DOCSLIB.ORG

Charles Taylor and the Place of the Transcendent in Secular Modern

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Charles Taylor and the Place of the Transcendent in Secular Modern Charles Taylor and the Place of the Transcendent In Secular Modern Lives Anthony Edward Hugh Campbell A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctorate in Philosophy degree in Theology Faculty of Theology Saint Paul University © Anthony Edward Hugh Campbell, Ottawa, Canada, 2017 ABSTRACT This study explores the thought of Charles Taylor about “our present predicament.” Western secular modernity poses a serious predicament because it marginalizes the place of “past goods” and the transcendent horizon not only in the public sphere but in our individual lives. Moreover, it posits the need for everyone to face up to a high stakes choice in their lives between belief and unbelief. The study argues that beneath his eclectic appearance as a philosophical anthropologist, Taylor’s work is actually the work of what he calls “a hedgehog.” He focuses on a reinvigoration of the transcendent in Western modern secular culture and a “rather tightly related” philosophical and theological agenda in support of that objective. Appropriating Hegel’s dialectical perspective, Taylor contradicts the dominant linear subtraction theories of secularity and redefines the debate by focussing on changed conditions of belief and unbelief. These offer modern individuals unprecedented freedom of choice between living flourishing lives with perhaps some degree of fullness in the immanent frame, or aspiring to flourishing lives with the possibility of the fullest of fullness of life living in a horizon of the transcendent. The choice entails potential risks in the exclusive humanist and antihumanist positions because of the nihilism, decadence and violence foreseen by Nietzsche for those living in the “pitiable comfort” of the exclusively immanent frame. However, despite its “post-revolutionary” context, Taylor is a “booster” of secular modernity because it has greatly advanced the Gospel in Western societies through unquestionable benefits to human lives that would not have been possible in the conditions of Christendom. He recognizes the validity of Hegel’s “spiral” view of the movement of history as opposed to the linear or deterministic theories of such as Marx, Freud and others. He therefore anticipates a reconciliation of contemporary “contradictions” in the form of individual personal transformation towards a new “agapaïc” transcendent synthesis. This hopeful message does not envisage a restoration of the past but rather sees a recovery of spiritual goods and articulacy from the richness of the past. These will foster a new place for the fullness of the transcendent in our secular modern lives. The heart has its reason of which reason has no knowledge. Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point. Pascal – Pensée 423 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Acknowledgements vi Introduction vii Introducing the Study vii Introducing Charles Taylor xiii Taylor’s Scholarly Perspective xvi Taylor’s “Post-Revolutionary Climate” xvii Charles Taylor Superstar: A Question xx Partial Answer xxi A Problem xxiv The Hypothesis xxv Thesis Structure xxx Methodology xxxii Chapter 1 Taylor’s Background Framework 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Two Fundamental Concepts in Taylor’s Thought: 1 1.2.1 The Background Framework or Understanding 2 1.2.2 The Social Imaginary 4 1.3 Charles Taylor the Person 5 1.3.1 An Outline of Taylor’s Life History 6 1.3.2 Taylor’s “Background Framework” 9 1.4 Taylor’s Major Traits and Qualities 12 1.4.1 Taylor the Teacher 13 1.4.2 Committed Christian 18 1.4.3 Linguist and Communicator 25 1.5 Literature Review of Primary Sources 31 1.5.1 Hegel and Modern Society 32 1.5.2 Philosophy and the Human Sciences 33 1.5.3 Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity 34 1.5.4 The Malaise of Modernity 35 1.5.5 Modern Social Imaginaries 36 1.5.6 A Secular Age 36 1.5.7 Dilemmas and Connections: Selected Essays 40 1.6 Secondary Literature Review 42 1.6.1 Introduction 42 1.6.2 Dialogue, Dialectic and Conversation 44 1.6.3 Secondary Literature Broadly Supportive of Taylor’s Thought 44 iii 1.6.4 Secondary