The Task of Catholic Philosophy

Creatureliness as such – a vast and capacious reality – is poised to receive that verticality which transcends the horizon of creaturely being: the gift that descends from above. This gift awaits the embrace of creation’s womb, which unfolds as the horizontal dynamism of existence. Creation is made for this: its ultimate end is the reception of grace, a reception that transforms and transubstantiates all that is. This gift in no way undoes the dynamism of creation in a destructive mode, but rather saves, heals, and elevates it from within transcendently. This sets the boundary conditions by which we are to understand the relationship between reason, rooted in creatureliness, and faith, bestowed as a gift of grace from above. As Aquinas states, “The gifts of grace are added to nature in such a way that they do not destroy it, but rather perfect it. So too the light of faith, which is imparted to us as a gift, does not do away with the light of natural reason given to us by God” (Exposition of the "De Trinitate" of Boethius. Q. 2, a. 3, ad 1). This enables us to aspire to an authentic understanding of the relational interplay between reason, nature, and philosophy on one hand, and faith, grace, and theology on the other, illuminating the true task of Catholic philosophy.

For Aquinas, Catholic philosophy has the advantage of having its presuppositions being illumined by the light of faith and thus recognizes that “nature itself is a preamble to grace.” Thus, the Catholic philosopher can gaze upon the whole history of philosophy and adjudicate whether the concepts, theories, ideas, even the animating principles that give rise to the dynamic spirit of certain “schools” of thought are, in fact, properly philosophical in nature.

“If anything, however, is found in the sayings of the philosophers contrary to faith, this is not philosophy but rather an abuse of philosophy arising from faulty reasoning. Therefore it is possible to refute an error of this sort by philosophical principles, either by showing that it is entirely impossible or that it is not necessary” (Ibid.).

Note here that the “abuses[s] of philosophy,” which arise from “faulty reasoning,” are to be refuted through reason, “by philosophical principles,” without direct recourse to the revelatory truths which descend as gifts of grace. Why not use revelation as a direct response to these errors? “For, as matters of faith cannot be demonstratively proved, so some assertions contrary to them cannot be demonstratively shown to be false; it can, however, be shown that they lack necessity” (Ibid., italics my own). Here we see that one of the tasks of Catholic philosophy is to correct erroneous philosophical articulations with the balm of genuine philosophy, respecting the integrity of philosophy as a discipline, mirroring the way grace heals and perfects nature. If, on the other hand, philosophical errors are addressed solely with the content of revelation, this would indeed constitute a fideistic approach, as such truths are not demonstrable, but are gifts of grace that transcend reason—though they do not destroy it through contradiction.

What else could be said of the noble vocation of Catholic philosophy? In addition to its calling to heal informed philosophy with the medicinal invocation of true philosophy by way of its proper diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, Catholic philosophy also grows in an undivided union with theology (without mixture, confusion, division, and separation as divorce), which, in turn, allows these dual disciplines to receive fresh insights that invigorate their respective domains without alienating either or destroying their integrity. On the side of philosophy, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger reminds us that

“since the time of Plato, philosophy has always thrived on critical dialogue with the great religious traditions. Its priorities have always been linked with the priorities of the religious traditions, which are the starting points in its struggle to find the truth. Where it abandons such dialogue, it very quickly ceases to become philosophy” (Ratzinger, "Faith, Philosophy and Theology," Communio: International Catholic Review 11, no. 4 [1984]: 355).

In this spirit, Catholic philosophy enjoys a kinship with theology as they both mutually receive a reciprocal benefit from each: philosophy healed and thus healing; theology resourced by the tools and methods of philosophy, thus her continued elevation as the science of faith. As Ratzinger shares,

“Faith defends both the greatness and the humility of philosophy” (Ibid.: 362); “It defends philosophy because it needs it; it needs questioning and seeking people. Its obstacle is not questioning but that closed-mindedness which refuses to question further and considers truth to be unobtainable or not even worth searching for. Faith does not destroy philosophy but defends it, and only when doing so is theology true to itself” (Ibid.: 363).

Thus, philosophy is married to theology without the violation of their mutual integrity, hence their mutual enrichment. Obtaining to and sustaining this coextensive union with theology is also the task of Catholic Philosophy.

Thus, the anxious questioning of reason’s autonomy is unwarranted; philosophical reasoning is not only safeguarded through its union with theology, but is also healed and elevated, as demonstrated above. As Balthasar states, “To the extent that reason is autonomous at all, such [philosophical] activity is no less autonomous in relationship to faith and to revelation than other branches of human investigation: but precisely ‘to this extent.’ This autonomy remains at the service of revelation….” (Retrieving the Tradition: On the Tasks of Catholic Philosophy in Our Time, Communio 20 [Spring 1993]: 150). In addition, reason’s union with faith, nature with grace, philosophy with theology – without mixture, confusion, division, or separation that is divorce – is all the more secured by the fact that the two objects of investigation, the being of creation and its Ground, on the side of philosophy, and God’s self-utterance in the Logos, on the side of theology, “overlap materially to such an extent that the confrontation becomes unavoidable. And it is only in this confrontation that something like Catholic philosophy comes into being” (Ibid.: 151). Thus, “only this perspective demonstrates the total interweaving of both spheres and justifies speaking of Catholic philosophy” (Ibid.). In other words, since the content of revelation and its ruminations within the discipline of theology deal with this world – for the same God of nature is the God of grace, and the economy of nature and grace, while distinct, are nevertheless unified in the totality of Reality as such – Catholic philosophy is truly that: Catholic, that is to say, universal in scope. Thus, the Catholic philosopher possesses the exceedingly great privilege and noble position of thinking in a manner that embraces the whole of reality. Given this profoundly compelling vocation, Catholic philosophy will remain one of the decisive paths for any thinker insofar as the vocational structure of the human being, who is, by nature, a Theo-anthropo-cosmic synthesis.