Ritual and Thought: Spirituality and Method in Philosophy of Religion

This paper outlines a strain of French Spiritualism, a philosophical tradition extending from Maine de Biran, Félix Ravaisson, and Jules Lachelier to their reception in the work of Maurice Blondel and his protégé Henry Duméry. In receiving and transforming this tradition, Blondel and Duméry have helped to provide a distinct philosophical paradigm in philosophy of religion, capable of providing insight into the spiritual nature of the human being, both in how spirituality relates to the advanced stages of religious culture in addition to its primitive presence in spontaneous action. As a tradition consecrated to the study of human consciousness, and the operations of the mind [l’esprit], the French spiritualist tradition provides a rich conceptual matrix for analyzing the nature of human thinking and its relationship to action. In such an analysis of human thought, Maurice Blondel set up a moral psychology and metaphysical anthropology, highlighting how the consciousness of the human being is linked to the objective order of existence, both in its material form and in the intelligible realities behind the nature of existence. This philosophical matrix helps to show how religious practices, through embodied engagement with the material world, are effective at generating a consciousness of metaphysical or transcendent realities. As such, this philosophical paradigm provides the means for constructing a theory of ritual, where ritual acts with symbols and signs may be rendered intelligible as the sensible means for the cognitive expression of spiritual activity.

Maurice Blondel and His Prodigal Children: Phenomenology, Charity, and Metaphysics

This article argues for Maurice Blondel’s paternity in the recent phenomenological work of Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste, and Emmanuel Falque, particularly regarding the relationship between philosophy and theology and the role of charity for the knowledge of God. In addition to reading the phenomenologists as extending and complementing Blondel’s thought, the article notes how Blondel’s project posits metaphysics as an integral aspect to his analysis of the dynamics of human action. What ultimately distinguishes Blondel from his “sons” is that Blondel argues for a “metaphysics to the second power,” a metaphysics based on the simultaneity of being and charity, rather than their opposition.

Henri de Lubac et Maurice Blondel : une rencontre entre philosophie et théologie

Maurice Blondel’s philosophy has had a decisive influence on the theology of Henri de Lubac, but more than an influence, it goes of an encounter and a dialogue between two great Catholic thinkers. This article proposes, over the course of successive encounters and collaborations between Blondel and Lubac, a presentation of Lubac’s reflection in that it extends Blondel’s critique of extrinsicity to the field of theology. This friendship between Lubac and Blondel testifies to the inherent character of the mystical question to both philosophy and theology. This anchoring signifies the Mystery of Christ at work in the gesture of reason and in the understanding of faith. At the same time, Lubac promotes, in philosophy itself, an intelligence through faith. Friendship has not been an empty word with Lubac who openly defended Maurice Blondel on several occasions, and even after Blondel’s death, when Lubac continued to make the philosopher’s thought known by publishing and annotating a large part of his correspondence.

Entre a morte e a vida da ação

Escrevia Maurice Blondel em 1906: “Há muito tempo Platão e Spinoza disseram: ‘a filosofia é a aprendizagem da morte’, ou seja, é a antecipação da vida, da vida que para nós é indivisivelmente conhecimento e ação” (BLONDEL, 1997, p.569). Seguindo uma metodologia dialética e fenomenológica, este trabalho pretende uma aproximação ao significado da filosofia como “aprendizagem da morte” ou “antecipação da vida”, tendo como orientação prioritária o texto da Action (1893) e os dois artigos que compõem Le point de départ de la recherche philosophique (1906). Será explicitada uma caracterização da vida humana como ação e, consequentemente, realização de uma tarefa. Neste ínterim, será elucidada a fenomenologia da ação como a realização da dialética da vontade humana, que deve, ao cabo de um longo processo, colocar o problema “da morte ou vida da ação”, o que corresponderá à própria questão da “morte ou vida da inteligência”, ou melhor, “da vida que para nós é indivisivelmente conhecimento e ação” (BLONDEL, 1997, p. 569).

PENSANDO A PRÁXIS CRISTÃ CONTEMPORÂNEA. CONTRIBUTOS DE MAURICE BLONDEL

O artigo reflete a respeito da ação dos cristãos na contemporaneidade considerando as contribuições do pensamento de Maurice Blondel. Primeiramente, observamos as transformações ocorridas na Idade Moderna e suas influências para a religião cristã. No momento presente, considerado por muitos teóricos como Pós-modernidade, o que era valioso na modernidade passa a ser questionado e outras aceleradas mudanças socioculturais acontecem gerando novos desafios para a fé em Cristo. Então, a partir da vida de Jesus, compreendemos a ação como conteúdo essencial para ser cristão na contemporaneidade. Assim, apresentamos o pensamento fenomenológico de Blondel como sustentação filosófica para propor a práxis cristã hodierna como maneira autêntica da vivência dos ensinamentos de Jesus. Blondel oferece contributos para que a experiência cristã não se torne mera teoria ou lembrança saudosa de um passado de dominação cultural. Ser cristão implica atuar eficazmente no tempo presente tornando a fé um elemento indispensável para o ser humano.

Mystik als Tat? Philosophie und Spiritualität bei Maurice Blondel

Mysticism as Act. Philosophy and Spirituality in Maurice Blondel Mysticism plays a crucial role at the background of Maurice Blondel’s ‘philosophy of action’ (1893). In the years after his main work, his interest for mysticism increases. The discussion about the role of mysticism is even the battlefield of his debate with Jacques Maritain (1882–1973), who criticizes Blondel of allowing in his philosophy a direct contact with the Divine. Maritain does not accuse Blondel of ‘modernism’, but is very close to it. In order to explain his understanding of mysticism, the article outlines the intensive cooperation between Blondel and Henri Bremond (1865–1933). Blondel was of main influence for Bremond’s text on poetry and prayer in which mysticism plays an important role. At the end of the article the role of this discussion on mysticism and philosophy for Blondel’s social philosophy has been elaborated.