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Transcript of Dawson society annual report and prospectus 2013 2014
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annual report and prospectus 2013-2014
The Christopher Dawson Society for Philosophy and
Culture is an incorporated, not-for-profit association
founded to encourage lay Christian engagement with
contemporary philosophical and cultural issues. The
Society takes its name from Christopher Dawson,
the great English historian of the 20th century who
throughout his work saw the world of spiritual
belief “as the dynamic element in history and as a
real world-transforming power.” It is the hope of the
founders that in some small way the Dawson Society
may uphold and continue the work of its namesake.
www.dawsonsociety.com.au
“Behind this vague tendency to treat religion as a side issue in modern life, there exists a strong body of opinion that is actively hostile to Christianity and that regards the destruction of positive religion as absolutely necessary to the advance of modern culture.” C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
( 1889 – 1970 )
Dawson Cover.indd 2-3 1/04/14 1:11 PM
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annual reportand
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Christopher Dawson, one of
the twentieth century’s great
historians was born in in the
village of Hay-on-Wye, Wales in
1889. Born in a Tudor building
constructed around a medieval
castle the young Christopher
Dawson imbued the mythologies
and stories of ancient worlds
from a young age. Supplementing
this early learning Dawson was
formally educated at Trinity
College, Oxford in 1908 where he
studied history.
In Easter of 1909 sitting in Rome
on the steps of the Capitol,
Dawson first conceived his life’s
work, the study and writing of
a history of culture. Four years
later Dawson converted to
Roman Catholicism. Embarking
on a career as an independent
scholar Dawson’s first work The
Age of the Gods was published
Christopher Dawson A breif Biography
B I O G R A P H Y
in 1928. This work was followed
by Progress and Religion in 1929,
which probably contains the most
succinct enunciation of Dawson’s
thought on the nature of culture
and religion.
Though Dawson was never to
hold a permanent position in any
British University his career was
undeniably influential. He was
twice a Gifford lecturer, the author
of numerous books and scholarly
articles, editor of the Dublin
Review and from 1958 to 1962
held the Chair of Roman Catholic
Studies at Harvard University. At
the core of all of his work remained
his understanding of religion as
the dynamic element of history.
Christopher Dawson died, after
almost a decade of ill health, in
1970.
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C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
If man limits himself to a satisfied animal existence, and asks from life only what such an existence can give, the higher values of life at once disappear.
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At the beginning of 2014 we take stock
of the year that has passed, and look
towards the year ahead. It does not seem
that long ago that The Dawson Society for
Philosophy and Culture was a mere idea, hastily
drawn on the back of a bar coaster. Since then,
and through the dedication and hard work of
a committed group of people, The Dawson
Society has seen great successes in a variety of
areas.
Beginning in February 2013, The Dawson
Society hosted seven Speakers Forum
events with local, interstate and international
presenters detailing such a variety of
topics as the role of virtue in the media, the
vocation of the laity, and the role of beauty in
evangelisation.
This inaugural year has also seen the successful
launch of a website, lovingly put together by
graphic designer and Dawson Society board
member Elizabeth Bogoni, and Paul Bui of Monk
Media. Recently, through the help of Squire
Sanders legal team, The Dawson Society has
become an incorporated association, which will
help us immensely in the organisation of the
administrative aspects of this venture.
As of March 2014 we have seen the launch of
another successful Speakers Forum series and
have begun planning the inaugural secondary
school students Glowrey Prize for pro-life
thought and activities, and the beginning
of what we hope becomes a series of short
courses on some of the seminal works of
Western Civilisation.
In recognition of the invaluable support and
advice given to the organisers of The Dawson
Society in their first year I am pleased to
announce the formation of a board of advisors,
whose experience and wisdom will be much
appreciated in the years ahead. Present
members of the advisory board include
Professor Celia Hammond, Vice-Chancellor
of The University of Notre Dame Australia;
Professor Tracey Rowland, Dean of the John
Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family; and
Mr Peter Rosengren, Editor of the Catholic
Weekly, Sydney and former of editor of The
Record Newspaper, Perth.
Looking back over the year that has passed
and the many cultural and political events and
movements that have defined 2013, I am more
than ever convinced of the necessity of men
and women of faith and of goodwill to engage
the culture at the level of ideas. This is why
the Dawson Society was founded, and it is my
hope that your experience has and will be of an
organization that intelligently engages with and
attempts to Christianise Australian culture.
thomas gourlayPresident and Co-Founder
Dear Friends,
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generations could justifiably argue that a broad swath of
society accepted and understood basic Christian principles;
the current generation cannot.
