Dialogue of Cultures: Platonic Tradition and Contemporary Thomism Kultūrų dialogas

192 Pages·2015·2.31 MB·English

KLAIPĖDA UNIVERSITY
FAcULTY oF HUmANITIES
Dialogue of Cultures:
Platonic Tradition
and Contemporary
Thomism
Kultūrų dialogas:
platoniškoji tradicija
ir šiuolaikinis
tomizmas
Selection of Scientific Articles
compiled by Professor Dr. Dalia marija Stančienė
Klaipėda, 2015
This edition is recommended for publishing by the Editorial Board of the Faculty
of Humanities, Klaipėda University on December 9, 2014, Protocol No. 85

Approved by the Department of Philosophy and Culture Studies,
Klaipeda University, on December 8, 2014, Protocol No. 46 H-F-6

Approved by:
Professor Dr. Tomas Sodeika, Vilnius University
Professor Dr. Algirdas Degutis, Lithuanian Culture Research Institute
Book design by Ingrida Sirvydaitė
Cover design by Vilius Giedraitis
Cover photograph by Rita Gorodeckienė
© Klaipeda University, 2015
© D. M. Stančienė, 2015
ISBN 978-9955-18-858-2
Contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................5
Marija Oniščik ......................................................................................................9
Some Reflections on the Platonic Principle of Participation in St. Thomas Aquinas
Keli svarstymai apie platonišką dalyvavimo principą Tomo Akviniečio filosofijoje
Vytis Valatka ........................................................................................................27
The Very Essence of Universale according to Marcin Smiglecki:
Between Aristotelianism and Conceptualism
Universalijos esmė pagal Martyną Smigleckį: tarp aristotelizmo ir konceptualizmo
Tomasz Duma ......................................................................................................34
The Problem of Relations of Being in the Philosophy of Avicenna and
St. Thomas Aquinas
Būties santykių problema Avicenos ir šv. Tomo Akviniečio filosofijoje
Rūta Marija Vabalaitė ........................................................................................43
The Influence of Pseudo-Dionysius The Areopagite‘s Concept of Beauty over
Aesthetical Thought of Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas
Pseudo Dionisijaus Areopagiečio grožio sampratos įtaka Alberto Didžiojo ir Tomo Akviniečio
estetikos teorijoms
Marc-Antoine Bechetoille OP ............................................................................50
Les sacrements: Gestes et paroles de la foi. L’hylémorphisme sacramentel dans
la théologie du jeune E. Schillebeeckx
Sakramentai: gestai ir tikėjimo žodžiai. Sakramentinis hylomorfizmas ankstyvojoje
E. Schillebeeckx’o teologijoje
Philippe Soual ......................................................................................................72
L’amour de l’Amour chez Augustin
Šv. Augustino Meilės meilė
Māra Kiope ..........................................................................................................91
Truth Experience in the Language of Being
Tiesos patirtis būties kalboje
Dalia Marija Stančienė .....................................................................................108
Thomas Aquinas end Martin Heidegger on the Concept of Esse (Ens), Essentia
and Existentia
Tomas Akvinietis ir Martinas Heideggeris apie esatį (ens), esmę ir egzistenciją
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Lina Vidauskytė ................................................................................................116
Struggle with Words. A Case of Czesław Miłosz and Thomas Aquinas
Kova su žodžiais. Czeslawo Miloszo ir Tomo Akviniečio atvejis
Kevin W. Gray ...................................................................................................125
The Purpose of Law: Hart, Finnis and the Debate over Natural Law
Įstatymo tikslas: Hart, Finnis ir debatai dėl prigimtinio įstatymo
Arkadiusz Gudaniec .........................................................................................135
M. A. Krąpiec’s Philosophical Anthropology and the Turbulent Currents
of Contemporary Culture. A Presentation of an Eminent Philosopher and
His Original Philosophy of Man
M. A. Krąpiec’o filosofinė antropologija ir sukūringos šiuolaikinės kultūros srovės.
Žymaus filosofo ir jo originalios žmogaus teorijos pristatymas
John F. X. Knasas ..............................................................................................144
Is Aquinas an Ideologue?
Ar Akvinietis yra ideologas?
Zbigniew Pańpuch ............................................................................................151
Can Thomistic Ethics be the Foundation of a Secular Society?
