CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326

From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
#e!throp Collee$ %niversit! of &ondon
'( in Contemporar! Theolo! in the Catholic Tradition
D)**+,T(T)-. /(uust 20012
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the
universal in Catholic theolo!"
The mind of one who knows has been freed of concepts and is open to what is. Tao Te Ching: 27.
Abstract
Platonism (and Neo-Platonism) provided a working conceptual framework for the
theologians of the Patristic period (including the Cappadocian athers and !t
Augustine) who contributed in a decisive wa" to the shaping and development of ke"
Christian doctrines. Central to this Platonism was the eternal and immutable orm#
the supra-sensible archet"pe of the real# represented b" the idea or the universal in
the human intellect. The universal was regarded as a conceptual window onto the
$eal# including the transcendent realit" of %od# and this perspective came to govern
the e&pression of Christian doctrine in man" theological areas. 'ainl" as a result of
the rediscover" of the metaph"sical writings of Aristotle# this realist position was
revised b" theologians like A(uinas# !cotus and )ckham. *hile the denial of realism
had a formative influence on the theolog" of the $eformation (and# ultimatel"# the
postmodernism of our own era)# the Catholic Church embraced a moderate realism
in which the universal# abstracted from sense perception# continued to provide
access to definitive truth. +n the course of the revival of Thomism in the nineteenth
centur"# traditional Thomism continued to emphasise the centralit" of the concept#
whereas Transcendental Thomism# in relativising the concept in relation to the
,udgement# became the catal"st for the theological pluralism that characterised the
period after -atican ++. +n recent times# Catholic theologians# including .onergan#
!chillebeeck&# Panikkar and Pieris# have sought to retrieve and redefine the
universal as a d"namic s"mbol that can mediate theological meaning.
1
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
Platonism in the Patristic Period
While the familiar (tongue-in-cheek) comment that two thousand years of western
hilosohy consists of !footnotes to "lato#
1
has its detractors$ the more rosaic
%udgement that the first thousand years of Christian theology is im&ued with the sirit
of "lato is an uncontested truism. Christianity$ initially a de'eloment within (udaism$
&ecame esta&lished and ultimately flourished in a cultural and intellectual
en'ironment that understood itself in terms of thought categories and atterns that
were deri'ed from )reek hilosohy. *n any historical eriod it is usually ossi&le to
identify a set of shared assumtions a&out the nature of things that constitutes a
working concetual framework (a kind of !folk ontology or eistemology# that
academic thought seeks to refine). *n our own times$ what asses for !common
sense# endorses ontological and eistemological realism$ though it is more cautious
a&out morality and aesthetics. *n the second century$ a century of raid growth and
consolidation &y the Christian Church$ the general intellectual outlook in +uroean
society was ermeated with ideas that were deri'ed from )reek hilosohy and$ in
articular$ the thought of "lato. The Church#s understanding of itself$ together with
some of its foundational doctrines a&out Christ$ )od and human nature$ would &e
worked out and de'eloed$ initially in dialogue with$ and later entirely from within a
redominantly ,ellenistic "latonic world'iew. -t the heart of this world'iew was the
&elief in a ermanent reality that lay &ehind or &eyond the aarent reality
encountered in e'eryday e.erience. The rincial way of encountering this ultimate
reality was &y means of *deas: timeless and o&%ecti'e entities that constituted reality
and that could &e grased (in 'arying degrees of success) &y the human intellect.
"lato#s theory of /orms was a generalisation of his &eliefs a&out the relationshi
&etween articular shaes and &odies and their corresonding mathematical
concets. ,a'ing reasoned that articular geometric shaes and &odies were
imerfect instantiations of mathematical ideas$ "lato seems to ha'e ro%ected this
conclusion across the entire range of human knowledge and e.erience. (ust as a
articular circle (drawn in the sand) is an imerfect realisation of circularity as such$
so a articular courageous act shares in a limited way in courageousness as such
2
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
and a articular ta&le shares to some e.tent in !ta&leness# as such. 0atial
metahors are &rought into lay to descri&e the relationshi &etween the world of
sense and the world of ideas: the real world lies !&eyond# aearances that resent
themsel'es to the senses1 henomenal truths !articiate# in ultimate truth. This
aroach$ de'eloed &y "lato with great ingenuity and imagination$ resulted in a total
world'iew that ascri&ed ermanence$ erfection and ultimacy to one realm of reality
and the oosite characteristics to another.
2y the second century these "latonic assumtions$ com&ined with ideas deri'ed
from 0toicism (emhasising detachment$ 'irtue and !3ogos# as the transcendent
rincile of rationality animating and sustaining the world) were ine.trica&ly wo'en
into the intellectual outlook of many +uroeans. The early Christian /athers who
reflected on faith and who attemted to resent a coherent and comelling account
of it to their contemoraries were$ in the main$ )entile )reeks and 4omans. Their
thought atterns were ,ellenistic$ though these atterns were not so em&edded in
their awareness as to reclude criticism of certain )reek ideas that were considered
to &e inconsistent with Christian re'elation. /or e.amle one ro&lem with "lato#s
hilosohical monotheism was that !)od#$ of necessity$ &elonged to the realm of
&eing and was thus comletely immuta&le and imassi&le$ characteristics that cannot
&e easily s5uared with the doctrine of the *ncarnation. ,owe'er many of the early
Christian thinkers and theologians maintained a high oinion of )reek hilosohy
and sought$ not %ust to reconcile the re'elations of Christianity with many of the core
assumtions of )reek thought$ &ut to suggest that "lato and others had &een gi'en
an historic mission to reare the theoretical foundations for imortant asects of
Christianity.
*n the course of the early centuries it &ecame necessary for the Church to define as
accurately as ossi&le its christological and Trinitarian &eliefs. -t the confessional
and liturgical le'el$ the Church$ of course$ already !knew# what it &elie'ed a&out
(esus. ,ad not "eter in his "entecostal sermon roclaimed that !)od has made
6(esus7 &oth 3ord and 8essiah$ this (esus whom you crucified#9 (-cts 2::;)1 in the
early hymn in "hiliians we read that !)od highly e.alted (esus and ga'e him the
name that is a&o'e e'ery name$ so that at the name of (esus e'ery knee should
:
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
&end < and e'ery tongue confess that (esus Christ is 3ord <# ("hil 2:=-11).
,owe'er$ while the le& orandi had consolidated itself in successi'e generations of
Christian life after the -ostolic eriod$ consensus regarding the le& credendi$ in the
a&sence of theological language making it ossi&le to !think of (esus Christ as
)od#$
2
was not to &e achie'ed without serious contro'ersy. >ltimately$ howe'er$ it
was &y means of the "latonic uni'ersal that the Church was a&le to set down some
markers for a minimal orthodo.y$ though the !solutions# roosed at the Councils of
?icaea (:2@) and Constantinole (:A1) generated as many 5uestions as answers.
The !route# to the e'entual deloyment of the "latonic uni'ersal &y the Caadocian
/athers in connection with the definition of &elief relating to the nature of Christ and
the Trinity is maed out in some detail &y (arosla' "elikan.
:
While the Church
emloyed a 'ariety of metahors to e.ress and summariBe the meaning of
sal'ation$ Christians were generally united in the &elief that !sal'ation was the work of
no &eing less than the 3ord of hea'en and earth.#
C
-s we ha'e already seen$
re'alent (,ellenistic) concets of the )odhead as imassi&le rendered &eliefs in a
)od who suffers ro&lematic1 docetiBing tendencies$ e'en among orthodo. &elie'ers$
were not uncommon. +fforts to ro'ide a more &i&lical grounding for the di'inity of
Christ resulted in adotionist Christology$ reliant uon key Dld and ?ew Testament
te.ts that lacked the theological and hilosohical resources to affirm a more recise
ontological relationshi &etween (esus and the di'ine 3ogos. This concetually fuBBy
adotionism seems to ha'e generated a monarchianism that stressed the identity of
0on with the /ather !without secifying the distinction &etween them with<
recision.#
@
Tertullian (1;E-c.22E) himself admitted that Fthe simle eole < who are
always the ma%ority of the faithful ... shy at the economyG$
;
the !economy# referring to
the distinction &etween /ather and 0on. -nother re- (,ellenistic) hilosohical
attemt to e.ress the sonshi of Christ that finally slied into desuetude was the
designation of the di'ine in Christ as an angel. The e.istence of a rimiti'e (ewish-
Christian angel Christology with its imlications for the role of the Christ (that would
include the inauguration of the new aeon of the kingdom) has &een cited &y some
scholars as a reason for an a&sence of christological contro'ersy in the -ostolic
age.
7

C
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
,owe'er it was the -rian contro'ersy of the fourth century$ ossi&ly the greatest
theological crisis of the Church#s (early) history$ that &ecame the trigger for the
adotion of o'ertly "latonic language for the defining of a new Trinitarianism that was
and has remained a rimary standard of orthodo.y for the whole Church. -ccording
to "elikan
A
it was the e.egesis of "ro'er&s A:22-:1 (!The 3ord created me first of all$
the first of his works$ long ago. * was made in the 'ery &eginning <) !in the light of a
articular set of theological a prioris# that resulted in the -rian doctrine of Christ as
creature. Dne of the -rian a priori &eliefs to which "elikan is referring was the
a&solute oneness$ the one-and-onlyness$ () of )od. *n fact$ -rius referred the
stronger suerlati'e , #without &eginning and utterly one$# when
referring to the )odhead. ?o identification of Christ with the (semi)-di'ine 3ogos
should &e allowed !to comromise this arithmetical oneness of )od#
=
who$ as
!monad# () was a&solutely alone. -n early attemt to settle the matter at the
Council of ?icea$ done in eremtory style &y the +meror Constantine himself who
(ro&a&ly at the instigation of his western ad'isor$ the 0aniard ,osius) declared in
frustration that the term homoousios (!same !ousios#H&eing#) should &e used to
cature the nature of the relationshi &etween Christ and the /ather$ resulted only in
deeer schism and contro'ersy. The Church had to wait for a later Council$ that at
Constantinole (from 8ay to (uly :A1)$ &efore a relati'ely coherent formula$ couched
in the language of !the more ad'anced hilosohers$#
1E
could &e resented.
What the Church needed was a formula that would allow the &elie'er to affirm &oth
identity and difference in the )odhead in a coherent wa". The Caadocian /athers
(including 2asil of Caesarea$ )regory ?aBianBus and his younger &rother )regory of
?yssa) deftly steered a course &etween the 0cyllas of either 0a&ellianism or tritheism
and the Chary&dis of -rianism &y lacing Trinitarian theology within a "latonic
framework and &y unacking the )odhead in terms of the most general of the
"latonic uni'ersals$ namely ousia. )regory of ?yssa needed a distinction similar to
that &etween "lato#s /orm of the )ood I a kind of master uni'ersal - and the (more
ordinary) /orm in order to a'oid the confusions attendant uon redicating an
undifferentiated ousia of the ersons of the Trinity. -rguing from analogy he
maintained that$ %ust as it was inaccurate to seak of three indi'idual eole as !three
@
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
humans# since !human# was a term for a nature they had in common$ so$ in the case
of the Trinity$ it was &oth inaccurate and dangerous to seak of three ousiai since
&elie'ers had clearly (mistakenly) concluded from this that there were three distinct
di'inities within the )odhead. *n his words !the di'ine$ simle$ and unchangea&le
nature transcends any sort of di'ersity < in order to &e truly one.#
11
The
hierarchically (and$ according to 2asil$ ontologically
12
) inferior general uni'ersal$ the
h"postasis$ ro'ides the concetual means &y which to differentiate the "ersons.
2oth uni'ersals were re5uired: ousia to safeguard the unity of )od and the
h"postasis to ground the necessary di'ersity within unity. 2asil 'ehemently resisted
any false e.altation of di'ine ousia o'er the h"postases$ re%ecting any such inference
as !irreligion.#
1:
While the Caadocians# general osition shows great concetual
refinement and intellectual rigour$ it is not surrising$ gi'en the nature of the su&%ect
matter$ that su&se5uent attemts to oularise doctrine sometimes introduced
inconsistencies and aarent contradictions that undermine their own "latonic
consistency. ,a'ing differentiated ousia and h"postatsis$ 2asil draws an analogy
&etween these and the relationshi &etween uni'ersal and articular which is less
than helful:
0u&stance relates to hyostasis as uni'ersal relates to articular. +ach of us shares in e.istence
through the common ousia and yet is a secific indi'idual &ecause of his own characteristics. 0o also
with )od$ ousia refers to that which is common$ like goodness$ deity or other attri&utes$ while
h"postasis is seen in the secial characteristics of fatherhood$ sonshi or sanctifying ower.
1C
+'en )regory of ?aBianBus occasionally a&andons his characteristic recision and
uses figurati'e language and rhetorical aeals:
When * seak of )od$ you must &e enlightened at the same time &y one flash of light and &y three.
There are three indi'idualities or h"postases or$ if your refer$ persons. (Why argue a&out names
when words amount to the same meaning9) There is one ousia I ie. deity. /or )od is di'ided without
di'ision$ if * may ut it like that$ and united in di'ision. The )odhead is one in three and the three are
one. The )odhead has its ousia in the three or$ to &e more recise$ the )odhead is the three < We
must neither heretically fuse )od together into one nor cho )od u into ine5uality <
1@
;
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
Dccasional lases aside$ the intellectual and concetual rigour of the Caadocians
should not &e seen as an accidental feature of their thought. 4ather their concern to
delineate ideas carefully and unack them with the utmost recision is a direct
corollary of the "latonic eistemological and ontological underinnings of their
theological osition. 8ental ideas were images of sura-sensi&le and eternal
uni'ersals or /orms.
1;
The idea ousia is the of a (erfectly !remem&ered#)
eternal and ultimate reality (in this case the &eing of )od). -ccording to the "latonic
'iew there is a real (that is$ not con'entional or ar&itrary) connectedness &etween the
content of the mind encasulated in the uni'ersal and the eternal /orm. Drthodo.y$
e& h"pothesi$ re5uired the right mental contentsHideas$ meticulously delineated and
scruulously unfolded. /rom this ersecti'e heterodo.y is essentially a (sinfully
incometent) tra'esty of the real. 0a&ellianism is wrong in the same way that an
imerfect image fashioned &y a mediocre artist is wrong: there is a mismatch
&etween the image-idea and the reality to which it is suosedly intrinsically related.
The central doctrines of "lato that heled to resource the early Christian intellectual
tradition were themsel'es de'eloed &y se'eral thinkers associated with "latonism$
the most imortant of whom &eing "lotinus (2EC-27E) whose form of "latonism
(su&se5uently known as ?eolatonism
17
) was adoted &y &oth the Caadocians
and 0t -ugustine (:@C-C:E). *n the /nneads (an edited 'ersion of "lotinus# work &y
his uil and successor$ "orhyry (2:2-:EC))$ "lotinus affirms many of the themes
common to the "latonic tradition including the &elief in a higher le'el of reality than
'isi&le and sensi&le things and the non-materiality of the highest form of reality.
-ccording to "lotinus# monistic 'ersion of "latonism$ the &eing of all things emanated
from a single unitary source$ the !Dne#$ through the !*ntelligence# that contains the
uni'ersals on which the hysical world in modelled$ and the 0oul$ that includes the
indi'idual souls of creatures including humankind. This !new# "latonism was the route
to Christianity for one of the faith#s most influential sokesmen$ -ugustine of ,io$ a
ma%or figure in intellectual history whose influence on Christianity !+astern or
Western$ ancient or mediae'al or modern$ heretical or orthodo.#
1A
is unmatched &y
any other thinker.
7
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
-ugustine#s de&t to "lato through the thought of "lotinus is a common theme in many
of -ugustine#s commentators. The great -ugustine scholar$ Dtto 0cheel$ maintained
that many of -ugustine#s key doctrines were merely the conse5uence of his
?eolatonism.
1=
*n his own early writings -ugustine seems to identify the &i&lical
doctrine of )od with !what "lato and "lotinus ha'e said a&out )od.#
2E
4eferring to a
work of -ugustine#s concerning Christ the teacher$ "elikan remarks on the similarities
&etween -ugustine#s eistemological ideas and "lato#s theory of knowledge:
*t is aroriate < to o&ser'e how consistently "latonic was -ugustine#s early doctrine of knowledge
in the soul$ which identified the work of Christ as the di'ine teacher with the idea of recollection
()$ so that$ Fwe do not consult a seaker who utters sounds to the outside$ &ut a truth that
resides within < Christ$ who is said to dwell in the inner man I he it is who teaches.G *t would re5uire
only Fthe change of a few words and sentimentsG from "lato and his followers to F&ecome Christians.G
21
*n -ugustine#s theory of knowledge we encounter an original synthesis of "lato#s
doctrine of the /orm of the )ood and later ?eolatonist notions of )od as the source
of intellectual illumination. *n his analogy of the ca'e in the $epublic -++$ "lato makes
use of the sun to reresent that &y which the things of the world (that reresent the
/orms or uni'ersals) are made intelligi&le. *n his reworking of these ideas$ -ugustine
ortrays )od as the sun that illuminates the truths of the world. 8oreo'er the
!en'ironment# for these truths is no longer the sura-sensi&le world of the /orms &ut
the !mind of )od#. ,uman knowing then &ecomes a sharing in (the contents of) the
mind of )od. >nderstanding (which is the actualisation of knowledge) is the
successful seeing &y the intellect of the eternal truths that are made 'isi&le to man &y
the light of )od#s resence. The uni'ersality and necessity of ideas or concets
(including those central to the faith including human nature and the nature of the
Trinity) are grounded in di'ine ideas that are seen or !intuited# &y the enlightened
human intellect. "erhas &y way of mitigating the intellectualism of this intuitionism$
Coleston suggests that -ugustinian knowledge could &e thought of as &eing deri'ed
from e.erience and that !the regulati'e influence of the di'ine ideas (which means
the influence of )od) ena&les man to see the relation of created things to eternal
suer-sensi&le realities < and that )od#s light ena&les the mind to discern the
A
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
elements of necessity <#
22
,e does concede$ howe'er$ that -ugustine#s
eistemology is anything &ut systematic and that a definiti'e interretation is not
ossi&le.
