Emmanuel Levinas: Thinker between Jerusalem and Athens A Philosophical Biography

Emmanuel Levinas died a few days before he would have been ninety years old, on December 25, 1995, very early on a Monday morning, in the Paris clinic of Beaujon, where he had been admitted the previous day with serious heart complications.     

The King and 'I': Agency and Rationality in Athens and Jerusalem

Although Western culture draws substantively on Athens and Jerusalem, hostility tends to be shown towards Jerusalem from the philosophical wing. I attempt to correct the imbalance. Philosophy, I argue, arose in the Greek context because of a problem of self-confidence. 'Philosophical rationality' cannot therefore be taken as normative for rationality generally. The contrast between the Jerusalemite and the Athenian views of self and of the contrasting estimates and explanations of the efficacy (or inefficacy) of the self's agency is developed through an examination of the main documents of pre-classical and classical Greece, and the Bible .     

施特劳斯论耶路撒冷和雅典之争

施特劳斯是二十世纪的著名政治哲学家,也是在诸多方面皆有建树的犹太裔学者.他关于耶路撒冷和雅典之争的论述观点独特而且影响重大.耶路撒冷和雅典之争这个命题对于理解施特劳斯的政治哲学具有什么样的重要意义?带着这个问题,文章相继探讨了施特劳斯关于这个争论的一般解释,批评了德国学者迈尔应用这个命题分析施特劳斯和施米特思想对话的方案,突出了犹太教与基督教之间的分别对于理解这个命题的重要性,最后从言行二元论和追求完美正义的角度重新阐释了耶路撒冷和雅典之争的根本意义.     

Jerusalem in Athens: On the Biblical Epigraphs to Leo Strauss's Natural Right and History

The Old Testament epigraphs used by Leo Strauss for his study Natural Right and History tend invariably to vex his readers. In the book itself and in other of his writings, Strauss explicitly states that the Old Testament tradition does not know ‘nature’ in the philosophical sense, and hence the concept of ‘natural right’ is unknown or alien to that tradition. Another, more obvious problem they present has been seemingly universally passed over by commentators: neither epigraph tells the reader anything explicitly about right, natural or otherwise. One cannot claim them to contain lessons about right, because such lessons are not directly extractable from the epigraphs as they stand. Here I wish to argue that Strauss's choice of epigraph does two things: first, it points to the fact that Old Testament stories can be given a political reading, or used to illustrate political lessons. In implying this, Strauss is following Machiavelli, who is the most important figure in Natural Right and History. Second, the epigraphs point to the deeply problematic nature of the concept of natural right, primarily the equivocal nature of the term, a difficulty never made explicit by Strauss but the awareness of which permeates his study.     

近五十年来台湾地区士林哲学之研究与前瞻

根据祁尔松（Etienne Gilson）的说法,中世纪哲学,尤其是十三世纪的思想,是基督宗教哲学。本文按其在台湾发展时所袭用的名词,称之为士林哲学。士林哲学之传入中国,虽然早在利玛窦时期（1550—1610）已经开始,但真正成为学术思想之主流之一,是最近五十年来在台湾地区的发展。20世纪初士林哲学初传入台湾时,当时的思想环境,对基督宗教哲学并不十分友善,这种种情况,与中世纪的思想家,面对信仰与神学之挑战相似。当时的思想家,融合各种不同的思想派系,对柏拉图与亚理斯多德的观念,重新诠释与批判,批判与诠释是创新的基础。所以,中世纪可说是哲学的第二春,而中世纪哲学之精华,即全盛期的士林哲学。十四世纪唯名论之后,士林哲学逐步式微,于十九世纪末再兴。本文认为,士林哲学在台湾发展之过程,与其在中世纪之盛行,及十九世纪末之再兴,背景虽异但有不少相似之处,而这些相似之处,正是士林哲学之基本思想与立场。本文对台湾士林哲学之发展,从四方面探讨：（1）回到形上学之根以面对新的挑战;（2）形上学基本立场与概念之说明;（3）反思与批判;（4）未来发展之方向。本文所参考之资料,一是已发表之学术文献;其二是与学者们之正式交谈——如学术演讲、座谈会等,及非正式之谈话、访问等。     

Contrast and complementarity: Two approaches to the thought of Joseph Ratzinger

Abstract

With their emphasis on healing, Zionist churches in southern Africa currently represent by far the largest group among the so-called African Independent or Indigenous Churches (AICs) and, as such, a type of church in their own right. They reflect, in short, an indigenous response to the challenges of modernity, as experienced in their respective socio-political, religious, and cultural settings. After sketching the history of their origin, which is linked to J. A. Dowie as well as to the Keswick movement, and describing the worship and congregational life ‘in Zion' in some detail, the article concludes with a theological reflection about the lived ecclesiology and pneumatology of these churches, which deeply challenge the very perception of established Christian theologies. The aim is to stimulate serious dialogue, which, as the author is convinced, will lead to an authentic re-owning of the Christian tradition by all the Church.     

Gilson and Lonergan and the Possibility of A Christian Philosophy

Etienne Gilson was a strong promoter of the notion of a ‘Christian philosophy’. He viewed it as a type of historical practice whereby Christian thinkers are spurred by revelation to develop philosophical positions congruent with revelation, but which are defensible by reason alone. This paper reviews Gilson's notion of Christian philosophy and argues that the philosophical position of Bernard Lonergan is one example of such a practice.     

早期基督教与古希腊哲学的相遇

早期教父时期所面临的文化处境和思想处境是其得以建构起来的历史起点。当然,这并不意味着基督宗教哲学是早期教父运用和借鉴希腊哲学思想与观念的一个必然的或基本的结果。其基本的或必然的理论形态是神学思想或体系。哲学只是这场运动的一个副产品或可能的产物。但是,某种体系只要运用或借鉴哲学思想及其观念,那么哲学的思考方式及其问题意识必然会以某种方式进入到这一体系中,从而会催生一种特有的哲学的或准哲学的东西。这种哲学的或准哲学的东西只要以某种方式进入到历史中,随着时间的推移,它必将会形成一种相对连贯的思想体系或运动。     

Merold Westphal (ed.), Postmodern Philosophy and Christian Thought

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -