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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA W. Norris Clarke’s Relational Metaphysics: Being and Person A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Philosophy Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved John J. Winkowitsch Washington, D.C. 2016 W. Norris Clarke’s Relational Metaphysics: Being and Person John J. Winkowitsch, Ph. D. Director: Gregory T. Doolan, Ph. D. William Norris Clarke firmly placed “person” at the core of his philosophy. He spent much of his career attempting to develop a Thomistic metaphysics that took into account phenomenological insights into the nature of person as relational. His life-long philosophical project was an attempt to articulate a Thomistically-inspired relational metaphysics that united the scholastic notion of person as substance with the phenomenological notion of person as relation. The final result of Clarke’s creative retrieval of Thomas Aquinas was, in his own words, the personalization of being itself from within Thomistic metaphysics, such that the ultimate meaning of existence is person-to-person gift and the ultimate key to the mystery of existence is interpersonal love. This dissertation traces the development of Clarke’s system of relational metaphysics and considers the extent to which the works of Thomas played a role in that development. The strictly chronological structure of the dissertation is divided into two parts and loosely organized around the main themes that Clarke himself identified as the primary pillars of his Thomistically-inspired relational metaphysics. The first part answers the question: What does it mean to be real? Clarke’s answer involves four principal themes. The unrestricted dynamism of the human spirit is the underlying presupposition of Clarke’s entire system of relational metaphysics, and upon this foundation are built three basic pillars of reality: the participation structure of the universe, existence as a dynamic act of presence, and action as the self-manifestation of inner being. The second part answers the question: What does it mean to be a human person? Clarke’s answer involves three principal themes. Beginning with persons as the supreme value in the universe, Clarke develops his own Christian philosophy of the person while incorporating the good as goal that draws all existence into act. In order to help determine the degree to which these various themes were inspired by Thomas, I cataloged every cited reference to Thomas in the published works of Clarke and organized them into Appendix B. This allowed me to identify to an even greater degree how much each particular theme was inspired by Thomas himself. This dissertation by John J. Winkowitsch fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in the School of Philosophy approved by Gregory T. Doolan, Ph.D., as Director, and by Michael Gorman, Ph.D., and James D. Brent, Ph.D., as Readers. __________________________________________ Gregory T. Doolan, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Michael Gorman, Ph.D. __________________________________________ James D. Brent, Ph.D. ii To my dad, my hero Requiescat In Pace iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations v. Acknowledgements vi. Introduction 1. PART ONE What does it mean to be real? 4. Chapter 1. The Participation Structure of the Universe 5. Chapter 2. Existence as Dynamic Act of Presence 51. Chapter 3. Unrestricted Dynamism of the Mind and Will 95. Chapter 4. Action as Self-Manifestation of Inner Being 146. PART TWO What does it mean to be a human person? 179. Chapter 5. Persons as Supreme Value in the Universe 180. Chapter 6. Christian Philosophy of the Person 230. Chapter 7. The Personalization of Being Itself 288. Conclusion 338. Appendix A Chronological List of Publications by W. Norris Clarke, S.J. 344. Appendix B. References to Thomas Aquinas in W. Norris Clarke, S.J. 357. Bibliography 368. iv ABBREVIATIONS Thomas Aquinas Comp. theol. Compendium theologiae De ente De ente et essentia De malo Quaestiones disputatae de malo De mix. De mixtione elementorum De pot. Quaestiones disputatae de potentia De prin. nat. De principiis naturae De spir. creat. Quaestio disputata de spiritualibus creaturis De sub. sep. De substantiis separatis De uni. intel. De unitate intellectus De unione Verbi Quaestio disputata de unione Verbi incarnati De ver. Quaestiones disputatae de veritate De virt. in comm. De virtutibus in communi In De an. Sentencia libri De anima In De caelo In libros Aristotelis De caelo In De div. nom. In librum bead Dionysii De divinis nominibus expositio In De gen. In libros De generatione et corruptione In De hebd. Expositio libri Boetii De ebdomadibus In De Trin. Super Boedum De Trinitate In Eth. Sententia libri Ethicorum In Lib. de caus. Sancti Thomae de Aquino Super librum de causis In Meta. In Metaphysicam Aristotelis commentaria In Phys. In octo libros Phyiscorum Aristotelis In Per. Expositio libri Peryermenias In Post. an. Expositio libri Posteriorum In Sent. