DOCSLIB.ORG

Comparison and Evaluation of the Moral Significance of Emotions in Aquinas, the Manualists and Catholic Moral Theology 1960-1990

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Comparison and Evaluation of the Moral Significance of Emotions in Aquinas, the Manualists and Catholic Moral Theology 1960-1990 The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2000 Comparison and evaluation of the moral significance of emotions in Aquinas, the Manualists and Catholic Moral Theology 1960-1990 Thomas Ryan University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Religion Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Ryan, T. (2000). Comparison and evaluation of the moral significance of emotions in Aquinas, the Manualists and Catholic Moral Theology 1960-1990 (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/25 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMPARISON AND EVALUATION OF THE MORAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EMOTIONS IN AQUINAS, THE MANUALISTS AND CATHOLIC MORAL THEOLOGY 1960-1990. THOMAS RYAN, S.M. Supervisor Dr. Peter Black, C.Ss.R. Thesis Submitted for the partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Theology University of Notre Dame Australia Fremantle, Western Australia July 1999 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A project such as this makes one realise how much one owes to so many people. I should like to say thank you to them all. Firstly, to my parents Teresa and John Ryan who, with all their children, gave us all both encouragement and opportunity to develop our gifts together with a certain flexibility of faith and attitudes. Secondly, to my Marist family, the priests of the Society of Mary in New Zealand and Australia who, as teachers and confrères, have never ceased, personally or by policy, to place great weight on nurturing people and their talents for the sake of the Kingdom. Finally, I am grateful to my colleagues in the College of Theology in the University of Notre Dame Australia. To Dr. Peter Black, C.Ss.R. for his careful and affirming supervision; to Professor Michael Jackson and Associate Professor Eileen Lenihan RSJ (College of Education) whose constant support as colleagues and friends have contributed to the completion of this project. ********************* 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration and Acknowledgements Chapter 1. THE PROBLEM 12 Defining the Problem 12 Historical Context 20 Related Research 31 Methodology 35 Definition of Terms 43 Significance of the Study 46 Limitations of the Study 47 Format of the Study 48 2. EMOTION: A WORKING DEFINITION 50 3. BENCHMARKS FOR EMOTIONS AND MORALITY IN AQUINAS I: FOUNDATIONS 78 Context 79 Structural Considerations 79 Doctrinal Considerations 82 The Nature and Function of Emotions 85 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 3. (continued) The Moral Significance of Emotions 94 Emotions as Morally Good or Evil 95 Emotions as Intrinsically Good or Evil 96 Emotions and Practical Reason: A Working Blueprint 101 Overview and Comments 111 4. BENCHMARKS FOR EMOTIONS AND MORALITY IN AQUINAS II: SPECIFIC ISSUES 116 The Moral Significance of the Positive Emotions 117 Love, Fittingness, Pleasure 117 Desire ( Concupiscentia ) 125 Pleasure as Delight ( Delectatio ) and Joy ( Gaudium ) 127 The Moral Significance of the Negative Emotions 131 Pain ( Dolor ) and Sadness ( Tristitia ) 131 Duty of Self-Care and the Negative Emotions 134 Virtue, Character and the Negative Emotions 139 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 4. (continued) The Moral Significance of the Affective Virtues in Character 143 Necessity of the Affective Virtues 145 Location of the Affective Virtues 148 The Immanence of the Affective Virtues 149 Emotions as Instruments of Virtue 150 Habituation, Transformation, Character and Affective Virtues 152 Affective Virtues and the Mean 154 Acquired and Infused Virtues and Human Affectivity 157 Overview and Evaluation 160 5. EMOTIONS AND THE MORAL LIFE IN THE MANUALIST TRADITION c. 1960 173 The Moral Significance of the Emotions 173 Emotions and the Human Act 173 Context 173 Definition and types of emotions 175 Antecedent and Consequent emotions 178 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 5. (continued) Fear 181 Habitual Impediments to the human act 186 Affective virtues and character 189 