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What is your assessment of the state of catholic/christian philosophy?
What is the problem that christian/catholic philosophy faces? what are some detailed solutions to that problem?

How have philosophers of the past contributed to the situation of today? How would you see those philosophers, or perhaps their style, working to change the situation of todays philosophy?

Mostly im curious about guys like

decartes,
kant
Thomas
Augustine
Anselm
Plato
Aristoltle
Hume
Locke
socrates
Kiekegaard
nietzche

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[quote name='Revprodeji' date='Dec 18 2005, 11:44 PM']What is your assessment of the state of catholic/christian philosophy?
What is the problem that christian/catholic philosophy faces? what are some detailed solutions to that problem?

How have philosophers of the past contributed to the situation of today? How would you see those philosophers, or perhaps their style, working to change the situation of todays philosophy?

Mostly im curious about guys like

decartes,
kant
Thomas
Augustine
Anselm
Plato
Aristoltle
Hume
Locke
socrates
Kiekegaard
nietzche
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[/quote]

Considering I am degreed in Philosophy, I will try to be as brief as possible. Catholic philosophy is in fine shape. Pope John Paul II has seen to that for us. With works like Fides et Ratio, Vertatis Splendor, Evangelium Vitae and the like, he has "reset" philosophy, for another generation.

I am a Thomist, so for me.....Aquinas is the best view for me to speak about. As it is, I have serious reservations about Descartes, Kant, Locke, Kierkegaard, and Nietzche. Probably my biggest issues are with Kant and Kierkegaard. However, to vocalize this would take me weeks.....it is to big of a topic.

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I have a BA in Philosophy...

Just so you know, Almost every one on that lis including but also past Descartes (whose prof for God was basically Anslem's ontological argument) was on the prohibited books list. Though that list no longer exists...

Mostly the modern question denies the first principles of philosophy (e.g. that I exist) so the whole premise of the project is skwed even if they have valid concludions.

My favorite quote from Hume is where he lists a bunch of unknowns saying that their philosophies are going to be the new Aristotle and the latter is disapearing and will be unknown by the next generation. (I think that he knocked Locke in the same breath)...

When Nietzche talks about woman is the most insulting and the funniest, however the consequences of his ideas are closely related to Hitler.

Socrates we only know through Plato, who was renewed by Augustine, and our current Pope favors Augustine heavily in his works.

I usually understand Aristotle through Aquinas, though I usually read Aristotle first then read the commentary. My Prof on the Nicomeaden Ethics read it in the Arabic...

Most secular philosophy, including Kiekegaard, is usually considered in regard to whether it is a return to or an exodus from him.

Did I get every one?

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Oh and John Paul II the great might be considered the next St. Thomas Aquinas. We was a little bit of an extengilist, but he intergrated the truest reality of love into the system.

When he was alive many people considered it a huge blessing the the Pope was the best philosopher in the world and at his right had as Cardinal Ratzinger who was the world's best theologian.

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Guest JeffCR07

[quote name='Revprodeji' date='Dec 18 2005, 09:44 PM']What is your assessment of the state of catholic/christian philosophy?
What is the problem that christian/catholic philosophy faces? what are some detailed solutions to that problem?

How have philosophers of the past contributed to the situation of today? How would you see those philosophers, or perhaps their style, working to change the situation of todays philosophy?

Mostly im curious about guys like

decartes,
kant
Thomas
Augustine
Anselm
Plato
Aristoltle
Hume
Locke
socrates
Kiekegaard
nietzche
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[/quote]


In order to really properly respond regarding the "state" of catholic philosophy, in conjunction with the list of names given above, it would be necessary to outline the history of philosophical thought from Plato until now, which would take me quite a bit more time than I have.

But still so as to give you an answer, catholic philosophical thought is in fine standing. When the foremost student of Heidegger converts to catholicism and becomes a nun, and when the foremost students of Wittgenstein are married, devoutly catholic couple, that begin the philosophical school of Analytic Thomism, its hard to say that catholic philosophical thought is stagnant or dead :D:

