THE RELATIONSHIP OF RELIGION AND ETHICS: A COMPARISON OF NEWMAN AND CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

John Henry Newman's An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent is a commonly cited source for the idea that religion and ethics are in some fashion mutually implicated, and specifically the idea that religious belief can be grounded in our moral experience. ¹ In this paper I aim to do two things. First of all, I shall try to show that Newman's account of the relationship between religious and ethical understanding, as expounded in the Grammar , is more richly nuanced than one might suppose from reading the work of his commentators, and indeed anticipates a great deal of recent discussion in the philosophy of religion. Secondly, I shall argue that one strand of Newman's case in particular merits further attention in the context of current debate; here I shall argue that Newman's position is reminiscent of recent discussion in the philosophy of mind concerning the sense in which feelings are intentional, and articulates a view which is at best underdeveloped in recent work in philosophy of religion.     

HEIDEGGER AND THE APPROPRIATION OF METAPHYSICS

Heidegger's deconstruction of the history of Western metaphysics has been a major influence behind poststructural critiques of modernity as well as more apologetic attempts to maintain a dialogue with historical sources, such as Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics. This bifurcation has intensified the ambiguity of Heidegger's project: was it an attempt to relinquish philosophical ties to the past or a call for a fundamental reinterpretation of them? In this article I argue the latter, focusing my analysis on Heidegger's notions of appropriation and historicity. On the one hand, appropriation is the hermeneutical event by which ontology is reinfused into a reading of historical sources. On the other hand, historicity is the self‐reflexive historical involvement by which we become aware of what contemporary, philosophical conditions necessitate this reengagement. In the end, Heidegger's critique of metaphysics arises from this self‐reflexivity. It deconstructs the prevailing misunderstandings of philosophical sources in order to allow for reinterpretation at a revivified ontological level constantly in view of the question of being.     

HEIDEGGER AND TEILHARD DE CHARDIN: THE CONVERGENCE OF HISTORY AND FUTURE

The intent of this essay is to place the thinking of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in dialogue with one another in order to thresh out the latent aspects of each thinker's work that are often seen to be problematic. I argue that Teilhard's discussion of unity that differentiates illuminates a positive teleology in Heidegger's notion of Appropriation, while Heidegger's conception of retrieval/repetition discloses the significance of historical reinterpretation in Teilhard's Christology. I therefore reply to accusations that Heidegger's philosophy succumbs to relativism and reduction into Being and that Teilhard neglects history in his treatment of Omega Point.     

A PHILOSOPHY OF RISK ASSESSMENT AND THE LAW: A CASE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHY IN PUBLIC POLICY

Philosophical Studies -