'ediaeval and later perspectives on the universal
*n his discussion of -ugustine#s metahysics of &eing and theory of knowledge$
)erald 8cCool remarks that !-ugustine ne'er ceased to &e a "latonist.#
2:
Certainly
in the socially and olitically unsta&le eriod following the so-called Carolingian
renaissance of the ninth century$ the ro&lem of uni'ersals continued to &e a ma%or
reoccuation for Christian thinkers$ as did the ?eolatonic !solution# roosed &y
-ugustine who remained a massi'e resence and influence well into the mediae'al
eriod. *nterestingly a clear &ifurcation in thinking a&out uni'ersals seems to ha'e
de'eloed in the eriod u to -5uinas (122C-7C). Dn the one hand$ according to the
osition that &ecame known as (+.aggerated) 4ealism$ the "latonic doctrine of the
real e.istence of uni'ersals in a world outside the human mind is maintained. Well-
formed concets ro'ide windows onto these eternal 'erities and$ as such$ ha'e a
decisi'e and definiti'e status for thought (and theology). This osition reduced sense
knowledge to mere illusion. 4eresentati'es of this 'iew included (ohn 0cotus
+riugena (c. A1@- c. A77)$ 4emigius of -u.erre (AC1-=EA)$ William of Chameau.
(1E7E-112E) and to some e.tent )il&ert de la "orreJ (1E7;-11@C). The contrary
osition$ known as nominalism$ and reresented &y 4oscelin (c. 1E@E-112E)$ (ohn of
0alis&ury (c. 111@-11AE) and argua&ly "eter -&elard (1E7=-11C2)$ held that the
uni'ersal is a mere name (!nomen# or flatus vocis) that is used to la&el grous of
things that share something in common. -s such$ uni'ersals are ro'isional and
e.enda&le. Contemorary critics maintained that nominalism was destructi'e of all
knowledge and reasoning and that it rendered hilosohy and theology imossi&le.
*n the thought of Thomas -5uinas (thirteenth century) we find a comelling synthesis
of elements drawn from -ugustine$ from realist and nominalist ositions and$ of
course$ from the metahysical and eistemological writings of -ristotle. Thomas
concurred fully with -ugustine#s &elief that the human mind was an e.ressed image
of the Trinity. 8cCool writes that !in Thomas#s hilosohical theology < the mind and
=
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
will of man#s autonomous human nature were ordered to the Triune )od of Christian
re'elation as their uni5ue$ al&eit suernatural$ end.#
2C
,owe'er while Thomas
&elie'ed$ with -ugustine$ that human &eings were orientated to )od &y means of an
innate intellectual aetite for 2eing in its fullness (the 2eatific Kision)$ he did not
share -ugustine#s &elief in a direct intuiti'e gras of truth. /ollowing -ristotle$ Thomas
de'eloed a theory of knowledge that incororated an indirect intellectual intuition of
an intelligi&le form in the sensi&le content of the image. The content of this intuition is
held in the mind as a uni'ersal concet and e.ressed outwardly as a term. /inally$
in the unity of the %udgement$ the mind is a&le to synthesise the su&%ect of redication
with the uni'ersal concet. This !moderate# solution to the ro&lem of uni'ersals
retains its links with realism &y ositing the real e.istence (!intentionally# in the mind
and hysically in the thing) of the same entity in &oth the mind and in the o&%ect. Thus
Thomas succeeded in creating a new hilosohy of knowledge in which the
synthesis of articular and uni'ersal is achie'ed &y means of the %udgement$ no
longer following uon di'ine illumination as -ugustine maintained$ &ut resulting from
the ordinary oeration of the human mind.
While Thomas was hay to em&race much of -ristotle#s eistemology$ it would &e
incorrect to suggest that the rincial difference &etween Thomas#s Christian
hilosohy and that of -ugustine was Thomas#s o&'ious reference for -ristotle (in
his entirety) o'er "lato. Thomism should not &e considered$ according to 8cCool$ a
!Christianised 'ersion of -ristotle#s hilosohy of &eing.#
2@
8cCool draws uon the
research of Ltienne )ilson
2;
to suggest there is an !un&ridgea&le di'ersity# in the
definitions gi'en to &eing in the hilosohies of -ristotle and Thomas. /or -ristotle
&eing meant su&sisting essence$ a generic notion that included &oth the ure
su&stantial form associated with the concet and the comosite reality of the thing
consisting of su&stantial form and rimary matter. /or Thomas$ howe'er$ &eing meant
e&istence which was conferred on su&stantial form. >nlike -ristotelian form$ &eing
could not &e grased intellectually and known like a uni'ersal that is roduced &y
means of a&straction. 4ather$ &eing is known through the ,udgement$ that synthesis
of articular and uni'ersal that is !ordered directly to *nfinite +.istence as its end.#
27

This emhasis on the (acti'e) %udgement$ away from the (static) concet$ was to
ha'e huge imlications for Catholic theology in the eriod &etween the two Katican
1E
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
Councils and &eyond (see &elow). ,owe'er the more radical imlications of
Thomas#s metahysics were mitigated to some e.tent &y later readings that$ with
hindsight$ seem closer to -ristotle than to the insights and more original
de'eloments offered &y -5uinas.
The reasons that e.lain the o'erly -ristotelian reading of Thomas in the three or four
centuries after his death are di'erse and$ of necessity$ con%ectural. Dne of the
ro&lems with -ugustine#s theory of di'ine illumination was its !ina&ility to grant <
roer autonomy to the contingent &eings and agents of our finite world.#
2A
Through
-ristotle$ Thomas was a&le to address the 5uestion of autonomy &y de'eloing an
eistemology (and a modified metahysics) that acknowledged the human
contri&ution to the cognitional rocess and to the metahysical affirmation of &eing.
-s we shall see$ there were &oth indi'idual intellectual ressures and$ in the course
of time$ highly de'eloed theological standoints feeding into significant social-
olitical changes$ that would 5uestion the kind of human autonomy that Thomas
sought to uhold. The human &eing#s humanity$ for e.amle$ was$ for Thomas$
neither a suer-sensi&le$ 5uasi-"latonic$ di'inely constituted entity in the mind of )od
nor a urely human$ con'enient name for an ar&itrary set of characteristics. 4ather it
was an emirically grounded reality$ aroriated through normal human cognition$
&ut at the same time constitutionally directed towards (an affirmation of) )od. *ndeed
it may &e the case that an e.aggerated defence of human nature &y some followers
of Thomas resulted$ ironically$ in a fragmenting of the concet of human nature that
actually facilitated a contrary aologetic that emhasised the infinite distance
&etween )od and man. 2y the end of the middle ages nominalism$ and not Thomas#s
moderate realism$ had &ecome the mainstream mo'ement in scholastic theology.
Thomism had to await the siritual and intellectual re'i'al of the Drder of "reachers
in the middle to late fifteenth century &efore Thomas#s ideas were reintroduced into
Catholic theological circles. /ollowing *gnatius# lead$ the (esuits ut Thomas at the
centre of theological education and new and scholarly editions of Thomas# works
together with detailed commentaries were roduced throughout the si.teenth century.
4ecognising that -ristotle alone could not ro'ide a suita&le foundation for Catholic
hilosohy$ the greatest of (esuit theologians$ /rancisco 0uMreB (1@CA-1;17)$
de'eloed a course in hilosohy for use &y the (esuits &ased on what was
11
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
ercei'ed to &e Thomas#s adatations of -ristotelian eistemology and metahysics.
*n his interretation of Thomas$ 0uMreB allowed himself to &e guided &y ma%ority
(esuit oinions. This seems to ha'e re'ented 0uMreB from following a num&er of
Thomas#s original ositions$ including his 'iews on &eing an e.istence$ referred to
a&o'e (age 1E). *n articular 0uMreB seems to ha'e relegated Thomas#s distinction
&etween essence and e.istence from real to concetual. Contrary to the 'iew of
some Nominican commentators$ there was no act of e.istence that was really distinct
from the essence that limited it. This meant that Thomas#s dynamic metahysics of
e.istence was$ in 8cCool#s words$ !totally e.cised from 0uMreBian hilosohy.#
2=

Thomism$ effecti'ely$ &ecame the# Christianised 'ersion of -ristotle#s hilosohy of
&eing# that )ilson resonded to three centuries later in the ?eo-Thomist re'i'al of the
inter-Conciliar eriod.
Thomism and its rincial 'ariations I from the thought of Thomas himself$ through
his Nominican and (esuit interreters and u to the more recent (1=
th
H2E
th
century)
?eo-Thomist re'i'al I has &een decisi'e for the shaing and de'eloment of
Catholic theology for o'er se'en hundred years. *ndeed 3eo O***#s ardent wish$
e.ressed in his +ncyclical Aetrni Patris (1A7=)$ was that the hilosohy of 0t
Thomas should always ha'e a lace of honour in the education of the Catholic clergy.
