the conversion of poetry into the rigorously analytic
faith as the appropriate response to friendship
the unfortunate tendency to conflate consent and common resolution
The greater part of endurance is taking responsibility.
Orders establishes a pentiential forum; dignity within orders establishes judicial fora.
a quasi-virtue-ethics of national character
Itis easier to remember justifications for very stable beliefs than constantly shifting ones; and easier to remember them for single isolated shifts than multiple or interacting shifts of belief.
motives of esperability
analogues to interpretations of 'This is my body' in interpretations of 'The Word was made flesh'
Teh music of liturgy represents both prayer and preaching.
the good society as a refuge for virtue
categories of magisterial statement
(1) of divinely revealed truth
(2) of truths closely associated with divinely revealed truth
(3) of what reasonably clarifies revealed truth
(4) of prudential caution or exhortation
(5) of prudential suggestion
--- (1) : demonstration proper :: (2) : demonstration by fitness :: (3) : probability :: (4) & (5) : plausibility
Receiving gifts, we have duties, which establish rights; thus, receiving gifts from God, the duties arising toward God ground rights.
soft integration practices of the papacy; ad limina visits, national churches, Pontifical Colleges, papal visits
Part of the point of the primacy of Peter is to make fruitful discussion possible. (Cp. Chrysostom on the Council of Jerusalem.) This fruitful discussion is necessary for the unity of the Church.
language dispersion and trade flow in liturgical influence
Evangelization is the primary expression of the Holy Spirit in the Church. He does much in doing this: pouring out prophecy, creating priests, teaching wisdom, raising theologians, and bringing together the entire council of the Church.
truth expressed rigorously & properly
truth expressed figuratively
truth expressed under common expressions
truth expressed in terms of appearances
the danger of confusing studied impartiality with intrinsic impartiality
necessary vs. non-necessary parts
Debunking arguments all presuppose some normative principles; otherwise they are toothless for guiding reasoning.
the function of tentative preliminary guesses/concessions in reasoning
the eduction of rational principles from narratives
Not all victories are worthwhile and not all pleasures are worthwhile, but we do seek victories and pleasures.
Hb 1:3 // Wis 7:26 (both use apaugasma)
the oddity of 'Almost everyone believes X but there is no reason at all to think it is true'
Reasonable people taken generally are a good source of information on what it is reasonable to believe given the available evidence.
Analytic appeal to intuitions is always either (1) an appeal to special expertise or (2) an appeal to common sense.
PSR as a postulate of inductive reasoning (Coffey)
spontaneous suspicion vs cumulative suspicion
"It is in the nature of the defensive to be less quick to act than the offensive." Ludwig von Pastor
"Only charity gives a correct view of men and things." Elisabeth Leseur
to share one's doings with God
the pseudo-iconographies of the state
Whenever an analytic philosopher says 'intuition', substitute 'suspicion' and see how it goes.
All experiences are infused with analogies; without analogies there would not be much to interpretation.
the link between suspecting and plausibility (this seems especially clear in the case of fiction, where what is plausible seems closely tied to what one can suspect and what one can only suspect)
The problem with getting to other minds by inference to the best explanation is characterizing the explananda without assuming other minds.
consensus gentium argument for the external world, assuming other minds
(1) moral unanimity of the human race (2) despite radical differences in custom &c. (3) that is resilient over time in the face of changes (4) thus indicating that it is natural to reason (5) and thus rational and reasonable in itself.
causation and the notion of what one thing owes to another
There is one God not only because there is one nature and not only because there is one Principle, although both of these are true, but because what comes from the Principle does so in such a way as to be one with the Principle and each other without muddling of their order.
Nyaya syllogism as a reasonableness inference
Religious conscience is a particularly public and organized form of conscience.
the noncommensurability of evidences
patron saints and receiving the righteous in the name of the righteous
suggestive vs confirmatory evidence
Newman's notes of development as notes of good interpretation
(1) Good interpretation maintains the genre (kind) of the text.
(2) Good interpretation shares abstract and general principles with the text.
(3) Good interpretation unifies and integrates what is in the text.
(4) Good interpretation is logically linked to the evidences of the text.
(5) Good interpretation is anticipated by prior good interpretation.
(6) Good interpretation builds on prior interpretations, illuminating them.
(7) Good interpretation endures on its own merits.
unity of doctrinal type, unity of principles, unity of idea, logical unity, chronological unity
Wars are not won by certainties.
faith: anticipation of knowing the divine
hope: anticipation of having the divine
charity; anticipation of being one with the divine
"The very nature of a true philosophy relatively to other systems is to be polemical, eclectice, unitive..." Newman
Quies animae est delectatio.
naturalism in phil. sci // liberalism in political philosophy
The freedom of religion worth having is that which facilitates and encourages the virtue of religion.
