Philosophy and Theology

Traditionally, it was a preserve of higher institutions of learning to provide quality education. The nitty-gritty of how the quality of education was controlled, managed, audited and assured was not so much of public talk. As rightly observed by Trow (1996), before concern rose; there would be general trust in higher education institutions and academics (Professors) that would know what to do and how to do it. Today the question of quality is in public domain, giving rise to the question of quality assurance. Brockerhoff et al (2015, p.3) recognizes that in the western world the increased attention to quality in higher education dates back from mid 1980s on. At the heart of every academic institution is the pursuit of quality. Teaching and learning in higher educational institutions therefore has as its cardinal focus the quality of the products. Quality education guarantees public confidence in higher education and resolves the dilemma of irrelevant graduates to the needs of the society. It is ideal then to ensure that an overseer committee for quality assurance is established in every institution of higher learning. However, it is most probable that the success of quality control measures factored in will largely depend on the budgetary allocation and the good will of the implementers. The question still remains, “why is the public enthusiastic today, more than ever, on quality in higher education?” This paper seeks to assess the enthusiasm of the public today on quality assurance in higher education  and the challenges faced in guaranteeing quality education in institutions of higher learning with reference to Katigondo National Major Seminary.
Key terms: Assessment, Quality, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Quality Audit, Academic standards, Higher education.

Inhalt
Christoph Binkelmann: Enthusiasmus und Skepsis. Das europäische Pendel
Burkhard Nonnenmacher: Kants Postulatenlehre als Prüfstein für Heideggers »These der neuzeitlichen Ontologie«?
Günter Zöller : Ex aliquo nihil. Fichtes Anti-Kreationismus
Kai U. Gregor: Eine Kritik innerhalb der Grenzen der Vernunft. Wilhelm Weischedels Grundlegungsversuch einer Philosophischen Theologie im Zeitalter des Nihilismus und ein Gedanke Fichtes
Marco Rampazzo Bazzan: Die Staatslehre Fichtes unter dem Aspekt der
politischen Theologie nach Carl Schmitt
Cristiana Senigaglia: Die Spur der Andersheit: Fichte und Levinas
Detlev Pätzold Hegels Philosophie der Religion: Die Stellung der Religion zwischen Kunst und Philosophie
Arthur Kok: Absoluter Geist und Schöpfung. Jan Hollaks neothomistische Hegelkritik
Kazimir Drilo: Kritik des religiösen Bewusstseins. Falk Wagners theologische Interpretation von Hegels »Wissenschaft der Logik«
Jakub Kloc-Konkołowicz: »Der Mensch lebt in zwei Welten […]«. Religion und Staat in Hegels Ansicht und in der heutigen Debatte
Elena Ficara: Der ontologische Gottesbeweis bei Hegel und in der analytischen Philosophie 
Robert Marszałek: Die Gegenwart der Religionslehre des mittleren Schelling
Mildred Galland-Szymkowiak Philosophie und Religion bei K.W.F. Solger.
Ein Beitrag zur nachkantischen Frage nach dem Prinzip der Philosophie
Patrick Grüneberg: Der transzendentale Gott
Wibke Rogge: Emmanuel Lévinas: Über die Beziehung des Unendlichen zum Seienden als Gemeinschaft in der Trennung
Ansgar Lyssy : Darwin, Gott und Neurotheologie. Was können uns die Biowissenschaften über die Religion sagen?

In this paper I will discuss St. Maximus’ understanding of the role of sense perception (αϊσθησις), reason (λόγος), and intelligence (νοΰς) in the soul’s ascension to God in which knowledge of the whole of His creation is lifted up along with the soul in the state restored by and reconciled with God.  Of course, behind the soul’s ascension to God lies the work of the Incarnate Word (Λόγος) who lifts the whole creation with Him and returns it back to God.  Here I will limit myself to the side of the human logos as restored and reconciled with God.  If sense, reason, and the intellect that philosophers speak of are the fallen human faculties; St. Maximus speaks of them in the state of their restoration, in the way in which they are meant to be and are supposed to function in accordance with their own nature before they were subjected to the fall.  To elaborate St. Maximus’ Christian epistemology I just summarized, I will discuss his interpretations of the two biblical passages: Peter’s vision at Joppa and the Transfiguration at Mount Tabor.