Literature from a Broadly Neutral Perspective 48 1.6.5 Secondary Literature from a Broadly Critical Perspective 54 Chapter 2 Taylor’s Social Imaginary 2.1 Introduction 58 2.2 Three Influential Vectors in Taylor’s Thought About Secular Modernity 58 2.2.1 Religious/Theological Influences 59 2.2.2 Philosophical Influences 64 2.2.3 Plato and Aristotle 66 2.2.4 Descartes 71 2.2.5 Pascal 73 2.2.6 Johann Gottfried von Herder 75 2.2.7 Hegel 77 2.3 Influential Sociologists 85 2.3.1 David Emile Durkheim 86 2.3.2 Max Weber 90 2.4 Conclusion 96 Chapter 3 The Thesis: An Enchanted World 3.1 Introduction and Overview 97 3.1.1 Definitional Issues 98 3.1.2 Structural Issues 105 3.2 Taylor’s Framing Questions 107 3.3 The Pre-Modern “Enchanted World” 109 3.4 Two More Key Taylor Terms: “Porous” and “Buffered” 111 Chapter 4 The Antithesis Part 1: A Disenchanted World 4.1 Introduction 115 4.2 Revolution in Taylor’s Thought 117 4.3 Some of the Revolutions of Early Modernity 120 4.4 The Revolutions of Late Modernity 127 4.5 Conclusion 134 Chapter 5 The Antithesis Part II: Secularity and Secularization 5.1 Introduction 135 5.2 Secularity 137 5.3 Question 1: Why is Secularity or Secularization an “Antithesis”? 137 5.4 Question 2: Defining Secularity/Secularization 139 5.4.1 John Bowden 142 5.4.2 French-English Differences of meaning 142 5.4.3 Harvey Cox 143 5.4.4 Max Weber 147 iv 5.5 Question 3: What Are Taylor’s Views on Secularity – Some Oddities? 149 5.6 Question 4: What are Taylor’s Own Definitions of “Secularity”? 154 5.7 Question 5: What is Taylor’s Understanding of “Fullness” 158 5.8 Question 6: What is Taylor’s “Polemic” Against the “Secularity Thesis”? 160 5.9 Question 7: Who are Other Key Voices in the Debate? 162 5.9.1 David Martin 162 5.9.2 Jose Casanova 165 5.9.3 Peter L. Berger 168 5.9.4 Grace Davie 169 5.10 Conclusion 169 Chapter 6 The Antithesis Part III: Changed Conditions of Belief “The Four Cornered Battle” of Modern Belief and Unbelief 6.1 Introduction and Recapitulation 172 6.2 New Conditions of Belief – Individual Choice and Responsibility 174 6.3 Changing Conditions of Belief 176 6.3.1 Introduction 176 6.3.2 Fullness 178 6.3.3 Fullness and Kenosis 179 6.3.4 Humanism 180 6.3.5 Henri de Lubac’s Influential Thought - Links with Vatican II 183 6.4 Taylor’s Battlefield Scenario of Belief and Unbelief 186 6.4.1 Introduction 186 6.4.2 Overview of the Map of the Corners of the Battle 188 6.4.3 Corner #1: Atheism, Anti-Humanism and Anti-Theism 189 6.4.3.1 Introduction 189 6.4.3.2 The “Nietzsche Legend” 191 6.4.3.3 Shifting Appreciation of Nietzsche’s Importance 197 6.4.3.4 Fullness in the Life Experience of an Atheist 199 6.4.4 Corner #2: “Exclusive Humanism” 205 6.4.4.1 Introduction 205 6.4.4.2 Is Existentialism an Exclusive Humanism? 209 6.4.4.3 Sartre and Exclusive Humanism 213 6.4.4.4 Camus, Agnosticism and Exclusive Humanism? 215 6.4.4.5 Sartre’s Three Cornered Proselytism 218 6.4.5 Corner #3: “Acknowledgers of Some Good Beyond Life” 220 6.4.5.1 Introduction and Definition 220 6.4.5.2 The Contemporary “Problematique” 224 6.4.6 Corner #4: The Super-Nova of Modern, Plural Beliefs 227 6.4.7 Conclusion 232 v Chapter 7 The Synthesis: Taylor and the Place of the Transcendent in Secular Modernity 7.1 Introduction 234 7.2 The Place of Hegel in Taylor’s Synthesis 236 7.3 Taylor’s Ricci-Like Teaching to Secular Modernity 240 7.4 Transcendence and the Transcendent in Taylor’s Thought 243 7.5 Taylor’s “Transformation Perspective” 245 7.6 “Personal Resonance” 248 7.7 Conclusion 252 Bibliography 257 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is dedicated with profound gratitude to the memory of my mother and father. It would not have been possible without the ever-patient support and advice of my wife and partner, Alison. My children were a vital source of inspiration, practical help, and loving humour at the thought of their father as a philosopher-theologian. This work is especially for them, their children and for my step-children and step-grandchildren. Among the many friends who encouraged me over the years of its gestation, I must give special thanks to the Rev. Peter Smith, who at 101 years of age remains a source of practical Christian wisdom and example, and to Dr. Ralph Heintzman who, together with my daughter Christina, introduced