Theological Anthropology in the Manualists 206 Context 207 Content 209 Comparison and Contrast within Manualists and with Aquinas 213 6. EMOTIONS AND MORAL LIFE IN RENEWING CATHOLIC THEOLOGY 1960-1990 220 The Moral Significance of the Emotions 221 Emotions and the Human Act 221 Context 221 Content 223 Antecedent and Consequent emotions 224 Fear 227 Dispositions and Habits 228 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 6. (continued) Understanding the emotions 229 Continuity with Aquinas and the Manualists: Peschke 229 Retrieval from within a Tradition: Maguire 230 Creative Interpretation from within a Tradition: Grisez 233 Discontinuity and Development: Haring 236 (i) Context 237 (ii) Psychological Structure of the emotions 239 (iii) Object of the emotions 241 (iv) Nature of the emotions 242 (v) Categories of the emotions 244 Summary 245 Affective Virtues and Character 247 Context 247 Virtues in general 248 Fundamental Direction: the Ruling Passion 249 Morality of the “Heart.” 250 Systems and the diversity of virtues 251 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 6. (continued) The Affective Virtues 252 Temperance 253 Fortitude 254 Affective Virtues: Divergent Approaches 255 Innovation from within a Tradition: Grisez 255 A Renewed Moral Theology: Peschke and Haring 256 Theological Anthropology in the selected post-conciliar authors 261 Context 261 Content 262 Comparison and Contrast amongst authors with Manualists and Aquinas 265 Comparison and Contrast amongst selected authors 266 Comparison and Contrast with Manualists & Aquinas 267 Dynamics of Human Subjectivity 268 Aspects of Morality 271 Moral Vision and Vocation 272 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 7. CONTEMPORARY SOUNDINGS AND BENCHMARKS 274 The Moral Significance of the Emotions 274 Emotions and the Human Act 274 Emotions and Morality: A view from Moral Philosophy 274 Moral Significance of Emotions 276 Emotions and Moral Reasoning 280 Moral Reasoning: Alternative of “Seeing” Differently 282 Mutual Tutoring of Reason and Emotion: The Psychological Dynamic 288 Psychological Foundations 289 Thinking and Emotion in Collaboration 292 Emotions in Relation to Virtue and Character 293 Self-esteem: Foundations of Identity 293 Empathy and the Moral Life: The Shelton Model 297 Psychological Foundations 298 Empathy, Morality of the Heart and Christian Vision 303 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Chapter 7 (continued) Affective Conversion: An Emerging Understanding 305 Overview 309 Theological Anthropology in Selected Contemporary Writing 310 Comparison and Contrast with Aquinas, Manualists, Post-Manualists 313 Convergences 314 Divergences 315 Evaluative Overview 319 8. FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, POSTSCRIPT 324 Summary of Findings in the Study 325 Conclusions 340 Implications of the Study 341 Recommendations 344 Postscript 344 BIBLIOGRAPHY 347 ABSTRACT 360 10 11 CHAPTER 1 The Problem 1. Defining The Problem “It is regrettable that moral theology has neglected the role that emotions play in the moral life” says William Spohn, S.J. (1991, p. 85). In his view, this seems to emerge from the influence of a rationalist natural law tradition which, unlike Aquinas, “did not pay as much critical attention to this dimension” (Spohn, 1991, p. 69). He points to the place of the emotions in the virtue-centred ethics of Thomas Aquinas and to contemporary philosophy’s rediscovery of character and virtue in which “it pays more attention to the affective side of the agent” (Spohn, 1991, p. 69). Aquinas, with other contemporary moral philosophers, recognised that “well-ordered affectivity guides moral decision-making through discerning perceptions and virtuous dispositions” (Spohn, 1991, p. 69). Such is the summary of one respected commentator’s survey of Catholic Moral Theology at the start of this decade. These observations also have implications for various understandings of the human person within Moral Theology. This is particularly true in the light of the phrase used in the official Vatican commentary on No. 51 of Gaudium et Spes , that “human activity must be judged in so far as it refers to the human person integrally and adequately considered.” The final phrase “integrally and adequately considered” is, arguably, the dominant motif in the past thirty years of Moral Theology. Spohn’s comments together