Philosophical theology is the study of the conditions, forms, claims and significance of religious faith with methods and approaches characteristic of philosophy. It may be understood in one of three overlapping senses: to denote philosophical prolegomena to theology; approaches within theology that prioritize sources and methods independent of revelation; and a field within theology partly co-extensive with systematic theology.
This encyclopaedia article briefly sets out the uses of 'philosophical theology', the history of the field, and key areas of study.

Starting from the recovery of Blessed Antonio Rosmini’s thinking, acted by Roman Magisterium, and inspired by the main assumptions of the Radical Orthodoxy, the paper aims to describe the proposal of this Italian thinker as a very fruitful example to renew the way in which we have to understand the right relationship between Philosophy and Theology. In particular, the paper examines the relationship between nature and grace to show the real basis to think the more studied relationships between Philosophy and Theology and Reason and Faith. The phenomenological-metaphysical sensibility of Rosmini’s argumentation, the fidelity to the Augustinian and Thomistic tradition and the dialogue with modern philosophers – in the perspective to overcome their conclusions – are the main characteristics of this important witness of the Christian thinking for post-modern and, possibly, post-secular age. Because of this potentiality, finally the paper underlines how can be challenging to read the works of the Blessed thorough the lenses of Radical Orthodoxy’s hermeneutics, which aims to deconstruct the modern literary genres, called “Philosophy” and “Theology”.

The defects and blank spaces of language are a challenge for any theology that sees itself as a linguistic reflection of faith. If theology pretends to speaking with any philosophical relevance, it must respect these gaps. Hermeneutics and deconstruction offer philosophical ways of analysing these linguistic gaps present in theology. In this way, they can integrate the linguistic turn of philosophy into theology. The hermeneutical theology of the 20th century is at an impasse. Insofar as deconstruction carries critically different elements of the linguistic philosophy of hermeneutics forward, it provides theology with new opportunities to reflect on its own linguistic structure.

Una característica peculiar de la filosofía es que tiene la capacidad y la necesidad de plantearse la pregunta acerca de su propia naturaleza. Con el estudio titulado Naturaleza y misión de la filosofía en el pensamiento de Joseph Ratzinger procuro participar en el diálogo filosófico en torno a la naturaleza y la misión de la filosofía.

La tesis consta de cuatro partes. En la primera se realiza un análisis minucioso de las dos grandes investigaciones académicas de Joseph Ratzinger: su tesis doctoral sobre Agustín y su texto de habilitación sobre Buenaventura. Sostengo que en aquellas investigaciones se pueden identificar dos formas de entender la filosofía, las cuales pueden parecer incompatibles a primera vista, pero en realidad subrayan aspectos distintos de una misma actividad. Por una parte, la filosofía se entiende como una búsqueda personal de la sabiduría, en la que la atención está puesta sobre el sujeto que procura descubrir el sentido de su vida a partir de unas coordenadas existenciales concretas; por otra, la filosofía se refiere más bien a la búsqueda de una verdad ontológica, racional y universal, que trascienda los espacios subjetivos de la conciencia del filósofo. De aquí se derivan las próximas dos secciones de la tesis, en las que investigo el desarrollo y la naturaleza de estas dos dimensiones de la filosofía: la subjetiva-personal y la objetiva-ontológica.

En la segunda parte estudio la orientación antropológica del concepto de filosofía de Ratzinger. Muestro cómo el teólogo bávaro coloca la estructura dramática de la existencia humana en el centro de la búsqueda de la verdad. El sentido de lo humanum se convierte en el criterio definitivo para comprender el significado y la misión de la filosofía. El tercer capítulo, por su parte, se dedica a la dimensión objetiva-ontológica del pensamiento filosófico. Propongo que la verdad a la que se orienta la filosofía tiene tres rasgos: es ontológica, racional y universal. A su vez, sugiero que para Ratzinger la fe cristiana consiste en una postura existencial que puede entenderse como la opción más radical y decidida a favor de la verdad filosófica. La relación tan íntima entre la fe cristiana y la filosofía –incluidas sus dos dimensiones– es el tema de la cuarta parte del trabajo. En ella muestro que la filosofía y la teología se necesitan mutuamente y se equivocan con consecuencias funestas cuando se repudian entre sí. Particularmente importante es la propuesta de que la filosofía tiene que abrirse a la revelación, es decir, tiene que ir más allá de sí misma si quiere responder a su vocación originaria.

