When we question the reality of time we do so in favour of something richer, measuring more
fully up to experience, not something poorer. Timelessness, therefore, signifies indeed an
absence of time, but in favour of something else which will be more and not less dynamic. We
could not, for example, accept a view which represented us vibrant human beings as like
immobile statues.
One reason for our confidence in saying this is that, contrary to popular assumption, the
doctrine of God was never one of immobility, even where it was one of immutability. In
Western and Christian thought God is necessarily a Trinity, a universe of relations, that is to
say. Here the Father speaks the Word, the Word proceeds, their mutual love pours forth
(spirates) perpetually. Such uttering, equated with begetting or generation, is what the Father
is. He was not, is not, anything prior to this generating.
Therefore any event that we experience, be it our own perception of something, or any event
at all, is so to say undercut and supported by, as having at its heart, this eternal utterance or
generation of the Word in which all things are contained. The very newness of things reflects
eternal novelty and freshness, and thus time is eternal reality's image and cipher, not its
negation merely.
If therefore anyone would replace this religious view with, as in absolute idealism, a universe
of immortal spirits, ourselves, in perpetual mutual relation, then should he or she not say, as
preserving the insight of theology, that we in some way generate one another perpetually? We
do not just find ourselves passively there. How could we? But nor is the individual alone
responsible for all else. Rather, we must be as necessary to the whole community as the
community is necessary to us. It could not exist without me, or you, and nor could I without
it. We are "begotten" from one another, yet each has his own energy which is yet one with
that of the whole.
[...]
Table of Contents
1. BEGOTTEN NOT MADE
2. HAPPINESS AND RATIONALITY
3. FAITH, PHILOSOPHY AND THE FORM OF AFFIRMATION
4. FAITH AND REASON; REASON AND FAITH
5. GOD IS WHATEVER MATTERS: SO WHY DOES GOD MATTER AS WELL?
6. GOD, BEING, LOVE
7. WHAT IS GOD? WHAT IS MAN?
8. SIGNS, SACRAMENTS, INTERPRETATIONS
9. YOURS IN SAINT DOMINIC
10. CHESTERTON AS SUBJECT
11. EVOLUTION AND SUBJECTIVITY
12. REDUCTIVE IDEALISM?
13. NATURE; EVOLUTION, PHILOSOPHY
14. BEYOND THINKING
15. SELF AND WORLD
16. SPIRIT
17. BEYOND COMMON-SENSE: ANTHROPOLOGY AS CHRISTOLOGY AND NOT VICE VERSA.
18. PERSONS AND RELATIONS: ETHICS REDEEMED
19. THE SYSTEM WHICH IS PHILOSOPHY
20. BEING QUA BEING
21. OXYMORON
22. LOGIC AND THE WORLD
23. LOVE, IDEA, BEING, CATEGORIES
24. ON THE QUANTITATIVE INDETERMINACY OF SELF
25. BEYOND MAN
26. LOVE, REASON, PERCEPTION
27. MAN THE SACRAMENT OF UNITY: IS MAN A SPECIES?
28. WHAT WAS AT STAKE IN MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY UNDERSTOOD IN THE LIGHT OF LATER DEVELOPMENT
29. REFLECTIONS ON THE TEACHING OF PHILOSOPHY IN CLERICAL SEMINARIES
30. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MARXISM?
31. ON (NOT) SHRINKING THE WORLD
Research Goals and Key Themes
The primary goal of this work is to demonstrate that absolute idealism, as articulated through Hegelian and McTaggartian frameworks, provides a superior and more intellectually coherent philosophical foundation for interpreting reality, religious experience, and the self than traditional realist or physicalist perspectives. The work seeks to resolve the apparent contradictions between the finitude of individual existence and the necessity of an infinite Absolute.
- Reconciliation of religious dogma with philosophical rationality through dialectic.
- The identification of the individual self with the Absolute via "identity in difference."
- Critical analysis of scientific realism and evolutionary theory within an idealist framework.
- The nature of Trinitarian theology as a pre-philosophical or symbolic articulation of absolute unity.