Your Brother In Christ,

Jeff

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Ever so briefly I shall try and say something about these. I'm very/completely biased. ;)
[list]
[*]decartes - He destroyed the meaning of forms and final cause (God) in his philosophy. I actually think that a lot of what is attributed to him was some of the work of Bacon. Also, in a way, he separated religion (faith) from philosophy, but only in practice.
[*]kant - He's still an enigma, but he says that he put together the [i]rationalist[/i] and [i]empiricist[/i] groups in the Modernists. I actually disagree with this and think that he completely separated off philosophy and knowledge of God from what man can know. More succintly, he said that we cannot know anything about God Himself. He did a lot, but I don't think that he needed to separate the two Modern philosophy groups as he did because they were really together in the first place.
[i]Rationalist[/i] - Believes in innate ideas
[i]Empiricist[/i] - Denies innate ideas
They were, in my opinion, just working at different situations in history and so there was no need for the latter group to uphold innate ideas in their works.
[*]Thomas - Thomas helped, under the guidance of St. Albertus Magnus, to bring reason and faith together. His was the greatest work in this regards, but he was most certainly not the only person to do this. He was able to show how Aristotle's teachings were not completely incompatible with those of the Church.
[*]Augustine - He's great for bringing ancient schools (neo-Platonists) into the Church. He started the doctrine of Original Sin, but that's more on the side of Faith. I don't know where to stop here.
[*]Anselm - I haven't any of him yet. :(
[*]Plato - I don't know where to begin, but he wrote a tremendous amount. He started a school of thought that died out at first but then went on throughout history. He changed the way philosophy was approached. Umm, just ask and I'll give more. Same with Augustine and Thomas. :)
[*]Aristotle - A very respectable philosopher whose philosophy reemerged during the Muslim era a little after the 10th century. He, like Plato, changed the way philosophy was done. He actually set up the levels of philosophy and divided science from mathematics. He put physics as the study of living and metaphysics as the study of God. This is the way that he philosophy stayed for a long time throughout the medieval philosophy era.
[*]Hume - He destroyed the link between faith and reason, completely. He was also an atheist, but said that God cannot be known through philosophy. In theology he said that miracles cannot happen unless for them not to happen is more miraculous...just like the Resurrection or True Presence.
[*]Locke - He began a very materialist attitude (begun by Descartes) in philosophy. By making it about primary and secondary qualities, and limiting people to ideas, he really denied the knowledge of things in themselves. In short, he was a nominalist and a materialist.
[*]socrates - He changed the way we do philosophy. Not much is known about him except that he was the teacher of Plato. He taught against the Greek life and he really brought forward a teaching on souls/forms. He was put to death in the end for his philosophy, but really revolutionized what we do in inquiry.
[*]Kiekegaard - I read him next semester. :)
[*]nietzche - And boy do I read him next semester! I have a whole class devoted to him! :o :blink:
[/list]
I know this is very short and most of it is just generalization, but if you want more, I can give you some. :)

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Oh, and to answer the other questions, I have a paper I wrote on Hume and Locke and another on Plato.

The first: [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=44142"]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=44142[/url]

The second: [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=44144"]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=44144[/url]

The former answers your question almost directly. :)

The state of philosophy today is very uncertain because the philosophers messed it up during the Modern era. :( It makes me sad to read them.

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[quote name='qfnol31' date='Dec 19 2005, 10:03 AM'][list]

[*]nietzche - And boy do I read him next semester!  I have a whole class devoted to him!  :o  :blink:

[/list]
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[/quote]
:ohno: Ugh. That's just cruel. Nietzsche makes me nauseated.

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[quote name='JeffCR07' date='Dec 19 2005, 11:16 PM']That is a crime.  :P:lol_roll:
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Christmas presents are fully welcome by moi!

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[quote name='philothea' date='Dec 19 2005, 11:25 PM']:ohno:  Ugh.  That's just cruel.  Nietzsche makes me nauseated.
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[/quote]

They love to torture us. :P:

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[quote]QUOTE(philothea @ Dec 19 2005, 11:25 PM)  Ugh.  That's just cruel.  Nietzsche makes me nauseated.




They love to torture us. [/quote]

What? Torture? No way! I quite fancy myself to be one of the extraordinary people held back by the ordinary mass of humanity. But one day to show I'm extraordinary I shall cease control of my own destiny and force my will upon those around me in acts of unspeakable gravity and terror that shall show forth my independence from the chains of nature and society. :lol_pound: Nietzsche is the greatest comic of the 19th century!! More seriously Nietzche's work illustrates the true consequences of atheism, which liberal democracy obscures as Nietchze himself was willing to point out for us :applause: thanks Freddy :P: Nietchze's work is a lesson to the world...

...or should've been. We've had two world wars, eugenics and the final solution since and we're still following the liberal course of[i] progress[/i].

*wry laugh* God is dead but Nietchze indeed lives in a world where every other man is an existentialist/nihilist.

INXC
Myles

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Since this thread has devolved, please sing with me.

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could take you under the table
David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as sloshed as Schlegel
There's nothing Nietszche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates himself was permanently pissed
John Stuart Mill of his own free will
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill
Plato they say could stick it away
Half a crate of whiskey every day
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle
Hobbes was fond of his Dram
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fluffy air extraction
"I drink, therefore I am !"
Yes Socrates himself is particularly missed
A lovely little thinker
But a bugger when he's pissed :ohno:

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