Por último, como parte de las conclusiones, dedico una pequeña sección a mostrar cómo la idea de filosofía de Ratzinger, arraigada en lo que algunos han llamado su logocentrismo, permite articular una visión del mundo que facilita avanzar hacia las grandes síntesis que busca el pensamiento humano.

The article looks at the influences on Gregory of Nyssa's apophatic theology, and shows how the polemics with the neo-Arian Eunomius and later also with Origen influenced his notions of God's infinity and the infinity of human spiritual progress. It focuses on the relationship between revelation in words and in silence, between participatory knowledge of God and participatory unknowing of God, the kind of darkness that, according to Gregory leads towards restoration, and thus carries on the graced human journey of deification.

The current landscape of virtue epistemology is ripe with possibilities for theological engagement and appropriation. Constructively speaking, Maximus the Confessor (580–662 ce) is a fitting example of this kind of intersection. In terms of mapping the cognitive economy of the spiritual life, he draws attention to virtuous and contemplative practices that enable the intellect to attain its proper end (divine likeness) and acquire the related epistemic goods. Accordingly, this chapter shows how the virtues, for Maximus, contribute to the formation of a deep and abiding desire for the relevant epistemic goods (e.g. contemplation of God in and through nature, illumination of divine truths, wisdom, and perceptual knowledge of God) as well as playing a supportive role in the pursuit of them. It also offers briefly some concluding reflections concerning Maximus’s pairing of virtue and knowledge, and identifies a few areas of enquiry that warrant further work and development.

Keywords: Maximus the Confessor, praktike, theoria, epistemic goods, virtue, love, positive epistemic orientation

The critique of ontology defined twentieth-century philosophy in both the Anglo-American and the European traditions. In Europe, the most generative form of this critique was phenomenology’s commitment to drawing the limits of human knowledge from within human experience. Theological responses to this critique have often centred on a phenomenology of human desire which, for de Lubac, C.S. Lewis and others, naturally breaks open the immanent realm in the pursuit of its supernatural end in God. These responses have been ontologically rooted in accounts (whether neo-Platonic or analogical in emphasis) of participation in the Trinitarian ground of being.
This work of re-constructing an ontology of finite reality by participation in the Trinity is vital but precarious. One persistent risk is insufficient attention to the force of phenomenology’s account of human temporality and mortality as conditions that cannot simply be outpaced towards participation in plenitude. Participatory ontology, in other words, is too often over-realized eschatology. This short paper argues that the phenomenological critique demands an eschatological turn in Trinitarian ontology: a theology of participation that takes more seriously the eschatological preliminariness of human knowing and being.

The principle of articulation is a basic type of presupposition of human reason that allows the systematization of knowledge in general and of theological knowledge in particular. It is the structuring element in any theological system. In Adventist theology, the identification of the principle has been problematic. Adventist theology has usually claimed to operate based on the sola Scriptura principle but this claim has not avoided multiple interpretations of the articulating principle, usually conceptualized as a center. Adventist theologians in recent times have proposed different interpretations of the principle of articulation, based on micro (exegetical) or meso (doctrinal-theological) hermeneutical approaches. This study, however, discusses the topic from the macro hermeneutical perspective that involves the ontological and epistemological presuppositions underlying the diverse interpretations of the principle in Adventism.
This study purposes to (1) explain phenomenologically the principle of articulation and its basic components in theology; (2) analyze and evaluate in the light of the sola Scriptura principle the various interpretations of the principle of articulation in current Adventist theology, considering their possible connections with Christian tradition; and (3) propose an interpretation of the principle of articulation for Adventist theology that aims to be more consistent with sola Scriptura.
Chapters 1 points out to the multiple proposed centers in Adventist theology and suggests facing the issue from the epistemological perspective of the concept of principle of articulation. Chapter 2 works as a methodological chapter that offers a phenomenological description of the principle of articulation in theological systems and expands the methodological considerations of Chapter 1. Chapter 3 reviews the main models of interpretation of the principle of articulation in Christian tradition, and the interpretation of the principle among Adventist pioneers, providing a useful background to understand the plurality of interpretations in Adventist theology. Chapter 4 discusses the three main models of interpretation of the principle of articulation in Adventist theology: evangelical Adventist model, modern Adventist model, and Adventist theodicy model. The chapter offers a critical evaluation of each model at the level of the macro hermeneutical presuppositions, in light of the sola Scriptura principle. Chapter 5 proposes a biblical systematic interpretation of the principle of articulation where Christ performs the articulating role between God and the world-humanity—the entire reality—through the sanctuary structural pattern of relationship. Chapter 6 summarizes the findings and offers general conclusions and recommendations.

