Paul Robeson

Many intellectuals describe Paul Robeson as one of the nation’s greatest musicians, scholars, actors, athletes, and activists of the 20th century. Born on 9 April 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey, Robeson was the youngest of five children born to William Drew Robeson, a runway enslaved African American who went on to graduate from Lincoln University, a historical black college located in Pennsylvania, and Maria Louisa Bustill, a biracial Quaker who was also from Pennsylvania and came from a family of abolitionists. Without question, Robeson’s fame as an athlete on the football field, on the theater stage, in the concert hall, in films, as an activist, and as a leader for social change and justice has been documented in a variety of ways. His being blacklisted and the seizure of his passport by the US government for his anti-colonialism stance and articulation for certain forms of socialism during the 1940s and 1950s has also received much attention from scholars. But most folks do not know about his humble beginnings. For instance, in 1910 the Robeson family moved to Somerville, New Jersey, a relatively large town located between Westfield and Princeton, New Jersey. This is where Paul’s father, Reverend William Drew Robeson, served as pastor of the St. Thomas AME Zion Church until his untimely death in 1918. As a youngster, Paul was a very bright student who attended a local all-Black elementary school, where he graduated at the head of the class. Upon his graduation, his father, although very proud of him, seemed to not show any great enthusiasm. Many years later Robeson recalled, “I guess . . . it was only what he expected of me,” and that he “was never satisfied with a school mark of 95 when 100 was possible.” This attitude, Robeson, continued, was not because his “Pop” wanted perfection. It was rather a sign of his belief in the concept of “personal integrity,” which included the idea of “maximum human fulfillment.” Thus, Robeson proclaimed that “success in life was not to be measured in terms of money and personal advancement, but rather the goal must be the richest and highest development of one’s own potential.” These words embodied and directed the rest of the life of Paul Robeson until his death in 1976, at the age of seventy-seven. More importantly, Robeson’s philosophical framework and political activism can be divided into four main areas: Religion; Anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanism; Music and Theater Performances; and Human Rights.

Persona y felicidad: aportes desde la educación, la filosofía, la historia, la ética, la política, el derecho y la bioética

The book includes a collection of articles resulting from research carried out by teachers of the Department of Humanities and whose thematic center is the relationship between people and happiness. Each chapter provides answers from a specific disciplinary field, through a qualitative methodology, the anthropological and ethical problem of achievement of happiness or personal human fulfillment. From education and ethics, the transition from some informative humanities to other performative ones is proposed, which integrate moral formation and values that advocate empathy and solidarity as a human path to happiness. From the anthropological keys of Leonardo Polo, the person can give meaning to their presence in the world, beyond the satisfaction of happiness itself, since human beings has a personal sense capable of manifesting themselves in the hopeful task. Likewise, from the personalistic anthropology, happiness is studied as a life project, moving from the conflict towards spirituality and proposing chose political educational transformations. In the field of historical sciences, the use of the concepts of person and happiness in the Magisterium of John xxiii underlines the perspectives suggested by the Pope and collected by successive pontiffs. From the law, the relationship is analyzed between justice and happiness, applied to the so-called “right to die with dignity”; and from the bioethics, reflections on procreation and happiness are raised based on the current debate on surrogacy.

Educación y desarrollo personal

This work is the result of theoretical and practical research and points out the privileged settings that lead the person towards human fulfillment and happiness. The first setting is the family, the educational setting par excellence, since the constitutive bonds of the personality such as paternity, maternity and filiation are established within it; the family is where each human being is recognized and loved and learns the proper exercise of his freedom. The school and the university constitute the second training setting of singular importance. In this, young people are helped to harmoniously develop intelligence, will and affections. This is done through formal education –scientific and humanistic– and those activities –such as volunteering or social service– that allow the expression of compassion, solidarity, artistic qualities, etc. Different areas of personal development that aim at the consolidation of virtuous leaders capable of building a culture of life that moves towards peace.