- The overcoming of dualistic ontologies (soul/body, finite/infinite) through the primacy of Spirit.
Excerpt from the Book
1. BEGOTTEN NOT MADE
When we question the reality of time we do so in favour of something richer, measuring more fully up to experience, not something poorer. Timelessness, therefore, signifies indeed an absence of time, but in favour of something else which will be more and not less dynamic. We could not, for example, accept a view which represented us vibrant human beings as like immobile statues.
One reason for our confidence in saying this is that, contrary to popular assumption, the doctrine of God was never one of immobility, even where it was one of immutability. In Western and Christian thought God is necessarily a Trinity, a universe of relations, that is to say. Here the Father speaks the Word, the Word proceeds, their mutual love pours forth (spirates) perpetually. Such uttering, equated with begetting or generation, is what the Father is. He was not, is not, anything prior to this generating.
Therefore any event that we experience, be it our own perception of something, or any event at all, is so to say undercut and supported by, as having at its heart, this eternal utterance or generation of the Word in which all things are contained. The very newness of things reflects eternal novelty and freshness, and thus time is eternal reality's image and cipher, not its negation merely.
Summary of Chapters
1. BEGOTTEN NOT MADE: Establishes the ontological premise that God is a Trinity of relations and that human beings are essentially participants in this eternal generation.
2. HAPPINESS AND RATIONALITY: Explores the connection between human flourishing and the rational structure of a perfect world.
3. FAITH, PHILOSOPHY AND THE FORM OF AFFIRMATION: Argues that faith is not a restriction on reason, but a process that must be "accomplished" by philosophical understanding.
11. EVOLUTION AND SUBJECTIVITY: Reinterprets biological evolution not as a materialist mechanism, but as an idealist manifestation of Spirit becoming conscious of itself.
29. REFLECTIONS ON THE TEACHING OF PHILOSOPHY IN CLERICAL SEMINARIES: Critiques the traditional separation of philosophy and theology in priestly formation, advocating for an integrated, critical approach.
Keywords
Absolute Idealism, Hegel, McTaggart, Trinitarian Theology, Identity in Difference, Subjectivity, Ontology, Dialectic, Creation, Finitude, Infinite, Spirit, Consciousness, Metaphysics, Sacramentality.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental thesis of the work?
The work argues that reality is fundamentally spiritual and that the material world is a construct or "misperception" of a deeper, infinite subjectivity. It contends that philosophy must "accomplish" religion by transforming symbolic narratives into absolute rational concepts.
What is the significance of the "Absolute" in this framework?
The Absolute is understood as Spirit or "thought thinking itself." It is not an entity standing apart from the world, but the very ground of reality, necessitating a view where the individual and the infinite are identical.
How does the author view the relationship between Faith and Reason?
The author rejects the dualism of faith versus reason, proposing instead that faith is a pre-philosophical or symbolic apprehension of truths that reason subsequently clarifies and fulfills.
Why does the author critique evolutionary theory?
The author does not deny evolution as a biological model but critiques the realist, materialist interpretation of it, arguing that evolution itself must be resituated within an idealist framework as a self-conscious process of the mind.
What is the role of "Love" in this philosophy?
Love is proposed as the final category—more fundamental than "being" or "cognition"—that accounts for the perfect reciprocity and identity between subjects in an infinite system.
What is the "unhappy consciousness" referenced by the author?
Derived from Hegel, it describes a state of separation between the human and the divine, typical of realist or dualist religious consciousness that views God as an "Other" rather than as the true self.
Does the author believe in reincarnation?
The author discusses reincarnation as a symbolic or dialectical tool to explain the necessity and eternity of individuals, but ultimately prefers the concept of the eternal "now" over temporal or cyclical rebirth.
What does the author mean by "God is whatever matters"?
This suggests that God is not a "self-explanatory" entity at the end of a chain of reasoning, but the name for ultimate reality itself, shifting the discourse from "Does God exist?" to "What is God?".
- Arbeit zitieren
- Dr. Stephen Theron (Autor:in), 2008, Essays Hegelian and Ecumenical: What has been at stake, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/114834