“Every society rests in the last resort on the recognition of
common principles and common ideals, and if it makes no
moral or spiritual appeal to the loyalty of its members, it
must inevitably fall to pieces.”1 Australian society finds itself
bereft of mission, at loss for identity of any sense of the
meaning of life. The previous century witnessed, especially
amongst the nations of Europe, great attempts to redefine
the spiritual loyalties of their populations away from the
Christian tradition. These attempts, nationalism, fascism
and communism each failed in their turn; and in its turn,
the present compromise, an attempt
to unite society upon economic
progress, materialism and relativism,
faces its own failure amidst economic
recession and the pressing claims of
rival cultures.
Perhaps the result of these failures
will be a realignment of Australian
society towards a Christian way of
life; a way of life which, in the words
of G. K. Chesterton, “has not been
tried and found wanting; it has been
found difficult and left untried”.
Yet this will not be the case unless
Catholics can intelligently articulate
the Christian worldview. To be a force
for renewal amongst the society at large, Catholics must be
able to converse with the universal languages of reason and
culture to all people.
It is the task of the today’s generation of Catholics, alongside
all those committed to the primacy of truth, to ensure that
Christian principles find an articulate voice in the Australian
public square. For Christianity to evangelise the hearts and
minds of future generations it is essential that Catholics
possess a deep spirituality, founded primarily upon prayer
and the sacraments, but capable also of mature intellectual
engagement with the issues that perplex modern man.
The Christopher Dawson Society for Philosophy and
Culture is established with the aim to assist Catholics to
revitalise an Australian culture suffering from an absence
WESTERN MAN has not been faithful to his Christian
tradition. He has abandoned it not once, but again and again.
For since Christianity depends on a living faith and not
merely on social tradition, Christendom must be renewed
every fresh generation, and every generation is faced by the
responsibility of making decisions, each of which may be an
act of Christian faith or an act of apostasy.” – Christopher
Dawson (1889 – 1970)
The renewal of Christendom is a task
that confronts every Catholic. It is a
challenge at the heart of the Catholic
faith, a personal call to holiness and
a demand for cultural renewal. Each
generation faces this challenge. The
solutions and challenges of each
generation are unique, no more so
than those of the present generation
who come to their task after more
than two centuries of political, moral
and cultural turmoil, the revolt of
modernity and unprecedented
technological progress.
The present generation of Australians
cannot expect that the tools employed for the renewal
of Christian culture by previous generations will remain
effective today. The norms and mores that assisted the
acceptance of the traditions of the faith have dissolved
with the communities that fostered them. Contemporary
man has been set adrift, atomised, isolated. Divorced
from truth freedom is understood only as license. The
intellectual climate meanwhile encourages the abandoning
of traditional beliefs and behaviours and favours a cult of
novelty and aimless progressivism.
It can no longer be assumed that current and future
generations of Australians will accept the inherent
goodness of the faith, its implicit role in public life and the
desirability of belief. Australian culture is instead, generally
ignorant of and often hostile to, the claims of religion. Past
The renewal of Christendom is a task at confronts every Catholic. It is a challenge from the heart of the Catholic faith, a personal call to holiness and a demand for cultural renewal.
“
Manifesto The Renewal of Christendom
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“Behind this vague tendency to treat religion as a side issue in modern life, there exists a strong body of opinion that is actively hostile to Christianity and that regards the destruction of positive religion as absolutely necessary to the advance of modern culture.” C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N ( 1889 – 1970 )
C U LT U R A L
That by bringing Catholics into close contact with the
cultural fruits of previous generations we may imbue
them with a heritage of more than 2000 years of Christian
thought, art and literature. This heritage is neither dogmatic
nor complete, but a living tradition to be embraced,
and adapted for the needs of, and developed by, every
generation, through which the seeds of renewal of our own
culture may be found.
Finally, and conscious that all the Society’s efforts must be
subordinated to the will of God, we call upon the patrons of the
society that, through their intercession, God may smile upon
our efforts and, if it be his will, reward them in abundance.
M A RY H ELP O F C H R I S T I A N S, Patroness of
Australia, to whom St Pope Pius V entrusted the armada of
the Holy League and the defence of Christendom.
Pray for Us
S T B EN ED I C T, whom as the Roman Empire collapsed
about him, established the great tradition of Western
Monasticism that has always served as a bulwark for culture
and civilisation.
Pray for Us
B LES S ED K A R L O F AU S T R I A , last king of the
Hapsburgs, who as Europe tore itself apart, strove for peace
amongst men and the unity of Christendom.
Pray for Us
of higher values and purpose. The Society intends to achieve
its aims through sponsoring and encouraging a revitalisation
of lay Catholic thought and intellectual engagement within
the realms of philosophy, theology and culture. Thus, by the
will of God, the Society shall bring its members towards a
deeper understanding of that which is truth, beauty and
goodness; and shall assist the laity in their vocation to “seek
the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and
directing them according to God’s will.”2
The Society then is understood by its founding members
to be:
CAT H O LI C
The Society is founded firstly, and most fundamentally, upon
the tenets of the Catholic faith, defined by the Magisterium
of the Church, whose cosmology, anthropology and moral
insight must lie at the heart of all the Society’s motivations
and doings.
