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The Catholic Philosophical Imagination
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The Catholic Philosophical Imagination

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2021) | Viewed by 8137

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Renée Köhler-Ryan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA 6160, Australia
Interests: ideas, art and architecture of the Middle Ages; issues surrounding philosophy of the human person; political philosophy; philosophy of culture; dynamic relationship between faith and reason in the catholic intellectual tradition
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This issue of Religions explores the ideas and debates that arise when Catholics imagine the world through philosophical inquiry. Instances of Catholic philosophical imagination are as wide-ranging and far-reaching as the intellectual tradition from which they emerge. In each case, the Catholic approach - where faith seeks understanding and understanding seeks faith – gives some insight into the Catholic vision of reality. For instance, Catholic philosophers tend to imagine and philosophize about the world as cosmos and as sacrament; the human person made in God’s image as relational, personal, and communal; and the ethical virtuous life as personal participation in the cooperation of nature and grace.

Debates about the nature of the Catholic imagination continue in theological circles. However, while various volumes exist that explore particular Catholic philosophers, few expand on how Catholic philosophers have contributed to the theme of imagination in its broader contexts. Discussions of “imaginaries” have been perhaps more dominant, and can aid in understanding imagination on philosophical rather than only literary or sociological terms. To name a few areas, the theme of imagination can be developed within metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, phenomenology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, of art, of culture, and of religion.

This volume welcomes contributions from any historical era. However, articles engaging with the thought of twentieth and twenty-first century philosophers are encouraged. Pieces might develop specific principles, concepts and themes within a thinker. They might analyze a debate between thinkers. Preference will be given to those articles that demonstrate a Catholic philosophical imagination in action. All selected articles will contribute toward answering the question: “what is distinctive about the Catholic philosophical imagination?”

Suggested thinkers include but are not limited to: G.E.M. Anscombe, Michel de Certeau, William Desmond, Louis Dupré, John Finnis, Elizabeth Fox Genovese, René Girard, Alice von Hildebrand, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Alasdair MacIntyre, Jean-Luc Marion, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Edmund Mounier, Walter J. Ong, Max Scheler, Edith Stein, Charles Taylor, David Walsh, Karoł Wojtyla.

Prof. Renée Köhler-Ryan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Catholic
  • Catholic Intellectual Tradition
  • Imagination
  • Philosophy
  • Nature
  • Grace
  • Cosmos
  • Ethics
  • Sacramental
  • imaginary
  • faith
  • reason
  • philosophy
  • metaphysics
  • art
  • fiction

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 267 KiB  
Article
Conscience: An Investigation in Stenian Philosophy in Relation to Bioethics
by Christina Lamb
Religions 2021, 12(8), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080566 - 22 Jul 2021
Viewed by 2028
Abstract
This article investigates how Edith Stein’s philosophical work on conscience is relevant for appreciating conscience today. In particular, this article shows how Stein’s contributions to conscience explicates what it is and why it is relevant for moral decision making. Moral decision making is [...] Read more.
This article investigates how Edith Stein’s philosophical work on conscience is relevant for appreciating conscience today. In particular, this article shows how Stein’s contributions to conscience explicates what it is and why it is relevant for moral decision making. Moral decision making is necessary in bioethics and healthcare. However, leading bioethicists today lack an understanding of what conscience is, how it applies to healthcare practice and why it should be respected. Recent developments in obligatory referrals for healthcare professionals reveal further challenges related to appreciating conscience in current bioethical contexts. In this article, I consider the importance of Stein’s work on conscience to address the gap in knowledge related to conscience in bioethics today. To do so, I will outline the main aspects of Stein’s phenomenological and metaphysical approaches to the psycho-spiritual-physical aspects of being human. I will then describe her work on conscience. Next, I will discuss how contemplation vis à vis the Catholic imagination could provide a way to perceive how conscience is a response to morality. Finally, I will show how Stein’s work can refute contemporary approaches to conscience and obligatory referral. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Catholic Philosophical Imagination)
16 pages, 1971 KiB  
Article
Michael O’Brien’s Theological Aesthetics
by Rebekah Lamb
Religions 2021, 12(6), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060451 - 18 Jun 2021
Viewed by 3470
Abstract
This essay introduces and examines aspects of the theological aesthetics of contemporary Canadian artist, Michael D. O’Brien (1948–). It also considers how his philosophy of the arts informs understandings of the Catholic imagination. In so doing, it focuses on his view that prayer [...] Read more.
This essay introduces and examines aspects of the theological aesthetics of contemporary Canadian artist, Michael D. O’Brien (1948–). It also considers how his philosophy of the arts informs understandings of the Catholic imagination. In so doing, it focuses on his view that prayer is the primary source of imaginative expression, allowing the artist to operate from a position of humble receptivity to the transcendent. O’Brien studies is a nascent field, owing much of its development in recent years to the pioneering work of Clemens Cavallin. Apart from Cavallin, few scholars have focused on O’Brien’s extensive collection of paintings (principally because the first catalogue of his art was only published in 2019). Instead, they have worked on his prodigious output of novels and essays. In prioritising O’Brien’s paintings, this study will assess the relationship between his theological reflections on the Catholic imagination and art practice. By focusing on the interface between theory and practice in O’Brien’s art, this article shows that conversations about the philosophy of the Catholic imagination benefit from attending to the inner standing points of contemporary artists who see in the arts a place where faith and praxis meet. In certain instances, I will include images of O’Brien’s devotional art to further illustrate his contemplative, Christ-centred approach to aesthetics. Overall, this study offers new directions in O’Brien studies and scholarship on the philosophy of the Catholic imagination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Catholic Philosophical Imagination)
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7 pages, 181 KiB  
Article
Towards a Kenotic Identity Politics: Migration, Transformation and the Eucharist
by Matthew John Paul Tan
Religions 2021, 12(6), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060380 - 25 May 2021
Viewed by 1965
Abstract
This paper will focus on one element of the pushback against the massive influx of immigrants taken in for humanitarian purposes, namely, an identity-based chauvinism which uses identity as the point of resistance to the perceived dilution of that identity, brought about by [...] Read more.
This paper will focus on one element of the pushback against the massive influx of immigrants taken in for humanitarian purposes, namely, an identity-based chauvinism which uses identity as the point of resistance to the perceived dilution of that identity, brought about by the transformation of culture induced by the incorporation of a foreign other. The solution to this perceived dilution is a simultaneous defence of that culture and a demand for a conformity to it. While those in the critical tradition have encouraged a counter-position of revolutionary transformation by the other through ethics, dialogue, or the multitude, such a transformation is arguably impeded by what is ultimately a repetition of the metaphysics of conformity. Drawing on the personalism of Emmanuel Mounier and the Eucharistic theology of Creston Davis and Aaron Riches, this paper submits an alternative identity politics position that completes the revolutionary impulse. Identity here is not the flashpoint of a self-serving conflict, but the launch-point of politics of self-emptying, whose hallmarks include, on the one hand, a never-ending reception of transformation by the other, and on the other hand, an anchoring in the Body of Christ that is at once ever-changing and never-changing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Catholic Philosophical Imagination)
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