23 research outputs found
Youth and experience of living faith : the essential aspects of the path to Christian maturity
Is there any other Christianity than the authentic one? Is there another faith than
the living one? Or is it rather that you have a choice to either be authentic in your Christian
faith, or not being a Christian at all? This question seems very compelling for at first
glance we can notice alarming, increasing regress of the interest in Christianity among
European youth â especially in Western Europe. How to restore Christianity to its brilliance
for the modern youth? What is the secret of authentic Christianity and how to
bring young people to experience it so that the religion is not associated by them with
something archaic and long outdated? The foregoing questions especially are answered by this article
MiÄdzy doĆwiadczeniem a teoriÄ , czyli o niektĂłrych problemach filozofii mistyki
Mysticism today is not only a popular term often referred to the strange and incomprehensible
phenomena, oscillating between psychology and spirituality. Mysticism is also a research problem,
which has long been analyzing by the specialists from various scientific disciplines. Philosophy
also has its own contribution to the study of mysticism. Moreover, one can also put forward
the thesis about its special competencies for this. There is no doubt that a mystical intuition
accompanies the philosophers from the very beginning, and for a long time the philosophy itself
has been also developing, here and there, as a mystical philosophy. Currently, the attention of
philosophers dealing with mysticism is mainly focused on problems determined by the philosophy
of mysticism. Here the most important discussions and disputes are taking place â especially
the so-called dispute between essentialism and contextualism. The author of the article formules
the thesis that moderate contextualism, as the position that opts for the existence of several
irreversible types of experiences defined today as mystical, better explains the complex phenomenon
of mysticism than the reductionist essentialist attitude. This does not mean, however, that
it gives an exhaustive explanation. Although the dispute examined in the article does not seem to
be possible to unambiguously settle, the philosophical analysis of the most important, constitutive
themes allows us to better understand the nature of the main processes that shape the broadly
understood mysticism. The purpose of this article is therefore to identify the way in which philosophy
enters the area of mysticism, the contribution it makes to the analysis of the mystical
experience, as well as several major methodological problems that it encounters
Josepha Marechala badania nad psychologiÄ doĆwiadczenia mistycznego a problem empirycznego determinizmu
The paper deals with the issue of the studies on mystical experience led in first
half of 20th century by Joseph Maréchal, Belgian philosopher and the creator of
transcendental Thomism. His most important work in this area is Studies in psychology
of mystics (Ătudes sur la Psychologie des Mystiques), first volume of which
was published in 1924. MarĂ©chalâs research, apart from the attempt made to specify
the nature of mystical experience on the basis of the concept of the dynamic purpose
of intellect and on the problem of so-called sense of presence, concerned also some
methodological issues. Making use of his background in biology and psychology,
Maréchal focused on the question of the possibility of applying the methods of empirical
sciences in psychology of mystical experience. This was first of all aimed at
application of those methods to analysing both special phenomenon related to mystical
experience and its essential hidden depth. This paper aims at showing how
Maréchal, using the tools of philosophers, evaluates the possibility of using scientific
methods to study phenomenological and criticises some deterministic presuppositions
underlying those methods
DĂ©sirĂ© Mercier (1851-1926) : wokĂłĆ kantyzmu i apologii wiary
The figure of DĂ©sirĂ© Mercier (1851â1926) â Belgian philosopher, theologian,
cardinal and later the Primate of Belgium, the founding father of the
neo-scholastical Leuven School and a great restorer of Thomism â has long
inscribed itself into the history of contemporary philosophy. He is remembered
in particular among those representatives of classical philosophy who saw
in the rebirth of scholasticism, which occurred at the turn of the 20th century,
a chance to establish modern, realistically-oriented philosophy that could
withstand the challenges of contemporary idealism in its varied versions â
particularly those connected with broadly-understood legacy of Kantâs philosophy.
What, then, are the philosophical foundations of Mercierâs polemic
with Kant? What alternative does Mercier propose for the subjective, in his
view, concept of synthetic a priori judgments?