R AT I O N A L
An essential part of the Catholic anthropology is the
understanding of men and women as a rational beings
created in the image and likeness of God. The development
of man’s rational nature is fundamental to the Society’s
mission and to the dignity of the human person. The
rational and intellectual charisma of the Society is in no
way restricted by the Society’s Catholic identity which,
on the contrary, informs us that, “Reason and faith cannot
be separated without diminishing the capacity of men
and women to know themselves, the world and God in an
appropriate way.”3
1. Christopher Dawson, “What Had Grown Old Will Be Made New” | 2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 898 | 3. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio n. 16
M A N I F ES T O
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The modern dilemma is essentially a spiritual one, and every one of its main aspects, moral, political and scientific, brings us back to the need of a religious solution.
C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
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C H R I S T I A N M A N I N T H E M O D ER N WO R LD
Our inaugural evening saw presentations from two local
speakers, Mr Jing-Ping Wong and Dr Andrew Kania. Given
the broad topic of Christian Man in the Modern World Mr
Wong and Dr Kania approached their subject from two very
different perspectives.
Jing-Ping Wong presented some thoughts on the destructive
contemporary phenomenon of Gender Theory. Leaning on
some remarks of Pope Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia
(Christmas 2012), Mr Wong suggested that an objective
approach to theological and philosophical anthropology
could lead us out of current confusion.
Dr Kania followed Jing-Ping’s address, speaking with fiery
eloquence on the vocation of lay men and women. Warning
against the dangers of clericalism he reminded his audience
of the importance of their unique role in the world.
J i ngP ing WongJing-Ping Wong is a Masters
Graduate from the John Paul
II Institute, Melbourne and as
of 2013, is a sessional tutor at
the University of Notre Dame,
Fremantle, in the School of
Theology and Philosophy.
D r Andre w K an i aAndrew Kania PhD is a former
visiting fellow at Oxford University.
Dr Kania has been published in
a wide variety of national and
international journals. He is
currently Director of Spirituality at
Aquinas College, Manning.
February
These evenings provided a unique opportunity for the public
of Perth to delve into a variety of topics in the convivial
atmosphere of Rosie O’Grady’s Pub and Restaurant in the
heart of Northbridge.
In 2013 we were very please to host seven such events which
saw an average attendance of over 75 people. The Dawson
Society would like to thank all those who have supported
these events, particularly our speakers.
Speakers Forum2013 Report
THE DAWSON SOCIETY for Philosophy and Culture was established
primarily as a means of encouraging an intellectual engagement with the
ideas at the root of many problems that facing us in our contemporary
culture. The flagship project of The Dawson Society in 2013 was the
regular Speakers Forum evenings.
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S P E A K ER S F O R U M
C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N A N D T H E M O D ER N D I LEM M A
The Dawson Society was pleased to host West Australian ex-
pat Fr Scot Armstrong of the diocese of Wagga-Wagga, NSW.
Fr Armstrong took as his topic the thought of the society’s
namesake, Christopher Dawson highlighting his almost
prophetic diagnosis of modernity. Drawing upon work in his
recently submitted PhD thesis, Fr Armstrong showed that
the legacy of Dawson’s thought can be found in the antidote
to the ills of modernity offered by the Vatican II fathers in
the Trinitarian Christocentric anthorology of Gaudium et
Spes n. 22.
Fr S co t Ar ms t rong (NSW )Fr Scot Armstrong is a priest of the
diocese of Wagga Wagga, NSW.
He completed his theological
studies at the Pontifical Urban
University in Rome and has
recently submitted his PhD thesis
to the faculty of the John Paul II
Institute for Marriage and Family,
Melbourne.
June
U N D ER S TA N D I N G A N D R ED EEM I N G T H E M ED I A
The Dawson Society was pleased to welcome our first
international speaker, Dr Ted Baehr, who was in Australia to
speak at the World Congress of Families in Sydney. Dr Baehr
presented a thoroughly interesting account of the history of
Christians in Hollywood and argued forcefully for men and
women of faith to involve themselves in this fundamental
aspect of twenty-first century culture.
D r Ted Baehr (USA)Dr Baehr writes a syndicated
column for 29 publications in the
US, is an internationally renowned
speaker, media scholar and film
critic.
May
T H E RO LE O F T H E FA M I LY I N T H E M I S S I O N O F T H E C H U RC H
Mr Anthony Coyte addressed the Speakers Forum speaking
on the role of the family in the mission of the Church, Mr
Coyte drew heavily on the thought of Cardinal Marc Ouellet
to paint in broad brush strokes a renewed theology of the
family.