,owe'er another strain of thought$ reresenting an alternati'e aroach to the
5uestion of the uni'ersal$ has had e5ually imortant imlications for Catholic
theology$ &oth during the centuries of reform and counter-reformation and in our own
theologically luralist eriod. *n an article on !the Neath of >ni'ersals#
:E
?eal 8agee
suggests that there are fruitful connections to &e made &etween the thought of
William of Dckham$ the re%ection of the rule of reason and tradition associated with
the 4eformation$ the emiricism of the +nlightenment and the aarent re%ection of
the uni'ersal characteristic of contemorary ostmodernism.
William of Dckham (c.12AE-1:C=)$ a &rilliant /ranciscan theologian known among his
contemoraries as 0octor invincibilis et venerabilis inceptor$ studied under (ohn
Nuns 0cotus (an ad'ocate of realism) at 8erton College$ D.ford. Dckham deri'ed
his understanding of the omniotence of )od from 0cotus. 0cotus emhasised the
total transcendence of )od and the utter contingency of creation$ including human
12
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
nature. *n no sense$ certainly not in the -ugustinian outlined a&o'e$ could human
&eings claim to ha'e a stake !in the mind of )od# or e'en in the !real# &y means of
their in'ol'ement with uni'ersals. What human &eings encounter are individual
su&stances and 5ualities and these are the fundamental realities of human
e.erience. The realist and the Thomist ositions on the uni'ersal were suorti'e of
a doctrine of the analogy of &eing which$ in turn$ could &e used to underin a &elief in
the human &eing#s constitutional orientation towards )od as their final end. Dckham#s
commitment to the potentia absoluta of )od com&ined with his a&solute !incredulity
towards uni'ersals# resulted in a theology that heled to shae &oth the reforming
ersecti'e of 8artin 3uther and su&se5uent hilosohies that ha'e re%ected the
ossi&ility of a&solute norms of truth and morality. The ossi&ility of theology#s
5ualified self-authentication$ so to seak$ &y means of reference to a rationality
founded uon uni'ersals that could connect human thinking to the real and$
ultimately$ to the di'ine$ is now denied. -ll theological seculation must &e tested
against the only o&%ecti'e authority that )od$ in )od#s ro'idence$ has ro'ided$
namely the authority of the scritures. -lso consistent with Dckham#s osition is the
aarently e.traordinary 'iew that$ from a human ersecti'e$ there can &e no
a&solute ethical norms. 8agee o&ser'es that !murder$ adultery and theft could ha'e
&een arranged &y )od to &e acceta&le acts.#
:1
*n comlete freedom$ howe'er$ )od
chose not to make these acts acceta&le$ as is clear from scriture. This aears to
amount to a 'ersion of the di'ine command theory according to which ethical laws
are deemed to &e good &ecause )od has chosen them and not &ecause of any
inherent goodness they may ha'e$ e'en if this goodness is grounded on a rationality
that is rooted in di'ine reality. This systematic re%ection of uni'ersals &y Dckham is
one of the earlier hilosohical sources of a more de'eloed contemorary
ostmodern re%ection of a&solutes. The nature of this denial will &e rele'ant to the
discussion (&elow) of the retrie'al of the uni'ersal for (Catholic) theology in the
ostmodern era.
Dckham was an imortant link in a chain of hilosohical and theological thought that
e.tended into emiricism$ the +nlightenment and finally the ost-industrial$
ostmodern era. The imlications of Dckham#s anti-metahysical nominalism and his
'iews of )od#s a&solute ower would hel to stimulate oosition to a num&er of
1:
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
Catholic doctrines$ oosition that (in the minds of the dominant Nominican and
(esuit theologians) only a re%u'enated$ -ristotelian-Thomist$ !second scholasticism# of
moderate realism had the resources to resist. 0ome e.amles of theological
ositions that seemed 'ulnera&le once the reality of the uni'ersal was 5uestioned
were the nature of the Church$ human nature$ including the character of the human#s
caacity to resond to )od#s grace$ and the sacraments. -gainst the eretual 'isi&le
identification of the Church with one articular form$ Dckham imlied that the Church
was a contingent historical reality rather than one that was necessary and uni'ersal.
Central to Dckham#s teaching on grace is the &elief that the goodness of an act is not
inherent in the act &ut is ascri&ed to it &y )od. The definition of what is good lies in
the will of )od1 merit is &ased on accetation$ not accetation on merit. There is no
created human nature (with its own$ autonomous caacity for (the recetion of)
grace) that can take the initiati'e in this resect. This (anti-uni'ersal) thinking was
alied &y Dckham (and his mentor 0cotus) to the sacraments. The sacraments
oerate$ not &y any inherent reality or 'irtue &ut &y an ascri&ed 'irtue or ower. There
is no inherent ower in water or words that has sacramental effect1 instead efficacy
deends entirely on )od. *nconsistently Dckham maintained that there is an inherent
'alue in the +ucharist after consecration.
Neo-Thomism and the relativisation of the concept
-fter the Council of Trent (1@C@-;:)$ a re'i'ed (!second#) scholasticism was used to
underin Catholic theological resonses to a reform mo'ement that was &roadly anti-
-ristotelian$ oosed to natural theology and its reference to an analogia entis$ and
emiricist in the sense that direct$ unmediated religious e.erience (authenticated &y
reference to re'elation) was decisi'e for faith. 2y the second half of the eighteenth
century$ howe'er$ this scholastic re'i'al seems to ha'e run its course. When the
Catholic Church &egan its slow reco'ery after the damaging anti-religious secularism
that swet through +uroe at the end of the century$ it turned$ not to -ristotelian-
Thomism to meet the challenge of secular hilosohy$ &ut to contemorary forms of
ost-Cartesianism and ost-Pantianism. 3ater in the nineteenth century$ howe'er$
"oe 3eo O***$ hailed &y The Times as !< the greatest "oe to ha'e go'erned the
Catholic Church since the /rench 4e'olution$#
:2
was con'inced that only a return to
1C
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
Thomism would ena&le Catholics to engage hilosohically and theologically with
contemorary thought and allow them to make significant and lasting contri&utions to
+uroean culture. The story of the reha&ilitation of Thomism as a serious otion for
modern theology$ howe'er$ was to result in a theological luralism that 3eo$ at the
time of his +ncyclical Aeterni Patris (1A7=) could hardly ha'e foreseen.
"oe 3eo was con'inced that a scholastic philosophia perennis was the antidote to
the malaise that had afflicted &oth the Catholic and the secular thought of the
nineteenth century. -s historians of thought$ including )ilson$ ha'e ointed out$
howe'er$ the e.istence of a common scholasticHThomistic synthesis is at &est
chimerical and the unity of mediae'al hilosohy was not so much a unity of
systematic content as a !unity of sirit.#
::
*n other words$ if 3eo wanted Thomism to
lay a i'otal role in the integration of contemorary thought$ it was germane to ask$
Which form of Thomism$ in his estimation$ was e5uied to carry out this task9 * ha'e
already referred to the &ifurcation of Thomism into a (more original) metahysics of
e.istence and a later$ 0uMreBian$ -ristotelian-Thomism that &ecame normati'e for
Catholic education for se'eral generations &ut which$ in )ilson#s oinion$ was
comromised and inauthentic (see age 11). *n the course of the Thomistic re'i'al of
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries$ two (incomati&le) forms of Thomism
resented themsel'es as coherent systems of thought &oth for theology and for
Catholic hilosohers who wished to engage with contemorary thought. *n his study
of an e.change of corresondence &etween the two figureheads reresenting these
otions (namely (ac5ues 8aritain (1AAC-1=7A) and (oseh 8arJchal (1A7A-1=CC))$
4onald 8cCamy refers to two writers$ )eorges Kan 4iet and 4o&ert ,a'anek 0($
who$ he feels$ ha'e set !relia&le guidelines#
:C
for distinguishing these two Thomistic
ositions. -t the heart of this distinction &etween 8aritain and 8arJchal is a different
understanding and areciation of the stages of cognition. *n Kan 4iet#s words:
Certain authors direct their interest to the concet$ others to the %udgment1 sometimes it is the one$
sometimes the other$ of these elements which is considered as re'ealing the real.
:@
/r ,a'anek su&se5uently
:;
de'eloed a nomenclature to make this distinction
e.licit: he wrote of a !hilosohy of the concet# that was oosed to a !hilosohy
1@
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
of the %udgment.# The !hilosohy of the concet#$ with its -ristotelian-Thomist
edigree u to the second scholasticism of 0uMreB$ is associated with the
!conser'ati'e# 'iew1 the !hilosohy of %udgment$# tracea&le in em&ryonic form to
Thomas#s metahysics of e.istence and hinted at in the nineteenth century writings
of the ostensi&ly 0uMreBian ad'ocate (oseh Pleutgen$
:7
is the eistemological
mainstay of the more rogressi'e !luralists.# - &rief delineation of these two
hilosohies will ena&le us to see how different understandings of the role of the
uni'ersal ga'e rise to alternati'e theological ositions that had 'ery different
imlications for the future of Catholic theology.