with their inference have been an important catalyst for this researcher. The correlation of these two elements (emotions and the human person “integrally and adequately considered”) provides the springboard for this 12 study. Its aim is to examine the moral significance of the emotions firstly in Aquinas, secondly, within and beyond recent Catholic Moral Theology (1960-1990), to compare and contrast them, then, finally, to evaluate these sources in the light of some contemporary views of emotions and of the human person. The problem generated by the convergence of these elements can be expressed in a statement: There appears, until recently, to be an incomplete, and possibly inadequate, understanding
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Towards a Phenomenology of Liberation: a Critical Theory of Race and the Fate of Democracy in Latin America”
    APA Newsletters NEWSLETTER ON HISPANIC/LATINO ISSUES IN PHILOSOPHY Volume 10, Number 1 Fall 2010 FROM THE EDITOR, BERNIE J. CANTEÑS ARTICLES CARLOS ALBERTO SANCHEZ “Against Values: Culture and Phenomenology in Jorge Portilla and Max Scheler” ALEJANDRO A. VALLEGA “Philosophy Beyond Pernicious Knowledge, from a Latin American Perspective” NYTHAMAR DE OLIVEIRA “Towards a Phenomenology of Liberation: A Critical Theory of Race and the Fate of Democracy in Latin America” BOOK REVIEW Enrique Dussel, Eduardo Mendieta, Carmen Bohórquez, Eds.: El pensamiento filósofico latinoamericano, del Caribe y “latino” [1300-2000]: Historia, Temas, Filósofos REVIEWED BY GRANT SILVA SUBMISSIONS CONTRIBUTORS © 2010 by The American Philosophical Association ISSN 2155-9708 APA NEWSLETTER ON Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy Bernie J. Canteñs, Editor Fall 2010 Volume 10, Number 1 phenomenology.” De Oliveira’s thesis is developed in three ROM THE DITOR parts: (1) Philosophy of Race, (2) Liberation Philosophy, and F E (3) Critical Theory. According to de Oliveira, this new social phenomenology will avoid the “objectivist claims of Marxism” and “subjectivist ‘representations’ of postcolonial and cultural Bernie Canteñs studies.” De Oliveira adopts a “weak social constructionist” Moravian College conception of race. He understands that any account of race in Latin America will be intertwined with political and social The fall 2010 issue of the Newsletter contains Carlos Alberto psychology, and his philosophy of race intends to deconstruct Sanchez’s “Against Values: Culture and Phenomenology in racial democracy myths or scientific and historical conceptions Jorge Portilla and Max Scheler.” Sanchez’s essay compares of race, and Eurocentric myths of liberation such as democracy, the “European crisis of value” with the “Mexican crisis of liberalism, and socialism.
    [Show full text]
  • A Deleuzian Reading of Nietzsche's Critique of Nihilism
    ON AFFIRMATION AND BECOMING: A DELEUZIAN READING OF NIETZSCHE'S CRITIQUE OF NIHILISM ''•;.' • ;' ' \-i,' =M t- . '.'/r,. r by ( ., .Si •' .1 Paolo A. Bolanos THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of Philosophy fiYt © Paolo A. Bolanos BROCK UNIVERSITY October 2005 JAMES A QBSC^f LIBRARY HWCK UNIVERSITY ST. ft n CATHARINES ON Mj^, AH rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. ABSTRACT The main thrust of this thesis is the re-exploration of Friedrich Nietzsche's "critique of nihilism" through the lenses of Gilles Deleuze. A Deleuzian reading of Nietzsche is motivated by a post-deconstructiiye style of interpretation, inasmuch as Deleuze goes beyond, or in between, hermeneutics and deconstruction. Deleuze's post-deconstructive reading of Nietzsche is, however, only secondary to the main aim of this thesis. The primary thrust of this study is the critique of a way of thinking characterized by Nietzsche as nihilistic. Therefore, it should be noted that this study is not about Deleuze's reading per se; rather, it is an appraisal of Nietzsche's "critique of nihilism" using Deleuze's experimental reading. We will accrue Nietzsche's critique and Deleuze's post-deconstructive reading in order to appraise Nietzsche's critique itself. Insofar as we have underscored Deleuze's purported experimentation of Nietzschean themes, this study is also an experiment in itself. Through this experin\entation, we will find out whether it is possible to partly gloss Nietzsche's critique of nihilism through Deleuzian phraseology.
