Characters in Search of Their Author

Ralph Mcinerny

Description

In Characters In Search of Their Author, the Gifford Lectures delivered at the University of Glasgow in 1999-2000, Ralph McInerny discusses natural theology as it can be discussed in the present philosophical climate. The first five lectures ask "Whatever Happened to Natural Theology?", and trace the fate of philosophical efforts to establish the existence and nature of God in modern times. In the second set of lectures, dealing with "The Recovery of Natural Theology," McInerny defends the viability of the philosophical effort against certain dominant trends in contemporary philosophy. It has been the practise of Gifford Lecturers to write a book based on the lectures, often years after the event. This book contains the text of the lectures McInerny actually delivered.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Philosophie moderne
• Philosophie moderne
• Surveys
• Modern
• Religious
• contemporary
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Thomas Aquinas
• Roman Catholic theology
• Modern history
• Thomism
• History
• Obermodern-Zutzendorf
• Thomas d'Aquin

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 06 janvier 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268160135
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 13 Mo

Extrait

Charcter in Searh
of Teir Autor in Search
of Their
Te Giford Lecturs
Glasw
1999-2000
RALPH McINERNY
University of Notre Dame Press
Ntre Dame, Indiana University of Notre Dame Press
Copyright © 2001 by
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
http:/w.undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mc inerny, Ralph M.
Characters in search of their author/ Ralph Mcinerny.
p. cm. - (The Giford Lectures ; 1999-2000) Includes
bibliographical ref rences and index.
ISBN: 978-0-268-02278-5 (paperback) —ISBN : 978-0-268-02261-7 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-268-16013-5 (web pdf)
1. Natural theology. I. Title. II. Series.
BL182 .M37 2000
210-c21
00-010904
∞ The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence
and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines
for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.for
MARIO ENRIQUE SACCHI
Querido amigo
Nox nocti indicat scientiam
Ps. 18*
* Sed tempus noctis est tempus meditationis propter quietem; et ideo in quiete noctis
homo meditatur, et adinvenit multa ex quibus ft sciens, et ideo est tempus scientiae.­
St. ThomasTough giant rins put out the sun,
Here stand I for a sign,
Tough earth be flled with waters dark
My cup is flled with wine.
Tll to the trembling priest that here
Under the delug rod,
One nameless, tattered, broken man
Stood up and drnk to God.
G. K. CHESTERTON Contents
Preface
PART ONE
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO NATURAL THEOLOGY?
1. Personal Prejudice and Natural Theology 3
Believer bring antcedent convictions to the task of naturl theology
But so do non-believers. Does this simply relativize their answer,
making them a fnction of their antecedent convictions?
2. Friends and Foes of Natural Theology 15
Once the position according to which God can be known by natural
reason was oosed by its contrdictory which was suosed to be true.
The Epistemological Trn has led of late to the disaearnce of the
concept of truth.
. Atheism Is Not the Defult Position 293
Gaudium et spes observes that atheism is not the original position.
It is a negation that presuoses an afrmation. Mdern atheism is the
story of the loss of fith. Te loss of faith is a consequence of the starting
point of modern philosophy.
4. Radical Chic 43
Philosophy develops along with its dark twin skepticism. Is the denial
o skepticism merely an option? The dense of frst principles. One
cannot coherently deny that truth is possible.x Contents
. Natural and Supernatural Theology 575
Kierkegaard who denies natural theology and Newman who afrms it
both take the subjective route. If faith is the only way to the truth about
God, fdeism looms. Can the subjective approach avoid fdeism?
PART TWO
THE RECOVERY OF NATURAL THEOLOGY
6. Aspects of Argument 71
If theism is true, atheism is false. Natural theology resides on the
possibility of proving that God eists. Wat can a proof efect?
Proofs lead to the acquisition of a truth, not to a moral change.
7. Intemperate Reasoning 83
Natural theology is an instance of speculative philosophy. How does
speculative thinking difer fom practical? Romans 1:19 suggests a
connection between knowing that God exists and moral change. Tis
does not disturb the distinction beteen the speculative and practical.
8. Truth and Subjectivity 95
Both Kierkegaard and Newman hold that objectivit presupposes
subjectivity. Kierkegaard's defnition of subjective truth applies to
prudential judgments and to the act of divine faith. Does Newman
generalize Aristotle's practical truth across all knowledge?
9. That God Exists 109
Te proof fom motion remains sound and cogent despite progress in our
knowledge of nature. The premises of the proof considered as pre-scientifc
knowledge. Is there an ordinary pre-philosophical knowledge of God?
10. Faith and Reason 121
To know and to believe are radically diferent. Does the notion of
Christian philosophy smudge their diference? Fides et ratio, and three
states of philosophy: pre-Christian, Christian, and post-Christian.
Wy I am a Christian philosopher.
Index 133 Preface
fer I received the invitation to give a series of Giford
Lectures at the University of Glasgow, I perused the vol­Aumes of previous lecturers with renewed interest. It
soon became apparent to me that the usual procedure was this. The lec­
turer delivered his lectures at the appointed time and then a period of
varying length, ofen years, intervened during which the lectures were
prepared fr publication. Since I would be flflling my assignment
when I had reached the allotted three score and ten, I flt it would be
hubristic to assume that I might be given adequate time to fllow this
procedure. Accordingly, I decided to reverse it.
I wrote a book which bears the title Praeambula Fidei, a philo­
sophical book of the usual kind, fll of arguments, exegesis, and docu­
mentation. Its length would have made reading it in Glasgow out of the
question, and its style have guaranteed a soporifc experience to
those who came to the lecture hall. Furthermore, Lord Giford intended
the lectures to be intelligible to a cultivated but non-professional au­
dience and, while the general culture of Scotland permits a more de­
manding style than would be advisable elsewhere, the lectures I gave
struck a lighter note than the book to which I have refrred.
In order to underscore the diferent key in which I am playing vari­
ations on my theme, I gave the actual lectures a title of their own. Those
who fnd them somewhat swif in places, arguments being suggested
rather than developed, may perhaps fnd what they want in Preambula
Fidei when it appears. For in this at least I will mimic the usual proce­
dure, publishing the lectures I actually gave befre publishing the book
on which, sometimes remotely, they are based.
xi xii Preface
I must thank Profssor Alexander Broadie and the other members
of the Giford committee of the University of Glasgow fr the great
honor they paid me in asking me to give these lectures. My stay in Glas­
gow was intellectually stimulating and socially entertaining, and I look
back on it with pleasure and gratitude. I would be remiss indeed if I
did not say how enormously helpful Mrs. Eileen Reynolds was in see­
ing afer the innumerable details involved in making a visiting scholar
feel welcome. She and Mrs. Alice Osberger, Administrative Assistant
of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame, joined
frces, pooling their frmidable resources of efciency. I am gratefl
to them both. To Sir Jimmy Armour, with whom I played Royal Troon,
many thanks fr his generosity and patience. Finally, I want to thank
Stanley Jaki, O.S.B., fr sending me a copy of his history of the Giford
Lectures, Lord Giford and His Lectures, an indispensable book. PART ONE
Whatever Happened
to Natural Theolog?