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum In Symb. In Symbolum Apostolorum In I Tim. Super I Epistolam B. Pauli ad Timotheum lectura In II Cor. Super II Epistolam B. Pauli ad Corinthios lectura Lect. super Ioann. Lectura super evangelium Johannis Quaes. disp. de an. Quaestiones disputatae de anima Quod. Quaestiones de quolibet SCG Summa Contra Gentiles ST Summa theologiae v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is proof that with God, all things are possible. I would like to offer my thanks not only to Him, but also to His many children who helped me along the way. First and foremost, I extend profound thanks to my director, Dr. Gregory Doolan, for all the hard work and draft edits over the last few years. I would also like to thank Msgr. Robert Sokolowski for encouraging me to pursue the topic of Fr. Norris Clarke, S.J. Also, thanks to my two readers, Dr. Michael Gorman and Fr. James Brent, O.P., for agreeing to be part of my project. Immense thanks to Tyler Dickinson, studying at Louvain, who made chapter one possible by getting me a copy of Clarke’s dissertation. Thanks also to my friends who took the time to proofread my draft and offer corrections: J. John Baer, Joseph Bissex, Matthew Grinder, Michael Hurwitz, Merrill Roberts, Michael Rubin, and Tristan Vick. Secondly, I would like to thank the religious who have kept me consistently on task throughout the ups and downs of this process. I am eternally grateful to Fr. Hugh Barbour, O.Praem., for all the prayers, Masses, advice, and for never giving up on me. Thanks to Fr. Giles Dimock, O.P., and Fr. Michael McCormack, O.P., for always finding time to call or meet with me to pray and keep me moving forward. I’d like to thank Fr. Christopher Cullen, S.J., and Fr. Joseph Lienhard, S.J., for their cordial hospitality during my stay at Fordham to go through Fr. Clarke’s archives. Thanks to Br. Joseph Britt, C.F.X., for giving me a room to stay during my several trips to Washington, DC. Finally, Fr. John M. McDermott, S.J., deserves the credit for originally suggesting the topic of Fr. Clarke and pointing me towards Person and Being. Thank you. Third, I would like to thank the friends and communities who supported me during this three year process. The first year, during which most of the research was done, I was part of Sacred vi Heart Seminary in Detroit, MI. Particular thanks are due to Archbishop Allen Vigneron for his encouraging advice, to Msgr. Todd Lajiness, the rector, to my two formators, Fr. Gerard Battersby and Fr. Stephen Burr, and to Msgr. Robert Sable, who consistently encouraged me in my vocation. I grew more in virtue that year than perhaps any other year of my life. The second year, during which the first draft was completed, I was part of the Cathedral Parish in Madison, WI. Particular thanks are due to Msgr. Kevin Holmes, my pastor, to St. Ambrose Academy, who gave me the joy of teaching Euclid during the day to clear my mind, and to the entire Diocese of Madison for their heroically generous prayers and support. The third year, during which the edits and revisions were completed, I was part of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD. Particular thanks are due to Msgr. Andrew Baker, the rector, to Fr. Michael Roach, my spiritual director, and to Fr. Pietro Rossotti, my formator. Finally, and most importantly, I must express my heartfelt thanks to Bishop Robert C. Morlino. After my freshman year of college you gave me an excerpt from your dissertation and inspired me to pursue philosophy. Your bishop taught you how to support someone writing a dissertation, and your grandmother taught you how to be there for someone who had lost both parents. Thank you, your Excellency, for not only inspiring me to pursue philosophy and giving me the opportunity, but also for always being there to support me. vii INTRODUCTION William Norris Clarke’s transparency is to be commended. He admits forthrightly, “I have been engaged for some time in the experiment of grafting new shoots on my basic Thomistic stock, the question of how much my own resulting synthesis can be called ‘Thomistic’ must remain enveloped to some degree in a question mark.”1 One of the goals of this dissertation to clarify that question. According to my research, Clarke published 180 different works over the course of his career, ranging from the simplicity of a poem2 to a book summarizing the fruit of his 45 years of experience teaching metaphysics.3 Across all these publications, Clarke explicitly cited at least 578 different passages of Thomas Aquinas.4 Most of these passages were cited only once, but many were cited multiple times.