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Moral Theology After Wittgenstein A MORAL THEOLOGY AFTER WITTGENSTEIN A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) For the Degree of Sacred Doctor of Theology by REV. DAVID GOODILL O.P., M.A., M.Phil., S.T.L. Directed by Rev. Michael S. Sherwin, O.P., Ph.D. 2017 To Our Lady Seat of Wisdom ii This thesis has been approved by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland on 6 June 2017 on the recommendation of: Prof. Michael S. Sherwin, o.p. (1st Reader) Prof. Roger Pouivet (2nd Reader) Prof. Luc Devillers, o.p. (Dean) iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... vii Annotated Bibliography ................................................................................................. viii Note on Referencing ......................................................................................................... xii 1 WHY STUDY WITTGENSTEIN FOR MORAL THEOLOGY? ..................................... 1 1.1 Introductory Remarks: Wittgenstein, Metaphysics and Moral Theology ................... 1 1.2 Wittgenstein and Metaphysics: A Return or a Rejection? .......................................... 4 1.2.1 Does Wittgenstein Trivialize Philosophy? ................................................................ 4 1.2.2 Metaphysics and Grammar ...................................................................................... 13 1.2.3 Metaphysics and Practice ........................................................................................ 15 1.2.4 Wittgenstein and Metaphysics ................................................................................. 20 1.2.5 Wittgenstein, Human Nature and Moral Theology ................................................. 23 1.3 Interpreting Wittgenstein and Using His Work......................................................... 26 1.3.1 The Context and Practice of Interpretation .............................................................. 26 1.3.2 Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Practice ..................................................................... 29 1.3.3 Conclusion: Laying the Groundwork for Dialogue ................................................. 35 2 NATURE, LOGIC AND GRAMMAR ............................................................................ 37 2.1 The Development of Wittgenstein’s Thought: Application and Practice ................. 37 2.2 The Tractatus and Application: Sign, Symbol and Object ....................................... 41 2.2.1 The Form and Content of a Proposition .................................................................. 41 2.2.2 Logical Picturing and Simple Objects ..................................................................... 45 2.2.3 The Demand for Clarity and the Requirements of Logic ........................................ 50 2.3 Back to the Rough Ground: System, Language and Use .......................................... 53 2.3.1 Grammar and the System of Propositions in Philosophical Remarks ..................... 53 2.3.2 From Calculus to Game: Connecting Application with Life ................................... 58 2.3.3 The Autonomy of Language and Two Types of Practice ........................................ 62 2.3.4 The Application of Mathematical Concepts: Finding Friction ................................ 67 2.3.5 Following a Rule, Training and Our Natural Reactions .......................................... 70 2.3.6 ‘Seeing As’: The History of our Human Nature ...................................................... 78 2.3.7 The Application of Ethical and Religious Expressions ........................................... 83 2.4 Conclusion: From Logical Univocity to the Pluralism of Life ................................. 88 3 GRAMMAR, TELEOLOGY AND ESSENCE ............................................................... 95 iv 3.1 Two Metaphysical Challenges .................................................................................. 95 3.1.1 Syntax, Lexicography and Practice: Charlton’s Reading of Wittgenstein .............. 96 3.1.2 Grammar, Essence and Teleology ......................................................................... 101 3.1.3 Teleology and Universal Understanding ............................................................... 106 3.2 First and Second Nature: Distinguishing the Conceptual from the Natural? .......... 110 3.3 Conclusion: Grammar, Nature and Dialectic .......................................................... 117 4 RECOVERING NATURE, LEARNING TO SEE ........................................................ 121 4.1 How Dialectical is Wittgenstein? Two Challenges. ................................................ 121 4.2 Dialectical Tension: The Conceptual and the Pre-Conceptual................................ 128 4.2.1 The Conceptual and the Empirical. ....................................................................... 128 4.2.2 A Return to Origins and Dialectical Play .............................................................. 130 4.2.3 The End of Play. A Return to Physics? ................................................................. 134 4.2.4 Seeing the Whole: A Non-Reductive Account of Nature? .................................... 141 4.2.5 The Play of the Physical: Analogy and Nature ...................................................... 145 4.3 The End of Desire: Subliming Our Desires ............................................................ 151 4.3.1 World and Will: The Tractatus Account of Desire ............................................... 153 4.3.2 Situating Desire: The Investigation and the Contexts for Volitional Language .... 156 4.4 Conclusion: Wittgenstein, Dialectic and Metaphysics ............................................ 159 5 WITTGENSTEIN, NATURE AND MORAL THEOLOGY ......................................... 162 5.1 Wittgenstein and the Renewal of Moral Theology ................................................. 162 5.2 How Open is Wittgenstein’s Philosophy to Theology? .......................................... 163 5.3 The Revival of Nature as a Category in Moral Theology ....................................... 171 5.3.1 Protestantism and Evolution: Two Unlikely Sources for a Revival of Nature in Moral Theology .............................................................................................................. 171 5.3.2 Physics, Agency and Virtue ................................................................................... 174 5.4 Wittgenstein and Pinckaers: Beginning a Conversation? ....................................... 179 5.4.1 Nature as Source: Aquinas’ Concept of Nature..................................................... 179 5.4.2 Beyond Heteronomy and Autonomy ..................................................................... 182 5.4.3 Evangelical Law: The Transformation and Perfection of Inner Nature ................ 187 5.4.4 Objective Virtue: Is Wittgenstein’s Philosophy Open to Theology? .................... 191 5.5 Conclusion: Nature, Law and Agency .................................................................... 195 6 TRANSFORMING VIRTUE: SHARING IN GOD’S STORY..................................... 198 6.1 Law, Truth and Story .............................................................................................. 198 6.1.1 The Truth of Life: Language Using Animals ........................................................ 198 v 6.1.2 God’s Autobiography ............................................................................................ 201 6.2 Dependent Virtues: Learning to See Through the Humanity of Christ .................. 205 6.2.1 Pagan Virtue Transformed: Animal Dependence .................................................. 205 6.2.2 Situated Freedom ................................................................................................... 209 6.2.3 Following a Rule and Learning to Trust ................................................................ 212 6.2.4 ‘Seeing As’: The Perfection of Our Human Nature .............................................. 217 6.3 Conclusion: Learning to Live as Children of God .................................................. 222 7 ACTION AND VIRTUE: TRANSFORMING ENGAGEMENT ................................. 224 7.1 Action and Language: Making Sense of What We Do ........................................... 224 7.1.1 Agency and Natural Principles .............................................................................. 225 7.1.2 Self-Questioning Dialectic .................................................................................... 231 7.2 Agency, Autonomy and Nature ............................................................................... 236 7.2.1 Intentional and Physical Agency ........................................................................... 236 7.2.2 Nature and Use ...................................................................................................... 240 7.3 The Application of Terms in Moral Theology ........................................................ 244 7.4 Conclusion: Nature, Dialectic and Theology .......................................................... 252 GENERAL CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 254 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 257 vi Acknowledgements Back in 2004 the then Dean of St Mary’s College,
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