2004-09 México COMIUCAP English

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2nd World Congress COMIUCAPof Faculties and Departments of Philosophy Catholic University

Philosophy as mediation between religion and culture

Universidad IberoamericanaSanta Fe, Ciudad de MxicoSeptember 13, 14, 15, 2004

A catholic education in competencesfor a dialogue that integrates and transcends

James P. Morin St. Onge1

[email protected]

Introduction

My reflection explores the question of how can philosophy mediate to clarify the

foundations of a catholic education based on competences for a dialogue that

integrates and transcends. I develop an answer to this question in three parts.

In the first part I present a synthesis of how theApostolic ConstitutionEx Corde

Ecclesiae on Catholic Universities understands dialogue as a mean for the

integration of knowledge, to promote integral human development and for the

evangelization of culture in relation to current historical challenges. In the second

part, I present a linguistic-cognitive approach, based upon the thought of the

philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan, which establishes how dialogue

integrates and transcends through the act of communicating knowledge

consciously. In the concluding section, I present a profile for a catholic education

that promotes the integration of human knowledge and divine revelation through

dialogue.

1 Professor in the Universidad Catlica del Maule, Talca, Chile; Dean of the Faculty of Religious and

Philosophic Sciences; Professor of Pastoral Theology, Religious Education and Communication in

Philosophic and Religious Education.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Dialogue, integral development and integration of knowledge

In the Introduction to theApostolic ConstitutionEx Corde Ecclesiae on Catholic

Universities, John Paul II affirms that the destiny of the Church and of the world

depends upon the dialogue between the Gospel and the cultures of our times 2.

This understanding of dialogue, as a mean for the historical development of

humanity, constitutes the activity of dialogue as a vital factor for the future of

catholic education. For this reason, in this section, I examine how the Constitution

defines the characteristics of dialogue in a Catholic University.

TheApostolic Constitution describes a Catholic University as a privileged place of

encounter for dialogue that promotes collaboration and understanding among the

various fields of knowledge, the plurality of cultures and the Word of God. The

purpose of this dialogue is to know the truth about nature, man and God 3 and to

develop a synthesis of knowledge that serves the human community in its search

for transcendence which gives meaning to life4 in relation with the historical

developments of our times. In this dialogue the different fields of knowledge

conserve their identity and autonomy, they discern how their discoveries affect

individuals and society and they are enriched mutually with their contributions to an

integrating vision of reality5.

In the context of academic dialogue, the Constitution distinguishes two dimensions:

disciplinary autonomy and interdisciplinary collaboration. From their disciplinary

autonomy each professor works systematically and according to the methods of his

discipline, conscious of his moral responsibility which is a constitutive part of his

research and teaching activities. Through the interdisciplinary collaboration he

seeks an organic vision of reality that orients the entire educative process

towards the integral development of the person6.

2 John Paul II. Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Article Number 3. Cf. Note Number 4.3 Ibid. Articles 3rd and 6th4 Ibid. Articles 15th and 16th.5 Ibid. Articles 14th and 19th.6 Ibid. Article 20th.

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In a Catholic University, philosophical and theological thought assume a mediating

function that orients dialogue towards the development of a synthesis and

integration of knowledge. In this dialogue each discipline contributes from its

autonomy towards the development of an integral vision of reality and of the

human person, enlightened by the Gospel7. This integration requires dialogue

between Christian thought and the modern natural and human sciences. Its an

integration that confronts epistemological questions in order to understand how to

articulate the integration of intelligence, reason, ethics and faith. This integration

appreciates how human intelligence is enhanced by its comprehension of the

Word of God and by the superiority of the spirit that is at the service of truth 8.

In its reflection upon the mediating function of dialogue, the Constitution presents

the principle by which the catholic tradition sustains this integration. It affirms that

authentic scientific research carried out according to moral norms, will never

conflict with faith, for the things of the earth and the concerns of faith derive from

the same God. In this perspective the dialogue between sciences, cultures and

the Gospel is mutually enriched by an understanding of how faith and reason bear

harmonious witness to the unity of all truth. In this interaction, theology contributes

to a better understanding of Gods Revelation, as it learns from other disciplines

how it could better respond to the current needs of the world today 9.