Two routes to the real I &roadly relata&le to either some form of "latonic mysticism
where&y sura-sensi&le forms are recalled &y the intellect$ or to any form of direct
intuition or !seeing# of ideas or truths in the mind of )od - are ruled out &y the
concet-oriented aroach. *n the hilosohy of the concet$ reality in contacted
through the concet. -ll human minds$ regardless of race$ culture$ historical or
intellectual conditioning$ are constituted in e.actly the same way. *n the human
cognitional rocess the mind !li&erates# the essential features of the o&%ect from the
limitations imosed on it &y the conditions of matter. The uni'ersal idea em&odied in
the concet succeeds in caturing$ and stands in a relation of univocal ade5uation
with$ the unchanging essential nature of the su&stance that is located in e.tramental
reality. )ne ade5uate concetual reresentation of the su&stance#s essence is
sufficient. There is no re5uirement for$ or ossi&ility of$ a lurality of concetual
frameworks.
*f the romotion of dialogue &etween Catholic thinkers and reresentati'es of the
+uroean hilosohical traditions was consistent with the sirit of Aeterni Patris$
then the Catholic theologians who de'eloed what ,ar'anek referred to as a
!hilosohy of %udgment# could &e said to &e furthering the general aims of "oe
3eo#s +ncyclical. Their detractors (including 8aritain)$ howe'er$ &elie'ed that their
attemts to reach a rapprochement with secular thought were &eing achie'ed at too
high a cost. 8aritain regarded the !Transcendental Thomism# of "iQrre 4ousseleot
(1A7A-1=1@) and (oseh 8arJchal as a monstrous hy&rid that would$ if it were
allowed to inform Catholic theology$ oen the gates of luralism and run counter to
1;
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
centuries of Catholic thought. Certainly$ the ro%ect that 8arJchal &rought to fruition in
his monumental .e point de d1part de la m1taph"si(ue$ essentially a synthesis of his
reading of Thomas#s metahysics of e.istence and Pant#s (172C-1AEC)
transcendental reflection on human knowledge$ was highly am&itious and strikingly at
odds with con'entional -ristotelian Thomism. Pant#s !Coernican 4e'olution#
constituted a direct challenge to the notion that the necessity and uni'ersality of
knowledge was a function of its conformity with e.tramental reality.
:A
Contrary to the
'iew of -ristotelian-Thomist moderate realism$ the uni'ersality and necessity of
o&%ects is$ for Pant$ guaranteed through the conformity of o&%ects to the mind.
!D&%ecti'e reality# is that which has &een rocessed a priori in conformity with the
categories of the understanding. 8arJchal was symathetic to this Pantian !turn to
the su&%ect# &ut &elie'ed that the Pantian osition$ once its imlications had &een
worked through$ was fully comati&le with a realism that affirmed that there was
something indeendent of the su&%ect to which the su&%ect could conform itself.
*ndeed$ Pant had himself unwittingly unacked these imlications in his later Criti(ue
of Practical $eason (17AA) &y suggesting that what is &eyond reason$ namely
!noumenal# reality and the !ostulates of morality# ()od$ freedom$ the after-life)$ is
reacha&le$ not &y means of seculati'e reason$ &ut &y the d"namism of ractical
reason. -s 8cCamy writes$ !4ather than ground o&%ecti'ity in the conditioned
concetuality of discursi'e reason$ why not understand human intellect as an
appetitive drive to the absolute 6my emhasis7.#
:=
The ro&lem with Pant$ from
8arJchal#s oint of 'iew$ was that the o&%ect was constituted &y means of a static
union of emirical data. 2y including a d"namism of the mind as one of the a priori
conditions of the ossi&ility for the seculati'e intellect#s knowledge of the o&%ect$
Pant#s un&ridgea&le gulf &etween the su&%ect and the world and &etween the human
knower and )od could &e crossed. Dnce !noumenalised# &y this intellectual eros for
the -&solute$ the concets of a concetual scheme can &e understood as relati'ised
cogniti'e constructs. ,ar'anek summarised the osition in the following way:
!6While7 the concet is an imortant and 'alid form of knowledge in its own right$ it ne'ertheless has
only an intermediate osition in the scale of human cognition. The erfection of human cognition < is
considered to &e the knowledge of the e.istent < *t is the %udgment that makes contact with reality$ &y
'irtue of its dynamic character as a n assertion: a dicere. 4eality is not contacted in the fullest sense
17
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
&y &eing recei'ed into a knowing su&%ect$ as in the rocess of a&straction$ &ut &y &eing encountered
< in the dicere of the %udgment.#
CE

8aritain#s fear that 8arJchal#s Thomism - a marriage of Thomas#s affirmation of
&eing through the %udgement and a modified Pantian turn to the su&%ect dynamically
oriented to the -&solute - would$ if it were em&raced &y Catholic theology$ comletely
undermine con'entional -ristotelian-Thomism with its one-to-one corresondence
&etween concet and reality$ was clearly well founded. Df course luralism (in the
sense of the e.istence of more than one theological system)$ as 8aritain would ha'e
conceded$ has e.isted within and without Catholic orthodo.y for many centuries. The
5uestion for 8aritain$ howe'er$ was$ Could different frameworks of systematic
theological thought e.ist at the same time without contradiction9 )i'en the one-to-
one corresondence already mentioned$ 8aritain did not &elie'e that they could.
,owe'er with 8arJchal#s shift in eistemological emhasis from concet to
%udgement$ co-e.istence &ecomes a real ossi&ility. 8cCool has o&ser'ed that only
the !fittest Thomistic tradition 6could ha'e sur'i'ed7 to inherit a rele'ant role in the
e'olutionary mo'ement of contemorary Catholic thought.#
C1
)i'en that$ outside
con'entional Catholic -ristotelian-Thomism$ concetual frameworks were routinely
considered muta&le and re'isa&le$ any real hoe that concetually orientated
scholasticism would ro'ide the Church with the essential tool for dialogue seemed
unrealistically otimistic.
While the 8arJchalian ro%ect (e.licitly identified &y ,ar'anek as an instance of the
!hilosohy of %udgment#) was to ha'e a owerful catalytic effect uon the direction of
Catholic thought u to and &eyond the 0econd Katican Council (1=;2-;@)$ it is
imortant to &e mindful of two features that are integral to 8arJchal#s osition. The
first is that$ in site of his shift of emhasis from concet to %udgement$ 8arJchal$ like
8aritain and in line with the scholastic tradition generally$ su&scri&ed fully to
hilosohical realism. 8arJchal#s symathy for the Pantian transcendental turn did
not commit him to any form of critical idealism. *ndeed$ once 8arJchal#s Thomistic
correction of Pant was in lace$ 8arJchal was e5uied to demonstrate that the
ultimate o&%ect of the human intellectual aetite to know (in his e.anded$ dynamic
sense) was the a&solute &eing of )od. The second oint is that the relati'isation of
1A
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
the concet imlied &y 8arJchal#s Thomism is not the same as the ultimate
eistemological relati'ism that was associated with such anticoncetual 'iews as
those of ,enri 2ergson (1A@=-1=C1). -s 8cCamy oints out$ !< there is a difference
&etween the claim that there is !no a&solute relati'ism# and !a&solutely no
relati'ism.#
C2
What is relati'e is the status of the concet$ not so much in relation to
the %udgement in the cogniti'e rocess$ &ut in terms of its nature as a roduct of
articular historical and cultural circumstances.
-n interesting illustration of the alication of the 8arJchalian (!hilosohy of
%udgment#) aroach to an item of fundamental Christian &elief$ namely the doctrine
concerning the di'inity and humanity of Christ$ can &e found in the writings of Parl
4ahner (1=EC-1=AC). >sing the a'aila&le hilosohical categories of the fifth century$
the /athers of the Council of Chalcedon (C@1)$ in their attemts to define the nature
of Christ$ roosed that Christ shared in the &eing of )od and in the &eing of
humankind:
/ollowing the holy fathers$ we confess with one 'oice that the one and only 0on < is erfect in
)odhead and erfect in manhood$ truly )od and truly man$ that he has a rational soul and a &ody. ,e
is of one &eing () with the /ather as )od$ he is also of one &eing () with us as
human. ,e is like us in all things e.cet sin <
C:
The arado.ical nature of the Chalcedonian definition is$ to some e.tent$ a function
of the language and the hilosohy through which it is e.ressed. 4ahner has
maintained that$ in the a&sence of an ade5uate hermeneutical key$ many ordinary
Christians ha'e allowed themsel'es to &ecome closet docetists on this doctrine.
CC

4ahner#s solution in'ol'es the relati'isation of the concet and reference to the
%udgement that is characteristic of 8arJchal#s Transcendental Thomism. The concet
of human nature as something fi.ed and limited must &e rightly understood.
