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Title: Reciprocity and Power in Philosophies of Dialogue
Subtitle: The Burning of a Buddhist Temple in Finland
Author(s): ILLMAN, Ruth
Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue
Volume: 21    Issue: 1   Date: 2011   
Pages: 46-63
DOI: 10.2143/SID.21.1.2129549

Abstract :
Within dialogue philosophy, there are several ways of portraying the relationship between persons who meet in interreligious or intercultural dialogue. This article examines the views of interpersonal relationships, power and reciprocity presented by the philosophers Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, and Knud E. Løgstrup. Their diverging claims are analysed against the background of contemporary critical dialogue research, which focuses on issues of power, presents challenging views of representation and promotes post-secular re-evaluations of agency and meaning. A current chain of events in Finland (vandalism against a local Buddhist temple and the consequent proclamations of solidarity by other religious minorities in the Finnish society) is used as an empirical example of contemporary fields and forms of dialogue that defy conventional apprehensions of power and reciprocity in this context.

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