Writing as a technology of the self in Kierkegaard and Foucault

Writing is a very important means by which we can work on ourselves. Yet as a "technology of the self" writing has changed substantially at different times during European history. This essay sketches some of the crucial characteristics of wriring as a technology of the self for Plato's contemporaries, for the early church fathers, and then for Peter Abelard. The changes exemplified in the confessional writing of Abelard became the platform for writing as a technology of the self in European modernism. The characteristics of modernist writing as a technology of the self are examined in some detail in the work of Kierkegaard, particularly with respect to his aesthetic writings and his use of multiple narrative voices.Kierkegaard's uses of writing are compared and contrasted with those of Baudelaire and Foucault.Escriure és un important mitjà amb el qual podem actuar sobre nosaltres mateixos. Tanmateix, com a "tecnologia del jo", l'escriptura ha canviat substancialment en el temps durant la història europea. Aquest assaig esbossa algunes de les característiques més rellevants de l'escriptura com a tecnologia del jo per als contemporanis de Plató, per als primers pares de l'església i per a Pere Abelard. Els canvis exemplificats en l'escriptura confessional d'Abelard varen esdevenir la plataforma per a l'escriptura com una tecnologia del jo en la modernitat europea. Les característiques de l'escriprura de la modernirat en tant que tecnologia del jo són examinades arnb cert detall en l'obra de Kierkegaard, parricularment en rclació amb els seus escrits estètics i el seu us de múltiples veus narratives. Els usos Kierkegaardians dc l'escriptura són comparats i contrastats amb els de Baudelaire i Foucault

Relations Without Polyadic Properties: Albert the Great On the Nature and Ontological Status of Relations

I think it would be fair to say that, until about 1900, philosophers were generally reluctant to admit the existence of what are nowadays called polyadic properties.1 It is important to recognize, however, that this reluctance on the part of pre-twentieth-century philosophers did not prevent them from theorizing about relations. On the contrary, philosophers from the ancient through the modern period have had much to say about both the nature and the ontological status of relations. In this paper I examine the views of one such philosopher, namely, Albert the Grea

Quidam homo est asinus : the originality and influence of Peter Abelard upon Medieval thought.

Historians and philosophers alike remember Peter Abelard as the most brilliant, original, and influential philosopher of the twelfth century. Much ofthis reputation stems not from Abelard\u27s intellectual contributions but due to Abelard\u27s scandalous personal life and the nonexistence of documents of Abelard\u27s contemporary philosophers. Though brilliant, Abelard exerted little influence through his ideas. Unlike a modem professor who changes the paradigms of his discipline with innovative theses, Abelard was a skilled teacher who sought to teach students the skills they required to advance their careers within a reformed Catholic Church, which was newly interested in logic, philosophy, and theology. Seen from this perspective, Abelard has much more in common with his contemporary intellectuals and is more consistent with the context of his age than the secondary scholarship typically recognizes

In the Spirit of Salvation: William of St. Thierry’s Theological Treatment of Salvation in light of his Pneumatology

While desire for salvation forms the foundation of all Christian investigation, the modes through which salvation is explored vary between different theologians. William of St. Thierry, while leaving behind a wealth of extant sources, is frequently overlooked in the academic and theological investigation of the subject. This study undertakes an in-depth investigation of William’s writings, focused on pnuematological soteriology and an explanation of the characteristic elements which made up his thinking on this core. William investigates the Holy Spirit through three major identities: Will, Love and Unity. As a result of the fact that these characteristics also exist within humanity, and of the intimacy of the subject matter, this study is informative both to those studying historical theology, and to those seeking the spiritual origins of western anthropology and identity. In order to reveal the particular contours of William’s theology, it is important to compare him to the theologians on which he drew, and to those in whose company he was writing. This study compares William with the two patristic thinkers who exerted the greatest influence on his work: Origen of Antioch and St. Augustine of Hippo. It also draws comparison with four of William’s contemporaries, each representing different intellectual communities of the time: St. Anselm of Canterbury, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Hugh of St. Victor, and Peter Abelard. This comparison is important in order to appreciate William’s theology in light of its own principles

Ladder to Heaven: An Evaluation of Twelfth Century Latin Catholic Non-Dichotomous Spiritual Gender Identity

In the 1970s, historian Richard Southern argued that the period of reform in the Twelfth Century solidified a patriarchal state in the medieval period, and since his publication (continuing into the current tradition), historians have agreed with this thesis that the period of centralization and codification within the canon tradition existed antithetically to female empowerment and agency, and solidified the authority and normatively of heterosexual, dominate, masculinity. When discussing the canon celebrations and successes of women in the Twelfth Century, historians use the term “token,” ascribing their ability to survive in a state which denounced their agency to circumstances such as rank, wealth, and personal connection. A few historians have challenged these perceptions regarding the Twelfth Century, including Alcuin Blamires and Fiona Griffiths (starting in the 1990s, and continuing the debate to this day); drawing on their examples, this research has questioned the extent to which the Twelfth Century’s theological reform was a heteronormative masculine movement of authority. In analyzing prominent theologians’s (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter Abelard, Gilbert of Hoyland, and Aelred of Rievaulx) works regarding the nature of the soul, and its ascendancy to heaven, as well as the classical tradition in which these theologians based their claims, I have found evidence which suggests a Twelfth Century consensus on the existence and superiority of a non-dichotomous gender identity, which combines aspects of contemporary ideals of both male and female attributes. The lives and literature of some of the most notable female “tokens” of the Twelfth Century Catholic Reform (Christina of Markyate, Herrad of Hohenbourg, and Hildegard of Bingen) as well as the commentary they received from their male peers demonstrate a level corroboration with the theological evidence. These women appear, based on the available documentation, to have gained position, respect, and fame based on their conformity to the theological definitions of non-dichotomous, non-binary spiritual gender identity. This research, archaic and obsessed with minuscule details as it may appear, is a significant find in the study of history of gender and medieval history. This research undercuts decades of historical assumptions, and gives agency back to medieval religious men and women who lived within this non-dichotomous gender schema. Additionally, it provides the context necessary to fully unify the theological teachings of many Twelfth Century scholars, including the women discussed here. This research also provides a launching dock for legal examinations into medieval gender theory and practice