Ar tomistinė etika galėtų būti pasaulietinės visuomenės pamatas?
Ernesta Molotokienė .........................................................................................156
The Application of Thomistic Ethics in Media: the Problem of Consumer’s/
Creator’s Moral Responsibility
Tomistinės etikos principų taikymas medijose: vartotojo/kūrėjo moralinės atsakomybės problema
Rudolf Larenz ...................................................................................................168
Thomism and Physics – Match or Mismarriage?
Tomizmas ir fizika – santuoka ar skyrybos?
Gintautas Vyšniauskas ......................................................................................183
The Metaphysics of Light and Darkness
Šviesos ir tamsos metafizika
Contributors ......................................................................................................189
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Foreword
On June 28–29, in Klaipeda University (Lithuania), the international scientific
conference Dialogue of Cultures: Platonic Tradition and Contemporary Thomism
took place. It was organised by the Philosophy and Cultural Science Department
of Klaipeda University together with Houston (the USA) University of St.
Thomas, and International Thomas Aquinas Association (Italy, SITA). During
the conference, speakers from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, France, the United Arab
Emirates and US institutions of higher education delivered their reports, sixteen of
which were selected as articles for the following collection. Their authors consider
the current philosophical, moral and linguistic problems of intercultural dialogue
looking at them through the prism of Platonic aspect of Thomistic philosophy.
Four articles in the collection focus on the topic of the conference which is
Neo-Platonism and Thomism. The representative of Vytautas Magnus University
(Lithuania) Marija Oniščik demonstrates Aquinas’s “Platonism” analysing
the concept of participation as “the main “Platonic” theme of his philosophy”.
Vytis Valatka from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania) is not so
much interested in Thomas Aquinas as in a representative of scholastic logic in
Lithuania Marcin Smiglecki, in the way of his treatment of universals. Valatka
concludes that Smiglecki’s position is intermediate between moderate realism
and conceptualism. Tomasz Duma, a representative of the John Paul II Catholic
University of Lublin (Poland), focuses attention on the transcendental relations
between essence and existence in Thomas Aquinas philosophy and comes to the
conclusion that the mentioned relation “provides a resolution to the question of
the entire structure of metaphysics because it determines that upon which the most
fundamental apprehension of reality as such should concentrate”. A research fellow
of the Lithuanian Culture Institute Rūta Marija Vabalaitė analyses the influence of
Pseudo-Dionysian concept of beauty over aesthetic thinking of Albert the Great
and Thomas Aquinas as well as over contemporary aesthetics. In conclusion she
claims: “the concept of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite of dissimilarity of the
similar retains the actuality for the contemporary interpretations of the aesthetics
of the ugliness, explaining how images of low, ugly, and mean things can suggest
higher spirituality, which always used to be a part of reality referred by beauty”.
Two research articles are on Neo-Platonism and Patristics. Marc-Antone
Bechetoille OP (Dominican Province of France) maintains that the spontaneous
link of hylomorphism with a physical constitution of sacrament leads to
misunderstanding which should be corrected by relating the form with the intention
of celebrating community and matter – with the ritual gestures and words. Philippe
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Soual from the Catholic Institute of Toulouse (France) considers the Augustinian
concept of love as one of the most important to philosophy.
Two of the authors have analyzed the issue of Transcendental philosophy and
contemporary Thomism. The report of Mara Kiope from the Institute of Philosophy
and Sociology of Latvia University deals with the problem of Truth in the context
of mutual mirroring of Language of Being and of Being or ontology of language
in hermeneutics of H. G. Gadamer. Also it investigates the understanding of the
Truth by Latvian Brazilian jesuit Stanislavs Ladusans. Representative of Klaipėda
University (Lithuania) Dalia Marija Stančienė analyses Thomas Aquinas’s concepts
of ens, essence and existence and their interpretation by Martin Heidegger.
Much attention has been given to the influence of Thomas Aquinas on the
contemporary thinkers. Lina Vidauskytė from Kaunas University of Technology
(Lithuania) comparing Czeslaw Milosz’s poetry with Thomas Aquinas’s
philosophy comes to conclusion that they both “lost the struggle with words”.
