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Laughing and crying reveal a person’s inner feelings and emotional capacities. It is not surprising, then, that from antiquity they have been the theme of philosophical reflection and adduced in interpretation of what is human. In keeping with modern differentiation of the academic disciplines, they have been taken up in interdisciplinary studies making use of philosophy, theology, aesthetics, lite…

In wrestling with the concept of friendship, theology and the church must do some rethinking. They must begin at the point where, in the tension between isolation with limited contacts (Anonymity) and self-alienating life in the mass (Masses, The), the question arises afresh concerning what forms of relationship can both promote fellowship and establish identity. The paradigm of friendship can help us understand how the following relations condition each other and can become less moralistic: tho…

1. Infants and small children express joy in life by spontaneous movements and cries. Adults gradually become aware that a feeling of delight corresponds to happy situations, not only in the physical sphere, but also intellectually and spiritually. It must be learned that the state of joy is only one very limited state alongside other possible feelings (Childhood; Adulthood).…

The idea that humor is laughing in spite of one’s circumstances carries an essential point. Dealing humorously with difficult inner or outer realities is a way of controlling life. As distinct from wit, mockery, or irony, humor deals nonaggressively with circumstances of trouble or conflict. Its affinity to grinning or laughing finds clearest expression where such forms of p…

[German Version] I. Concept and Theories – II. Religious Studies – III. Ethics I. Concept and Theories Frustration is a common term in everyday use. As a rule, the phenomenon is identified by its symptoms: people feel reluctant and listless, their customary demeanor disturbed because a frustrating experience has had a sustained effect on the way they feel and think. This may lead to resignation and feelings of paralysis. People feel restricted in some of their actions. In terms of scientific behavioral resear…

[German Version] I. Bible and Dogmatics – II. Psychology and Ethics I. Bible and Dogmatics Because hatred, as opposed to spontaneous and short-lived affects such as anger and wrath, refers to a long-term attitude (I. Kant; cf. II below) which grips a per…