MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY NEO-THOMIST APPROACHES TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY Dissertation Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology By Matthew Glen Minix UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio December 2016 MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY NEO-THOMIST APPROACHES TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY Name: Minix, Matthew G. APPROVED BY: _____________________________________ Sandra A. Yocum, Ph.D. Dissertation Director _____________________________________ William L. Portier, Ph.D. Dissertation Reader. _____________________________________ Anthony Burke Smith, Ph.D. Dissertation Reader _____________________________________ John A. Inglis, Ph.D. Dissertation Reader _____________________________________ Jack J. Bauer, Ph.D. _____________________________________ Daniel Speed Thompson, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Religious Studies ii © Copyright by Matthew Glen Minix All rights reserved 2016 iii ABSTRACT MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY NEO-THOMIST APPROACHES TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY Name: Minix, Matthew Glen University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. Sandra A. Yocum This dissertation considers a spectrum of five distinct approaches that mid-twentieth century neo-Thomist Catholic thinkers utilized when engaging with the tradition of modern scientific psychology: a critical approach, a reformulation approach, a synthetic approach, a particular [Jungian] approach, and a personalist approach. This work argues that mid-twentieth century neo-Thomists were essentially united in their concerns about the metaphysical principles of many modern psychologists as well as in their worries that these same modern psychologists had a tendency to overlook the transcendent dimension of human existence. This work shows that the first four neo-Thomist thinkers failed to bring the traditions of neo-Thomism and modern psychology together to the extent that they suggested purely theoretical ways of reconciling them. Finally, this work concludes that a personalist approach to modern psychology that locates the reconciliation of these two traditions within the practice of individual human beings rather than within a theoretical dialogue between the traditions themselves has the potential to succeed where theoretical neo-Thomist accounts of these traditions failed. iv Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is Our Lady, the Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to all five of the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Sandra A. Yocum, Dr. William L. Portier, Dr. Anthony Burke Smith, Dr. John A. Inglis, and Dr. Jack J. Bauer, for their suggestions, guidance, and support. I also want to take this opportunity to recognize all of the faith that Dr. Yocum, my director, has shown in me over these last several years and to thank her for the invaluable help that she consistently provided to me. Second, I want to acknowledge all of the people and institutions who have helped me in the research for this project. During my time as a graduate student, the University of Dayton awarded me two different graduate student fellowships that contributed to the present volume. The summer dean fellowship that I received in 2008 funded a trip to Washington, D.C. where I was able to visit the Catholic University of America, St. Anselm Priory, and Trinity College in order to examine documents related to both Fulton J. Sheen and Thomas Verner Moore. A 2010 summer fellowship also helped me to purchase materials for my research on Victor White. Furthermore, I want to offer my sincere thanks to the assistant to the archivist of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, R.C. Mac Donald, for the information that he provided to me concerning the life of Robert Edward Brennan, O.P. Finally, I want to thank the staff of the Raynor Memorial Library of Marquette University for both their hospitality and their assistance in navigating their Sister Formation Conference Records and Sister Annette Walters’ Papers. Third, I want to thank my various places of employment over the years that I have been working on this dissertation for the opportunities that they have offered to me as I engaged in the writing for this project. Both Dr. Sandra A. Yocum and Dr. Daniel Speed Thompson allowed me to teach as an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton over these last few years, for which I vi remain greatly appreciative. Fr. David Brinkmoeller permitted me the opportunity to serve as the Pastoral Associate of Youth Faith Formation at St. Helen Parish in Riverside, Ohio, for several years while I was engaged in research and writing. More recently, President Diane Laake and Principal Brian McFee have given me the chance to teach Catholic theology to high school students at Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception in Oldenburg, Indiana. Each