Lisa Stenmark - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Lisa Stenmark

Tradition and Discovery: The Polanyi Society Periodical, 2013

Aging" is not what it used to be. More persons live a healthy and long life. Many will have to fa... more Aging" is not what it used to be. More persons live a healthy and long life. Many will have to face aging as gradual decline. With improved sanitation, greater food safety, and more powerful medicine, we avoid many problems that used to be customary. Techno-optimists envisage further moves, not just avoiding "premature" death, but extending the human lifespan. In December 2012, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 47: 710-34 published a set of articles on transhumanism, with Hava Tirosh Samuelson arguing in "Transhumanism as a Secularist Faith" that transhumanism secularizes traditional religious themes and endows technology with religious significance. The ethicist Gilbert Meilaender begins much closer to ordinary human life in our time. We certainly should try to treat diseases, when possible cure them, and thus expand the average lifespan. But should we consider "aging" itself a disease, to be approached in the same way? If life is a good thing, why not aspire to have more of it? As biological organisms, finitude and a life-cycle is natural. But using our reason freely to transcend our limitations makes us human. Meilaender offers questions and humane challenges to the ambition of life extension. And cautiously, he speaks of a Christian vision of life eternal, of the restless heart longing for God. He argues that an immortality worth wanting needs a large and rich context of belief and practice, and not just endless life as such. In the context of such a wider perspective, the finitude of our lives is a blessing as it allows for healthy relations between generations and a valuable sense of completion. Indefinite life-extension would change relations between generations. One type of fulfilling experiences, the encounter between generations (parents and children, teachers and students) would change beyond recognition, and so would the feature underlying the existence of generations: sexuality. Indefinite life-extension would also change the experience of a flow of time, of patience and of endings-of stories and much else. And it would undermine the possibility of a fullfilled life cycle, a completeness that accepts the incompleteness of one's life. Given that life is finite, this brief book that raises many questions in an evocative way is very valuable. Old age may be a normal, special and significant stage of life. As he quotes the poet John Hall Wheelock, "Old age is the hour for praise," Meilaender invites us to love the finite human life.

Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method Articles, 2021

In this paper, I will address two issues in emerging postmodern thought that could be seen as pro... more In this paper, I will address two issues in emerging postmodern thought that could be seen as problematic for the science and religion discourse (SRD). The first is the assertion, coming from postmodern (or, post-Kuhnian), feminist and post-colonial science and technology studies, that all knowledge systems - even modem western science - are culturally laden practices. Each of these approaches have convincingly argued that the purportedly neutral practice of western science is permeated with the interests and perspectives of those that develop and practice it. This includes the models and metaphors used to describe phenomenon, the methods and interests of science, the way data are interpreted, even the very notions of objectivity and rationality themselves. On the whole, science and technology studies have demonstrated that modem western science is thoroughly tied to modern western culture, its interests and perspectives. By extension, our understanding of "science and religion...

Tạp chí Khoa học, 2019

Bài viết bắt đầu bằng một cuộc thảo luận ngắn gọn về giáo dục Việt Nam đặt trong bối cảnh Đông Á,... more Bài viết bắt đầu bằng một cuộc thảo luận ngắn gọn về giáo dục Việt Nam đặt trong bối cảnh Đông Á, cho rằng hệ thống này không cản trở khả năng hiện đại hóa mà ngược lại, còn nhanh chóng mở rộng khi đối mặt với toàn cầu hóa. Nhưng, có những lo ngại, đặc biệt với câu hỏi về sự sáng tạo và khả năng thích ứng. Sau đó chúng tôi sẽ chuyển sang Hannah Arendt và những lập luận của bà về giáo dục, trong đó tập trung vào việc dạy trẻ em yêu thế giới. Quan điểm của Arendt là rất có tinh thần Khổng giáo, cả về quan điểm cho giáo dục nghĩa là bảo tồn và truyền tải thông tin, và khuyên rằng khi truyền đạt thông tin về thế giới, chúng ta phải dạy học sinh biết yêu nó.

Bloomsbury Religion in North America, 2021

Religious Studies Review, 2018

Zygon®, 2015

This article examines the emphasis on facts and data in public discourse, and the belief that the... more This article examines the emphasis on facts and data in public discourse, and the belief that they provide a certainty necessary for public judgment and collective action. The heart of this belief is what I call the “myth of the Absolute,” which is the belief that by basing our judgment and actions on an Absolute we can avoid errors and mistakes. Myths of the Absolute can help us deal with wicked problems such as climate change, but they also have a downside. This article explores the experience behind these myths, to better understand how they describe and mediate our experiences of uncertainty, then relates these myths to debates about climate change. I conclude by describing how to engage these myths in a way that promotes better public discourse—and thus better public judgment and collective action—by telling these stories in such a way that we poke and prod wherever the story is not.

Choice Reviews Online, 2014

Politics and Religion, 2015

choose to teach religion — a decision we leave to administrators and teachers — some ways are mor... more choose to teach religion — a decision we leave to administrators and teachers — some ways are more consistent with the basic aims of public education than are others. The stance of the two books is also somewhat different. We write largely as critical observers, describing what we see and commenting on its merits or problems according to certain internal standards for public education. These include the promotion of critical engagement and self-reflection, as well as the disposition to listen to alternative views. Stenmark stands more as an advocate, but what she advocates — a respect for difference — is certainly compatible with our point of view. Stenmark’s comments about the individualism of her students and their disconnection from religion and communal tradition is an important reminder that our book is limited in its focus on teachers and curriculum, and that a more complete account would explore the world of the students and the impact that religion courses have on them. Her observation that many of her students lack a connection to any tradition other than individualism is an important claim, and it would be interesting to probe that “individualism” to see just what functions it serves for students. One possibility is that it represents a public language that allows them to connect with one another in spite of their different commitments; another possibility is that the utilitarian emphasis of modern universities fosters a kind of materialism that leads to a neglect of communal commitment. I do not know what such a probe might find but Stenmark has clearly identified an important topic for investigation.

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2008

Stump/The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity, 2012

This presentation is part of the Beauvoir and Arendt on Science track. For over 20 years, feminis... more This presentation is part of the Beauvoir and Arendt on Science track. For over 20 years, feminist science studies has explored the relationship between science and values. As Sharyn Clough pointed out, this largely centered on epistemology, an “investment” that “is beginning to yield diminishing returns.” With Clough, I argue that much of the discourse on science and values presents a false dichotomy between objectivism and relativism—some tried to salvage objectivity through inclusive or relational methodologies while others abandoned this as a quixotic quest because science will always be value-laden and thus relative. This approach also relies on abstractions, obscuring the actual practices of science and distracting attention from its impact. This paper suggests an alternative approach—drawing primarily from the work of Hannah Arendt, but also utilizing on Simone de Beauvoir and voices in feminist science studies—that emphasizes human beings as “worldly,” and prioritizes a narr...