WHO ARE WE – EUROPEAN IDENTITYAND SPIRITUALITY
Corresponding author:
[email protected]
Accepted
28 March 2026
Available Online
15 July 2015
Abstract
EVERY NOW AND THEN, EUROPEAN IDENTITY IS EVOKED IN PUBLIC DISCOURSES, PAPERS AND DEBATES, ALL TRYING TO DEFINE, TO ARTICULATE AND TO STRENGTHEN IT. HOW CAN WE EXPRESS THIS IDENTITY WHICH MUST TAKE ON A EUROPEAN DIMENSION ? IN ORDER TO HAVE AN APPROACH AS COMPLEX AS POSSIBLE, IT SHOULD BE TAK EN INTO CONSIDERATION THE FUNDAMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF A POSSIBLE EUROPEAN IDENTITY, ACCORDING TO THE CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL EXPLICATIONS. THE ‘SPIRITUAL TIES’ AS THEY ARE MANIFESTED IN A COMMON ‘WORLD OF MEANINGS’ (A ‘UNIVERSE OF SYMBOLS AND RELEVANCIES’), AS THEY ALLOW TO ACHIEVE A CONSENSUAL ‘DEFINITION OF THE SITUATION’, AND INCLUDING THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF A SHARED ‘TODAY’, ‘PAST’, AND ‘FUTURE’. IF ONE’S IDENTITY IS A FULFILLMENT, THE SUM OF A PERSONAL HISTORY, THEN EUROPEAN IDENTITY IS MADE UP OF A HUGE AND VARIED HERITAGE. TO EXPRESS EUROPEAN IDENTITY THROUGH HERITAGE ONLY, HOWEVER RICH THIS MAY BE, WOULD BE TO LIMIT ONESELF TO CONSERVATISM WITHOUT A FUTURE. EUROPE NEEDS VISIONS WHICH RELATE TO THE FUTURE. OUR OWN IDENTITY IT’S GIVEN BY CULTURE, CO MMON MEANINGS AND DIRECTIONS OF THE GROUP, CONTACT AND DISCOVERS WITHIN CERTAIN TERRITORY, AND DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES OF LIFE’S SPECTRUM. IN THIS CONTEXT TWO SCENARIOS ARE LOOMING FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY, ONE WHEREBY WE ARE AT THE LIMIT OF EURO PEAN IDENTITY AND THAT THIS EUROPEAN...
Keywords
CULTURE
DISCOURSE
IDEOLOGY
IDENTITY
EUROPEAN SPIRITUALITY
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