Introduction
Part One: Seeing.
(Bruegel Allegory 1)

1. The Metaphysical Chiasm
2. The Existential Chiasm
3. The Aesthetically Chiasm

Part Two: Hearing.
(Bruegel Allegory 2)
4. Figures of Silence: Prelude
5. Language beyond Difference and Otherness: Interlude
6. The Interrupted Self: Postlude

Part Three: Touching.
(Bruegel Allegory 3)
7. Touch Me, Touch Me Not
8. The Sabbath of Experience.

Notes,
Bibliography,
Index

Dottorato in Filosofia Seminario permanente di Storia della filosofia.
Teologia politica e democrazia moderna (Quaccheri inglesi, vignetta, c. 1656) GAETANO LETTIERI Un dispositivo cristiano nell'idea di democrazia? 28 febbraio, aula II, ore 16.30-18.30.
Gli incontri si svolgeranno sia in presenza (con obbligo di green pass e di prenotazione) sia a distanza sulla piattaforma Meet: https://meet.google.com/evn-vwnf-twv

Against Leo Strauss' claim that St. Thomas Aquinas' doctrine of the immutability of natural law proceeds from his natural or sacred theology, this essay argues that the true difference between Aquinas' view and the one which Strauss imputes to Aristotle lies in the fact that St. Thomas understands natural law in terms of the whole of human nature, whereas Strauss' Aristotle resolves it to the common good of the city.

This paper aims to distinguish the notions of Trinitarian theology and Christian philosophy from the notion of Trinitarian ontology, while preserving their intrinsic relationship. In particular, the author presents the concept of Trinitarian ontology – starting from two definitions of Piero Coda – as a “tertium” grounded in philosophy and theology and in a reciprocal relationship with them.

E. Pili, L'ontologia trinitaria: che cosa "non" è?, in «Sophia», IX (1/2017), pp. 47-57

Martin Heidegger is the 20th century theology philosopher with the greatest importance to theology. A cradle Catholic originally intended for the priesthood, Heidegger's studies in philosophy led him to turn first to Protestantism and then to an atheistic philosophical method. Nevertheless, his writings remained deeply indebted to theological themes and sources, and the question of the nature of his relationship with theology has been a subject of discussion ever since.

This book offers theologians and philosophers alike a clear account of the directions and the potential of this debate. It explains Heidegger's key ideas, describes their development and analyses the role of theology in his major writings, including his lectures during the Nazi era. It reviews the reception of Heidegger's thought both by theologians in his own day (particularly in Barth and his school as well as neo-Scholasticism) and more recently, suggesting throughout  directions for theology's possible future engagement with Heidegger's work.

This article refutes several theological and philosophical objections against the classical correspondence theory of truth, and shows that alternative theories (i.e. pragmatism, coherence theory, verificationism, relativism) cannot replace it. While defending the correspondence theory of truth, this article explains how the doctrine of creation also enables us to take into account the personal and plural dimensions of all human knowledge and thus reach a richer understanding of the classical view.

In the Catholic Church, the main goals of marriage are love and procreation. All other goals flow from these two. In the African context, it seems that the latter is emphasized more than the former to the extent that, sometimes, procreation as a goal of marriage overshadows love. This explains why most childless African Christian couples suffer social pressure and stigma for their inability to conceive. African theologians have looked at the matter but often with divided opinions: some leaning more towards the African traditional view while others towards the Catholic teaching. While acknowledging the tough situation that most African Christian childless couples go through, this article argues that altering the Christian teaching on marriage to suit the African tradition perspective would not in itself solve the problem. The article contends that the solution can be found in the Christian teaching itself while building on some aspects of African traditional marriage.

