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articles
1. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
About Our Contributors
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2. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
James M. Jacobs The Practice of Religion in Post-Secular Society
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This paper considers recent arguments from Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor that argue that even secular societies ought to tolerate religion for its practical benefits. Then, taking inspiration from Thomas Aquinas, I critique their positions as misconstruing the nature of religion in two fundamental ways. First, we must distinguish generic religion as a natural virtue from diverse species of faith that go beyond the duty to render homage to the First Cause. It will be seen that, generically, religion is integral to the common good inasmuch as it is essential to the perfection of the intellect’s search for truth. Second, from this it follows that religion ought not be justified in utilitarian terms of extrinsic benefit; rather, the good of religion is the intrinsic realization of the activity itself. In light of these correctives, I conclude that even secular societies ought to encourage religious belief, while remaining open to a variety of faiths.
3. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Nathan Carson Getting into the Game of Tradition-Constituted Moral Inquiry: Does MacIntyre’s Particularism Offer a Rational Way In?
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The early work of Alasdair MacIntyre aims to provide resources to “fragmented” modern selves for adjudicating “incommensurable” claims of rival moral traditions and for committing to one with full allegiance. But MacIntyre seems to undermine rational choice through his thesis of Rational Particularism, namely, that there is no tradition-independent, universally acceptable rational standpoint from which to evaluate competing claims of rival traditions. In this paper I combat a prevalent argument that his Particularism thesis (and his exclusion of the moral relativist) render the choice of tradition allegiance by fragmented selves wholly arbitrary, hence committing MacIntyre to relativism about practical rationality and moral theory. This argument founders on a false analogy between the self-avowed relativist and MacIntyre’s target reader. Thus, MacIntyre can retain strong particularism without yielding to relativism. I also show how MacIntyre can consistently offer rational, historical, imaginative, and personal narrative resources to fragmented selves who seek a coherent moral tradition.
4. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Gaven Kerr Aquinas, Lonergan, and the Isomorphism between Intellect and Reality
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In this article I explore Bernard Lonergan’s characteristic view that there is an isomorphism between intellect and reality such that the set of relations embedded in the cognitional process (experience–understanding–judgment) are replicated by the elements of metaphysics (potency–form–act). My exploration is with a view to the Gilsonian objection to the critical realist project as a whole, to the effect that one cannot begin with idealism and end with realism. In this article I argue that, despite my broad sympathy for Lonergan’s epistemological thought, his notion of isomorphism between intellect and reality distances him somewhat from Thomistic metaphysics.
5. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Michael Strawser Kierkegaard and the Phenomenology of Selfhood
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In this paper I first examine the claim that the phenomenological tradition unanimously affirms that the core self is to be found in pre-reflective consciousness. I argue that the notion of the minimal self as first-person subjective givenness is problematic in important ways. Then, following the recent attention given to Kierkegaard as phenomenologist, I ask how Kierkegaard relates to the phenomenology of selfhood. Rather than proceeding directly, however, I argue that we must first consider Kierkegaard’s phenomenology of love before we can consider what we might call his phenomenology of selfhood, for the former holds crucial implications for the latter.
6. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Matthew Homan Spinoza and the Problem of Mental Representation
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Spinoza’s mind-body thesis states that the mind is the idea of the body. At the same time, Spinoza is clear in affirming that we have ideas of external bodies. There is a question, therefore, of how to reconcile two contending objects of perception: the human body qua object of the mind, on the one hand, and the myriad bodies external to ours, on the other. After evaluating various commentators’ attempts to address the issue, I make two primary claims: (1) the object of sense perception in Spinoza is the human body only (not any type of duality or mixture of human body and external body); and (2) the tension in Spinoza’s account of representation stems from its relationship to his doctrine of the attributes.
7. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
David C. Paternostro, S.J. Classical Metaphysics and Gadamerian Hermeneutics
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In a 1990 lecture Alasdair MacIntyre identified a number of difficulties in dialogue between philosophers of the Aristotelian and Thomist schools and those of certain modern schools. An examination of various interpretations of Aquinas reveals not only difficulties for inter-school dialogue but for intra-school dialogue as well. Even on foundational topics such as the notion of being, the proper method by which to study being, and the notion of substance, there are divergent opinions about what Aquinas held. This essay argues that certain concepts from Gadamer can be helpful on these disputes. In particular, Gadamer’s ideas that to be is to be manifested, that a perspective-free metaphysics is impossible, and that the relationship between text and performance can serve as a model for understanding the relationship between substance and accident may help to resolve certain internecine disputes within the Aristotelian and Thomist schools as well as to foster philosophical conversation between these approaches and some contemporary schools of thought.
book reviews
8. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Victor M. Salas, Jr. Ens rationis from Suárez to Caramuel: A Study in Scholasticism of the Baroque Era. By Daniel Novotný
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9. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Joseph G. Trabbic A Genealogy of Marion’s Philosophy of Religion: Apparent Darkness. By Tamsin Jones
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10. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Joseph W. Koterski, S.J. A Companion to Angels in Medieval Philosophy. Edited by Tobias Hoffmann
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11. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
David Liberto Creation and the Sovereignty of God. By Hugh J. McCann
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12. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Jamie Anne Spiering One Body: An Essay in Christian Sexual Ethics. By Alexander Pruss
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13. International Philosophical Quarterly: Volume > 54 > Issue: 1
Books Received
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