Anthony Coy t eAnthony Coyte is a Masters
graduate of the John Paul II Institute
for Marriage and Family, Melbourne.
He is currently working in the
office of University Relations &
Development at the University of
Notre Dame, Fremantle.
April
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W H AT D I D D O S T O Y EV S K Y M E A N W H EN H E S A I D “ B E AU T Y W I LL S AV E T H E WO R LD ”?
FA I T H A N D P O LI T I C S
Travelling from Melbourne (VIC) to address the Dawson
Society’s October Speakers Forum, leading Australian
theologian Professor Tracey Rowland offered her audience
an historic approach to the philosophical developments and
thought which gave rise to modernity. Offering an integrated
approach to the transcendentals of truth, goodness and
beauty, Professor Rowland specifically highlighted the
essential role of beauty in evangelisation in the twenty-first
century. The Dawson Society would also like to acknowledge
the general support of the John Paul Institute for Marriage
and Family, Melbourne in making this trip possible.
Our final Speakers Forum for 2013 hosted a presentation by
Senator-elect Joseph Bullock on the topic ‘Faith and Politics’.
Offering a personal account of how his faith interacts
with his political philosophy, Joe Bullock concluded his
presentation with a stirring call to action for men and women
of faith to involve themselves in the political sphere.
Pro f e s so r Tr ace y Rowland ( VIC)Professor Tracey Rowland is
the author of many scholarly
articles and books specialising in
the thought of Joseph Ratzinger/
Pope Benedict XVI. She is
currently Professor, Dean and
Permanent Fellow of the John Paul
II Institute for Marriage and Family
Studies in Melbourne.
S ena to r - e l e c t J oe Bu l l o c kMr Joe Bullock has been the
secretary for the Western
Australian Branch of the Shop
Distributive and Allied Employees
Association. He is currently a
Senator-elect to the Federal
Parliament for Western Australia.
October
November
CAT H O LI C F EM I N I S M : A N OX Y M O RO N
Speaking on controversial relations between the Catholic
Church and twentieth-century feminist thought, The
Dawson Society was honoured to host Professor Celia
Hammond for its September Speakers Forum. Professor
Hammond traced the history of the feminist movement in
an effort to answer the question ‘can one be a Catholic and
a feminist?’
Pro f e s so r Ce l i a HammondProfessor Celia Hammond is the
Vice Chancellor of the University
of Notre Dame Australia.
Professor Hammond was a private
practitioner of law in Western
Australia and formerly Dean of the
School of Law at The University of
Notre Dame, Fremantle.
September
S P E A K ER S F O R U M
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Religion: The Key of History - Why you should read Dawsonby Tom Gourlay
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The now Blessed, soon to be Saint Pope
John Paul II spoke of three philosophers who
have been particularly influential in forming
the modern mindset – three authors whose
understanding of human nature is centred
on either power, sex or economics. These
three, the ‘masters of superstition‘ as he
named them, Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx,
have dominated the landscape of the Western
historical and cultural self-understanding
of our contemporary world. And so, the
writing of history in recent times has become
merely an analysis of the battles over power,
sexual domination or control of the means of
production.
This however was
not the starting point
for Dawson. His
writings begin with an
anthropology built on
the understanding of
the dual nature of the
person; body and soul –
man created and fallen,
and man ultimately
redeemed by the
Incarnation of Christ.
Dawson’s history tells the story not of power
hungry people driven by libido or the desire to
control the means of production, but rather of
people fallen and redeemed by Christ, caught
up in the cosmic struggle to bring the light of
Christ to the nations. A people who struggle
against sin or who revel in it.
This is why Dawson’s history is so exciting to
read – because it is a truly human history.
RELIGION is the key of history. We
cannot understand the inner form of a
society unless we understand its religion. We
cannot understand its cultural achievements
unless we understand the religious beliefs that
lie behind them. In all ages the first creative
works of a culture are due to a religious
inspiration and dedicated to a religious end.
The temples of the gods are the most enduring
works of man. Religion stands at the threshold
of all the great literatures of the world.
Philosophy is its offspring and is a child which
constantly returns to its parent.”
Christopher Dawson - Religion and Culture.
Dawson’s deep and
profound insight into
history and culture
hinge on this truth
– that religion is the
key, or the engine of
history. Profoundly
different to utilitarian
or Marxist/economic
interpretations of
history, Dawson’s
reading of history is
radically human centred.
In the deeply secular and often almost anti-
religious culture that surrounds us we often
suffer the perception that religion is extrinsic
to life – something furnishing, but not essential
to the everyday life of individuals. In Dawson’s
historical analysis however, we see that the
cultus, or religion is at the heart of every
culture.
Dawson’s deep and profound insight into history and culture hinge on this truth – that religion is the key, or the engine of history.