The present monograph constitutes an attempt at answering these questions,
among others. The first chapter contains a synthetic reconstruction of the
main theses of Mercierâs criteriology, while the second chapter discusses
the fundamental lines of Mercierâs disagreement with Kantâs ideas. Chapter
three comprises a polemic analysis of the issue of the apologetic engagement of
neo-scholasticism, with particular attention being paid to the stance espoused
by Mercier as well as the Polish alumni of the Higher Institute of Philosophy
in Leuven. As such, the present work constitutes a complementary look at the issues discussed in DĂ©sirĂ© Mercierâs General Theory of Certitude, published by
the University of Silesia Press in 2008. The monograph is addressed to those
who, on the one hand would like to familiarize themselves with a synthetic
and systematized approach to Mercierâs theory of certitude as well as the main
axis of his disagreement with Kantianism, and on the other hand â receive
an in-depth study of the apology of faith in neo-scholasticism
Antropologiczno-egzystencjalne podstawy Josepha Marechala studiĂłw nad mistykÄ
The paper aims at revealing theoretical basis of studies in mysticism conducted
by Belgian Jesuit Joseph Maréchal. It is focused on the key issue of unification of
man and God. This problem has its precisely defined, anthropological and existential
context which in MarĂ©chalâs work comes down to the question on the nature of
the substantial centre of the soul in which this unification shall take place. The paper
argues that in MarĂ©chalâs analysis the centre of the soul, or substantial ego,
equates with the possible intellect and in some cases it might be taken as not only
the ontic basis for acts of cognition, but also for mystical phenomena
DĂ©sirĂ© Merciera ogĂłlna teoria pewnoĆci
Mercier, a founder of a Neo-scholastic Louvain school, showing not only the issues crucial to his philosophy, but also an evolution of an epistemological thought by a Belgian cardinal, based on particular editions of his works and a rich philosophical output. It concerns mainly A general criteriology, Mercierâs main work in which a systematic theory of cognition is derived from Thomas Aquinasâs classical texts, confirming a tomistic epistemology on the paths of a philosophical realism. In its main part, the work consists of the introduction, five chapters and conclusion. The first chapter depicts a historical background against which Mercierâs conception developed, and focuses mainly on the presentation of the programme and the method of an academic activity conducted in the Higher Institute of Philosophy founded in Louvain by Mercier. The second chapter examines an evolution of Mercierâs means of interpretation of a classical definition of truth, and leaves a place for the analysis of three fundamental issues (the three subsequent chapters) which, according to Mercier, define a proper position of a criteriological problem. The first of them (in chapter three) is related to the attitude an intellect should hold towards the issue of certainty. Mercierâs point of view, regarded as âa rational dogmatismâ, is presented in a discussion with the advocates of scepticism and Cartesian standpoint on the one hand, and the representatives of the so called âold dogmatismâ on the other. The second issue (chapter four) concerns the nature of the references in his opinion between its two basic constituents: a subject and predicate, and, thus, it is connected with the first fundamental problem â a synthesis of the subject and predicate, i.e. the question on the status and cognitive value of different kinds of opinion. Before Mercier solves the problem, he polemicises with Immanuel Kantâs position, as well as main theses of a positivist philosophy. Such a polemics, in the case of Kant, relates to the issue of an objective certainty of academic opinions, whereas in the case of positivists, their objective and essential nature. Finally, the third aspect (chapter five) is connected with the problem of an ontic status of notions constituting the subject and predicate in a statement, and, thus, concerns the so called second fundamental issue, i.e. the issue of an objective reality of notions. In his analysis, Mercier attempts to show that cognitive forms giving statements to predicates, possess an objective reality, however, the way he justifies his thesis becomes the subject of a serious philosophical argument. The two most important voices in this argument are represented by Ătienne Gilson, a creator of the conception of a methodological realism on the one hand, and LĂ©on NoĂ«l, Mercierâs student, in favour of a critical direct realism on the other hand. As much as Gilson tries to prove that Mercierâs standpoint is eventually an indirect realism, and, in consequence, an illationism of a Cartesian type, NoĂ«l wants to prove that Mercier is still in a position of a critical direct realism and his conception is based not on illation, but immediatism. A critical analysis of Mercierâs conception shows that it is NoĂ«lâs point of view that is more probable. Mercierâs general theory of certainty is definitely realistic and can be valuable in a discussion with not only contemporary versions of idealism, but also with different branches of a realistic philosophy