The kind of freedom that encourages vice destroys itself in the end.
kallipolis : patience and gentleness :: democratia : tolerance
principles of the liturgical commonwealth
(1) to uphold the sacraments and what pertains to them
(2) to be witness of Christ even unto death
(3) to do unto other Catholics as one would have them do unto oneself
(4) to maintain and follow authoritative laws, customs, and usages of the Church
(5) to give thanks in thought, word, and deed for God's grace
(6) to strive for unity in the Church
(7) to forgive offenses to oneself
(8) to act mercifully in all penalty, whether that by conscience, by public opinion, or by law
(9) to uphold and respect the dignity of all
(10) to give the better part to others, especially those in need
(11) to be prudent and equitable in judgment
(12) to respect the common destination of goods
(13) to protect both the virtuous and the vulnerable
(14) to respect legitimate authority, both civil and ecclesial
orders of extrapolation; extrapolations in extrapolations (weird hypothetical scenarios in analytic philosophy often have this problem: they are extrapolating how we would extrapolate)
Genetic debunking requires genetic definition.
review in inquiry // examination of conscience
lines of reasoning vs arguments
e.g., suppose three arguments
A, B; therefore C
A,B; therefore probably C
A, B; therefore C is a reasonable possibility
All can be considered to be along the same line, despite being diff arguments
Note the important difference between refuting a single argument and refuting all arguments along those lines.
miracles of saints as symbolic acts in the liturgical commonwealth
It would be more correct to say that the saints receive miracles than that they do them, although they do indeed do them as instruments.
moral design arguments for systems of miracles
'death of the author' as a denial of instrumental causality
Everything a pope does in his office, besides simply being a bishop performing liturgical functions, is accomplished through the instrumentality of others, and is affected by their manner of cooperation or resistance.
the Holy Spirit as the standing power of miracles in the Church
the solidary function of the papacy: to unite the bishops
the subsidiary function of the papacy: to support the bishops
The catholicity of papal jurisdiction is found in the unlimited character of the pope's solidary and subsidiary functions.
the psalmody of the Chruch militant as exemplate whose exemplar is the Church triumphant
the role of 'famous men' in traditions (Sirach)
All norms are moral when the stakes are high enough.
debunking based on (1) lack of key good feature; (2) riskiness; or (3) mere luck (accident)
For each there are three possible responses: (1) rejection of ground; (2) compatibilist acceptance of ground (i.e. rejection of the idea that the ground of the debunking requires the debunking); (3) qualification (i.e. rejection of the idea that the ground debunks under all circumstances).
It is impossible to alienate one's responsibility for common good.
Self-interest develops through and with interest for others.
the problem of the external world as partly a problem of classification
A society in which people have little quiet leisure is a society in which people are certainly being manipulated.
'Intuitions' cannot be presumed to be invariant even across equivalences. (Cf. Moon Duchin)
Oftentimes, analytic arguments based on intuitions turn out to be a cost/benefit guesstimation -- how costly is this supposition/ how much work would it require?
the study of possibilities
(1) by study of actualities
(2) by analogy
(3) by causal inference
(4) by extrapolation
Rites inspire society; music inspires hearts.
Trees are scenery when they are seen
but instruments when they are heard;
and fresh though lives are, vivid, green,
the tree-ish music fresher still
inspires more than singing bird,
and most on evenings chill.
The cultivation of calm clarifies.
Note Saadia Gaon's interpretation of the Song of Moses as a summation of the history of Israel and his argument that understanding it so suggests the doctrine of resurrection.
resurrection as the dew of light (Is 26:19)
Customary law is established (a) by induction (b) by customary heuristics (c) by analogy (d) by extrapolation from prior principles of practical reason combined with a historical story (e) by causal analysis of stable institutions and practices.
Lk 2:52 // Sir 45:1
completeness of what is complete in itself
(1) that outside of which there can be none of its parts
(2) that which admits of no greater degree in ability
(3) that which has attained its end
completeness of what is completed
(1) as making complete
(2) as having a completeness
(3) as representing completely
the primary ideas: being and nonbeing, act and potency, same and different, whole and part
PSR aas a derivative of the principle of causation (the PSR involves reference to intellect)
causation : being :: sufficient reason : truth
Note Kant's distinction between logical and transcendental PSR (Every proposition has a reason vs Everything has its reason) -- he takes the LPSR to be an analytic truth and the TPSR to be unprovable.
predicate quantity as predicate modality
the human race as a kind of relic (of itself in original righteousness), the redemption and exaltation of which is symbolized by the relics of saints
inquisitive possibility
If A then C
'Things are such that if A be true in reference to this universe of discourse / sphere of things, C is also true in reference to it.' (Coffey
If we have different kinds of 'intuitions', this complicates how we would go about being consistent with them, just as with sensory modalities.
affinities of fictional characters
fictional characterization as classification