“
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In 2013 we were overwhelmed by the
enthusiastic reception of the Speakers Forum,
which averaged over 75 attendees for each
event. In 2014 we hope to replicate and build
on the overwhelming success of this, our
flagship project.
Our program of speakers for 2014 is
currently being finalised but I am pleased to
announce that Archbishop Timothy Costelloe
SDB, Melinda Tankard Reist, and Anna Krohn
will all form part of an exciting schedule of
presenters.
We were particularly happy to have Professor
Matthew Ogilvie, Dean of the School of
Philosophy and Theology at The University
of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle campus
launch the 2014 Speakers Forum program with
a lecture titled ‘Religion and Terrorism’ on
25 February.
PA I D EI A LE C T U R E S ER I ES
We are very excited to announce a significant
new project of the Dawson Society. This project
aims to build on our Speakers Forum by allowing
participants to more deeply engage with
philosophical issues and great cultural works.
The Paideia Lecture Series will provide of 5 – 8
lectures exploring a Speakers Forum topic in
greater depth than is possible in a single evening.
We are extremely happy that the first Paideia
Lecture Series will be launched in May of 2014. It
will take as its topic a seminal work of Christian
culture, Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Divine
Comedy charts a man’s quest for sanctity in
an epic journey through Hell, Purgatory and
Paradise. Dante’s exploration of the essential
questions of human nature have immortalised
this work and make it particularly worth of study.
We are particularly grateful to Associate
Professor John Kinder of the University of
Western Australia for agreeing to present the
lectures for this first series and we are also
very grateful to the University of Notre Dame,
Fremantle for allowing us to host this short
course on their premises.
S P E A K ER S F O R U M 2014
As I have pointed out, it is the Christian tradition that is the most fundamental element in Western culture. It lies at the base not only of Western religion, but also of Western morals and Western social idealism.
C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
Prospectus2014
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For more information on these events please visit www.dawsonsociety.com.au
Another new and exciting project for the
Dawson Society is the establishment of the
Glowrey Prize. The prize will be an annual
award given the Dawson Society, in conjunction
with Pregnancy Assistance Inc. The award is
open to all West Australian secondary school
students and has been established in order to
recognise and encourage the promotion of a
culture of life in Perth through ideas and social
action.
The award is named after Australian Medical
Doctor Mary Glowrey, also known as Sr Mary
of the Sacred Heart, who was named a Servant
of God in 2013. On 5 May, 1957 Dr Mary
Glowrey died in Bangalore, India after serving
for 37 years as a religious sister and doctor
to the people of India. Her work, particularly
with the women and children of that country
serves as a brilliant example of our Christian
commitment to the building of a culture of life.
G LOW R EY P R I Z E
The Inaugural Glowrey Prize will consist of
two cash prizes of $500. These prizes will be
awarded in two categories, one for a written
piece and one for pro-life activities. Topics
for the writing competition will be posted on
the Dawson Society website and will also be
made available for secondary school teachers
to use in their assessment for both the Year
11 and 12 Religious Education courses in
Catholic Secondary Schools. The Dawson
Society encourages teachers, parents and
fellow students to nominate candidates to be
recognised for their prolife activities.
The Glowrey Prize will be awarded at a
breakfast hosted by the Dawson Society in
September of 2014.
GLOWERY PRIZEBuilding a culture of life
P RO S P E C T U S 2014
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IN AN EFFORT to reach out to the public of
Perth, Western Australia and beyond, The
Dawson Society has embraced a number of
social media initiatives. The Dawson Society’s
presence on Facebook has steadily grown since
its launch in March 2013 and has a weekly
reach of over 400 views. On Twitter the society
has engaged over 180 followers. The Dawson
Society’s facebook and twitter pages allow us
to promote articles, of opinion and cultural
critique and to market coming events to a wide
audience.
The Dawson Society website was launched in
September of 2013, through the meticulous
design work of Elizabeth Bogoni and a
corporate donation from Paul Bui of Monk
Media, Mount Lawley. The website hosts
recordings of previous lectures, and promotes
coming events. An active blog shares opinion
and social commentary.
Social MediaEngagement in the Digital Age
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“You can give men food and leisure and amusements and good conditions of work, and still they will remain unsatisfied. You can deny them all these things, and they will not complain so long as they feel that they have something to die for.”
C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
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The Historical Vision of Christopher DawsonBy Daniel Matthys
O NE OF THE QUESTIONS I am often asked in
relation to the Dawson Society is why we would
choose to name a society after Christopher Dawson. The
question is a fair one. What is it about the thought of a fairly
obscure, twentieth-century, British historian that could
possibly have relevance to a Society founded over 40 years
after the death of said historian, in a continent he never
visited? Dawson’s own legacy, following his death in 1970,
presents us with a mixed picture. Though Dawson was
widely known and respected in his own time the impact of
his thought has been much diminished today to the point
where, even amongst well read Catholics, it is unusual
to find someone fully conversant in his ideas. However it
must also be said that those who have read Dawson’s work
rarely disagree that he occupies an important, perhaps
even essential, position in the history of English-speaking
thought.
