Classics 110

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John Paul II and the Crisis of Modern Times

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Russell Hittinger (University of Tulsa) This lecture will compare the great pontificates that represented two “modern times”: Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century and John Paul II at the end of the 20th. Between Leo’s birth in 1810 to JPII’s death in 2005, the lived experience of these two men encompass all modern times, both secular and ecclesiastical – from Napoleon to the iPhone. What was at stake for the Church over the course of this rapidly changing century? How did the social teaching of these two popes differ in addressing the modern crises of their day?

Aquinas’ Third Way of Proving a God: Logic or Love?

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Cosponsored by the Medieval Studies Workshop Thomas Aquinas’ famous five ways of proving the existence of a God continue to intrigue and perplex his readers. The most troublesome is perhaps the third—the one based on the possible and the necessary—to which all sorts of objections can be heard: logical, scientific, theological, phenomenological, even Thomistic. Contrary to the usual assumption, however, the kind of possibility and necessity that the third way regards does not seem to be the logical kind.  In a sense, it has more to do with love than with logic. This reading puts the problems that the third way faces, and also the...

The Necessity of Goodness

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Rémi Brague (Sorbonne/University of Munich) cosponsored by the France Chicago Center at the University of Chicago We commonly conceive of the Good as being what we should do, sharing Aristotle’s rejection of Plato’s Idea of the Good and his reduction of the good to what can be done by a free subject. Since this subject is a human being, it must first come to be by being born, a process in which we don’t “do” anything and are radically non-free. To what extent can we call this process “good”? If not, we cannot  ensure the perpetuation of humankind. Should humankind...

The Spiritual Nature of Man

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

“The Spiritual Nature of Man” Anselm Muller, University of Trier Cosponsored by the Department of Philosophy Are human beings essentially spiritual creatures or can human life be explained entirely by material principles? The great twentieth century philosopher, Elizabeth Anscombe, suggests that we are essentially spiritual beings because we are naturally and consciously oriented beyond our material life toward transcendent norms of truth and goodness.  This is the ground of our dignity and value over other, non-spiritual animals.

Exile and the canzone in Dante’s Earthly Paradise

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Cosponsored by the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures and the Medieval Studies Workshop Often considered the greatest work of Italian literature, Dante’s Divine Comedy depicts the exiled soul’s journey to God. At the end of thePurgatorio, Dante reaches the Garden of Eden. But, despite the setting of earthly paradise and the reappearance of the poet’s youthful love Beatrice, the protagonist finds remorse in Eden rather than triumph. The Earthly Paradise cantos can be understood as a reclaiming of Dante’s former identity of spiritually exiled lyric poet, wherein both poet and poem exist in a relationship of exile to the world that receives them.

“Gregorian Chant as Splendor Formae of the Liturgy”

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Cosponsored by the Department of Music and the Medieval Studies Workshop A principal Medieval definition of beauty is splendor formae, the manifesting of the very nature or form of a thing. While the liturgy can be described as a great divine action, it is also comprised of a variety of discrete chants. Being entirely sung, its Gregorian chants differentiate the character and function of each action and thus express a purposeful variety. This lecture will illustrate the beauty of the liturgy by comparing these chants particularly the gradual and alleluia in relation to the responsories of the Divine Office.

The Unintended Reformation”

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Co-sponsored by the Department of History and The Early Modern Workshop In his latest book, The Unintended Reformation, Brad Gregory identifies the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation and traces how it has shaped the modern condition. He argues that hyperpluralism, an absence of a shared sense of the common good, and the triumph of consumerism are each the long-term effects of a distinctive religious movement that marked the end of a period of history in which Christianity provided a framework for a shared intellectual, social, and moral life in the West.

“Right Reason”

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Co-sponsored by the Ancient Philosophy Workshop and the Practical Philosophy Workshop

“The Importance of Elizabeth Anscombe”

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

Co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy TO LISTEN: right click on below links to download or open in new window “The Importance of Elizabeth Anscombe,” Anselm Mueller (part 1) “The Importance of Elizabeth Anscombe,” Anselm Mueller (part 2) “The Importance of Elizabeth Anscombe,” Anselm Mueller (part 3) Elizabeth Anscombe has become known as a pupil and literary executor of Wittgenstein, but also as a defender of conservative views on questions of morality. A. W. Müeller will suggest that she has contributed to current intellectual life in three ways: 1) by initiating a philosophy of action that helps us to argue responsibly about moral...

The Apocalypse in Origen and the Origenian Tradition

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

This lecture will investigate the interpretation of the Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, in Origen and the Origenian tradition. Why does Origen accept this book, whereas many Origenian exegetes do not? What role does Millenarianism play in this choice, and what kind of exegesis does Origen apply in order to accept the Apocalypse? In answering these questions and others, the lecture looks to two influences on Origen’s thought: Plato and St. Paul, especially 1 Cor. 15.

Does Secularization Lead to Moral Decline?

Classics 110 1010 E 59th St. Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL

The broad public debates on religion and ethics frequently suffer from empirical deficiencies. All sides tend to argue in a way one might call an “a priori” mode of argumentation. In contrast, this lecture offers some empirically grounded reflections. First, Hans Joas asks whether the morality of secularized societies could be a mere remnant or reverberation of religious traditions. Secondly, he briefly investigates with regard to tribal societies whether religion should be considered to be constitutive for morality at all. Thirdly, he uses an example from Christian missionary work to look at the interaction of new religion and traditional morality....