Dr Neville Buch
The Basic Propositions of 21st Century Theology-Religion-Sociology
Abstract
This essay explores the revolutionary reform currently reshaping 21st-century Theology, Religion, and Sociology, moving these disciplines away from the “mechanical liquidation of discernment” and the “immense regression” of the human spirit. Drawing on the interdisciplinary synthesis of Dr. Neville Buch, Jürgen Habermas, and Bernard Stiegler, the analysis outlines a “humanistic ascent” designed to reclaim human authorship over existence in a world increasingly dominated by reductive technical systems. Central to this reform is the Dynamic of Cognition (DoC), which moves the subject from unreflective “orthopraxy” toward intersubjective mutuality. By overcoming “Historical Forgetfulness” through Spiral Historiography and reinventing thinking (penser) as caring (panser), these basic propositions provide a framework for philosophical compatibility, ensuring that knowledge remains a grounded, ethical, and socially accountable practice.
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The Basic Propositions of 21st Century Theology-Religion-Sociology
The following propositions represent the core tenets of a 21st-century intellectual reform that seeks to integrate the sacred and the profane, the local and the global, and the theoretical and the practical.
- Knowledge Starts as Method and Procedure
Knowledge is not a collection of static, concrete facts to be mastered but is fundamentally a procedural movement. This proposition asserts that the “reflective ascent” of the mind begins with method—the systematic inquiry that moves the subject from “ignorant habit” to temporal and revisable understanding.
- Reclaiming Human Authorship
In the face of “artificial stupidity” and algorithmic governance, the core mandate of the humanities is the restoration of human authorship. This reform demands that human beings remain the proactive creators of their own existence, possessing the freedom and responsibility to make logic-based choices rather than functioning as “mindless automatons” steered by external technical stimuli.
- The Reinvention of Thinking as Caring (Panser)
Thinking (penser) must be reinvented as caring (panser)—the procedural necessity of “tending to the wounds” of social and intellectual fragmentation. This Compassion-Focused Pedagogy (CfP) balances the “coldness of pure calculation” with original compassion, affirming that the ultimate goal of knowledge is the relief of human suffering and civilizational “Symbolic Misery”.
- Achieving Philosophical Compatibility
Disparate disciplines and conflicting worldviews—most notably the binary of “religion” versus “secularity”—are ultimately compatible when reassembled through multidisciplinary scholarship. This proposition holds that a “person of faith is quite capable of being skeptical, rational, secular, and humanist,” ending unnecessary “culture-history wars”.
- Spiral Historiography and the Mastery of Time
History is not a linear progression of progress but a cyclical “spiral” where the relationship with the past determines the capacity for future action. To avoid the “Spiral History Theory of Stupidity,” society must actively combat “Historical Forgetfulness”—the banishment of social context that leaves individuals “stuck in time-space,” repeating the same cognitive errors.
- Communicative Action and Rational-Critical Dialogue
True peace and progress are found in communicative action—dialogue aimed at “mutual accord” and intersubjective understanding rather than strategic domination. This reform prioritizes rational-critical communication as the primary engine for social integration and the democratic contestation of knowledge.
- The POLICE Scheme and “Crap Detecting”
Intellectual integrity in the 21st century requires the active practice of “crap detecting”—the systematic filtering out of “institutional bullshit,” manufactured myths, and sociological propaganda. Through the POLICE model (Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education), individuals learn to “police their own thoughts” to reveal the historical contingency of their own prejudices.
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Dynamic of Cognition (DoC) Table: The Revolutionary Reform
| DoC Component | Regression (The Abyss) | Reformatory Ascent (Comprehension) |
| Prejudice (Centre) | Simplistic Literalism: Truth as static, non-negotiable facts. | Reflective Self-Criticism: Inquiry that questions assumptions. |
| Attitudes (Thinking) | Theological Mask: Using dogma to shield partisan agendas. | Communicative Action: Dialogue aimed at mutual accord. |
| Typologies of Value | Measurable Utility: Valuing knowledge only for “profit”. | Holistic Flourishing: Affirming the complexity of the person. |
| Exclusion (Sensation) | Historical Forgetfulness: Systematically banishing context. | Crap Detecting: Filtering out “institutional bullshit”. |
| Inclusion (Intuition) | Symbolic Misery: Loss of agency to automated stimuli. | Panser: Tending to social wounds with empathy. |
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arendt, H. (1978). The life of the mind (M. McCarthy, Ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Buch, N. (2025). The dynamic of cognition. Academia.edu.
Buch, N. (2025). Historiography and humanism. Management Institute for Contributory Economy.
Buch, N., Peach, N., & Davis, D. (2024). Philosophically Ontology Logic Intersect Compatibility Education (POLICE). Management Institute for Contributory Economy.
Carney, M. (2026, March 5). Address to the House of Representatives by the Prime Minister of Canada. Hansard, Parliament of Australia.
Habermas, J. (1979). Communication and the evolution of society (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press.
Lonergan, B. J. F. (1962). Regis College lectures: Operations, the subject, objects, method (R. C. Croken & R. M. Doran, Eds.). University of Toronto Press.
Noddings, N. (2004). War, critical thinking, and self-understanding. Phi Delta Kappan, 85(7), 489–495.
Rovero, J. K. T. (2026). Metaphysics of revolution. The Rovero Estate.
Stiegler, B. (1998). Technics and time, 1: The fault of Epimetheus (R. Beardsworth & G. Collins, Trans.). Stanford University Press.
Stiegler, B. (2025). The immense regression: What is called caring? (Vol. 1) (D. Ross, Trans.). K. Verlag.
Turner, B. (2023). Returning to judgment: Bernard Stiegler and continental political theory. State University of New York Press.
Weiner, G. (2026, March 2). The best education for future success might surprise you. The Washington Post. Online.
Williams, B. A. O. (2006). Philosophy as a humanistic discipline (A. W. Moore, Ed.). Princeton University Press.
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Neville Buch
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