The Verse Römerbrief 1, 19ff. On the Understanding of Abelard

Aunque en los últimos años las investigaciones sobre Pedro Abelardo, tanto en su faceta teológica como filosófica, se han incrementado rápidamente, se le ha prestado muy poca atención a su interpretación de la Epístola de San Pablo a los Romanos. Como es sabido, esta Epístola jugó un papel central durante toda la tradición cristiana en la determinación de la relación entre la teología y la filosofía, la fe y la razón. Y así también lo fue para Abelardo, quien aplicó vigorosamente la razón al dominio de la fe. El siguiente artículo trata de llenar la vacancia en las investigaciones actuales –o, como mínimo, darle un impulso– al delinear las línas generales de la interpretación abelardiana en su obra y al compararlas con aquellas propias de algunos de sus contemporáneos. Esto mostrará que Abelardo, en un cierto punto en su carrera intelectual, ofrece una lectura –aunque un tanto exagerada– muy original de Rom. 1, 19 ff., que no puede encontrarse en ningún otro pensador de su tiempo ni tampoco en su sucesor más influyente, Roberto de Melun.  Although over the last years scholarly work on Peter Abelard as both theologian and philosopher has increased rapidly, only little attention has been paid to his interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. As it is known, this Epistle has played a major role throughout the entire Christian tradition in the determination of the relation between theology and philosophy, faith and reason. And so it has for Peter Abelard who most vigorously applied reason to the domain of faith. The following article tries to fill this gap in present research –or at least to give an impulse to fill it– by sketching the general outlines of Abelard’s interpretation across his works and comparing them to those of some of his contemporaries. It will show that Peter Abelard, at a certain point of his intellectual career, offers a very original, albeit exaggerated reading of Rom. 1, 19ff. which cannot be found in other scholars of his time nor in his most influential successor, Robert of Melun

Bernard of Morlaix : the Literature of complaint, the Latin tradition and the Twelfth-century “Renaissance”

Bernard of Morlaix was a Cluniac monk who flourished around 1140. What little is known about him, including his visit to Rome, is examined in relation to the affairs of the Cluniac family in his day. A new conjecture is advanced that he was prior of Saint-Denis de Nogent-le-Rotrou. His poems are discussed as examples of the genre of complaint literature. His treatment of the end of the world, and of death, judgement, heaven and hell, is discussed in relation to twelfth-century monasticism. His castigation of the sins of his time includes some of the earliest estates satire. His anticlericalism and his misogyny are compared with those of his contemporaries, and discussed in the context of twelfth-century monastic culture. Bernard’s classical learning is analysed and compared with that of his contemporaries, especially John of Salisbury and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. His use of metre and rhyme is examined in the context of the development of metre based on stress rather than quantity and of systematic and sustained rhyme in the Latin verse of the twelfth century. Bernard’s use of interpretive and compositional allegory is explored. Bernard is seen as a man of his time, exemplifying a number of twelfth-century characteristics, religious, educational and cultural. Special attention is paid to the Latin literary tradition, and it is suggested that the culture of the twelfth-century was in many respects a culmination rather than a renaissance

Inseparable Companion: The Consolation of Heloise

The twelfth-century love story of Abelard and Heloise, which has been both an inspiration for poets and novelists and a challenge and boon to historians, has often suffered from misinterpretation. Abelard was master of the Paris schools and wrote many works which have survived, but Heloise is represented almost entirely through letter exchanges with him. This work focuses on Heloise, now established as a scholar in her own right and the author of her letters, but importantly, it turns some crucial aspects of the traditional picture of Heloise upside down. She has been painted as a woman of unusually robust sexual appetites, who was never converted from a focus on Abelard to a focus on Christ, who was utterly silenced at Abelard\u27s command, and whose roles as lover and abbess are fundamentally irreconcilable. Although the greater carnality of women was a given for her contemporaries, her efforts to explain how much she valued Abelard\u27s friendship are a challenge to twenty-first century preconceptions as well. As for her lack of conversion, I propose that consolation is a more important question; her loyalty to her vow to Abelard fully explains why she had to wait for him to incite her to God. The crux of my argument is that Heloise was, in fact, consoled by Abelard\u27s second letter. This view calls into question the usual interpretation of her promise to him to put a bridle on her pen. Rather than crushed, she is light-hearted as she engages Abelard in the philosophical dialogue she loved, now turned to the founding of the Paraclete. Once we realize this, it becomes possible, even easy, to integrate Heloise the lover with Heloise the abbess. The picture that emerges shows Heloise to be a woman of her time, albeit an exceptional one. In fact, what both lovers have to say about love closely reflects twelfth-century attitudes. The letters of Heloise rank among the great literary creations of any age and the view they give us of twelfth-century France is unusually personal, but they can be reliably viewed as an authentic woman\u27s voice from the twelfth-century