C@
,uman
&eings are essentially a dynamic and infinite oenness$ oriented and directed to the
fullness that is )od. *n this new framework$ Christ can &e understood as the
radicalisation of what is true a&out all humans. ,uman &eing is characterised &y
transcendence and Christ#s humanity amounts to the total realisation of this
transcendence in the &eing of )od. -nother e.amle of how Transcendental
1=
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
Thomism imacted on &elief that had &een shaed &y !hilosohy of the concet#
was 4ahner#s contri&ution to the theological discussion a&out the nature of grace that
reoccuied Catholic theologians in the mid-twentieth century$ u to the 0econd
Katican Council. With its understanding of human nature as a fi.ed reality$ the
-ristotelian-0uMreBian-Thomist tradition ruled out the ossi&ility of e&periencing
)od#s grace since$ according to this tradition$ grace was something wholly e.trinsic to
human nature. /ollowing the transcendental method$ 4ahner characterised grace as
an a priori formal o&%ect or horiBon that conditions all human knowledge and freedom.
-s such$ grace is e.erienced unthematicall" &ut can &e rendered thematic &y an act
of refle.i'e aroriation. )race &ecomes thematic for the Christian through faith &ut
e'ery human &eing is constitutionally e5uied to en%oy rofoundly worthwhile
e.eriences that can shae ultimate life choices.
Postmodern retrieval and redefinition of the universal
*f the 8arJchalian wa'e did swee aside the ad'ocates and oularisers of
-ristotelian-Thomism$
C;
two of the most influential Catholic theologians of the
twentieth century$ Parl 4ahner and 2ernard 3onergan$ emerged from the tradition of
8arJchal$ not to %ettison realism or to ad'ocate a theological luralism that would
suffocate realism with a thousand 5ualifications$ &ut to de'elo 8arJchal#s thought to
show that a hilosohical and theological method$ &ased on the finality of the human
mind$ can continue to resent a concet of in'ariant truth in a theology marked &y
history and luralism. *n site of this$ a direct corollary of the 8arJchalian aroach
(which$ according to (ohn Pnasas$ was the only current of Thomism that streamed
into Katican ** and emerged with any 'i&rancy
C7
) for Catholic theology was the
legitimisation of different concetual frameworks associated with a range of
theologies that ha'e enlarged and enriched themsel'es with concets drawn from
e.istentialism$ ersonalism$ 8ar.ism and other olitical ideologies$ ra.iology and
ecology.
CA
The arallel &etween the e'olution in the ost-conciliar eriod of a 'ariety
of theologies &ased on different concetual frameworks and the gradual emergence
since World War ** of that di'erse social and cultural henomenon$ itself
characterised &y a relati'isation of concets and a luralism of ersecti'es$ known
as ostmodernism$ may suggest that the sym&iotic relationshi &etween theology
2E
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
and dominant or re'ailing intellectual ersecti'es (referred to at the &eginning of
this essay) continues aace into the modern era. Df course$ ostmodernism is an
amorhous concet that cannot &e inned down in a recise way. To the e.tent that
arallels &etween theology and ostmodernism can &e drawn$ howe'er$ while
theological luralism has generally followed where ostmodern trends ha'e led$
when it comes to the uni'ersal$ the creati'e initiati'e I the attemt to ro'ide a
significant uni'ersal for the ostmodern eriod I lies with theology. /or e.amle$ a
massi'ely influential +nlightenment eistemology and its assumtion that the
criterion for certainty rests e.clusi'ely within human rational caa&ilities1 the 'iew that
one kind of language$ namely that which refers to and makes assertions a&out
o&%ects in the world$ has to &e normati'e for all other kinds of language1 the centrality
and emhasis of the self and the indi'idual found in modernity$ often at the e.ense
of the other and the collecti'ity1 ostmodernism#s criti5ue of these and other features
of modernity ha'e &een em&raced in different ways &y theologians who ha'e
concerned themsel'es with the dialogue with culture. ,owe'er$ the outright re%ection
of a&stract uni'ersals as the linchins of totalising and reressi'e metanarrati'es$
has not &een shared &y all influential contemorary Catholic theologians. *ndeed$ as
the following &rief references indicate$ a careful rearaisal of the uni'ersal (freed
from unhelful metahysical retensions) as a call to transcendence in which the
nature of the uni'ersal is one of oen-ended mediation$ has ro'ided theology with a
useful tool for dialogue with a ostmodernity that is no longer at ease with
essentialism$ whate'er form this may take.
The shift from the !metahysical uni'ersal# (reresenting final truth) to the !sym&olic
uni'ersal#
C=
(designating a rocess in which the uni'ersal &oth articiates and hels
to &ring into &eing) is alluded to in the work of 2ernard 3onergan$ who regards the
human world as$ essentially$ a world mediated &y meaning.
@E
*n 'ethod in Theolog"$
@1
3onergan de'elos a distinction &etween !transcendental notions# and
!transcendental concets#. ,e &elie'es that transcendental notions are rior to
concets and constitute the dynamism of our conscious intending:
6Transcendentals are7 the radical intending that mo'es us from ignorance to knowledge. They are a
priori &ecause they go &eyond what we know$ to seek what we do not know yet. They are unrestricted
21
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
&ecause answers are ne'er comlete and so only gi'e rise to further 5uestions. They are
comrehensi'e &ecause they intend the unknown whole or totality in which our answers re'eal only
art.
@2
Transcendentals should not &e e5uated with their o&%ectifications. The function of the
transcendental (concet) is to mediate the transcendental notion and to orient us to
the horiBon of our intending. Namien Casey e.licitly associates 3onergan#s
transcendental concets with uni'ersals !in that they mediate and orient us towards
transcendence and transcendent 'alue.#
@:
Casey descri&es this uni'ersal in dynamic
terms$ as a !ro%ection# from human intentionality towards the fullness of human
&ecoming. Dur essence as human &eings is mediated to us &y means of the
uni'ersal !humanity# which is !the horiBon of ossi&ility of what it is ossi&le for
women and men to &ecome. *t is the sym&ol through which the articular enters a
world of ossi&ility#
@C

The hilosoher 4ichard Pearney
@@
has contri&uted to the contemorary theological
de&ate a&out the ostmodern uni'ersal through his discussion of what he refers to as
the persona considered as an !icon of transcendence#.
@;
*n the course of an
e.loration of the theme of transfiguration in terms of a henomenology of the
persona$ Pearney resents the persona as that which (in 3onerganian terms) has the
caacity to mediate the totality of the erson$ including the !otherness of the other#.
Pearney echoes Casey#s &elief that a defining characteristic of the ostmodern
uni'ersal is that it is understood as an eschatological rather than a metahysical
reality:
@7
the persona !'ouchsafes the irreduci&le finality of 6the human erson7 as
eschaton$#
@A
where eschaton signifies an end without end$ an end that escaes and
surrises us$ !like a thief in the night#. 2y introducing this new$ dynamic category of
persona$ Pearney is seeking to associate the unfathoma&le otherness and infinite
caacities of &eing human (mediated &y the uni'ersal - or !transcendental concet# -
humanity) with the transfigurati'e ossi&ilities of the fullness of life attested &y
Christian re'elation$ in articular its canonical e.ression in the testimony of 8ount
Ta&or (3k =: 2A-:;). *n this assage$ "eter#s desire to set u tents is symtomatic of
the human desire to reduce !radical alterity# to a !fetish of resence.# /or Pearney the
eschatological persona is always transfiguring !&ut always remains to &e ultimately
22
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
transfigured$ at the end of time < 6that is7 its temorality e.ceeds the limits of
ordinary time.#
@=

-fter many years of close association with -ristotelian-Thomist ersecti'es on the
nature of knowledge and &eing$ +dward 0chille&eeck. has concluded that it
necessary to mo'e &eyond !ositi'istic outlines < and re-e.isting definitions < in
hilosohical terms (eg.$ in -ristotleian and Thomistic or 0inoBan and Wolffian
terms)#.