Wiara w porzÄ dku "ratio"
When in 1977, in a book entitled At the root of modern atheism, French philo-sopher Marcel Neusch formulated the thesis about the coming of postatheistc age, he probably did not think, that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, atheistic thought reborn in the form of a so-called âânewnewnew atheismâ.atheismâ.atheismâ. Its main representatives: Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel C. Dennett and Sam Harris, takingtaking the position of scientific scientism, attack with a renewed vigor not only all forms of religion, but also skepticism, relativism and epistemological agnosticism. Their main efforts focus on trying to argue that all faith is an act completely irrational, and the non-existence of God can be confirmed by scientific methods. This article is a polemic with the main theses of the new atheists. It shows the actual place of faith in thethe orderorder ofof ratio and discusses the problem of possibility of proving the existence or the non-existence of God
Koncepcja "zjednoczenia upodabniajÄ cego" w mistycznej doktrynie Jana od KrzyĆŒa
The idea of âresembling unificationâ as developed by John of the Cross is broadly
discussed by scholars of his work. The key queries here are not only those of how
this kind of unification, the highest moment of mystical unification possible in
earthly life, is possible in the mysticâs soul, but also what role is played by two fundamental
powers of soul: mind and will. In Johnâs view their tasks are clear: while
unifying with God they turn towards their supernatural objects, which are the virtues
of, respectively, faith and love. Yet, the problem of what is the nature of the
unification thus understood remains unsolved. Is it a kind of intellectual insight or
an experience of emotion and will? How should be understood the âsubstantial
touchesâ in the very heart of the soul which John mentions in the descriptions of
states of the highest unification? Finally, what is the difference between unification
in the substance of the soul and transformation of its powers and is this unification
identical with participation in the life of God itself as John describes it? The aim of
the paper is to answer those questions
Jean Paul Sartre i Karl Rahner w egzystencjalnym sporze o naturÄ wolnoĆci
The first half of the eighties of the twentieth century is associated in history with the death of two great figures of contemporary philosophy and theology: Jean Paul Sartre â a leading representative of French existentialism and Karl Rahner â the au-thor of transcendentally oriented existential theology. Both thinkers exerted a huge influence on the philosophical and theological reflection of their era. Taking as their starting point the necessity of the human freedom, they come to the different conclusions about the nature of man, the status of the subjectivity and the meaning of human destiny. Sartre joined the absurdity of freedom with nothingness and awe. Rahner saw in it a gift of hope and revelation of the Absolute. How could they come to such different conclusions? What made, that despite a similar starting point, their understanding of freedom is so different? This article reconstructs and compares the main lines of reasoning of both thinkers. It also attempts to answer, what is the reason of their different approach to the problem of freedom
The Mission of Catholics in the Modern World According to Benedict XVIâs Encyclical Caritas in Veritate. An Analytical Study
Benedict XVIâs encyclical Caritas in Veritate is by
many commentators of his pontificate marginalized
and considered a weak point of the teaching
of the Pope. It is accused of more pastoral than
social nature, naivety, and even some daydreaming.
Unfairly. Paradoxically, what is disclosed
as its weakness, after careful reading may prove
to be its strength. This article aims to show that
Caritas in Veritate can be read according to three
key concepts: understanding, loving, action. These
terms define some interdependent layers of the
encyclical, and their skillful interpretation allows
to extract from the text of the Pope an interesting
vision of the mission of Catholics in the todayâs
world