Critical Voices: The Reactions of Rahner and Ratzinger to “Schema XIII” (Gaudium et Spes)

Schema XIII (eventually Gaudium et Spes) occasioned somewhat of a split within the “progressive majority” at Vatican II. This article considers one side of this divide via the contributions and objections of Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger, two of the text's most salient critics. After reviewing the history of Schema XIII, I demonstrate that both theologians reacted to it with very similar concerns which centered upon the issue of nature and grace. However, their differing approaches to anthropology and Christology caused their proposed remedies for the schema's shortcomings to diverge significantly.     

Comment on “The Impact of Cancer on Psychological and Social Outcomes (Costa et al., 2016)”

The review written by (Costa et al. 2016) summarises a broad range of topics associated with what is known about the psychosocial outcomes of cancer in patients and their families. This commentary supplements this review by expanding on three topics that were not covered in the review. First, the challenges in assessing and diagnosing anxiety, depression, and distress in cancer patients due to overlapping symptoms with the disease state are highlighted. Second, the contribution of biological pathways such as inflammation upon the genesis and maintenance of anxiety, depression, and distress is acknowledged. Third, the potential role of religion and spirituality in influencing the psychosocial outcomes of cancer is raised. These three points are used to emphasise the importance of firmly incorporating a biopsychosocial model in research and health‐care provisions with cancer patients and their families.     

Comments on “Getting scarred and winning lotteries: Effects of exemplar cuing and statistical format on imagining low‐probability events,” By Newell,Mitchell, and Hayes (2008)

Newell, Mitchell, and Hayes (NMH) conduct three experiments designed to test whether exemplar cuing (EC) theory or a statistical format theory provides a more accurate account for how people make judgments about low‐probability events. They report finding support for the statistical format theory and little or no support for EC. However, NMH misstate the requirements for the production of exemplars in EC theory. As a result, they confuse non‐exemplar conditions with exemplar conditions in their experiments, and find results that are virtually irrelevant to EC theory. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spilling All Over the “Wide Fields of Our Passions”: Frye,Butler, Wittgenstein and the Context(s) of Attention,Intention and Identity (Or: From Arm Wrestling Duck to Abject Being to Lesbian Feminist)

I argue for a Wittgensteinian reading of Judith Butler's performative conception of identity in light of Marilyn Frye's analysis of lesbian as nonexistent and Butler's analysis of abject. I suggest that the attempt to articulate a performative lesbian identity must take seriously the contexts within which abjection is vital to maintaining gender, exposing the intimate link between context and the formulation of intention, and shedding light on possible lesbian identities irreducible to abjection.