In this paper I have tried to show that Philo's attitude to knowledge precludes the possibility of Descartes cogito. For Philo it iwould be absurd to involve an artificial distinction between the human self and its metaphysical rootedness in God, only to re-estabish it later. It is exactly what Descartes will do.

Teniendo en cuenta las sugerencias de la Encíclica «Fides et Ratio» (1998) y del «Decreto de reforma de los estudios eclesiásticos de filosofía» (2011) se esbozan algunas razones de la importancia de la filosofía en la formación sacerdotal. La filosofía ayuda en la búsqueda de la verdad, para educar el sentido crítico y para estructurar la mente. Se subraya que la razón humana es condición y momento constitutivo de la fe y se expone por qué la filosofía es indispensable para la formación teológica. Finalmente se incide en la importancia de la
filosofía en la vida del sacerdote como pastor.

This article analyzes the philosophical background of Schleiermacher’s doctrine of redemption. The two philosophical strands of dialectic Neoplatonism and Romanticism form the basis of Schleiermacher’s soteriology, in which Christ’s redemption is seen not just as an act to liberate from sin, but the fulfillment of the coincidentia oppositorum (the coincidence of opposites) between the finite (individual) and the Infinite (the whole) within the dynamic dialectical interrelationship between them. By participating in Christ’s perfect God-consciousness through receptivity to “absolute dependence,” the individual experiences redemption. In its philosophical context, Schleiermacher’s soteriology may be labeled as Christ-Centered Dialectic-Neoplatonic-Romantic-Soteriology.

Aunque no pueda probar la existencia del pecado de Adán, la razón es capaz de explicar la racionalidad del misterio del pecado original. La filosofía moderna, de Rousseau a Hegel, refleja las repercusiones teóricas y prácticas de la negación de la historicidad del primer pecado: o bien se hace a Dios autor del mal, o bien se niega que la humanidad sufra las consecuencias de una rebelión. En el primer caso, el mal formaría parte de la naturaleza humana y sería insuperable. En el segundo, el hombre se vuelve autónomo y artífice de la utopía de una sociedad perfecta. El artículo analiza algunas distinciones que la filosofía aporta y que son necesarias para que la noción de pecado original no parezca algo absurdo, sino más bien plausible.

Abstract
This contribution reconstructs the main mechanisms and issues at stake in the recourse to the figure of Giordano Bruno among the trio formed by Victor Cousin (1792-1867), Émile Saisset (1814-1863) and Théophile Desdouits (1836-1898). Each of the three claimed to be a “spiritualist”. As leader of the clan, Cousin established a framework within which Bruno’s philosophy provided a strong conception of the necessary demarcation between philosophy and theology. But while Saisset, Cousin’s faithful pupil, focuses on the potential tyranny of the latter towards the former, Desdouits who intervenes in the debate almost twenty years after Cousin’s death, turns the tables and redirects the accusation. Of tyranny against the modus operandi of the Cousin historian of philosophy. The focus on this trio at work thus makes it possible to show, over a period of forty years, of the mobilization of Bruno is a means, for three spiritualists to distinguish themselves from one another, based on their position with regard to philosophical atheism, on the one hand. And Roman dogmatic authority -historically symbolized by the Inquisition- on the other. The Bruno case thus becomes part of a reflection, decisive for understanding our philosophical modernity, on the limits (extend and boundaries) of philosophy itself, in relation to theology, and on the practical and political issues that circumscribe these limits.




