The Philosophy of Encounter 8/2026

The world is full of religions, philosophies and problems. Wars, genocides and environmental destruction have shaken faith in the omnipotence of reason: a philosophy seeking pure ideas does not seem to create a more ethical world. Religions have their own ideals, whose followers live as if in separate enclaves. How to find something essential that would unite everyone? Where should ethics and thinking begin? What about the relationship with nature and animals? Jewish philosophers Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas began to build their thinking from human presence. Derrida, in turn, pondered the same problematic in the case of animals. The philosophy of encounter reveals the value of people, religious communities, and even animals in a new way and forms a fertile ground for understanding religions. But how to understand and appreciate another while remaining faithful to one's own tradition? What do the Church Fathers have to say about these questions? The themes are explored by Professor and author, Father Serafim Seppälä.

To be updated later.