me with intoxicating enthusiasm to the work of Charles Taylor. Very special appreciation goes to my many superb teachers at St Paul University, Ottawa, and especially to Dr. Catherine Clifford, exemplary Christian and scholar, who has been my painstaking academic supervisor and teacher in both the Masters and Doctoral programs. I am a much blessed person. Deo gratia. vi INTRODUCTION Exclusive humanism closes the transcendent window, as though there were nothing beyond … as though it weren’t a crying need of the human heart to open the window, gaze, and then go beyond; as though feeling this need were the result of a mistake, an erroneous worldview, bad conditioning, or, worse, some pathology.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dialectics, Difference, Weak Thought
    1 Dialectics, Difference, Weak Thought GIANNI VATTIMO In this essay I will try to sketch the main tenets of weak thought, il pensiero debole, and how it is related to dialectics and difference. This connection is not to be understood mainly or solely as an “overcoming” but, rather, it is to be defined primarily in terms of the Heideggerian notion ofVerwindung , a term whose sense also must be understood within the horizon of a “weak” notion of what it means to think. We cannot in any case read the relationship between these three terms as if we were talking of a passage from one to the other. Weak thought has not entirely left dialectics and difference behind; rather, they constitute for it a past in the Heideggerian sense of Gewesenes, which has to do with the idea of sending [invio] and destiny. With these premises, however, I am not saying that to take dialectics and difference as a point of departure requires I take a theoretical stance which would need to be radically justified, assuming that it could. In the present context, these two terms are “givens” of destiny understood as trans- mission: they are points of reference we encounter each and every time we engage in thinking, here and now. It is probably only “strong” thought, that of deductive cogency, which fears letting the initial move escape, the move after which everything falls into place. And yet the question of beginnings cannot be avoided even from the standpoint of a weak notion of thinking. Weak thought presupposes that, contrary to the heavily metaphysical frame- work beneath the problem of beginnings (starting from the first principles of Being), and contrary moreover to a historicist metaphysics (in Hegel’s sense, in which Being has no first principles but is rather a providential process: to think means to be up on the times), a third way may be possible.
    [Show full text]
  • The Normativity of Human Rights Is Self-Evident
    HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY The Normativity of Human Rights Is Self-Evident Amitai Etzioni* ABSTRACT Attempts to justify human rights in terms of other sources of normativity unwittingly weaken the case of human rights. Instead these rights should be treated as moral causes that speak to us directly, as one of those rare precepts that are self-evident. All will hear self-evident moral claims un- less they have been severely distracted, and even these persons will hear these claims once they are engaged in open moral dialogue. Oddly, the strongest support for treating human rights as self-evident may well be a consequentialist argument. I. INTRODUCTION Numerous attempts have been made to justify human rights in terms of other sources of normativity, or values that can be used to justify these rights. This article suggests that such attempts unwittingly weaken the case of human rights and that instead these rights should be treated as moral causes that speak to us directly, as one of those rare precepts that is self-evident.1 Sug- gesting that human rights should be treated as self-evident does not deny * Amitai Etzioni is University Professor at The George Washington University where he is also director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies. He has served as a Senior Advisor to the White House and as President of the American Sociological Association, and has also taught at Columbia University, Harvard University, and University of California-Berkeley. He was listed as one of the top 100 American intellectuals in Richard Posner’s Public Intellectuals. He is the author of numerous books, including Security First: For A Moral, Muscular Foreign Policy and The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Post-Secular Debate