Christopher Dawson is often described as a historian and
while this description is technically correct to my mind it
fails to properly convey the depth and significance of his
work. Dawson, it is true, studied and wrote works of history
however it is his work on metahistorical issues which is most
significant and deserving of study. Metahistory is described
by Dawson himself as “concerned with the nature of history,
the meaning of history and the cause and significance
of historical change.”1 It a study of the philosophical,
sometimes theological, beliefs, that inevitably underpin all
historical works. Every historian incorporates into their
history metahistorical beliefs even if the author is largely
unconscious of their presence.
Dawson’s own metahistorical approach to history is
characterised by a broad approach to his discipline. Dawson
believed that history shared its object of study, the social
life of mankind, with other emerging disciplines amongst
what are termed today as the social sciences. Archaeology,
anthropology and sociology, all in Dawson’s view had their
own perspective to add to this common field of study. The
danger Dawson saw was that any one of these disciplines
might claim for itself the sole and complete right to
comprehend and explain man’s social life. The consequences
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in social life and a belief in the legitimacy of science as a
means of explaining these factors. Concurrently Dawson’s
belief in the fundamental importance of philosophical and
religious issues in human societies avoids the materialist
trap that so many of his contemporaries were to fall into.
Dawson’s history then, like his understanding of man,
was both material and spiritual, according to both their
legitimate spheres of importance in order to truly arrive
at a social understanding of mankind. In his own time
Dawson set his vision of history against the materialistic
conceptions of the like of Oswald Spengler to whom culture
was an unconscious physical process. Spengler’s history
envisaged each culture as a single, isolated whole unable
to interact with any foreign culture that does not share
its material foundations. At the
same time Dawson was to critique
rival metahistorical understandings
of the like of R. G. Collingwood,
whose thought eliminated the
physical and material from culture,
treating culture as purely the
spiritual movement of ideas. What
is important to note is that Dawson
does not discount the impact of the
physical world on culture found in
Spengler or the movement of ideas in
Collingwood. Rather Dawson admits
both elements, spiritual and material,
in a holistic explanation of mankind
and mankind’s social life. Similarly
in the present day it is possible to
see how Dawson’s metahistorical
understanding offers a path out of the deadlock of Marxist
and postmodern conceptions of history that are found in
contemporary academia. Each has it value yet each is too
narrow an understanding of humanity and the world.
Dawson’s conception of social life as encompassing
a community of thought is particularly valuable for
contemporary Australia. Though academics may
divide themselves amongst Marxist and postmodern
understandings of human life, the accepted view of the
culture at large is decidedly materialistic. This was not a
phenomenon that would be entirely strange for Dawson. In
fact much of Dawson’s work was aimed at convincing both
of such claims would inevitably be a disastrous narrowing of
the philosophical conception of man, his purpose, morals and
meaning. By the time Dawson had entered the discussion
sociology in particular was susceptible to this danger, and
indeed the subsequent role of poor sociological thought
in the disastrous ideological movements of the twentieth-
century have only served to highlight the danger Dawson
feared.
Dawson’s solution to this danger encouraged robust
communication between these disciplines that shared social
life as their object of study. Using history as a reservoir of
empirical data against which the claims of the new sciences
could be tested, Dawson drew from the work of the French
sociologist Frederick Le Play in defining social life as the
interaction of three communities;
a community of folk, a community
of place and a community of work.
To stress any single community as
the defining feature of the social
life of mankind would, for Dawson,
represent a retardation of thought.
In his own life nationalisation, an
overemphasise of place, fascism,
an overemphasis of folk and
communism, an overemphasis of
work, would all present a perverted
picture of human activity with
devastating consequences.
Yet for Dawson, the threefold
division found in Le Play also failed to
completely comprehend all spheres
of social life. To the three communities mentioned above,
Dawson added a fourth; a community of thought. It is this
community of thought, a community that for most of human
history has been grounded in religious belief, which provides
the dynamic element in human relations. It is here that the
spiritual enters history and man’s free will can affect the
communities of folk, place and work; communities that
would otherwise be entirely deterministic. Thus Dawson’s
vision of history is a profoundly Catholic understanding of
the discipline, firmly rooted in a belief in the material world
as well as spiritual realities. Dawson’s eagerness to engage
with sociological and anthropological methods and theory
was motivated from a respect for the role of material factors
The renewal of Christendom is a task that confronts every Catholic. It is a challenge from the heart of the Catholic faith, a personal call to holiness and a demand for cultural renewal.
