Christian Philosophy? X

First a personal note: This is not the longest series of posts I’ve done on any one particular set of reflections, and due to both the limitations of this format I must really draw this to a close. Clearly more could be said. Tighter and more rigorous arguments could be made. Nor is this my [...]

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Christian Philosophy? IX

[For the previous eight posts in this series of reflections, see here.] It has been more than a year since I last posted in this series—an eternity in the blogosphere. It might be helpful to pause and recapitulate some of the pathmarkers. My project here has been to “think out loud” on this blog in [...]

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Christian Philosophy? VIII

Clearly in discussing faith and reason it is imperative to come to adequate definitions. Unfortunately, this will not be possible within the limits of this post. Rather, at most we may point to some problems to be avoided, then look to see if there is any cooperation between faith and reason. If there is, then [...]

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Christian Philosophy? VII

This distinction between what counts as truth in philosophy (generally speaking) and in Christianity is significant. Plato, famously in the Theatetus, has his interlocutors worry the notion that knowledge is “justified true belief,” which of course they do so well that by the end of the dialogue they (and the reader) are left to start [...]

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Christian Philosophy? VI

In my previous post, I put forth the notion that the intellect expresses itself in many differentiated activities that are nonetheless the same in kind. One kind of intellect evaluates and selects among competing choices in actions. Another kind grasps first principles as wholes. Another kind informs productive activity. Yet another kind organizes and systematizes [...]

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Christian Philosophy? V

I have been commenting that philosophy and Christianity may be compatible terms if both are seen as ways of living. Philosophy as a way of life is unquestionably (in my view) the ancient understanding of philosophy. A similar way of understanding can be seen among the earliest writings of Christianity, including its own Scriptures. Whether [...]

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Christian Philosophy? IV

In my previous remarks, it will certainly be felt that I did not actually make a case for philosophy as a way of life over philosophy as a life of the mind. I simply asserted, however obliquely, that the ancient understanding of philosophy as a way of life is that which best comports with Christianity [...]

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Christian Philosophy? III

If one wants to determine whether there is such a thing as “Christian philosophy,” one must be clear on what one means by both “Christian” and by “philosophy.” In the previous post, we noted the difficulty with the term “Christian” and its resistance to a generally agreed reduction. We will have to come back to [...]

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Christian Philosophy? II

If one is going to talk of a “Christian philosophy” and if one is going to define such along the lines of which B N Tatakis has done, then one is going to have to offer definitions, or to at least delimit, one’s terms: Christian, philosophy, truth, faith, even, perhaps, reason. One is also going [...]

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Christian Philosophy? I

I’m going to conduct an experiment of sorts here: I’m going to think out loud on my blog. I have recently begun reading a book by B. N. Tatakis entitled Christian Philosophy in the Patristic and Byzantine Tradition (tr George Dragas, Orthodox Research Institute 2007), in which, in the first chapter, Tatakis asks the question, [...]

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