The power of love: The spiritual foundations of chaplaincy in Catholic universities – A framework for discussion

This article delineates the foundational theological principles upon which a Catholic Higher Education chaplaincy devoted to the spiritual development of staff and students might rest. We claim that this is a key dimension of chaplaincy work. In a (post)modern culture where staff and students exhibit a range of beliefs or none, we offer a broad definition of spirituality not necessarily tied to religion and construct a framework which might appeal to a wide cross section of people attending Catholic Universities. It examines how the insights and guidance of two French Catholic writers, the 16th century priest St. Francis de Sales and the contemporary philosopher Jean-Luc Marion, offer a basis for understanding what constitutes a spiritual approach to life. We suggest that their emphases on the power of love, the heart, God’s glory, imago Dei and gift constitute a ground of hope and stable base from which spiritual progress might take place. We also outline how this template challenges the emphasis on autonomous agency at the centre of much educational discourse at the present time.

The Historian

This chapter focuses on the historian of philosophy. There is a certain amount of historical evidence in the case of philosophy, mainly in the form of texts, or rather copies thereof, but also of inscriptions or even of archaeological remains. The historian has to collect this evidence, evaluate it, and reconstruct, on its basis, a history which is sufficiently supported by it to make it difficult, if not impossible, to think of an equally plausible, or even more plausible, account that fits the evidence as well. The difficulty is not only that it has become a matter of considerable controversy whether there actually is one characteristic way in which historians ought to go about their business and which way this may be. It also should give one pause for thought that, in fact, general historians do not write history of philosophy. This suggests that the historiography of philosophy is not just a matter of applying the historical method to a particular history. Clearly, the most important point here is that it takes some special competence to write the history of a discipline. Having the competence of a contemporary philosopher allows one to tell which arguments are acceptable and which are not.

THE PROBLEM OF VALUES IN PSYCHIATRY: A CONTRIBUTION OF PHILOSOPHY TO MEDICAL EDUCATION

Even though medical ethics has recently become a rather prominent area in healthcare, there are still institutions in some European countries where mentally ill patients are treated inhumanely. In order to help abolish such institutions, it is fundamental to further emphasize human ethics and ensure that it is duly taken into account – where necessary – medical education. A deep philosophical analysis of how we can improve medical education through appropriate modern approaches has been done. Prior research has shown that implementing what we call a holistic model grounded on interdisciplinarity into higher education significantly improves and deepens the level of knowledge. Basing on the importance of educational constructivism and the integration of history and philosophy of science in science education, there is a potential to improve medical education. The research aims to present a philosophical and historical reflection on psychiatry and to provide the guidelines to improve medical education. In particular, it is discussed the problem of value-ladenness in psychiatry from two different perspectives. The first, developed by the contemporary philosopher Rachel Cooper, points out how this commitment to values not only generates questions regarding the definition and the characterization of mental disorders, but also influences the epistemology of psychiatry in empirical research and methods. The second regards the more continental-influenced philosophical thought of the Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, who succeeded in changing the educational and therapeutic practices in the relationship between health workers and patient. The concept of “meeting” is fundamental to translate Basaglia’s suggestions in new guidelines for contemporary medical education. Keywords: medical education, medical ethics, philosophy of science, science education, value-ladenness in psychiatry

The spirit of experimental socialism

Despite the widespread disenchantment with utopias, contemporary philosopher Axel Honneth argues that socialism still has a future. Honneth’s argument brings to mind late sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who celebrated socialism as the active utopia of the modern epoch and the counter-culture to capitalism. However, while Bauman was disenchanted by the fall of the Soviet Union and almost gave up the very idea of a collective alternative, Honneth proposes a revision of socialism and a revival of its spirit, calling for a post-Marxist logic of historical experimentalism or a post-Marxist spirit of experimental socialism.

Cinema as Spiritual Exercise: Tarkovsky and Hadot

This chapter examines Tarkovsky’s cinema in relation to contemporary philosopher Pierre Hadot’s concept of spiritual exercises. As the chapter demonstrates, each of Tarkovsky’s films could be seen as such spiritual exercises because of numerous parallels with Hadot’s theory: all his protagonists demand of themselves extreme forms of mental concentration, focused on goals that depart from the everyday and can only be seen as metaphysical, and all of them are quixotic seekers passionately involved in spiritually transcendent quests characterized by deep attention to the world around them. Furthermore, the author argues, the viewer’s experience could also serve as an example of Hadot’s idea of how spiritual exercises might be practiced via deepening and transforming habitual perception.

