The world is full of religions, philosophies, and problems. Wars, genocides, and environmental destruction have shaken faith in the omnipotence of reason: philosophy striving for pure ideas does not seem to create a more ethical world. Religions have their own ideals, whose followers live as if in separate islands. How to find something essential that would unite everyone? Where should ethics and thought begin? What about the relationship with nature and animals? Jewish philosophers Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas began to build their thought from human presence. Derrida, in turn, pondered the same problematic in the case of animals. The philosophy of encounter opens up the value of people, religious communities, and animals in a new way and forms a fruitful basis for understanding religions. But how to understand and appreciate others while remaining faithful to one's own tradition? What do the Church Fathers have to say about these questions? The theme is explored by Professor and author, Father Serafim Seppälä. The language of instruction is Finnish.
Friday, August 28
16.00 Course start
16.15 Martin Buber's I-Thou philosophy (Serafim Seppälä)
18.00 Vigil in the old church
19.30 Evening meal
20.00–21.30 Levinas: philosophy of the face (Serafim Seppälä)
Saturday, August 29, Commemoration of the Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist
07.00 Third Hour and Liturgy in the old church
07.30–10.00 Breakfast in Trapesassa
09.00–10.00 Philosophy of place (Serafim Seppälä)
10.30–11.30 Encountering animals (Serafim Seppälä)
11.30–12.30 Lunch break
12.30–13.30 Sacred trees and the Orthodox understanding of forests (Serafim Seppälä)
13.45 Akathist of Thanksgiving "Glory to God for all things" held at the chapel of Saint Nicholas on the shore of Juojärvi
14.30 Guided tour of the monastery garden
15.00 The academy offers layer cake and coffee in the red hall of the Trapesa restaurant, academy 40 years
15.45 Theology of creation based on presentations, dialogically and communally - TT Ari Koponen and TT Pauliina Kainulainen
17.15 Management of Valamo Monastery forests and hiking trails - forest manager Raimo Asikainen
18.00 Vigil in the main church
20.00–21.00 Evening meal (included in the course price), alternatively Valamo Tea Table in the red hall of the Trapesa restaurant, self-funded, 10 € for course participants
Sunday, August 30
(07.30 Breakfast)
09.00 Third Hour and Liturgy.
11.30 Lunch
12.00 Prayer service for Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valamo. Winter Church.
Room checkout by 12:00 PM
12.30-13.30 Short introduction (Serafim Seppälä) & discussion.