;E
With reference to the concet of human nature$ 0chille&eeck. rooses a
dynamic theology of !anthroological constants#
;1
that oint towards !human
imulses and orientations.# -gain$ reiterating the con'iction of other ostmodern
theologians$ 0chille&eeck. insists that !we do not ha'e a re-e.isting definition of
humanity I indeed for Christians it is not only a future$ &ut an eschatological reality.#
;2
*n his sacramental theology$ too$ 0chille&eeck.#s language is reminiscent of
3onergan#s when he reminds us that sacraments are !anticiatory$ mediating signs
<#
;:
that !orient us towards the ultimate horiBon in which the reign of )od will &e
fully realised.#
;C
0chille&eeck.$ alongside other contemorary Catholic theologians who ha'e
endorsed the ostmodern criti5ue of the totalising a&stract uni'ersal$ has argued for
a form of artisanshi to counteract the usual tendency of uni'ersals to e.ress the
interests of the owerful (including those of white$ male$ Western$ +urocentric$ li&eral
theologians). *n other words$ the una'oida&le &ias enshrined in the uni'ersal must &e
directed towards the well &eing of the ones who ha'e &een$ and who continue to &e$
marginaliBed &y the owerful. /or this reason$ 0chille&eeck. &elie'es that the
Christian uni'ersal needs to &e non-discriminatory$ transformati'e$ inclusi'e and
olitically artisan. -n authentic Catholic &ias$ dri'en &y a !referential otion for the
oor#$ is directed to the kind of non-ersons that (esus sought out in his own ministry1
an essential asect of this &ias is that it should aim for !the transformation of the
world to a higher community#1
;@
the Catholic Christian uni'ersal must &e incarnated
into ractical$ e'en artisan$ olitical action I detractors who deny the radical$
ractical imlications of the gosel are indulging a form of docetism that should &e as
o&%ectiona&le to the contemorary Church as its earlier e.ression was in the early
centuries. Two other theologians$ 4aimon "anikkar (&. 1=1A) and -loysius "ieris$
2:
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
ha'e highlighted the ro'isional nature of the ostmodern Christian uni'ersal &y
5uestioning the 5uasi-a&soluteness of the uni'ersality of human rights. While neither
theologian is suggesting that the issue of human rights should &e regarded as
eriheral &y the Church$
;;
"ieris has o&ser'ed that the -sian Church#s agenda is
more concerned with the recognition and emowerment of non-ersons than with the
romulgation of human rights per se. -s "ieris writes$ !certain /irst World theologians
tend to uni'ersalise and a&solutiBe their aradigm$ unmindful of its conte.tual
articularity and ideological limitation.#
;7
"anikkar is not con'inced that a articular$
Western$ +nlightenment-style e.ression of such an imortant asect of the
humanum should &e so readily em&raced$ in its western (Christian) form$ &y the
>ni'ersal (ie Catholic) Church. -s an alternati'e$ he has roosed (at least for the
Church in -sia)$ that dharma
;A
I the !homeomorhic e5ui'alent# of Western human
rights I should ro'ide the (local$ -sian) model for e.ressing an understanding of
human rights that is rele'ant for -sian Catholics and -sian society as a whole.
Concluding remarks
This o'er'iew has esta&lished$ * &elie'e$ that the uni'ersal is a central hilosohical
issue that has commanded the attention of generations of astute Catholic theologians
and thinkers who ha'e attemted to resond$ in different ways$ to one of the great
arado.es of religious faith: namely that that which is a&solutely e.tra-linguistic can
&e aroached and affirmed &y means of language and$ in articular$ the general
concet. Nesite the changing ersecti'es within Catholic theology$ two theological
constants are discerni&le in the work of the ma%ority of theologians. The first is
(theological) realism: this is construed in different ways in accordance with the
a'aila&le concetual framework(s)$ &ut a minimal characterisation would &e that
there is a mind-indeendent$ transcendent reality to which human &eings are
oriented &ut which they cannot ade5uately concetualise. The affirmation of the
transcendent is not the same as an affirmation of transcendence. Transcendence$ as
,eidegger has ointed out$ is an intrinsic feature of a &eing that$ in the course of
e.ressing itself$ e.-ists or stands out dynamically against the facticity of its
circumstances. There is an aseity a&out transcendent reality: it ma" when
concetualised reresent the consummation of the &oundless human aetite for
2C
CTC Dissertation: Candidate number: V42326
From Patristic realism to postmodern retrieval: a critical overview of the role of the universal in Catholic theolo!"
meaning &ut it also stands o'er and against humankind as the a&solutely other$ real
&eyond the shifting realities of human e.erience and sufficient unto itself. The
second truth is that human &eings ha'e the caacity to affirm this !a&solutely other#
&y means of concets and that this affirmation is the highest e&pression of authentic
and autonomous humanit". We ha'e seen that theologies that deny any intrinsic
human caacity to affirm )od ha'e &een associated with hilosohy that has &een
oosed to concetual realism (nominalism$ the work of William Dckham) and that
has denied the ossi&ility of an analogia entis. The denial of the ossi&ility of a
transcendent reality$ as a kind of !news from nowhere# has$ of course$ &een a feature
of the secular ostmodernism that has %ettisoned the uni'ersal as an otiose and
reressi'e a&stract entity. The reha&ilitation of a form of concetual realism in ost-
conciliar theology has thrown u a ostmodern uni'ersal that has &een shaed &y a
wide 'ariety of hilosohical influences. This could ro'e to &e a 'ital aid for
contemorary theologians in their ongoing dialogue with culture. *t remains to &e
seen$ howe'er$ whether the tensions that are inherent in this uni'ersal (Noes it
romote disco'ery or in'ention9 *s it statically or dynamically constituted9 and so on)
can &e resol'ed in a satisfactory way.
3334 words
2@
1
+?N?DT+0
!The safest general characterisation of the +uroean hilosohical tradition is that it consists of a series of
footnotes to "lato# I -. ?. Whitehead$ Process and $ealit"$ 1=2=.
2
(arosla' "elikan$ The Christian Tradition2 A histor" of the development of doctrine 3 42 The emergence of the
Catholic Tradition (455-655)$ Chicago$ 1=71)$ 17;.
:
"elikan$ Chater C$ The '"ster" of the Trinit"$ . 172 I 22@.
C
. 17:
@
. 177
;
Tertullian$ Against Pra&eas$ :.1. Corpus christianorum. !eries .atina. Turnhout$ 2elgium$ 1=@:$ 2:11;1
7
0ee 8artin Werner$ 0ie /ntstehung des christlichen 0ogmas problemgeschichtlich dargestellt$ 2ern 1=C1$ .
:11
A
. 1=C
=
. 1=C
1E
)regory of ?aBianBus$ )rations# :1.1@
11
)regory of ?yssa$ 7uod non sint tres dii$ dii.
12
*t is in this sense that the Caadocian solution may &e termed !0emi--ryan#. The h"postasis of the 0econd
"erson is distinct fromHnot identical with that of the /ather.
1:
2asil of Caesarea$ 8omilies$ 2C.C
1C
.etters: 21C:C 0ource: The Concise 9ook of Christian Thought$ Tony 3ane$ 3ion 1=AC.
1@
)ration :=:11
1;
*n this connection see (ac5ues 8aritain$ An +ntroduction to Philosoph"$ 0heed and Ward 1=7=$ Ch. *K$ Plato
and Aristotle$ . @=ff1 also The )&ford Companion to Philosoph"$ +d. Ted ,onderich$ D>" 1==@$ article on +deas
&y ,arold *. 2rown: !6-n *deas is7 the image of a "latonic /orm that occurs in a erson#s mind <#
17
This term was first used as recently as the mid 1=
th
century when )erman scholars used it to distinguish the
'iews of later "latonists from those of "lato.
1A
"elikan$ D. cit$ . 2=2.
1=
0cheel. Dtto$ 0ie Anschauung Augustins :ber Christi Person und *erk$ TR&ingen$ 1=E1
2E
-ugustine$ !olilo(uies 1.C.= (Patrologia .atina$ "aris$ 1A7A-=E)
21
"elikan$ . 2=@ referring to -ugustine$ )n the Teacher (0e magistro)$ :A (Corpus scriptorium ecclesiasticorum
latinorum. Kienna$ 1A;;)
22
/. Coleston 0($ A 8isor" of Philosoph" -olume ++2 Augustine to !cotus$ 2urns and Dates 1=;C$ . ;;-;7.
2:
)erald 8cCool$ The Neo-Thomists$ 8ar5uette 2EE:$ . 1C1
2C
D. cit. . 21
2@
D. cit. . 1C2
2;
Two sources of information a&out the rele'ant research &y )ilson are the &iograhy &y 3aurence P. 0hook$
C02.$ /tienne %ilson (Toronto: The "ontifical *nstitute of mediae'al 0tudies$ 1=AC) and 8aurer$ The legac" of
/tienne %ilson$ in Kictor 2. 2reBik 6ed7$ )ne hundred "ears of Thomism (,ouston: >ni'ersity of 0t Thomas$
1=A1)
27
8cCool$ . 22
2A
see )ilson$ The !pirit of 'ediaeval Philosoph"$ . 1CC-C7
2=
D. cit. . 2;
:E
0ee ?eal 8agee$ *illiam of )ckham and the death of universals on
www.e'ans-e.erientialism.freewe&sace.comHockamE1
:1
D. cit.
:2
Suoted in the entry on .eo ;+++ in the 'icrosoft /ncarta /nc"clopedia$ 1==:-2EE1 8icrosoft Cororation.
::
8cCool$ . 1CE.
:C
0ee 4onald 8cCamy$ )ut of a <antian Chr"salis= A 'aritainian Criti(ue of r. 'ar1chal$ "eter 3ang 1==A$ .
12.
:@
Suoted &y 8cCamy$ . 12 o. cit.
:;
4o&ert ,ar'anek$ Philosophical Pluralism in the New Catholic /nc"clopedia$ Kol 11$ ?ew Tork: 8c)raw-,ill
1=;7$ CCA-C@1.
:7
Catholic Thought in the Nineteenth Centur"$ :$ referred to &y 8cCamy$ . 17.
:A
8cCamy writes: !0uch necessary 6transhistorical and transcultural7 and immuta&le concelts$ the cognitional
endowment of a common human nature$ had een a unifying undergirding for Chrsitain doctrine: (uod ubi(ue#
(uod simper# (uod ab omnibus creditum est. This was grounded in a realism in which the o&%ecti'ity of the
knowing mind was defined as its conformity with a mind-indeendent reality.# o. cit. . 7
:=
. A
CE
4o&ert ,ar'anek$ The >nit" of 8etahyscs$ Thought 2A: 11E (0etem&er 1=@:)$ CE2.