Kryzys, krytyka, mądrość. Kantowskie ujęcie mądrości i jego aktualność

The title concepts of criticism, crisis, and wisdom are taken from the paradigm of Kantian philosophy and are characterised in the development given by the contemporary philosopher Odo Marquard. In this connection I present the relationship between wisdom and thinking in the Enlightenment usage. The call for philosophy to be self-understanding in the sense of the Enlightenment Bildung and the autonomy of science and wisdom sounds particularly strong here. I conclude that philosophy becomes stupidity when it turns into a field that—because of some kind of philosophical fundamentalism—would like to become this one-sided attitude towards reality that eliminates and replaces other attitudes.

Kryzys, krytyka, mądrość. Kantowskie ujęcie mądrości i jego aktualność

The title concepts of criticism, crisis, and wisdom are taken from the paradigm of Kantian philosophy and are characterised in the development given by the contemporary philosopher Odo Marquard. In this connection I present the relationship between wisdom and thinking in the Enlightenment usage. The call for philosophy to be self-understanding in the sense of the Enlightenment Bildung and the autonomy of science and wisdom sounds particularly strong here. I conclude that philosophy becomes stupidity when it turns into a field that—because of some kind of philosophical fundamentalism—would like to become this one-sided attitude towards reality that eliminates and replaces other attitudes.

Salvação do corpo. Sujeito e negatividade a partir da filosofia de Byung-Chul Han

O presente artigo discute a noçao de corpo a partir do filósofo contemporâneo Byung-Chul Han e como ela pode oferecer caminhos para pensar a constituição do sujeito na atualidade. Partiremos da exposição dos conceitos de positividade e negatividade descritos em A Sociedade do Cansaco e em outras obras do autor. Em seguida, abordaremos a relação do corpo com a liberdade e pornografia. Por último, mostraremos como a inserção e o reconhecimento do sujeito em suas relações sociais pode sugerir um caminho possível para ultrapassar o excesso de positividade característico de nossa época. Abstract: This article discusses the notion of body from the contemporary philosopher Byung-Chul Han and how it can offer ways to think about the subject’s constitution today. We will start from the exposition of the concepts of positivity and negativity described in The Burnout Socieity and other works by the author. Next, we will address the relationship of the body to freedom and pornography. Finally, we will show how the subject’s insertion and recognition in his social relations can suggest a possible way to overcome the excess of positivity characteristic of our time.Keywords: Freedom; Pornography; Subject; Transparency.

Punitive Love

While a number of theologians maintain that the motives resting behind God’s love and punitive wrath are often opposed to one another, Chapter 6 argues that God’s just wrath is a facet of His love and that God’s punishment of sinners is an expression of this relentless love. To make this case, it is first contended that God’s creation out of love as well as the ministry of Christ support the notion that God’s love and punitive wrath are fundamentally one. Next, the work of Gregory of Nyssa and the contemporary philosopher R.A. Duff are built upon to construct a communicative model of divine punishment. According to this model, God’s punishment intends to communicate to sinners the censure they deserve, with the aim of persuading these individuals to start down the path of spiritual transformation. In the final section, the communicative theory of divine punishment is applied to the doctrine of hell. There it is suggested that, given the communicative theory, hell is best seen as a place where God tries to reform sinners and enable them to exit hell and join the glorified saints. But, it is shown, this conception of hell does not by itself entail universal salvation.

Confucian Post-Liberalism

This paper reviews parallel attacks on the ethical basis of liberal principles from within and without that tradition, one the Confucian-Kantian perspective of contemporary philosopher Li Zehou 李澤厚 and the other the un-Kantian “post-liberalism” of John Gray. Both reject foundational claims regarding the universality of liberal values and principles while still affirming the universal value of those principles via their practical function in fostering for human flourishing. I point out that Gray’s anti-foundationalist liberalism not only aligns with the Confucian elements of Li Zehou’s theory, but may even be enriched by them.