    The Post-Secular Debate: Introductory Remarks Camil Ungureanu and Lasse Thomassen* Some scholars have recently expressed their doubts about the popular use of the term “post-secularism” and suggested that it is merely a short-lived fashion in social theory and philosophy, all too often used to gain access to research grants.1 Veit Bader may be perfectly right about the term itself, for in time it may indeed fall into disregard and disappear from use. Skepticism about its inflationary use is, we think, warranted. However, we also submit that, if severed from the temptation of proposing a new grand narrative, “post-secularism” can be useful for designating a socio-cultural phenomenon that will not wither away any time soon. Let us first consider the inflationary reading according to which the “return” of religion is interpreted as the shift to a new age or to a new type of society coming after the secular one. According to this influential reading, advanced by philosophers as different as Jürgen Habermas, John D. Caputo, and Gianni Vattimo, in this new age a transformed religion may play a fundamental role in the socio-political sphere and enable individuals to overcome unhelpful divisions between faith and reason. Habermas, for one, speaks of a new “post-secular society” in which religious and non- * Department of Social and Political Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Email: camil.ungureanu@ upf.edu. School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London. Email: [email protected] 1 religious citizens engage, predominantly in the social-public sphere, in a process of mutual learning and reconciliation through dialogue and the exchange of reasons.2 For Habermas, religious and non-religious citizens can attain agreements and enrich public discourse by means of a rational dialogue, understood, in large part, as leading to the translation of sacred language into secular language.
    [Show full text]
  • Augustine and Rousseau on the Politics of Confession
    Augustine and Rousseau on the Politics of Confession by Taylor Putnam A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2014, Taylor Putnam Abstract This thesis looks at the widely acknowledged but largely unexplored relationship between Augustine’s Confessions and Rousseau’s Confessions. In particular, it argues that Rousseau’s text demonstrates an indebtedness to both Augustine’s treatment of time within eternity and the political figure of the Christian preacher. By first comparing their competing interpretations of original sin as told in Genesis and then tracing those interpretations through the autobiographical narratives of each text, it is argued that Augustine and Rousseau both offer their lives as examples of their respective understandings of human nature. Further still, Rousseau’s attempt to supplant Augustine’s autobiography with his own sees the Augustinian preacher reformulated into the figure of the solitary walker. As a result, what was a politics of the will restrained by the temporal horizon of man becomes unleashed as the imposition of the timeless imagination. i Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Newell for his willingness to have me as a graduate student and for supervising my thesis. He generously provided me with the opportunity to pursue this education and I will be forever thankful for it. I would also like to thank Professor Darby for being my second reader and, more importantly, for his unwavering support throughout my degree. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents who in their wisdom gave me the freedom to fail and demystified what is required to learn.
    [Show full text]
  • Clarifying the Task of the Church in a Secular Age
