Philosophy, theology, and the Jesuit tradition : 'the eye of love'

What does it mean to do theology and philosophy in our contemporary academia? What is the notion of good life in the 21st century university? One distinctive tradition of philosophical and theological investigation has been working since early modernity to offer answers to these questions, the Society of Jesus, founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola. The engaging and original contributions in this volume examine topics such as faith, science and reason, secularism, naturalism, humanism and Ignatian spirituality. The opening text outlines the vision of Jesuit education and is followed by historical analyses of sources such as St Ignatius of Loyola and Mary Ward, to show the relevance of these methodologies for other texts and practices. The contributions explore the relationship between philosophy and theology, challenge the dominant perspectives such as naturalism and secularisation, and propose a new way of thinking. This livelydiscussion engages with contemporary issues in the sphere of interreligious dialogue, bioethics, citizenship and human rights. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Illustrations 8 Contributors 9 Preface 15 1 An Ignatian Approach to Reading the Spiritual Classics 26 2 ‘A Clear and Perfect Estate’: Mary Ward’s Vision of the Just Soul 40 3 Compassion and Competence in the Service of Others: A Jesuit Contribution to Catholic Learning 56 The context 56 Jesuit documents 58 The Spiritual Exercises 59 The Foundation and Principle 60 The Contemplation for Achieving Love 60 Discernment of Spirits 61 The Constitutions, Part IV 61 The training of Jesuits 62 The problem of property 62 The programme 63 The Ratio Studiorum 65 The transformative effect of education 67 The universal humanities curriculum 67 Practical pedagogy 68 Exploring Jesuit education today 69 The strategic vision of Jesuit education 71 The operational vision of Jesuit education 73 Conclusion 76 4 Faith, Reason and Science: Towards a Renewed Christian Humanism? 78 The eclipse of the person 81 The loss of the art of living 83 Possible objections 85 Some practical consequences 87 5 The Practical Concept of God 90 Introduction 90 From theoretical to practical reason 91 The paradox of rational agency and the question of God 105 Conclusion 110 6 Philosophy, Theology and Nature 114 Introduction 114 Theology, prayer and two types of natural theology 118 Engaging with God and talking about God 125 Theology, philosophy and myth 127 Conclusions 135 7 A Secular Age? 142 Introduction 142 Charles Taylor’s starting point in A Secular Age 142 From a monological to a dialogical age 146 New ways of conceiving the rationality of religious beliefs and practices 150 The persistence of monological frameworks 156 Towards an age beyond theism and atheism 161 8 Contemporary Jesuit Epistemological Interests 164 Humanism: Alessandro Valignano SJ versus Pope Benedict XIV 165 Vatican II: Signs of the times 166 Vatican II: Stable truth, developing teaching 168 Jesuits before Vatican II: New paths to theology 169 Jesuit missions: Atheism 170 Justice and interdisciplinary issues 173 Clashing epistemologies 176 Culture and theology 180 Looking to the future 181 9 Eastern Christianity and Jesuit Scholarship on Arabic and Islam: Modern History and Contemporary Theological Reflections 184 10 Autonomy, Dignity, Human Rights: Correcting a Popular Error 212 Human rights and human nature 213 Recognizing a common humanity 216 Griffin on reforming human rights 219 Human nature, dignity and human rights 222 Not a source of criteria for testing individuals 223 Conclusion 225 11 Liberal and Authoritarian Approaches to Raising Good Citizens 228 12 Stewardship as Welcome and Respect for the Dignity of the Vulnerable: An Essay in Bioethics 244 The body and soul of the human person 246 Neighbourliness as stewardship and care for the vulnerable 253 Two – or even three – different concepts of human dignity 257 13 Dialogue in a Pluralist Context: Theological Ethics and the New Interest in Happiness 260 The ‘how to be happy’ handbooks 262 Richard Layard and happiness economics 263 Martin Seligman and positive psychology 266 Julia Annas and eudaimonistic virtue ethics 271 Theological ethics and dialogue about happiness in a pluralist context 275 Ethical dialogue in a pluralist culture 277 References 278 1 An Ignatian Approach to Reading the Spiritual Classics 278 2 ‘A Clear and Perfect Estate’: Mary Ward’s Vision of the Just Soul 279 3 Compassion and Competence in the Service of Others: A Jesuit Contribution to Catholic Learning 280 4 Faith, Reason and Science: Towards a Renewed Christian Humanism? 280 5 The Practical Concept of God 281 6 Philosophy, Theology and Nature 283 7 A Secular Age? 284 8 Contemporary Jesuit Epistemological Interests 288 9 Eastern Christianity and Jesuit Scholarship on Arabic and Islam: Modern History and Contemporary Theological Reflections 289 10 Autonomy, Dignity, Human Rights: Correcting a Popular Error 298 11 Liberal and Authoritarian Approaches to Raising Good Citizens 298 12 Stewardship as Welcome and Respect for the Dignity of the Vulnerable: An Essay in Bioethics 299 13 Dialogue in a Pluralist Context: Theological Ethics and the New Interest in Happiness 299 Index 304