A Catholic University is a community animated by the spirit of Christ, which is

united by its consecration to the disinterested search for truth and in this way

participates educationally in the evangelical mission of the Church. It pursues its

objectives through sincere dialogue that promotes the dignity and the rights of its

members to form an authentic human community. In this context, university

teachers inspired by academic ideals should offer a coherent vision of the world in

their research and teaching. As Christian teachers, they are called to an authentic

7 Ibid. Articles 15th and 16th.8 Ibid. Articles 45th and 46th.9 Ibid. Articles 16th, 17th and 19th.

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witness of the integration between faith and culture and between professional

competence and Christian wisdom10. Students are called upon to integrate their

humanistic, professional and Christian formation in order to search for truth

throughout their entire lives. This requires the development of their personal and

professional abilities to discern in their judgements and decisions the meaning and

implications of their faith, moral and social convictions11.

In this manner a Catholic University prepares men and women in their vocation to

search for truth in order to respond with scientific, cultural, professional and

evangelic criteria to the challenges of our times. It promotes research, with ethical

and religious criteria, to discover the roots of contemporary problems that impinge

upon human dignity, social justice and peace, political stability and the equitable

distribution of the worlds resources12.

Regarding the challenges of our times, the Constitution establishes that a Catholic

University should discern and evaluate the aspirations and contradictions of

modern culture. It should study the impact of the scientific and technological

development on nature and the impact of mass media on people and culture to

assure that they are at the service of the authentic social well being of all. It must

defend the identity of traditional cultures, helping them to receive modern values

without sacrificing their own heritage. In this way a Catholic University participates

in the mission of the Church of evangelizing the world and it contributes to the

promotion of individuals and to the cultural progress of society.

10 Ibid. Articles 20th and 22nd.11 Ibid. Article 23rd.12 Ibid. Articles 31st and 32nd.

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Conscious communication of knowledge

Considering the importance that the Magisterium attributes to dialogue in the

mission of the Church and of Catholic Universities, I explore, in this section, how

philosophy can exercise a mediating function to clarify the anthropological

foundations for a catholic education based upon a dialogue that integrates and

transcends. I affirm on the basis of the philosophical and theological thought of

Bernard Lonergan13, that these foundations are constituted by the act of

communicating knowledge consciously. This is an activity based upon an integral

and inseparable group of cognitive and linguistic operations that articulate and

structure the conscious communication of knowledge.

I contend that this cognitive-linguistic structure, common to all human beings,

constitutes the conditions for a dialogue that promotes the integral development of

the human person and the integration of human and revealed knowledge. From

this common structure rise the diverse expressions of the common sense and

technical, aesthetic, mythical, scientific, ethic, cultural and religious knowledge.

Each person can confirm in him or herself, this conscious and intentional activity

which is sensible, intellectual, rational, moral and religious. In this activity we can

differentiate a set of cognitive and linguistic operations that articulate the conscious

act of knowing and communicating. We can observe, verify and take possession of

this integrating activity as we know ourselves consciously while communicating

knowledge. Our sensible conscience awakens our interest to observe and express

what we perceive as datum of the object of our attention. Our intellectual

conscience questions to understand and interpret the idea which gives intelligibility

to the phenomenon that I comprehend. Our rational conscience doubts and seeksto verify and judge with a founded knowledge of what is probable, of value, real

and true. Our moral conscience deliberates to discern and decide how to act in

favor of the good, which makes effective our virtues as free and responsible

13 Bernard Lonergan. Insight.. A Study of Human Understanding. New York: University library, 1958.

Method in Theology. New York: Herder and Herder, 1972.

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subject. Our inspired religious conscience believes in and professes the sacred

which transcends and gives meaning to the origin and purpose of all life.

These observations verify at an empirical, epistemological, ontological, moral and

religious level, that the conscious communication of knowledge is an activity that

integrates as it transcends authentically. Our cognitive and linguistic activity offers

empirical evidence of our capacity to transcend and integrate by means of our

conscious communication of knowledge. This evidence lays the foundations of an

epistemology that explains why intentional and conscious communication of

knowledge is an activity that integrates while it transcends. The heuristic

integration of this structure of being constitutes and ontology that transcends by

means of the conscious communication of our knowledge of the datum, the idea,

the real, the good and of God. Our moral conscience regulates this activity by its

exigency that our conscious communication of knowledge must be attentive,

intelligible, rational, responsible and animated by our love of truth. Our religious

conscious communicates the truth revealed by God, who transcends through self

giving love.

Through our cognitive and linguistic activity we can consciously and intentionally

appropriate the ontological reality that we know, which includes ourselves knowing.

To the extent that we objectify and appropriate our conscious activity, we discover

that our integral development as persons and the integration of reality are founded

upon a communication that transcends when we know authentically. By

intentionally appropriating our conscious communication of knowledge, we

discover that our identity is constructed through a dialogic alterity by the measure

that we transcend by our love of truth.

