Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications Philosophy, Department of 9-24-1999 Reconsidering Scholasticism Howard P. Kainz Marquette University, [email protected] Published version. National Catholic Reporter, Vol. 35, No. 41 (September 24, 1999): 19-21. Publisher link. © 1999 National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company. Used with permission. Reconsidering scholasticism Kainz, Howard National Catholic Reporter; Sep 24, 1999; 35, 41; ProQuest Central pg. 19 .J.' Colleges and Universities September 24, 1999 National Catholic Reporter 19 cism, he preferred the speculative Catholic approach to theology over the Protestant approach. Or - a less pleasant thought - Rec the ecclesiastical authorities just didn't understand what Hegel was up to. This was the era of major change in the ·;;@it'··• church and the heady enthusiasm of the .J· .... Vatican. Many ecclesiastical and theologi­ cal reforms were agreed upon at the Second Vatican Council and began to be imple­ Though rigid, Catholic philosophy before the council wasn't all bad mented in dioceses around the world; but also, around the same time, for some rea­ By HOWARD KAINZ son, changes began to be made in philoso­ phy departments. No directive from Vati­ 'Aphilosophy major in a Catholic can II ever said, "Wean the Catholic phi­ college during the '50s would losophy departments away from Scholasti­ very likely be able to identify cism." But gradually and almost impercep­ with my experiences. My 36 tibly something like a weaning did take hours of the courses required place. for the major consisted largely of the vari­ Away from ous branches of Scholastic philosophy - 1bomism formal and material logic, epistemology, Possibly the Papal Encyclical, Humanae cosmology, ontology, rational psychology, Vitae, with its controversial invocation of general and special ethics and a special Thomistic natural law against artificial con­ course entitled "Thomistic synthesis." traception, turned many away from These courses were highly systematic and Thomism as the official Catholic philoso­ basically concerned with presenting - for phy/theology and helped to instill doubts want of a better name- "the truth." Every about papal authority. Possibly the rising once in a while, the teacher would stop to interest in the ecumenical movement - engage in in-house disputes with other another result of Vatican II- and the felt Scholastics - criticizing the Scotists for necessity of avoiding theological ghettoism their nominalism, or Suarezians for their led to the desire to investigate all and cavalier attitude toward the distinction sundry philosophical schools of thought. between essence and existence, and so on In any case, there was a definite movement -but these debates were more or less ami­ away from the predominately Scholastic cable. Less amicable were the timely refu­ curriculum. tations of the skepticisms of Rene Descartes At the present time, only a few Catholic and Immanuel Kant, or the rebuttals of the universities or colleges have a curriculum of empiricists and their mistakes about induc­ that type. There are, of course, offerings of tion, or the discrediting of the idealism of logic, ethics, metaphysics, and so on, in Bishop George Berkeley, and so forth. above a 3.0, even with the 'C.' He replied, and eventually started work on a master's Catholic colleges; but the content of these At graduation I felt I was fairly up-to-date "Oh, was I the only bastard?"- Apparent­ thesis on Thomistic angelology. To make courses often bears little resemblance to the on the important developments in the ly he hadn-J even looked at my other ends meet, I took a part-time teaching job Scholastic prototypes. philosophical world and decided to apply grades but just presumed that because of at Maryville College in the vicinity of St. If we examine larger patterns regarding for graduate study at the University of Cal­ my Thomistic background I wouldn't be Louis, and after choosing the books to be the evolution of philosophy departments ifornia, Los Angeles. As I was signing up for able to "cut the mustard." assigned for the semester was told by the in Catholic colleges, the main movement, courses, the chairman of the UCLA philos­ This incident made me aware of the prej­ dean that I had to get the bishop's permis­ starting in the '60s and continuing through ophy department, who had looked at my udice that then prevailed about what "goes sion to use some of these texts. I had the '70s, seems to have been toward "the transcripts, took me aside and warned me on" in a philosophy department in a assigned some texts frqm Immanuel Kant, history of philosophy." There are some that, as a "Thomist," I was going to have Catholic university. Remnants of this prej­ and many of the writings of Immanuel exceptions: Notre Dame gravitated toward difficulty in their graduate program. But I udice still remain. The stereotype of a Kant were on the Index Librorum Prohibito­ "mainstream" analytic philosophy, was optimistic and even signed up for his Catholic philosophy department was, and rum. A letter of permission from the bishop Duquesne University toward contemporary course on the Theory of Knowledge, which often still is, the image-of a veritable ratio­ was required, and the permission could Continental philosophy, and a few had to do largely with "raw feels" and how nal armory at the service of religious dogma then be extended to all of one's students. Catholic colleges and universities like we know the real exist~nce of pieces of and the papal chain of command. At any In recent years, out of curiosity I bor­ Aquinas College and the University of Dal­ chalk and other things in- the real world. rate, I wasn't sure that I was all that inter­ rowed the now-defunct Index from our las remained and still remain Thomistical­ At the end of the semester, he<:alled me ested in continuing in philosophy at that library; and discovered that Kant was ly oriented. into his office, told me that I had a 'C' for time and decided to travel to Africa and roundly disapproved of by the ecclesiasti­ But I have some problems understanding the course in spite of what I thought was an other countries. for a couple years to see cal authorities. I was delighted to note, the resort to history. What is the cash-value excellent paper on "Retrocognition," and what the world outside California was real­ however, that one of my favorite philoso­ for a Catholic college in "specializing" in that I would have to leave the program or ly like. phers, Hegel, was completely absent from the history of philosophy? Is this, for all be put on probation. I did some quick cal­ When I returned from my travels, I the Index ofForbidden Books. Possibly some­ practical purposes, just a variation of cur­ culations and then asked him whether my · entered the graduate program at St. Louis one at the curia in the 19th century knew ricula in the "history of ideas"? Are all grade point average wouldn't still be well University, which was largely Thomistic, that, although Hegel was critical of Catholi- Continued on page 20 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ~---- -~---- ---------------------~ -- - -- Colleges and Universities 20 National Catholic Reporter September 24, 1999 clarity for his own position. The formalistic Scholasticism I Problems in the resort to history Videtur quods and sed contras and respondeo dicendum quods of medieval Scholasticism CONnNUED FROM PAGE 19 ty. So why should we think seriously about from mine, but I would include on my list are no longer in style, but there are other philosophies, and all ideas, to be consid­ metaphysical issues any more, except per­ Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz, Friedrich Wil­ ways to unite history with systematic anal­ ered? And how does one avoid eclecticism haps to refute their possibility or to castigate helm Schelling, Hegel, Seren Kierkegaard, ysis of issues. In modem philosophy, Hegel, in the choices of historical concentrations? dogmatic positions on these.issues? (Possibly Gabriel Marcel and Max Scheler. But for the who maintained that there was one system Certainly there are some downsides to language-analysis, like an island in the majority, the "handwriting on the wall" of philosophy unfolding in and through the this approach. For one thing, there is the stormy sea, presents itself to us as a safer seems to be to combine history with system­ history of philosophy, offers us the best danger of becoming a mere historian. Also, approach; at least Kant didn't say we couldn't atic criticism. 19th century example of the unification of if there is a graduate department, it is con­ know anything about our own language.) Does one who presents Kant's criticisms system and history. In recent decades, ceivable that we could end up training the tip of the of the arguments for the exis- Richard Rorty's Philosophy and graduate students to become historians, Kant iceberg tence of God really want to the Mirror of Nature and Alas­ rather than "doing" philosophy. In other But Kant is just "the tip of the iceberg." leave it at that, schedule a dair Macintyre's After Virtue words, a graduate student, depending on What about Nietzsche? Should we just try quiz and then go on to the Does one who also give us some excellent the choice of courses and the makeup of to take him with the proverbial"grain of next item on the syllabus? presents Kant's examples of the way that deep his/her dissertation committee, could quite salt"? But if we discerned his true meaning, Does one who analyzes jean examination of philosophical conceivably·receive a Ph.D.