    Lumen et Vita 10:2 (2020), doi:10.6017/lv.v10i2.12499 ​ ​ ​ Clarifying the Task of the Church in a Secular Age Grace Mariette Agolia Abstract This paper argues that a proper theological understanding of the church-world relationship must avoid the tendency to dichotomize the two. Instead of regarding the world as a godless place, Christians must affirm in faith that the world is fundamentally graced, since it is the product of God’s desire to communicate Godself. First, this paper draws upon the work of philosopher Charles Taylor to elucidate the meaning of “secularity” in the Western context. Then, the paper appeals to Karl Rahner’s theology in exploring the prophetic and dialogical functions of the church with respect to society, which entails the church’s own self-critical task as a listening, discerning, and synodal church. Rather than privatizing faith, the minority status of the church in society allows it to fulfill its mission more authentically as servant and sacrament of God’s kingdom. Finally, this paper proposes that any impingement of the ostensible sacred-secular divide starts with the works of mercy because these directly confront the contingencies and vagaries of human life, touching upon our innate need for one another. Text Introduction The church’s task in a secular age is no different from its mission in any other time: 1 proclaiming the good news of salvation from God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. This mission is oriented both toward the world (ecclesia ad extra) and the ecclesial community itself ​ ​ 1 In this paper, I use “church” to refer to the universal church and “Church” to designate the Catholic Church in particular, my own faith tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • APA Newsletter on Asian and Asian-American Philosophers And
    NEWSLETTER | The American Philosophical Association Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies FALL 2018 VOLUME 18 | NUMBER 1 Prasanta Bandyopadhyay and R. Venkata FROM THE EDITOR Raghavan Prasanta S. Bandyopadhyay Some Critical Remarks on Kisor SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND Chakrabarti’s Idea of “Observational INFORMATION Credibility” and Its Role in Solving the Problem of Induction BUDDHISM Kisor K. Chakrabarti Madhumita Chattopadhyay Some Thoughts on the Problem of Locating Early Buddhist Logic in Pāli Induction Literature PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE Rafal Stepien AND GRAMMAR Do Good Philosophers Argue? A Buddhist Approach to Philosophy and Philosophy Sanjit Chakraborty Prizes Remnants of Words in Indian Grammar ONTOLOGY, LOGIC, AND APA PANEL ON DIVERSITY EPISTEMOLOGY Ethan Mills Pradeep P. Gokhale Report on an APA Panel: Diversity in Īśvaravāda: A Critique Philosophy Palash Sarkar BOOK REVIEW Cārvākism Redivivus Minds without Fear: Philosophy in the Indian Renaissance Reviewed by Brian A. Hatcher VOLUME 18 | NUMBER 1 FALL 2018 © 2018 BY THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION ISSN 2155-9708 APA NEWSLETTER ON Asian and Asian-American Philosophy and Philosophers PRASANTA BANDYOPADHYAY, EDITOR VOLUME 18 | NUMBER 1 | FALL 2018 opponent equally. He pleads for the need for this sort of FROM THE EDITOR role of humanism to be incorporated into Western analytic philosophy. This incorporation, he contends, has a far- Prasanta S. Bandyopadhyay reaching impact on both private and public lives of human MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY beings where the love of wisdom should go together with care and love for fellow human beings. The fall 2018 issue of the newsletter is animated by the goal of reaching a wider audience. Papers deal with issues SECTION 2: ONTOLOGY, LOGIC, AND mostly from classical Indian philosophy, with the exception EPISTEMOLOGY of a report on the 2018 APA Eastern Division meeting panel on “Diversity in Philosophy” and a review of a book about This is the longest part of this issue.
    [Show full text]
  • Discipleship in a Secular Age Curriculum