    [Show full text]
  • Marquette Studies in Philosophy Andrew Tallon, Series Editor Full List by Series Number
    Marquette Studies in Philosophy Andrew Tallon, Series Editor Full List by Series Number Links go to pages for each book. To Order Please Go to “Order Books” tab on Home Page or click here 1. Harry Klocker, SJ. William of Ockham and the Divine Freedom. ISBN 0-87462-001-5. ©1996. 141 pp. Paperbound. Index. $15. First edition sold out. Second edition, reviewed, corrected and with a new Introduction. 2. Margaret Monahan Hogan. Finality and Marriage. ISBN 0-87462-600-5. 121 pp. Paperbound, $15. NOTE: See #34, below for the second revised and updated edition. 3. Gerald A. McCool, SJ. The Neo-Thomists. ISBN 0-87462-601-1. ©1994. 3rd printing, revised & corrected, 2003. Paperbound, 175 pp. $20 4. Max Scheler. Ressentiment. ISBN 0-87462-602-1.©1998. 4th printing, corrected, 2003. Paperbound. Index. New Introduction by Manfred Frings. 172 pp. $20 5. Augustine Shutte. Philosophy for Africa. ISBN 0-87462-608-0. ©1995. Paperbound. 184 pp. $20 6. Howard P. Kainz. Democracy and the ‘Kingdom of God.’ ISBN 0-87462-610-2. ©1995. Paperbound. Index. $25 7. Knud Løgstrup. Metaphysics. ISBN 0-87462-603-X. ©1995. Volume I. 400 pp. Paperbound. Formerly $40; now $20.00 ISBN 0-67462-607-2. Volume II. 400 pp. Paperbound. Formerly $40; now $20.00 8. Manfred Frings. Max Scheler. A Concise Introduction into the World of a Great Thinker. ISBN 0-87462-605-6. ©1996. Paperbound. Second edition, revised. Index. New Foreword by the author. $20 9. G. Heath King. Existence, Thought, Style: Perspectives of a Primary Relation, portrayed through the work of Søren Kierkegaard.