Representative of American University of Sharjah (the United Arab Emirates)
Kevin W. Gray criticises the attempt of John M. Finnis to defend a methodological
account of Thomistic interpretation of natural law against Herbert L. A. Hart
and Brian Leiter. He argues that Finnis’s approach hides three fallacies, which
he considers at length. Arkadiusz Gudaniec, a representative of the John Paul
II Catholic University of Lublin (Poland), argues for the sake of philosophical
anthropology as it is understood by originator of 20th century Lublin School of
Philosophy Prof. Mieczyslaw Krąpiec OP. Gudaniec claims that the philosophical
anthropology developed by Krąpiec can be the reference point for the humanities,
for it provides a neutral vision of man and is autonomous in relation to theology.
Consideration has been given to ideological, ethical and scientific aspects
in Thomism. John F. X. Knasas, a member of the Center for Thomistic Studies
University of St. Thomas, Houston (USA), defends Thomas Aquinas as philosopher
against the claim of contemporary Lithuanian philosopher Arvydas Šliogeris that
Aquinas’s philosophy does not meet the standards of genuine philosophy as free
search for truth. Representative of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
(Poland) Zbigniew Panpuch is concerned with the applicability of Thomistic
ethics for a secular society. He maintains that such applicability exists; for “the
Thomistic ethics in its natural part gives the realistic moral theory based on realistic
metaphysics of being and man”. Ernesta Molotokienė, a representative of Klaipeda
University (Lithuania), proposes Thomistic ethics as a basis for media ethics. She
argues that Thomism could provide a clear and rational system of Christian values
and prevent spreading of moral irresponsibility especially within the field of internet
activities. Rudolf Larenz (Prelature of Opus Dei, Helsinki, Finland) pays attention
to the division within contemporary physics into experimental and mathematical
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branch. According to him, “this represents a serious lack of internal unity”. And
he argues that the updated Thomistic doctrine of hylomorphism could “build up
the internal unity of physics“. Representative of Klaipėda University (Lithuania)
Gintautas Vyšniauskas tries to “rehabilitate” darkness bringing into account the
latest achievements of astrophysics. He challenges the old metaphysical tradition
of identifying darkness with evil claiming that dark matter and energy is the media
of the media without the message and hypothesizes that, might be, dark matter and
energy is not a matter at all but something like spirit.
Prof. Dr. Gintautas Vyšniauskas
Acknowledgments
The Compiler of this publication is particularly grateful to Lithuanian Council
of Science, Klaipeda University, International Thomas Aquinas Association (Italy,
SITA), University of St.Thomas (Houston, USA) and authors of the articles for the
assistance in organizing the conference and contribution to this publication.
7

MARIJA ONIŠČIK
Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE PLATONIC PRINCIPLE
OF PARTICIPATION IN ST.THOMAS AQUINAS1
KELI SVARSTYMAI APIE PLATONIŠKĄ DALYVAVIMO PRINCIPĄ
TOMO AKVINIEČIO FILOSOFIJOJE
SUMMARY
The article deals with the main “Platonic” theme in Aquinas – the notion of participation which plays
the crucial role in establishing the ontological unity of his worldview, known as “participational
metaphysics”. A brief historical survey of some 20th century Thomistic investigations of the field
presents the classifications, made by C. Fabro and L-B. Geiger, and shows the importance of
liberating the doctrine of the primacy of esse from essentialist suppositions. The article analyzes
some texts by Thomas Aquinas from his Summa contra gentiles, Prima pars of Summa theologiae,
The Commentary on Liber de causis, and The Exposition of De hebdomadibus dealing with the
problem of causality, the conception of a thing as a composition, and the Platonic aspects of the
Thomistic doctrine of creation.
KEY WORDS: participation, Platonism, esse, entity, causality, creation.
SANTRAUKA
Straipsnyje nagrinėjama viena svarbiausių „platoniškųjų“ temų T. Akviniečio filosofijoje – dalyvavimo
sąvoka, kuri atlieka lemiamą vaidmenį formuojant jo pasaulėvaizdžio ontologinę vienovę, žinomą
kaip dalyvavimo metafizika. Trumpa kai kurių XX a. tomistinių šios srities tyrinėjimų istorinė
apžvalga pristato C. Fabro ir L. B. Geigerio pateiktą dalyvavimo klasifikaciją ir parodo, kaip svarbu
išlaisvinti doktriną apie esse primatą nuo esencialistinių prielaidų. Straipsnyje analizuojami kai
kurie T. Akviniečio tekstai iš jo „Summa contra gentiles“, „Summa theologiae“ pirmosios dalies,
komentarų „Liber de causis“ ir Boethijaus „De hebdomadibus“, kur nagrinėjama priežastingumo
problema, daikto, kaip kompozito, samprata ir tomistinės sukūrimo doktrinos platoniškieji aspektai.
