Books published by Axia Academic Publishers

In view of the current global crisis, in which war conflicts and waves of refugees reinforces the existing mistrust and negative attitudes towards the religions as causes of violence, the question arises: How do matters stand with Christianity in Europe? How could canonical tradition/law and reformation, resp. ecclesiastical dogmas and European values be reconciled today? Europe? Do the Christian Churches still need a kind of Reformation? The jubilee of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's theses is a great opportunity to pursue these questions, as well as to reevaluate the spiritual and socio-political impact of the Reformation. The following issue of the Labyrinth-Journal offers not only Protestant, but also Catholic, Orthodox, non-Christian and even atheistic contributions to these topics. It also celebrates the 110th Anniversary of the elaboration of the Roerich Pact discussing its perspectives of a Reformation through Culture.

This special issue of Labyrinth is the second part of a diptych dedicated to the eminent French philosopher François Laruelle in honor of his 80th Anniversary. The included essays deal with the Origins of Laruelle's Non-Philosophy in Ravaisson's Understanding of Metaphysics, the question of Religious Pluralism, the non-philosophical mystique and the rehabilitation of heresis, the analogies and differences of Laruelle's non philosophy to Iamblichus or Martin Heidegger. The contributors to this issue are Vincent Le, John M. Allison, Eleni Lorandou, Stanimir Panayotov, Ameen Mettawa, David Bremner, and Yvanka B. Raynova.

After the end of the era of "absolute idealism", philosophy is falling into a sort of "identity crisis," which requires the constant rethinking of its essence as a specific type of knowledge, and also of its subject and method. As a result of the attempts to "save" philosophy, meta-physics was replaced by ontology, the absolute - by the attempts of an "open system" and/or integral thinking, and the place of the identity of truth, good and beautiful were taken by axiology. Consequently, notions as world, horizon, life, life world, self, alterity, and values became of crucial importance. In this context, the author argues several interrelated theses: Firstly, that in post-Husserlian phenomenology, especially in its French versions, a reinterpretation of the notion of "life world" based on Heidegger Being in the World is done, which turns in a sense against Husserl's transcendental justification of phenomenology. Secondly, this reinterpretation gradually leads to a departure from Heidegger's ontology towards the practical philosophy and axiology, respectively, towards the values denied by Heidegger. Thirdly, the living world becomes a crossroads between the problems of theoretical and practical philosophy, as it stands at the center of value discourse.

This special issue of Labyrith is the first part of a diptych dedicated to the eminent French philosopher François Laruelle in honor of his 80th Anniversary. It aims to unveil the attracting force of Laruelle's non-philosophy for artists and scholars from different disciplines. The essays demonstrates in an emblematic way how a new "democratic order of thinking" permits non-philosophy to enclose domains that have long been considered as opposites - philosophy, science, religion and the arts - and to superpose these variables in a process of creative invention. The issue includes an original dialogue between François Laruelle and Anne Françoise Schmid, an inteview with Laruelle's translator into English Anthony Paul Smith conducted by Mark W. Westmoreland, and articles by Yvanka B. Raynova, Constance L. Mui, Julien S. Murphy, Katerina Kolozova, Adam Louis Klein, Nicholas Eppert, Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, Gilbert Kieffer, Benoît Maire, and Anne-Françoise Schmid.

This special issue of the Journal Labyrinth is dedicated to the philosophy of Jan Patocka. It commemorates not only the 110th anniversary of his birth but also the 40th anniversary of his tragic death in 1977. In that year Patocka became one of the first spokespersons of the civil rights movement Charter 77 - an engagement marked by confrontation with the communist regime, which ultimately cost him his life. The issue's title invokes this double commemoration and alludes to his most famous and most heartily debated book, "Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History." These essays, written towards the end of his life, in some sense can be seen as the culmination of his inquiries and long-term aspirations in the philosophy of history. Yet, it is by no means unequivocal why the author deemed these six essays to be "heretical."