    [Show full text]
  • Being of God: a Trinitarian Critique of Postmodern A/Theology
    RICE UNIVERSITY (DE)CONSTRUCTING THE (NON)BEING OF GHD: A TRINITARIAN CRITIQUE OF POSTMODERN A/THEOLOGY by B. KEITH PUTT A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE Niels C. Nielsen, Jr.,Director Professor Emeritus of Philoso¬ phy and Religious Thought Werner H. Kelber Isla Carroll Turner and Percy E. Turner Professor of Reli¬ gious Studies Stjeven G. Crowell Associate Professor of Philoso¬ phy Houston, Texas May, 1995 Copyright B. Keith Putt 1995 ABSTRACT (DE) CONSTRUCTING THE (NON) BEING OF G8D: A TRINITARIAN CRITIQUE OF POSTMODERN A/THEOLOGY by B. KEITH PUTT Langdon Gilkey maintained in 1969 that theological language was in "ferment" over whether "God" could be ex¬ pressed in language. He argued that "radical theology," specifically the kenotic christology in Altizer's "death of God" theology, best represented that ferment. Some twenty- five years later, in the postmodern context of the 1990's, whether one can speak of God and, if so, how remain promi¬ nent issues for philosophers of religion and theologians. One of the most provocative contemporary approaches to these questions continues to focus on the "death of God." Mark Taylor's a/theology attempts to "do" theology after the divine demise by thinking the end of theology without ending theological thinking. Taylor's primary thesis, predicated upon his reading of Jacques Derrida's deconstruetive philos¬ ophy, is that God gives way to the sacred and the sacred may be encountered only within the "divine milieu" of writing. God is dead, the self is dead, history has no structure, and language cannot be totalized in books; consequently, theo¬ logy must be errant and textually disseminative.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Thinking Ressentiment on the Limits of Criticism and the Limits of Its Critics
    2016-04-21 16-30-26 --- Projekt: transcript.anzeigen / Dokument: FAX ID 0148427641680892|(S. 1- 2) VOR2128.p 427641680900 From: Jeanne Riou, Mary Gallagher (eds.) Re-thinking Ressentiment On the Limits of Criticism and the Limits of its Critics May 2016, 220 p., 28,99 €, ISBN 978-3-8376-2128-0 The charge of »Ressentiment« can in today’s world – less from traditionally conserva- tive quarters than from the neo-positivist discourses of particular forms of liberalism – be used to undermine the argumentative credibility of political opponents, dissidents and those who call for greater »justice«. The essays in this volume draw on the broad spectrum of cultural discourse on »Ressentiment«, both in historical and contempora- ry contexts. Starting with its conceptual genesis, the essays also show contemporary nuances of »Ressentiment« as well as its influence on literary discourse and philoso- phical discourse in the 20th century. Jeanne Riou lectures in German Studies at University College Dublin. Mary Gallagher lectures in French and Francophone Studies at University College Dublin. For further information: www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-2128-0 © 2016 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2016-04-21 16-30-26 --- Projekt: transcript.anzeigen / Dokument: FAX ID 0148427641680892|(S. 1- 2) VOR2128.p 427641680900 Contents Acknowledgements | vi Introduction: Towards a History of Ressentiment Jeanne Riou | 1 Introduction: The Critical Focus of Re-thinking Ressentiment Mary Gallagher | 24 The Question of Resentment in Western and Confucian Philosophy Eric S. Nelson | 33 Ressentiment as Moral Imperative: Jean Améry’s Nietzschean Revaluation of Victim Morality Victoria Fareld | 53 Ressentiment beyond Nietzsche and Améry: H.
    [Show full text]
  • On Resentment
    On Resentment On Resentment: Past and Present Edited by Bernardino Fantini, Dolores Martín Moruno and Javier Moscoso On Resentment: Past and Present, Edited by Bernardino Fantini, Dolores Martín Moruno and Javier Moscoso This book first published 2013 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2013 by Bernardino Fantini, Dolores Martín Moruno and Javier Moscoso and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-4772-0, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-4772-8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 On Resentment: Past and Present of an Emotion Dolores Martín Moruno Part I: How to Write the History of Resentment Chapter One ............................................................................................... 19 The Shadows of Ourselves: Resentment, Monomania and Modernity Javier Moscoso Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 37 Nietzsche: The “First Psychologist” and Genealogist of Ressentiment Yamina Oudai Celso Chapter Three ...........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Postmodern Philosophy and Legal Thought
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1997 Postmodern Philosophy and Legal Thought Douglas E. Litowitz Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Litowitz, Douglas E., "Postmodern Philosophy and Legal Thought" (1997). Dissertations. 3666. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3666 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1997 Douglas E. Litowitz LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CIITCAGO POSTMODERN PIITLOSOPHY AND LEGAL THOUGHT VOLUME I (CHAPTERS 1 TO 5) A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PIITLOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF PIITLOSOPHY BY DOUGLAS E. LITOWITZ CIITCAGO, ILLINOIS JANUARY, 1997 Copyright by Douglas E. Litowitz, 1996 All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I (Chapters One through Five) Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING POSTMODERNISM GENERALLY . 1 1.1 Overview of the Project . 1 1. 2 Structure of the Manuscript . 7 1. 3 Understanding Modernism and Postmodernism . 11 (i) Historical Emergence of Postmodernism . 11 (ii) Theoretical Emergence of Postmodernism ..... 15 1.4 Death of Grand Narratives .................. 18 2. METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN POSTMODERN LEGAL PHILOSOPHY . 34 2 .1 Internal and External Legal Theory . 35 (i) Anglo-American Legal Theory tends to be Internal .................. 49 (ii) Postmodern Legal Theory tends to be External .