This cognitive-linguistic activity, which constitutes the dynamic of our conscious

communication of knowledge, structures at the same time the social mediation of

knowledge in its diversity of expressions. The empirical knowledge of our

sensorial consciousness is a practical and instrumental mediation in its technical,

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artistic, ritual and legal forms of expression. The formal knowledge of our

intellectual consciousness is a hermeneutic mediation of common sense and of

theoretical interpretations that constitute aesthetic, scientific and mythical

expressions. The critical knowledge of our rational consciousness is a

constitutive mediation of education, culture, ethics and philosophy. The effective

knowledge of our moral consciousness is a mediation of a free and responsible

subject in the exercising of our rights and duties as persons and citizens in the

political development of the State. The inspired knowledge of our religious

consciousness is a mediation of Gods love revealed through the development of

nature, humanity and history.

Dialogue that transcends and integrates

In this concluding section I define the characteristics of a Catholic University14

based upon the dialogical principles of the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde

Ecclesiae and the cognitive-linguistic activity of the conscious communication of

knowledge. These characteristics should influence all aspects of university life: its

educational project, research proposals, curricular model, teaching programs,

extension projects and academic and administrative management.

A Catholic University is a community of knowledge and learning, inspired by Christ

and constituted by the dialogue between teachers and students in their

consecration to the search for truth. Its catholic identity is founded upon its

historical commitment to participate educationally in the Churchs mission to

evangelizing in dialogue with the world. The university contributes to this mission

by promoting an integral personal and professional development that enable in

competencies to respond to the challenging events of out time.

14 This reflection is based on the work of a Commission, in which the author has participated, to laythe foundations of the Institutional Educative Project of Catholic University of Maule which will bepublished soon.

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It is a university which promotes the integral development of each student in their

capacities to learn, to know, and to commit and transcend. Through dialogue it

promotes the conscious and intentional self appropriation of the social, affective,

cognitive and cultural expression of each person, who transcends when he or she

knows authentically. Through dialogue it enables the transversal development of

competences for the conscious communication of knowledge. It promotes that

each person, in relation to their culture and field of study, develop their abilities to

observe, interpret, judge and decide, animated by their faith in Gods love. On the

basis of this dialogue, it promotes transdisciplinary collaboration and understanding

among the sciences, diverse cultures and the Gospel.

A Catholic University creates conditions that allow students: to discern their

vocational orientation, to appropriate scientific knowledge, to understand diverse

cultural meanings, to develop professional competences that allow them to

respond to the challenges of the historical events of our time, inspired by the Word

of God and the social teachings of the Church.

Through their scientific and cultural studies, students are initiated in the theoretical

foundations of their disciplines and the methodological abilities required to

investigate in their field of knowledge. Through their professional formation, they

develop abilities to diagnose problems, to collaborate in team work, to apply new

technologies, to design strategies, to make decisions and to evaluate with ethical

standards the implications and results of their initiatives. Through their general

studies and of catholic thought, they acquire knowledge that broadens their cultural

horizons, as citizens with a critical understanding of the modern world and an

appreciation of how Christian faith dignifies and humanizes.

Through dialogue the Catholic University promotes transdisciplinary collaboration

among the sciences and the diversity of cultures with an understanding of the

Gospel message. In this dialogue it promotes the discernment of the meanings and

implications of Christian faith in relation with scientific, cultural and technological

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fields in which students are being prepared. Thus it promotes that their students

can integrate all their human capacities: theirsensible capacities to feel, observe

and describe data and facts; theirintellectualcuriosity to be amazed, to question,

to understand and to interpret ideas, theories and principles; theirrational

capacities to doubt, verify and judge with foundations what is probable, real and

true; theirmoralcapacity to discern, value and decide with responsible freedom

how to be just and promote the good; and theirreligious capacities to believe in

and give witness of the revelation of Gods love.

Upon these foundations, the Catholic University promotes dialogue through which

the human spirit develops in its capacity to integrate and transcend: through its

sensibility in the presence of beauty and poverty; through its technical, scientific,

professional and ethical abilities; through search for the foundations of truth;

through its responsible freedom committed to justice; through its solidarity and

leadership at the service of the common good; and through its faith that discerns

how to responds to Gods love in the challenges of our times. This is the spirit that

animates a Catholic University which understands itself as a community of

knowledge and learning that dialogues to integrate and transcend. It hopes that

this spirit will characterize the contribution of its graduates in different scientific,

professional and cultural fields of knowledge.

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2004-09 México COMIUCAP English

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