    Discipleship in a Secular Age: Engaging the Culture with Charles Taylor and James Smith Curriculum by Billy Boyce Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………1 Curriculum Week One: Landscape of Our Secular Age (Preface and Introduction)……………3 Week Two: Twisted Tales – The Creation of Secular (Chapters 1&2)…………….7 Week Three: Gut Check – What the Secular Feels Like (Chapters 3&4)…………12 Week Four: Film Interlude – Garden State………………………………………..17 Week Five: Re-Framing – “In,” but not “Of” this Secular Age (Chapter 5)………18 Week Six: Film Interlude – Blue Like Jazz………………………………………...23 Week Seven: Conclusions – Discipleship in a Secular Age (Conclusion)………...24 Appendices Selections from “The Unbeliever and Christians” by Albert Camus “What is Common Grace?” by Dr. Timothy Keller Introduction to Discipleship in a Secular Age Charles Taylor’s award-winning work, A Secular Age, has caused ripples in the academic world with its bold analysis of Western history and its powerful argument against modern enemies to the Christian faith, such as the vaunted New Atheists. It has tremendous resources for the Western Church, as we seek to both understand and reach our culture with the Gospel. However, its 800+ pages of highly academic writing make it inaccessible for many who would benefit from its reflections. Thankfully, James K.A. Smith has sought to distill its message for believers outside of the Academy. In How (Not) to be Secular, Smith brings out the heart of Taylor’s message, and his reflections help us more faithfully live out our faith in this secular age. This study guide comes out of a summer wrestling with James Smith and Charles Taylor in the context of the local church.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion, Ethics, and Poetics in a Tamil Literary Tradition
    Tacit Tirukku#a#: Religion, Ethics, and Poetics in a Tamil Literary Tradition The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Smith, Jason William. 2020. Tacit Tirukku#a#: Religion, Ethics, and Poetics in a Tamil Literary Tradition. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Divinity School. Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37364524 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA ! ! ! ! ! !"#$%&!"#$%%$&'('& ()*$+$,-.&/%0$#1.&"-2&3,)%$#1&$-&"&!"4$*&5$%)6"67&!6"2$%$,-& ! ! "!#$%%&'()($*+!,'&%&+(&#! -.! /)%*+!0$11$)2!32$(4! (*! 54&!6)781(.!*9!:)';)'#!<$;$+$(.!374**1! $+!,)'($)1!9819$112&+(!*9!(4&!'&=8$'&2&+(%! 9*'!(4&!#&>'&&!*9! <*7(*'!*9!54&*1*>.! $+!(4&!%8-?&7(!*9! 54&!3(8#.!*9!@&1$>$*+! :)';)'#!A+$;&'%$(.! B)2-'$#>&C!D)%%)748%&((%! ",'$1!EFEF! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! G!EFEF!/)%*+!0$11$)2!32$(4! "11!'$>4(%!'&%&';&#H! ! ! ! ! ! <$%%&'()($*+!"#;$%*'I!J'*9&%%*'!6')+7$%!KH!B1**+&.!! ! ! !!/)%*+!0$11$)2!32$(4! ! !"#$%&!"#$%%$&'('&()*$+$,-.&/%0$#1.&"-2&3,)%$#1&$-&"&!"4$*&5$%)6"67&!6"2$%$,-! ! "-%(')7(! ! ! 54$%!#$%%&'()($*+!&L)2$+&%!(4&!!"#$%%$&'(C!)!,*&2!7*2,*%&#!$+!5)2$1!)'*8+#!(4&!9$9(4! 7&+(8'.!BHMH!(4)(!$%!(*#).!)(('$-8(&#!(*!)+!)8(4*'!+)2&#!5$'8;)NN8;)'H!54&!,*&2!7*+%$%(%!*9!OCPPF! ;&'%&%!)'')+>&#!$+(*!OPP!74),(&'%!*9!(&+!;&'%&%!&)74C!Q4$74!)'&!(4&+!#$;$#&#!$+(*!(4'&&!(4&2)($7!
    [Show full text]
  • Calvinist Natural Law and the Ultimate Good
    Vol 5 The Western Australian Jurist 153 CALVINIST NATURAL LAW AND THE ULTIMATE GOOD * CONSTANCE YOUNGWON LEE ABSTRACT Calvin’s natural law theory is premised on the sovereignty of God. In natural law terms, the ‘sovereignty of God’ doctrine prescribes that the normative standards for positive law originate from God alone. God is the sole measure of the ‘good’. This emphasis allows for a sharp separation between normative and descriptive dimensions. In this context, it would be a logical fallacy to maintain that anything humanly appointed can attain the status of self- evidence. However, in recent years, new natural law theorists have been guilty of conflating the normative and descriptive dimensions – a distinction that is critical to the discipline of natural law. This may stretch as far back to Aquinas who set human participation in the goods (‘practical reason’) as the rightful starting place for natural law. This paper explores Calvin’s natural law theory to show how his concept of ‘the ultimate good’ harnesses the potential to restore natural law theory to its proper order. By postulating a transcendent standard in terms of ‘the ultimate good’ – God Himself – Calvin’s natural law provides a philosophical framework for compelling positive laws in the pursuit of a higher morality. I INTRODUCTION “There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him”. C S LEWIS, The Great Divorce1 * Tutor and LLM Candidate, T C Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland. The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of several scholars, particularly Associate Professor Jonathan Crowe for his insightful remarks.