Résumé
Cette contribution restitue les principaux mécanismes et les enjeux du recours à la figure de Giordano Bruno dans le trio formé par Victor Cousin (1792-1867), Émile Saisset (1814-1863) et Théophile Desdouits (1836-1898). Chacun des trois se revendique comme « spiritualiste ». En tant que chef de clan, Cousin pose un cadre dans lequel Bruno sert une conception forte de la démarcation nécessaire entre philosophie et théologie. Mais alors que Saisset, son fidèle élève, se focalise sur la tyrannie potentielle de la seconde envers la première, Desdouits, qui intervient dans le débat presque vingt ans après la mort de Cousin, inverse le curseur et retourne l’accusation de tyrannie contre le modus operandi du Cousin historien de la philosophie. La focalisation sur ce trio au travail permet ainsi de montrer, sur une quarantaine d’années, en quoi la mobilisation de Bruno est un moyen pour les spiritualistes de se démarquer entre eux, à partir de leurs prises de positions à l’égard de l’athéisme philosophique, d’une part, et de l’autorité dogmatique romaine, symbolisée historiquement par l’Inquisition, d’autre part.
Le cas Bruno devient alors partie prenante d’une réflexion, décisive pour l’intelligence de notre modernité philosophique, sur les limites (étendue et bornes) de la philosophie elle-même, par rapport à la théologie, et sur les enjeux pratiques et politiques de la circonscription de ces limites, dans une conjoncture nous menant aux Lois Ferry sur la laïcité de l’enseignement.

Mots-clés : Panthéisme ; Philosophie (limites de) ; Raison ; Religion ; Spiritualisme ; Théologie.

The author  aims in the book to defend the role of philosophy in
theological studies. In the form of a textbook he seeks to reconcile – as he says – “two enemies” and to show the usefulness of philosophy for
theological studies, especially in the context of Evangelical theology.
Hanes avoids extreme positions of rejecting or adoring philosophy and
shows how a critically constructive approach can be adopted by students of theology towards the philosophical sphere of knowledge

On se représente couramment Descartes comme un philosophe rationaliste qui prend la pensée humaine comme point de départ de toute connaissance. En particulier, la connaissance de Dieu semble venir après la connaissance de soi. Cet article examine la place précise que Descartes attribue à Dieu dans son système philosophique tel qu’il le
présente dans son Discours de la méthode et ses Méditations métaphysiques. Tout en confirmant en partie l'image reçue de Descartes, l'étude de ces textes révélera des zones de tension dans la pensée de Descartes. Par moments, on constate une conscience étonnamment aiguë du rôle fondamental que joue Dieu pour la connaissance humaine. Le doute lui-même (ou plus précisément la possibilité de le reconnaître comme tel) semble être lié à l’existence de Dieu. Ainsi, Descartes témoigne (peut-être contre son gré) du fait qu’aucune connaissance finie n’est possible sans être ancrée dans l’Infini.

"The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur - this is the program with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time" (Benedict XVI)
This study begins with a detailed historical reconstruction of the relationship between faith and reason from the particular point of view of the Catholic Magisterium. It then considers how Catholic thought has dealt with this question. In reconsidering the relationship between faith and reason, it suggests a key understanding based on the concept of truth as "meaning"; in this way reason is conceived as a "sought meaning" and faith as a "given meaning." This idea, united with the necessary presupposition of Truth as a horizon of both Reason and Faith, suggests new ways for a fruitful dialogue between faith and reason in the postmodern age - an age in which a reductive concept of reason and an inadequate idea of faith seem to prevail.

An important strand in Aristotle’s anthropological thinking concerns the conviction that human beings have something in common with divine entities: although they are bodily beings they have a share in thinking or reasoning. For Aristotle, the conditio humana is characterized by the fusion of the bodily nature on the one side and their intellectual, god-like nature on the other. In his famous discussion of the two best forms of living, i.e. the theoretical life and political life, Aristotle derives a preference for the life of theory from the perfectionist principle that men should live “in accordance with the best in them”, i.e. in accordance with their capacity to reason. At the same time he says that this is the divine way of living. Taken together these two assumptions seem to apply that Aristotle adheres to a version of the Platonic “homoiosis toi theoi – becoming like a god” – although he sometimes relativizes this principle by pointing to the competing principle that we should live in accordance with what is peculiar to human beings, i.e. the combination of bodily and intellectual existence.
The present paper draws on the anthropological remarks in De Caelo II.12, were Aristotle memorably compares planets to human beings; both, he says, carry out the greatest number of movements or actions, because both of them can reach the best possible condition, while other celestial bodies or inferior animals cannot. This is telling with regard to Aristotle’s anthropological assumptions. For human beings, there are great things to aspire to (they can even manage to temporarily partake in the divine kind of being if they manage to perform their capacity to reason and to theorize very well); however, this is an ambitious end requiring many steps and efforts. And the more steps they have to take in order to reach what is the best for them, the more they expose themselves to the risk of failure.