of these opportunities has proven beneficial for both my theological and spiritual development, with the result that all of them have some made some impression on this work. Fourth, I want to thank my family for their constant help and support on this project. My mother, Theresa Lynn Minix, has always been there for me to rely on, particularly in my times of greatest need, and her assistance during the last year of writing proved crucial many times. My wonderful wife, Christine Joy Terzuoli Minix, and my two darling children, Veronica Rose Minix and Matthew Glen Minix, Jr., have always given me their full support. Without their continued love, patience, and endurance, the present work could not have been written. Many other family, friends, and acquaintances also helped me to complete this work through their love, prayers, and encouragement. I am thankful toward all of them, even if they are not explicitly mentioned here. Fifth, finally, and most importantly, I must acknowledge that everything good within this present work ultimately comes from the Triune God whose eternal Word was incarnate within time in Jesus Christ. He is the source of all created things and all Catholic theology is ultimately only good to the extent that it leads us back to Him. When viewed as the eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ can appear to be aligned with the abstract system of thought instead of with each particular human being. Yet, when it is recognized that much of early Christology focused upon the importance of having the correct understanding of the Person of Jesus Christ, traditional Catholic theology makes many of the same points as the present work. In other words, Catholic Christology itself argues that the reconciliation of different realities must come about within the individual person rather than through the development of a theoretical system. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………….…iv DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………………..…v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………….vi CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND OF NEO-THOMISM AND MODERN PSYCHOLOGY…….1 The Story of Neo-Thomist Catholicism…………………………………………..8 The Development of the Traditions of Modern Psychology……………………21 Mid-Twentieth Century Neo-Thomist Approaches to Modern Psychology……33 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………39 CHAPTER II: THE CRITICAL APPROACH TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY OF ARCHBISHOP FULTON JOHN SHEEN……………………………………...……….44 The Life of Fulton John Sheen……………………...…………………………..47 Scholastic Thought and Modern Science………………………………………..51 The Lyricism of Modern Psychology……………………………………….......60 Modern Anthropology and Sacramental Anthropology………………………...64 Psychological Therapy and Christian Spirituality………………………………77 Evaluation of Sheen’s Critical Approach……………………………………….84 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………86 CHAPTER III: THE REFORMULATION APPROACH TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY OF ROBERT EDWARD BRENNAN, O.P………………………………………...………..88 The Life of Robert Edward Brennan, O.P…………………………………..…..91 The Neo-Thomism of Robert Edward Brennan, O.P………..............................100 Brennan’s Ideal Vision of Psychology………………………………………...110 Brennan’s Neo-Thomist Reformulation of Modern Psychology………………119 Evaluation of Robert Brennan’s Reformulation Approach……………………133 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..135 CHAPTER IV: THE SYNTHETIC APPROACH TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY OF DOM THOMAS VERNER MOORE, O.S.B……………...………………………...…136 The Life of Thomas Verner Moore……………………………………………139 Thomas Verner Moore’s Synthetic Psychology…………………………….…147 The Application of Thomist Metaphysics to Modern Psychology……….……158 Spirituality and Religious Adjustment……………………………………....…177 viii Evaluation of Moore’s Synthetic Approach…………………………….……..184 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..187 CHAPTER V: THE JUNGIAN APPROACH TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY OF VICTOR WHITE, O.P………….………………………………………………………189 The Life of Victor White, O.P…………………………………………………191 The Thomist Theology of Victor White, O.P………………………………….197 White’s Interpretation of Modern Psychology………………………………...206 White’s Dream of Cooperation Between Psychology and Theology………….218 White’s Rejection of Jungian Metaphysics……………………………………228 Evaluation of White’s Approach to Jungian Psychology…………………...…232 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..234 CHAPTER VI: THE PERSONALIST APPROACH TO MODERN PSYCHOLOGY OF SISTER ANNETTE WALTERS, C.S.J..…….…………………………………….235 The Life of Sister Annette Walters, C.S.J……………………………………..238 Walters’ Psychology of Persons……………………………………………….246 Persons and Personality: An Introduction to Psychology (1953)…………......255 Recognizing Women as Persons……………………………………………….269 Walters on Holiness and Mental Health……………………………………….278 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..282