RAKTAŽODŽIAI: dalyvavimas, platonizmas, esse, būtybė, priežastingumas, sukūrimas.
A search for “Platonism” in Aquinas inevitably leads to the topic of participation
which is not only the main “Platonic” theme of his philosophy but also the one that
elucidates his entire onto-theological project of bringing together the natural and
the supernatural “storeys” of the world and establishing the unity of the worldview.
One can say with Fran O’Rourke, that in Plato, the principle of participation “is
the foundation and coping-stone of his entire vision; it becomes the same for
Aquinas”2. Since the issue of participation in Aquinas is incredible vast, I am going
to present here only some relevant texts and problems.
1 Tyrimą finansuoja Lietuvos mokslo taryba (sutarties Nr. MIP-14440).
2 Fran O’Rourke, Aquinas and Platonism. In: Contemplating Aquinas. On the Varieties of
Interpretation. Ed. by Fergus Kerr, London: SCM Press, 2003, p. 267-268.
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THE HISTORY OF THE RESEARCH ON THOMISTIC PARTICIPATION
An interest in St. Thomas’s “Platonism” began about seventy years ago and
resulted in the valuable studies by such outstanding Thomistic scholars as Cornelio
Fabro, C.P.S., L.-B. Geiger, O.P, Joseph De Finance, Louis De Raeymaeker, Arthur
Little, S.J., W. Norris Clarke, S.J., and Robert J. Henle, S.J. Although they came
from the different schools and represent the different trends of the 20th century
Thomism, all of them emphasized the special role of esse in Aquinas trying to
explain it in terms of participation. And, in spite of their being deeply rooted in the
tradition of treating Thomas as Aristotelian, all of them have been speaking of “the
unmistakable indebtedness of the Angelis Doctor to the Neo-platonic tradition”3.
This “debt” had become more and more recognizable, and finally it has been
generally admitted that “Thomas was neither Platonist nor Aristotelian; he was
both”4.
The fruitful insights and the important discoveries emerged in the time of these
“classical” studies on Thomistic participation. First of all, the need to discriminate
between different levels and types of participation found in Aquinas was met with
the variety of classification by Fabro and Geiger.
Fabro proposed two divisions. First is the division into “predicamental”
and “transcendental” participation that corresponds to the division of the
“predicamental” causality in the composition of matter and form and of substance
and accident, and of the “transcendental” causality, the correlate of which is seen
in the composition of essence and esse. The “transcendental” type denotes the
“participation of esse by that-which-is”5. The “predicamental” order includes, e.g.,
for man, animality and corporeity, and the “transcendental” one – life, intelligence
and esse6. Fabro used the vocabulary of traditional Aristotelian ontology: the first
type is applied to “predicaments” and the second to “transcendentals”.
The second division was found by Fabro in De ente et essentia, the text that does
not speak directly about participation. In Fabro’s view, of three arguments for real
distinction between esse and essentia two are arguments from participation: one
from the “static” (or “structural”) and the other from the “dynamic” participation.
By “static” he meant the participation of a thing in its act of being, building its
inner “structure”. The question is whether the relation between a thing and its esse
can be explained in terms of participation at all. According to Fabro, namely this
type of participation marks out the specific Thomistic interpretation of Boethian
3 Norris W. Clarke, S.J., The Meaning of Participation in St. Thomas. In: Proceedings of the
American Catholic Philosophical Association 26, 1952, p. 147.
4 Josef Pieper, Guide to Thomas Aquinas. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press,
1987, p. 22.
5 Cornelio Fabro, C.P.S., Participation et causalité selon S. Thomas d’Aquinas. Louvain:
Publications universitaires de Louvain, 1961, p. 52.
6 Helen James John, The Thomist Spectrum. New York: Fordham University Press, 1966,
p. 101-102.
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