    [Show full text]
  • APA Pacific Division Meeting Program 2017
    The American Philosophical Association PACIFIC DIVISION NINETY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM THE WESTIN SEATTLE SEATTLE, WASHINGTON APRIL 12 – 15, 2017 VIVA VOCE ENTANGLEMENTS Conversations with A System of Philosophy Italian Philosophers Crispin Sartwell Silvia Benso CENTERING NEO-CONFUCIAN AND EXTENDING ECOLOGICAL HUMANISM NEW FORMS An Essay on An Interpretive Engage- OF REVOLT Metaphysical Sense ment with Wang Fuzhi Essays on Kristeva’s Steven G. Smith (1619–1692) Intimate Politics Nicholas S. Brasovan Sarah K. Hansen and Available May 2017 Rebecca Tuvel, editors EDGAR ALLAN POE, Available June 2017 EUREKA, AND GOD AND THE SELF SCIENTIFIC IN HEGEL CONFUCIANISM, A IMAGINATION Beyond Subjectivism HABIT OF THE HEART David N. Stamos Paolo Diego Bubbio Bellah, Civil Religion, Available July 2017 and East Asia SELF-REALIZATION Philip J. Ivanhoe and THROUGH CONFUCIAN ZHUANGZI’S CRITIQUE Sungmoon Kim, editors LEARNING OF THE CONFUCIANS A Contemporary Blinded by the Human ESSAYS ON THE FOUN- Reconstruction of Kim-chong Chong DATIONS OF ETHICS Xunzi’s Ethics Siufu Tang WHITEHEAD’S C. I. Lewis RELIGIOUS THOUGHT John Lange, editor From Mechanism to Available June 2017 POETIC FRAGMENTS Organism, From Force Karoline von Günderrode to Persuasion THE VARIETY OF Translated and with Daniel A. Dombrowski INTEGRAL ECOLOGIES Introductory Essays by Nature, Culture, Anna C. Ezekiel CONFUCIANISM AND and Knowledge AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY in the Planetary Era MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, Mathew A. Foust Sam Mickey, Sean Kelly, AND THE GREAT EARTH and Adam Robbert, Reading
    [Show full text]
  • 'The Supreme Principle of Morality'? in the Preface to His Best
    The Supreme Principle of Morality Allen W. Wood 1. What is ‘The Supreme Principle of Morality’? In the Preface to his best known work on moral philosophy, Kant states his purpose very clearly and succinctly: “The present groundwork is, however, nothing more than the search for and establishment of the supreme principle of morality, which already constitutes an enterprise whole in its aim and to be separated from every other moral investigation” (Groundwork 4:392). This paper will deal with the outcome of the first part of this task, namely, Kant’s attempt to formulate the supreme principle of morality, which is the intended outcome of the search. It will consider this formulation in light of Kant’s conception of the historical antecedents of his attempt. Our first task, however, must be to say a little about the meaning of the term ‘supreme principle of morality’. For it is not nearly as evident to many as it was to Kant that there is such a thing at all. And it is extremely common for people, whatever position they may take on this issue, to misunderstand what a ‘supreme principle of morality’ is, what it is for, and what role it is supposed to play in moral theorizing and moral reasoning. Kant never directly presents any argument that there must be such a principle, but he does articulate several considerations that would seem to justify supposing that there is. Kant holds that moral questions are to be decided by reason. Reason, according to Kant, always seeks unity under principles, and ultimately, systematic unity under the fewest possible number of principles (Pure Reason A298-302/B355-359, A645- 650/B673-678).
    [Show full text]
  • Cicero and St. Augustine's Just War Theory: Classical Influences on a Christian Idea Berit Van Neste University of South Florida
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 4-12-2006 Cicero and St. Augustine's Just War Theory: Classical Influences on a Christian Idea Berit Van Neste University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, and the Religion Commons Scholar Commons Citation Neste, Berit Van, "Cicero and St. Augustine's Just War Theory: Classical Influences on a Christian Idea" (2006). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3782 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cicero and St. Augustine's Just War Theory: Classical Influences on a Christian Idea by Berit Van Neste A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Religious Studies College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: James F. Strange, Ph.D. Paul G. Schneider, Ph.D. Michael J. Decker, Ph.D. Date of Approval: April 12, 2006 Keywords: theology, philosophy, politics, patristic, medieval © Copyright 2006 , Berit Van Neste For Elizabeth and Calista Table of Contents Abstract ii Chapter 1 1 Introduction 1 Cicero’s Influence on Augustine 7 Chapter 2 13 Justice 13 Natural and Temporal Law 19 Commonwealth 34 Chapter 3 49 Just War 49 Chapter 4 60 Conclusion 60 References 64 i Cicero and St.
    [Show full text]