    [Show full text]
  • Resume and Curriculum Vitae
    RESUME AND CURRICULUM VITAE Patrick H. Byrne 15 Fox Meadow Lane Dedham, MA 02026 Education: Ph. D., Philosophy – State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1978, (Dissertation: “Einstein's Quest for the Foundations of Science”). M.A., Philosophy – Boston College, 1972. B.S., Magna cum laude, Physics – Boston College, 1969. Honors: Madonna Della Strada Award, Ignatian Volunteer Corps, 2017 Alpha Sigma Nu, National Jesuit Honor Society Notable Book Award, 1999 Senior Lilly Fellowship, 1995-1996 Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1969 Danforth Fellowship, Honorable Mention, 1969 Hamilton Award for Science and Humanities, 1969 Professional Experience: Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, 1998 – present Director, Lonegan Institute, Boston College, 2011 — present Interim Director, Boston College PULSE Program for Service Learning, 2013-2014 Chairperson, Department of Philosophy, Boston College, 2003 – 2010 Director of Graduate Studies, Philosophy, 2002 – 2003 Associate Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, 1981 - 1998 Resident Senior Lilly Fellow, Lilly Fellows Program, Valparaiso University, 1995-96 Associate Director, Jesuit Institute at Boston College, 1997-2001 Director, Presidential Scholars Summer Service Program, 1994-1999 Director, Boston College Program for Faith, Peace & Justice, 1983-1985 Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, 1978 - 1981 Instructor in Philosophy, Boston College, 1975 - 1978 Director, Boston College PULSE Program for Service Learning, 1969 – 1972 Grants Received: $25,000 Lilly Fellows Exchange Program grant – to host faculty and administrators from 15 LFP member colleges and universities for the conference, “Service, Faith, and Higher Learning: The PULSE Program at Boston College,” March 22-25, 2015. $5,000 Cooney Family grant – to host faculty and administrators from 15 LFP member colleges and universities for the conference, “Service, Faith, and Higher Learning: The PULSE Program at Boston College,” March 22-25, 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Through Humility the Path to Godliness Ascends on High”: St
    THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA “Through Humility The Path to Godliness Ascends on High”: St. Augustine’s Challenge to Modern Thought on Humility and Greatness A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Joseph John McInerney Washington, D.C. 2012 “Through Humility the Path to Godliness Ascends on High”: St. Augustine’s Challenge to Modern thought on Humility and Greatness Joseph John McInerney, Ph.D. Director: Joseph E. Capizzi, Ph.D. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11). Few thinkers in the Christian tradition place greater emphasis on this Gospel principle than Augustine of Hippo. Augustine asserts that humility is the key to one’s salvation and is the foundation of a person’s greatness. Humility plays no such role, however, in the thought of classical or modern philosophers. The moral theories of Aristotle, Plotinus, Hume, and Nietzsche espouse little relation between humility and moral excellence or propose a view of that relationship in which humility is opposed to greatness. The purpose of this study is to detail the moral principles various thinkers use to approach the ideas of humility and greatness, thus demonstrating the manner in which each author comes to a particular conclusion regarding the relationship between the two principles. The focus of the study will be upon Augustine’s conception of humility and greatness, as his understanding is unique in the positive value it attributes to humility in its relation to human excellence.