1 Dawson Christopher, “The Problem of Metahistory” in Dynamics of World History, ISI Books, Wilington Delaware, 2002, page 303
T H E H I S T O R I CA L V I S I O N O F C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
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public and academic opinion that ideas, and particularly
religious ideas formed a fundamental component of man’s
past and indeed his present
Were one to describe the most important topic of Dawson’s
work one would probably cite his study of culture, not
only as a specific and concrete reality; but culture in the
abstract, what makes and unmakes cultures, what governs
a culture’s development and how cultures interact. Culture,
which Dawson defined as a shared moral order, governs our
understandings of our physical space. In the second, and
possibly the most important, of his early works ‘Progress
and Religion’, Dawson took great pains to challenge the idea
current in the fashionable society of his time that culture
was a product of physical forces
and religion was a superstitious
and parasitic growth on top of
primitive societies. This belief is
summed up Herbert Spencer who
in reconstructing the mentality
of an uncivilised native proposed
that, ‘he thinks of nothing except
the matters that immediately
concern his daily material needs’.
Arguing the contrary Dawson
cited, in a fashion that should
resonate with contemporary
Australians, the indigenous
Australian tribes and their deeply
spiritual and ceremonial relationship with
their material surrounds. Another, somewhat amusing,
example is of a tribe in Papua, who being shown wireless
technology completed a perfect replica for the purpose of
communicating with their dead.
Though careful never to overstate the influence of
ideas over physical conditions, Dawson was nonetheless
adamant on the defining role culture plays in human life.
The source of culture and ideas for much of human history
furthermore was to be found not merely in the physical
conditions of man’s environment but more importantly in
the religious and spiritual impulses of humanity. “Behind
every civilisation is a vision” Dawson writes, “a vision which
may be the unconscious fruit of ages of common thought
and action, or may have sprung from the sudden illumination
of a great prophet or thinker … A people which has heard
thrice a day for a thousand years the voice of the muezzin
proclaiming the unity of God cannot live the same life or see
with the same eyes as the Hindu who worships the life of
nature in its countless forms, and sees the external world
as a manifestation of the interplay of cosmic sexual forces.”2
Moreover the decline of organised religion in the west
does not in Dawson’s understanding, result in a culture that
escapes the influences of religious thinking. Rather the rise
of secularism for Dawson represented the triumph of a new
religious belief in eternal progress via humanity’s scientific
and rational facilities. Religious belief in Dawsonian thought
is the key to understanding culture. It is culture, as the
dynamic element of human societies, that will interacts with
man’s physical environment in different and extraordinary
ways.
So much then for Dawson’s
thought as it applied to the past.
The finalaspect of his thought
that I would like to explore is his
application of his understanding
of culture to the future. This was
the great task of his last public
years during which he held the
Chair for Roman Catholic Studies
at Harvard University; and during
which he published his own
understanding of education in a
work entitledCrisis of Western
Education in 1961. For Dawson as
we have seen ideas, particularly ideas that become imbued
and transmitted by a culture, are of paramount importance
to the social life of man. In the modern west Dawson saw
formal education as the new, primary vehicle by which ideas
are accepted by the culture at large. This education which
is both mandatory and with some exceptions secular, by
virtue of its secular nature fails at transmitting a religious
conception of man. The resulting culture is one in which
religious belief has not so much been definitely rejected but
repressed; treated with indifference and comprehended in
ignorance.
The solution for Dawson, was not merely preach Christian
beliefs. Separated from a worldview that comprehends
how religion fulfils a fundamental need of mankind
abstract beliefs play the part of the wireless amongst the
It is culture, as the dynamic element of human societies, that interacts with man’s physical environment in different and extraordinary ways.
T H E H I S T O R I CA L V I S I O N O F C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
2 Dawson Christopher, Progress and Religion, Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C., 2001, pages 67 - 68
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tribe in Papua. The dogma and doctrines of the faith will
be understood only in a manner that is consistent with
the dominant zeitgeist and in this manner will be devoid
of meaning. Rather Dawson suggested that Christians
must act as interpreters of the Christian tradition as it has
existed as an integrated whole. This tradition makes for
a valuable study in its own right for in many ways it is not
a dead tradition but one that still profoundly affects the
world in which we live. More importantly this tradition
offers Christian beliefs in a context by which their essential
meaning and importance may properly comprehended.
This is a task in Dawson’s view not only for institutions but
also and more importantly, for the individual Christian, a
task completed by embracing an apostolate of study to
complement the apostolates of prayer and action.
