki Ikäheimo and Arto Laitinen, whose work I also explicitly utilise in my own. One of my specific thematic focuses is on the trilateral notion of mediated recognition. This is understood as a method in which disagreeing parties nevertheless agree about a third party such as a referee, a set of common rules, or a shared form of rationality.

In order to be useful, conceptual analysis needs to be practiced in view of relevant issues, both contemporary and historical. Moreover, to avoid arbitrary stipulation, the analysis also needs to be sensitive to input from various kinds of sources. With its three teams and their wide range of expertise, the Centre of Excellence Reason and Religious Recognition provides a good context for multidisciplinary research aiming to produce informed analyses of and constructive suggestions to recognition theory. The produced analyses and suggestions can then be used as conceptual tools for interpreting and dealing with a variety of textual materials as well as social and political realities. Philosophical analysis of recognition theory has immediate societal relevance also through its close systematic connections with the topics of multiculturalism and identity politics.

Saarinen's New Book on Love Published

On the 8th of January, in connection with The Science Forum 2015 at the University of Helsinki, the Finnish publisher Gaudeamus organized a publication event of Risto Saarinen's new book on love.

Together with respect and esteem, in the research literature love is standardly conceived as a mode or species of recognition. Thus, in addition to love, Saarinen's book also deals to some extent with more general topics of recognition. The Finnish title of the book 'Oppi rakkaudesta' could be translated as 'The Doctrine of Love'.

● Here is a link to the publisher's page.

CoE Open House

Before the conclusion of last calendar year, On 11 December, Risto Saarinen organized a Centre of Excellence Open House in connection with his seminar on ecumenics.

After Saarinen had opened the event, Gabriel Salmela OP (Tilburg) introduced himself. Saarinen then presented a general description of the themes and structure of our CoE, and also talked about his own research interests and book projects.

Elina Hellqvist, who works in our CoE's Team 3, continued by presenting her research topics under the title 'Recognizing the Other - Sexual Identity and the Church: An Analysis of Current Church Debates in Lutheranism'.

We then heard about Professor Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen's extensive ongoing work on systematic theology. The occasion was also a very nice opportunity to meet Professor Kärkkäinen so soon after he had hosted the visit of some of us at Fuller in connection with the recent AAR conference.

The event was concluded by Gerard J. Ryan SJ (Oxford), who introduced himself and described the recognition-related topics that he is working on.

AAR Annual Meeting 2014

The American Academy of Religion held its 2014 Annual Meeting in November 22-25 at San Diego, California. I traveled to the congress via London in the excellent company of Minna Hietamäki, Ritva Palmén, Joona Salminen and Olli-Pekka Vainio.

Charles Taylor

Having recently focused on some of the central literature on recognition, the main philosophical attraction for me was Charles Taylor. He has, among a multitude of other things, written the seminal 1992 paper on "The Politics of Recognition". During the congress, Taylor spoke on several occasions, and he also received the 2014 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion.

Heading towards Pasadena

On Friday the 21st, before the official start of the congress, we visited the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. On this trip, we were joined by Timo R. Stewart who works in political history. Our host at Fuller was Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, who holds a Professorship of Systematic Theology at the Seminary. We took part in his seminar session where Minna Hietamäki presented our Centre of Excellence, Olli-Pekka Vainio gave a talk, and the rest of us participated in the discussions.

Minna Hietamäki presenting our CoE

Olli-Pekka Vainio giving his talk

After the seminar, Professor Kärkkäinen kindly hosted a lunch at the University Club of Pasadena, and organized a guided tour for us of the campus area. We then drove back to San Diego via Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles, getting some first-hand experience of the incredible traffic jams.

Lunch at the Pasadena Club

On Monday the 24th, President Jimmy Carter gave a talk on "The Role of Religion in Mediating Conflicts and Imagining Futures" and participated in a discussion panel that followed. He is clearly a gifted speaker, and he made some interesting connections between the topics of climate change and equality for women.

Jimmy Carter giving his talk

Overall, the congress had around 10.000 participants which were easily swallowed by the huge Convention Center. There were sessions of all sizes dealing with an incredible variety of topics. The Exhibit Hall also hosted a nice book exhibit with over 150 publishers and conference discount prices. In addition to the programme and discussions, it was good to enjoy the sun, and to be able to spend some quality time with the colleagues.

San Diego Convention Center