C1
Catholic theolog" in the nineteenth centur"$ . :
C2
D. cit. . 1@
C:
Suoted in Tony 3ane$ D. cit. . @E.
CC
0ee the discussion in Paren Pil&y$ <arl $ahner$ /ount 1==7$ Chater 2$ Christ and grace$ 1@-2=.
C@
!< one can only say what man is &y e.ressing what he is concerned with and what is concerned with him.
2ut that is the &oundless$ the nameless.# 0ee Theological +nvestigations (Narton$ 3ongman U Todd)$ *K$ 1EA.
C;
8cCamy writes that !the de facto ascendancy of the transcendental aroaches of Parl 4ahner and 2ernard
3onergan &ecome aarent vis-?-vis any 8aritainian counterosition.# D. cit. .:1. Dne can$ howe'er$ still
encounter areciati'e references to 8aritain#s Thomism and criti5ue on contemorary thought. 0ee$ for
e.amle$ 4owan William#s recent %race and necessit"2 $eflections on art and love$ Continuum 2EE@.
C7
(ohn Pnasas$ The twentieth centur"Thomistic revival$ www.secondsring.co.ukHarchi'eHknasas.htm 2.=
CA
0ee 2attista 8ondin#s .egitimac" and limits of theological pluralism on
www.ewtn.comHli&raryHTheologyH"3>4-3*08.,T8 for a fuller discussion.
C=
0ee the aer &y Namien Casey$ .uce +rigara" and the advent of the divine from The metaph"sical to the
s"mbolic to the eschatological$ "acifica$ 12.1 (/e&. 1===) 27-@C.
@E
0ee 2ernard 3onergan$ A third collection2 Papers b" 9ernard @. . .onergan !@$ /rederick +. Crowe (ed.)$ ?ew
Tork: "aulist "ress$ 1=A@$ 17=.
@1
2ernard 3onergan$ 'ethod in Theolog"$ Toronto: >ni'ersity of Toronto "ress$ 1==E.
@2
*&id. 11
@:
0ee Namien Casey$ The postmodern universal2 An incarnational view on
www.dli&rary.acu.edu.auHstaffhomeHdacaseyHost-modernV2Euni'ersal.htm . AH17
@C
*&id$ . =H17
@@
"rofessor of "hilosohy at >ni'ersity College$ Nu&lin and Kisiting "rofessor of "hilosohy at 2oston College.
@;
0ee Transfiguring %od &y 4ichard Pearney in The 9lackwell companion to postmodern theolog"$ ed. )raham
Ward$ 2lackwell 2EE1$ Chater 21.
@7
0ee Casey$ The ostmodern uni'ersal$ . C-@H17.
@A
*&id. . :72.
@=
*&id. . :A:.
;E
0ee The !chillebeeck& $eader$ ed. 4o&ert (. 0chreiter$ T U T Clark 1=A;$ Chater 1$ The !tructures of
8uman /&perience$ . 2=.
;1
These include: relationshi to human cororeality$ nature and the ecological en'ironment1 &eing with others1
the connection with social and institutional structures1 the conditioning of eole and culture &y time and sace1
mutual relationshi of theory and ractice1 the religious consciousness of man1 the irreduci&le synthesis of these
si. dimensions. 0ee Ch. 1. o. cit.
;2
+dward 0chille&eeck.$ Christ2 The e&perience of @esus as .ord$ (?ew Tork: Crossroad$ 1=AE)$ 2AC.
;:
*&id. A:;.
;C
Casey$ D. cit. 11H17.
;@
*&id. $ 17E (5uoted &y Casey$ . 1CH17)
;;
Dn the contrary$ the conciliar document$ 0ignitatis 8umanae (1=;@)$ indicated that the Church should endorse
!secular# insights into human rights suchy as the >nited ?ations Neclaration of ,uman 4ights. - useful reference
is (ohn ,. 8iller$ -atican ++2 An interfaith appraisal (1=;;)$ The 0eclaration on human freedom &y 4e'. (ohn
Courtney 8urray 0($ . @;;.
;7
-loysius "ieris$ 8uman rights language and .iberation Theolog" from ire and *ater2 9asic issues in Asian
9uddhism and Christianit" (8aryknoll: Dr&is$ 1==C)$ 11:. Suoted &y Casey$ o. cit. 1:H17.
;A
with its emhasis$ not on the indi'idual$ &ut the !whole concatenation of the 4eal.# 0ee 4aimon "anikkar$ +s the
notion of human rights a *estern concept= from +nvisible harmon"2 /ssa"s on contemplation and responsibilit"$
(arry (ames Cargas (ed.)$ 8inneaolis: /ortress "ress 1==@)$ . 11:. Suoted &y Casey$ D. cit. .1:H17
5)5&)-6,(P#7
0imon 2lack&urn$ The )&ford dictionar" of philosoph"$ D>" 1==C
/rederick Coleston 0($ A histor" of philosoph"$ Kolume 2: -ugustine to 0cotus$ 2urns and
Dats 1=;C.
/rederick Coleston 0($ A histor" of philosoph"$ Kolume :: Dckham to 0uMreB$ 2urns and
Dats 1=;C.
Na'id /ord (ed.)$ The modern theologians$ 2lackwell 1==7
0tanley (. )renB$ A primer on postmodernism$ +erdmans 1==;.
8sgr "aul (. )lenn$ An introduction to philosoph"$ ,erder 1=C7
(onathan ,ill$ A histor" of Christian thought$ 3ion 2EE:
Ted ,onderich (ed.)$ The )&ford companion to philosoph"$ D>" 1==@
Paren Pil&y$ <arl $ahner$ /ount 1==7
-nthony Penny (ed.)$ The )&ford illustrated histor" of philosoph"$ D>" 1==C.
Tony 3ane$ Christian thought$ 3ion 1=AC
Thomas 8aunter (ed.)$ The Penguin dictionar" of philosoph"$ "enguin1==;
4ichard ". 8c2rien$ Catholicism$ ,arer Collins 1==C
-lister +. 8c)rath$ The Christian theolog" reader$ 2lackwell 1==@
)erald -. 8cCool$ A $ahner reader$ N3T 1=7@
)erald -. 8cCool$ The Neo-Thomists$ 8ar5uestte >" 2EE:
4onald 8cCamy$ )ut of a <antian Chr"salis= "eter 3ang 1==A
"aul 8c"artland# !acrament of salvation$ Continuum1==@
2ryan 8agee$ The stor" of philosoph"$ Norling Pindersley 1==A
(ac5ues 8aritain$ An introduction to philosoph"$ 0heed U Ward 1=:E
(arosla' "elikan$ The Christian tradition 3 A histor" of the development of doctrine2 4 The
emergence of the Catholic tradition (455 3 655)$ >ni'ersity of Chicago "ress 1=71
"lato$ Phaedo$ ,einemann (3oe& Classical li&rary) 1=1C
+dward 0chille&eck.$ Christ2 The Christian e&perience of the modern world$ 0C8 1=77
4o&ert (. 0chreiter (ed.)$ The !chillebeeck& reader$ T U T Clark 1=A;
0tuart 0im$ A dictionar" of postmodern thought$ *con 1==A
Naniel (. 0ulli'an$ An introduction to philosoph"# 2ruce 1=@7
)raham Ward (ed.)$ The 9lackwell companion to postmodern theolog"$ 2lackwell 2EE1
*#-,T+, P(P+,* (.D (,T)C&+*
4e'iew of 4onald 8cCamy#s )ut of a <antian Ch"salis= &y Winfried Corduan for Philosophia
Christi on www.aologeti5ue.orgHenHre'iewsH8cCamyWDutWofWPantian.htm
"eter ,oenen$ Thomistic influences on
www.lonergan.orgHDnlineW2ooksH3iddyHchaterWsi.WthomisticWinfluences.htm
The perfecting of philosoph" in mediaeval times$ (-uthor 9) on
www.radicalacademy.comHadihilerfecting:.htm
Namien Casey$ The postmodern universal2 An incarnational view$ on
www.dli&rary.acu.auHstaffhomeHdacaseyHost-modernV2Euni'ersal.htm
8sgr (eremiah (. 8cCarthy$ Theological education in the postmodern era$ on
www.wocati.orgHmccarthy.html
0cott Na'id /outB$ 0econstruction and ph"sical philosoph"$ Suodli&et (ournal: Kolume 1
?um&er 1$ 8arch I -ril 1===$ on www.5uodli&et.netHfoutB-deconstruction.html
?eal 8agee$ *illiam of )ckham and the death of universals$ on www.e'ans-
e.erientialism.freewe&sace.comHockamE1.htm
0tan Wallace$ 0iscerning and defining the essentials of postmodernism on
www.leaderu.comHrealHri=AE2Hwallace.htm
Nanile (. -dams$ Toward a theological understanding of postmodernism$ on
www.crosscurrents.orgHadams.htm