    [Show full text]
  • Original Sin"
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Religious Studies Honors Theses Department of Religious Studies Summer 6-17-2014 From Death to Depravity: How "Missing the Mark" Became "Original Sin" Grace A. Rivenbark Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/rs_hontheses Recommended Citation Rivenbark, Grace A., "From Death to Depravity: How "Missing the Mark" Became "Original Sin"." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2014. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/rs_hontheses/8 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Religious Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Studies Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From Death To Depravity: How ‘Missing the Mark’ Became ‘Original Sin’ By Grace Anna Rivenbark Under the Direction of Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. ABSTRACT This reception history of “original sin” displays how the theological conception developed as an idea throughout Western Christianity. This paper performs a critical and in-depth reading of the creation story from Genesis 3 and provides six thematic questions that are discussed through the various interpretations of four major thinkers: Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and Friedrich Nietzsche. These four thinkers show how “original sin” has never been as established or canonical within Western Christianity as many have characterized it.
    [Show full text]
  • Friedrich Nietzsche's on the Genealogy of Morality As History
    Friedrich Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality as History Serving Life By Aaron John O’Brien A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctoral Degree in Philosophy Department of Philosophy Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Aaron John O’Brien, Ottawa, Canada, 2017 Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgements v Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Historiography Serving Genius in On the Use and Disadvantage of History for Life 12 1.1 Historical Sense and Unhistorical Feeling 14 1.2 The Suprahistorical Perspective 19 1.3 Nietzsche’s Disavowal of the Suprahistorical Perspective 23 1.4 Schopenhauer on Historical Knowledge and Aesthetic Contemplation 26 1.5 The Schopenhauerian Nature of the Suprahistorical Perspective 31 1.6 Other Interpretations of the Suprahistorical 37 1.7 Three Modes of Relating to the Past 47 1.8 Two Kinds of Life: Genius and the Masses 54 Chapter 2: Historical Epistemology in On the Use and Disadvantage of History for Life 58 2.1 The Nature of Truth and Knowledge in “On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense” 59 2.2 Historical Epistemology in On the Use and Disadvantage of History for Life 81 2.3 The Valuation of Creativity in “On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense” 89 Chapter 3: Perspectivist Epistemology in Nietzsche’s Later Thought 95 3.1 The Falsity of Appearances in The Gay Science 97 3.2 Denial of the Thing-In-Itself 103 3.3 Immanentist Epistemology 112 3.4 Perspectivist Epistemology 117 3.5 Knowledge, Truth, and Philosophy
    [Show full text]
  • Ressentiment in Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity by Donald C. Ude a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Require
    Ressentiment in Nietzsche’s Critique of Christianity by Donald C. Ude A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Philosophy University of Alberta © Donald C. Ude, 2016 ii Abstract Nietzsche is famous for his critique of Christianity and the declaration that “God is dead.” His aversion for the Christian religion has generated scholarly debates as to what might be the key issue Nietzsche has with Christianity. In this work, I argue that the key problem Nietzsche finds with Christianity is that he takes it to be a religion of ressentiment. I therefore maintain that ressentiment provides the key to unlocking Nietzsche’s celebrated critique of Christianity, for every issue Nietzsche has with Christianity may rightly be subsumed under the term, ressentiment. To support this claim, I establish ressentiment as the originating-force of Christianity and its strongest expression of the Will-to-power, from Nietzsche’s “genealogical” standpoint. All through the work, I sustain a discussion aimed at explaining, on Nietzsche’s view, the various dimensions of Christian theory and practice in terms of ressentiment – morality, doctrine, and the practical aspects of Christian life. iii Dedicated to Fabian & Sussy Ude And Tony & Nkese Umoren iv Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Philosophy Department of the University of Alberta for the opportunity given to me to study in this prestigious institution and for the generous funding offer without which it would have been nearly impossible to be here. I thank the faculty, staff and students of the Department for their friendship, support and the overall intellectual environment that makes philosophy thrive here.
    [Show full text]