It is these elements of Dawson’s thought that were influential
for the founding of the Dawson Society. If the Society is to
be an effective transmitter of ideas the organisers must first
have their conception of man in order. Man is not merely a
glorified animal nor is he a pure spirit. This may seem like a
simple idea but if it were at once properly comprehended it
is arguable that more than half the modern heresies would
vanish overnight. In contemporary Australia the intellectual
climate very much favours man as a glorified animal, thus
Dawson’s understanding of the religious nature of man is
of essential importance to the Society’s work. Finally there
is the apostolate of study. It is not right to despair over
modernity. Very well. The alternative is hard work in prayer,
thought and action.
The danger Dawson saw was that any one of the social sciences might claim for itself the sole and complete right to comprehend and explain man’s social life. The consequences of such claims would inevitably be a disastrous narrowing of the philosophical conception of man, his purpose, morals and meaning.
T H E H I S T O R I CA L V I S I O N O F C H R I S T O P H ER DAW S O N
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AS YOU MAY BE AWARE, the Dawson Society
is a newly incorporated association that
survives on the tenacity of its volunteers and
the generosity of those individuals who have
donated their time and expertise.
We would especially like to thank the generous
donations of the following:
Squire Sanders legal firm, for their efforts
in aiding the society to achieve incorporated
status.
Paul Bui of Monk Media, for his work in
coding and hosting the website.
Elizabeth Bogoni, for the generous
donation of many hours of design work, for our
invitations, general branding and the Dawson
Society website.
5,000
4,2505,400
4,000
2,000 2,025
5,500 5,200 6,000
10,275
24,100
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
Speakers Forum Website General Expenses
Glowery Prize
Paideia Lectures
TOTAL
2013 2014
As we look to 2014 and further into the future
the organising committee of the Dawson Society
for Philosophy and Culture is keen to move the
Society’s finances onto a more formal footing,
as we have now become a formal incorporated
association with legal rights and responsibilities.
To this end we have included a summary of the
Society’s financial totals in 2013 and a budget of
projected expenses for 2014.
Though the Dawson Society is run largely by
volunteer labour and is consequently relatively
cheap to run it is simply not possible to provide
the events we host without cost. We are
currently in the process of financing events for
the coming year and are seeking grants and
private donations so that these events can go
ahead successfully.
Financial Report
EX P EN S ES
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D I R E C T PAY M EN T
The Dawson Society
BSB 066 118
Account Number 10347746
SUPPORT THE DAWSON SOCIETYContributions can be made via the following
SINCE WE BEGAN the Dawson Society last year I have been
continually impressed by the support we have received from
a variety of sectors within the community. Our events and
activities are made possible by generous donors who really
are investors in cultural renewal.
Due to the voluntary nature of the society our expenses
are minimal for their overall return, however it would be
impossible to proceed with our planned events without
solid financial backing. We are currently seeking donations
for either specific projects, as detailed above, or general
donations to support the society’s activities.
If just 40 people were to commit to a pledge of $50 a month
our expenses for the year ahead would be entirely met.
Understanding that this might not be possible for many
people, any monthly or one-off contributions will go a long
way to supporting our proposed activities for 2014.
Myself and the other organisers of the Dawson Society are
also seeking grants from a variety of sources and institutions
however these donations cannot replace the dedicated
support of those in the community who share our goal of
the Christianisation of Australian Culture. Whilst we have
currently budgeted a financial need of $24 100 for 2014
any donations above this amount will be invested in the
continuing activities of the society, with an aim not merely
to maintain, but to grow.
I personally would like to thank those individuals and
institutions who, through their generous donations and
contributions made our work in 2013 possible. I firmly
believe in the continuing mission of the Dawson Society and
I invite you to join with us in this exciting mission.
F U N D R A I S I N G A P P E A L
C H E Q U ES
Cheques can be made out to
The Dawson Society,
PO Box 1413 Booragoon WA 6954
PAY PA L
Secure Paypal transactions may be made at
www.dawsonsociety.com.au
CA S H D O N AT I O N S
Cash donations are always gratefully accepted
at Dawson Society events
thomas gourlayPresident and Co-Founder
S U P P O RT
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THE DAWSON SOCIETY for Philosophy and
Culture is proud to appoint three members
to a new advisory board. The purpose of the
board is to lend their expertise and advice to
assist the committee of management in the
overall direction of the Society’s activities.
We thank these founding members for thier
ongoing support.
CO M M I T T EE O F M A N AG EM EN T
Mr Pe t e r Roseng ren ,
Editor of The Catholic Weekly
(Sydney), former Editor of The
Record (Perth)
Pro f e s so r Ce l i a Hammond ,Vice-Chancellor of the University
of Notre Dame Australia
Pro f e s so r Tr ace y RowlandDean of the John Paul II Institute
for Marriage and Family
Thomas Gour l ayPresident
El i z abe th Bogon iArtistic Director
J i ng-P ing Wong
Dan i e l Mat thy sVice-President
Ric ha rd S e l l wood
Deon Mat thy s
Advisory Board