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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
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.
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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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