Conceptualizing meaningful work and its implications for HRD

Purpose Human resource development (HRD) research and practice mostly have focused on performance improvement although HRD fundamentally pursues human development as a whole. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize meaningful work in the context of HRD and provide implications for HRD research and practice. Design/methodology/approach This study reviewed the literature on topics such as meaningful work, the meaning of work, workplace spirituality, the value of work and work as a calling, to understand the concept of meaningful work. In addition, this study reviewed existing studies on meaningful work in HRD journals to investigate the current status of meaningful work research within the field of HRD. This study reviewed the related literature such as meaningful work, the meaning of work, workplace spirituality, the value of work and work as a calling, to understand the concept of meaningful work. In addition, this study reviewed the existing studies on meaningful work in HRD journals to investigate the current status of meaningful work research in HRD. Findings The findings of this study identified three main themes in conceptualizing meaningful work, namely, positivity; significance and purpose; and human fulfillment. The authors also suggest that the meaningful work discourse in HRD expands a research boundary of HRD and enables a holistic approach to HRD research and practice. Research limitations/implications For future research, the authors recommend that HRD research deepens its understanding of meaningful work and its related concepts. They also recommend studies pursuing empirical evidence to reveal the significance of meaningful work. Originality/value Given the limited studies on meaningful work in HRD and a lack of understanding of meaningful work, this study proposes a comprehensive understanding of meaningful work, especially within the HRD context. This study also suggests a holistic approach to HRD by stressing a humanistic perspective beyond the performance-oriented HRD.

Trabalho com significado e sentido de vida: um estudo com líderes empresariais

What are the factors recognized by Portuguese business leaders for a meaningful work? In this article a sociological approach is presented that points out possible answers to this question. Starting from the problematization of work as central to human life, the research identifies and relates factors of meaning valued at work and in life, in the population considered. The results are analyzed in a professional connection model. It is proposed the reflection on the relevance of alignment in valued meaning factors, for human fulfillment.

The Love of Beauty for the Good Life

Plato’s analogy of the ladder in the Symposium involves an inquiry into the love of beauty that pertains to a spiritual phenomenology of love. It is reconsidered in this discussion from both an aesthetic and teleological perspectives, and thus construed as a process of philosophical learning and virtuous cultivation. In the final analysis, this paper argues that it is intended to direct the love of beauty along with wisdom as virtue towards the Platonic ideal of human fulfillment and true happiness for the good life qua its ultimate telos. On this account, both the value of knowledge and the cultivation of personality are emphasized for inter-connected reasons, and meanwhile a pragmatic stance is proposed on the kinds-of-life option in the light of the kinds-of-wisdom stratification.

Sexual Identity, Gender, and Human Fulfillment: Analyzing the “Middle Way” Between Liberal and Traditionalist Approaches

In this essay, I outline fundamental anthropological and moral principles related to human sexuality and gender identity and then apply these principles to analyze and evaluate the views of several authors who attempt to carve out a “middle way” between liberal and traditionalist approaches to these issues. In doing so, I engage especially with the claim that gender dysphoria, rather than being a psychological issue, is a type of biological intersex condition in which one’s “brain sex” is out of line with one’s genital and chromosomal sex. I argue that understanding the human person as a unity of body and soul and recognizing human sexuality as ordered toward the human good of marriage understood as inseparably unitive and procreative reveals the flaws in this position and helps to show why hormonal or surgical gender reassignment therapy is not a medically or ethically appropriate response to gender dysphoria. I also offer an alternative characterization of gender dysphoria and suggestions for responding with true compassion to those who suffer from it.

E a água se fez vinho... Lições de um fato aparentemente simples

O sinal de Caná (água mudada em vinho) assinala a presença do tempo messiânico e, portanto, aponta o segredo da realização humana: o ingresso na órbita do amor. Aparentemente simples o sinal sugere a passagem do formalismo e da coerção para a regência do afeto e da confiança nas relações humanas.Abstract: The sign of Cana (water turned into wine) heralded the presence of the Messianic era and therefore points to the secret of human fulfillment: the entry into the orbit of love. Apparently simple, the sign suggests the passage from formalism and coercion to the rule of affection and trust in human relations.