Forgotten Theorists of Lithuanian Romanticism: Priest Ignotas Dembinsky

The sluggish development of romantic philosophy research suggests looking back at new sources that have been ignored so far. Priest Ignacy Dembinsky (1800–1869) is a forgotten romantic theorist. He is not only Wilhelm Schlegel’s translator, but also his promoter, commentator, who formulated authentic insights of romantic philosophy. The article focuses on the circumstances of Schlegel’s two-dimensional publication of “Philosophy of Life” (1840), which remained on the subscriber list, raises the hypothesis that the subscription of the work was a large-scale quasi-political patriotic campaign. The direction represented by Dembinsky is attributable to legal catholic romanticism. The latter sought to establish a positive alternative to Enlightenment’s scientism, naturalism, sensualism, one-sided rationalism, based on ideas of compatibility between science and philosophy, philosophy and Revelation. A person should realize freedom in a moral life and strive for the fullness of life – these ideas had refreshing sociopolitical implications in a depressing tsarist reality. Dembinsky polemicized with his local competitor, Florian Bochvic, a representative of a similar direction. The latter episode raises the question of the compatibility of his catholic theological doctrine and his maxims of a romantic philosopher: it is left open. It is hypothesized that the works translated, commented and creatively supplemented by Dembinsky could function as a bridge between the old Polish-speaking philosophy of Lithuania and the beginnings of the current Lithuanian theorization.

Is Presence Always Complicity? An Analysis of Presence, Its Moral Objects, and Scandal in Proximity to Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

Catholic chaplains and clinicians who exercise their vocations in contexts wherein physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia (PAS-E) are legal may need to confront the difficult question of whether or not their presence in proximity to these acts and the processes that govern them is consistent with Catholic ethics. Debate on this question to date has focused on complicit presence and scandal. Drawing on Catholic theological ethics and the vision for end-of-life care espoused in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent letter, Samaritanus Bonus, I argue that some forms of presence in proximity to PAS-E are ethically justifiable. Core to this argument are the three elements of moral action: intention, object, and circumstance, alongside efforts to mitigate the risk of scandal informed by the teaching of Aquinas.

Slovenian Friars Minor’s Efforts for Dialogue with Muslims

The point of departure of the article are the Catholic theological foundations for interreligious dialogue written at the Second Vatican Council. The documents of the last church Council encourage Pope Francis to imitate the Poor from Assisi, whose name he chose when he was elected Pope. On the occasion of his visit to Abu Dhabi, for the first time after the conquests of Islam, he celebrated Holy Mass on the Arabian Peninsula and assured Muslim leaders that he was coming to visit them as a brother. He signed a document on world fraternity with the great Iman of the Egyptian Islamic University, in which they wrote that everyone, Christians and Muslims, is created as a child of God. They invite people to respect each other and work for peace despite their differences. The initiator of the dialogue between Friars Minor and the Muslims is Francis of Assisi, who 800 years ago held a peaceful meeting with Sultan Al-Kamil in Damietta, Egypt, in an atmosphere of respect and mutual acceptance. The purpose of our work is however to introduce the actual efforts of the Slovenian Franciscans for Dialogue with Muslims.

Order, Reform, and Abolition: Changes in Catholic Theological Imagination on Prisons and Punishment

Catholic thinking on prisons and punishment is in a state of flux. For most of its history, the church promoted a theology of order and obedience. Yet, a humanitarian revolution appears underway as the church now opposes punishments it once prescribed, namely torture, slavery, and the death penalty. Crafted largely in response to the prison system in the United States, recent alternatives to the moral-order approach appeal to human dignity, restorative justice, conversion, and social justice. Even so, the trajectory of Catholic moral imagination on punishment bears a particular compatibility with prison abolition.

COMMON OBJECTIONS TO MISES’ THOUGHT (II). Individualism and particular aspects of his economic vision

In this article, some of the most common objections to Misesian thought will be assessed from a Catholic theological perspective. Beginning with an analysis of the most frequent criticisms advanced against his rationalism, it will proceed to examine those directed against Mises’ conception of liberty and individualism. Finally, a review and evaluation of some of the most relevant objections to his economic understanding will be presented. Dwelling into the, more o less conscious, depths of all the philosophical, cultural, psychological or, even, religious assumptions of Mises’ vast thought, in order to fully tease out his ontological or moral foundations, would probably be not only beyond the reach of the present article but of any one single article, and hence is not attempted. Its scope is much more modest. It pretends to analyze these objections from a praxeological perspective, limiting itself to bring into better focus the possible incompatibility or incongruity, if these indeed exists, of Mises’ thought with freedom and reason. Keywords: Mises, theology, objections, freedom, reason. JEL Classification: A13, B53, P16, P16, Z12, Z13. Resumen: Este artículo se propone examinar algunas de las objeciones más comunes al pensamiento miseano desde una perspectiva teológica católica. Se iniciará con un análisis de las críticas más frecuentes sobre su racionalismo, para, luego, analizar las dirigidas contra su concepción de la libertad y del individualismo, respectivamente. Se abordarán ulteriormente las críticas más relevantes que han sido dirigidas contra la moralidad de algunos aspectos de su visión económica. En las siguientes páginas, no se pretende descender hasta las profundidades, más o menos conscientes, de todos los presupuestos filosóficos, culturales, psicológicos o, incluso, religiosos del pensamiento miseano, tamizando, de esta manera, completamente sus fundamentos ontológicos o morales. Su alcance es mucho más modesto. Pretende un análisis de estas objeciones desde una perspectiva praxeológica, limitándose a señalar la posible incompatibilidad o incongruencia, si es que existen, del pensamiento miseano con la libertad y la razón. Palabras claves: Mises, teología, críticas, libertad, razón. Clasificación JEL: A13, B53, P16, P16, Z12, Z13.