Ars Disputandi

Robson's book is an exercise in philosophical theology that is noteworthy for its engagement of contemporary Analytic metaphysics of modality, themes from Pragmatist and Process thought and concerns of Christian tradition without being slavishly beholden to any of them. ...

In a time of darkening environmental prospects, frightening religious fundamentalism, and moribund liberalism, the remarkable and historically unprecedented rise of religious environmentalism is a profound source of hope. Theologians are recovering marginalized nature-honoring elements of traditional religions and forging bold new theologies connecting devotion to God and spiritual truth with love for God's creation and care for the Earth. Further, these innovative ideas are giving rise to far-reaching political action. The successes and significance of religious environmentalism are manifest in statements by leaders of virtually all the world's religions, in new and 'green' forms of prayer and ritual, in comprehensive religiously motivated criticisms of modern society's economy, politics, and culture, and in solid contributions to real world environmental struggles. A Greener Faith chronicles the promises of this critically important movement, illuminating its f...

The notion of an infinitely perfect being was a core presupposition of the Scholastic and late medieval period. How did God become a problem in modern thought? Clayton here offers a one-volume history of philosophical theology from the dawn of the modern period through most of German Idealism. In particular, he shows how early modern approaches from Descartes to Leibnitz were dominated by a medieval metaphysics of perfection that was unable to survive the growth of modern science and the challenges raised by Kant. The Spinozistic tradition of the infinite God, by contrast, offers a viable response to these challenges. The book culminates with the fusion of Spinoza and German Idealism in the panentheism of Friedrich Schelling’s Essay on Freedom.

In this book, a group of renowned international scholars seek to discern the ways in which Simone Weil was indebted to Plato, and how her provocative readings of his work offer challenges to contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality. This is the first book in twenty years to systematically investigate Weil's Christian Platonism. The opening essays explore what actually constitutes Weil's Platonism. Louis Dupre addresses the Platonic and Gnostic elements of her thought with respect to her negative theology, and the Christian Platonism of her positive theology as found in her reflections on beauty and the Good. Michel Narcy provides a close historical reading of Weil and discusses the degree to which her teacher Alain influenced her Platonism. Michael Ross contends that Weil's interest in Plato is in "ethical Platonism." Essays by Robert Chenavier and by Patrick Patterson and Lawrence Schmidt consider the importance of matter and materialism in Weil&#39...

Learned, even sophisticated is Michelle Kosch's study on freedom and reason in Kant, Schelling and Kierkegaard. She endeavours to examine the early history of the idea that moral agency is self-legislating through the lens of one of its central difficulties, that of accounting for the ...

Stoic philosophy has been charged with an inconsistency insofar as its deterministic worldview appears to conflict with its advocacy of various methods of self-discipline aiming at self-improvement. It is, some claim, self-contradictory to hold persons responsible for adhering to counsel regarding their behavior and attitude if forces beyond their control ultimately determine that their behavior and attitude will not conform to counsel. In this paper, I argue that this complaint is misguided. Though several Stoic philosophers attempted to reconcile their determinism with some conception of free will, I contend that the Stoics should have (or at least could have) rejected the doctrine of free will while defending Stoic counsel and its efficacy for producing a well-ordered mind, virtuous character, and a life of harmony with Nature.

Avec le soutien de la Société des études médiévales du Québec, du Département d'histoire de l'Université de Montréal et du Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche sur les religions et les spiritualités de l'Université de Montréal XX e colloque annuel de la Société des études médiévales du Québec Le samedi 26 mars 2022 À l'Université de Montréal 3200 Jean-Brillant, B-0245 DISPUTATIO MONTIS REGII Conférencière invitée: Bénédicte Sère (Université Paris Ouest-Nanterre) « Le récit et l'archive : histoire de l'Église et modernité politique »

Questo scritto intende contribuire a rispondere a un bisogno reale. È infatti facilmente constatabile la difficoltà che gli studenti incontrano nel momento in cui si trovano costretti, spesso dopo molti anni, a riprendere la penna in mano per realizzare la propria tesi di laurea o un qualsiasi elaborato di una certa complessità. Si tratta di una difficoltà che non deriva soltanto dalla mancanza di "pratica". Per lo più essa nasce dall'incapacità o dall'impreparazione a sviluppare organicamente i propri pensieri, ad argomentare rigorosamente e consequenzialmente le proprie convinzioni, a condurre scientemente un discorso che abbia un principio, uno sviluppo e una fine. Nel fornire alcune indicazioni sull'organizzazione di un lavoro scientifico e sulla preparazione di una tesi o tesina, non ci sembra tuttavia opportuno cercare di ovviare a queste lacune suggerendo degli accorgimenti tecnici che facilitino la scelta dell'argomento, la ricerca del materiale, la definizione di un piano di lavoro, la stesura e le successive redazioni. Per questi scopi esistono fin troppi opuscoli e manuali, a partire dal note libretto di Umberto Eco, Come si fa una tesi di laurea. Quello che qui interessa è presentare un metodo che insegni a costruire il proprio lavoro con sistematicità e coerenza, che consenta di problematizzare le proprie conoscenze e di giustificare le proprie conclusioni, che, favorendo l'ordinamento della propria ricerca, permetta al tempo stesso di conferirvi la massima criticità ed esaustività. Il metodo che proponiamo di utilizzare è quello scolastico della quaestio servendoci come modello di un "articolo" della Summa theologica di Tommaso d'Aquino. La scelta non è casuale, né conseguenza di nostalgie mal dissimulate. La dialettica medievale è strutturata proprio in modo da congiungere armoniosamente in sé sistematicità e criticità. L'"articolo", che ne costituisce una delle espressioni più caratteristiche, ci presenta un esempio efficace di come possa essere posto, affrontato e risolto un problema teorico quale dovrebbe essere quello oggetto di una tesi o tesina universitaria.

This book expands the discourse in contemporary debate on Analytical Thomism. It explores crucial philosophical, theological and ethical issues such as: metaphysics and epistemology, the nature of God, personhood, action and meta-ethics. All those interested in the thought of St Thomas Aquinas, and more generally contemporary Catholic scholarship, problems in philosophy of religion, and contemporary metaphysics, will find this collection an invaluable resource.

The objections to which Gellman responds are (in order of appearance): 1) the argument that mystical experiences (ME's) have little or no evidential value because, unlike sense perception, these experiences have 'private'content and are not susceptible to ...

Learned, even sophisticated is Michelle Kosch's study on freedom and rea- son in Kant, Schelling and Kierkegaard. She endeavours to examine 'the early history of the idea that moral agency is self-legislating through the lens of one of its central difficulties, that of accounting for the ...

... Mark Wynn has suggested to me that Shedd's rejection of Odo's view might have more to do with his fear that Odo says too much about the nature of traducianism, whereas Augustine recognises that traducianism is inherently mysterious and wisely refrains from elaborating the ...