apologetics as the origin of systematization (Santayana)
kinds of responses to paradoxes:
(1) impossibilist: The paradoxical situation is not in fact possible.
(2) illusionist: The paradoxical situation is not problematic, but only apparently so.
(3) logical revisionist: The paradoxical situation is not problematic in a more appropriate logical system or scheme.
(4) metaphysical postulationist: The paradoxical situation is not problematic if a substantive metaphysical position is true.
moving from argument to argument through the hyperargument
three stimuli to sobriety in philosophy: the Church, marriage, professorship
Peter feeds the sheep through his successors.
Apostle : intellectus :: bishop : ratio
"The man of genius who founds a science, an art, or a civilisation, imparts to his work an impetus that often carries it on for centuries. Christ did not do less for His Church." Journet
Reason especially concerns itself with the hidden, the absent, the not yet.
"In rational prayer the soul may be said to accomplish three things important to its welfare: it withdraws within itself and defines its good, it accommodates itself to destiny, and it grows like the ideal which it conceives." Santayana
The full life of charity requires a canonical organization of divine character.
The life of reason, committed to love of truth, is committed to half at least of the convertibility of the good and the true: all that is true is to that extent good.
accident -> substance --> hierarchy of substances -->first substance
principle -> hierarchy of principles --> first principle
generable --> ingenerable --> necessary --> first necessary
for the sake of another --> for its own sake --> hierarchy of ends -->ultimate end
potential --> actual --> hierarchy of actualities --> pure act
composite --> simple --> hierarchy of simplicity --> most simple
mutable --> immutable --> hierarchy of immutability --> first immutable
superinduction of the world as posterior, from another, relative, for the sake of another, participating, caused, conditioned, having sufficient reason, sign, ordered, dependent
civilization --> common good --> good itself
order of society to unity, truth, goodness, beauty, wisdom, nobility, sublimity, virtue
order of intellect to true, order of intellect to intelligible, order of intellect to sublime
order of will to good, order of will to perfect, order of will to pure
order of intellect and will to beautiful, order of intellect and will to wise, order of intellect and will to integral
*******
order of intellect/will qua power, in habit, in act
ordered properties of being --> ordering being
retracing arguments for God' existence, expressing arguments for God's existence, tending arguments for God's existence
civic order --> marriage --> divine providence
civic order --> funerals --> divine providence
civic order --> law --> eternal law
Sometimes the reordering of thought is the hardest work of reason
unity of Church // transcendental unity; apostolicity // truth; holiness // good; catholicity // ?infinite?beautiful?
inappropriateness-blocking arguments for God's existence (global skepticism, victory of evil, collapse of practice)
Bellarmine's Note of Extent & the transmarine argument against Donatism (and to a lesser extent Arianism)
If you do not have time to do it justly, you do not have time to do it.
The sublimities of the life of Christ arise from the humilities of the life of Christ.
yield, accuracy, and penetration of arguments:
suggestive - probable - demonstrative
loosely (associatively) relevant - generically relevant - specifically relevant
cosmetic - problematizing - fatal
take, bless, break, give
Feeding of the 5000: Mk 6:41; Mt 14:19; Lki 9:16; Jn 6:11
Feeding of the 4000: Mk 8:6; Mt 15:36
Last Supper: Mk 14:22-24; Mt 26:26-28; Lk 22:17-19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26
Supper at Emmaus: Lk 24:30-35
Truth is that from which reason derives. Being from truth is part of the notion of reason.
the universal obligation to believe with right faith
What every society strives for in an arbitration/judiciary system is a means of achieving results that are consistently clear and generally reasonably appropriate; any ritual system capable of achieving this to some degree, to that extent can function as a court.
state of custody as a ritual state
particles as measurable dislocations
Mathematical description becomes physical explanation when it is used to describe coherence and resistance.
Ought not becomes cannot with a relevant comprehensive search.
Thinking that a multicosm in itself terminates the notion of finetuning is like thinking that the multiplicity of environments in a universe terminates the notion of fine-tuning: it is sleight of hand.
"fairness is only an appropriate way of dividing up something which is actually good" (Brendan Hodge)
flicker of freedom // flicker of insight
A man is the better for occasionally rambling.
energy as a physical capacity for having an end
energy as capacity to be a moved mover
intuition // visual inspection
the notes of the Church and the standard of doctrine and belief:
Our faith must not be individual but one in Christ, not according to our preferences but under the tutelage and in light of the example of the saints, not partial but universal for all, not by our will but through apostolic succession. In short, appropriate to Christ's Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
Box: by essence; Diamond: by participation
The sensualist consistently attempts to excuse his sensual actiosn by hyperintellectualizing them. One sees this especially, although not exclusively, with sex -- note how pedophiles consistently hide behind education, as if pedophilia were an intellectual endeavor of cooperation and mentorship. But this is just a more egregious example of something rather common.
preservatory scholarship
ends of scholarship: discovery, explanation, preservation, development
We use propositions to inquire, to assert, and to conclude.
doubt : suspicion :: disbelief : belief
love as converting notional to real assent
metaphors that are useful for coming to understand & metaphors that are useful for expressing an understanding already had
To love moral law is to love it as subsisting, real, and active.
moral law --> obligation to love moral law --> love of moral law --> moral law as person --> God
the moral obligation to treat moral law as not less than personal
rhetoric as requiring understanding of the professions of one's audience (in Newman's sense of 'professions')
An account of heresy and orthodoxy that does not allow for theological economies is flawed.
the Bible as icon of providence, as icon of Christ, as icon of Holy Spirit
real assent as a principle of social coherence
"Our image of Him never is one, but broken into numberless partial aspects, independent each of each." Newman
Implicit faith is genuine faith because the Church does not merely speak the faith but displays it sacramentally and lives it morally.
external world known:
evidently - Berkeley
instinctively - Newman
assumptively - Hume
inferentially - Shepherd
assessing the modal status of an objection relative to that to which it objects
Note Saadia's argument for reward in the world to come, from the reward of Moses.
Intercession is a natural expression of charity.
Circumcision : Jewish genealogy :: Baptism : Christian Tradition
martyrdom as its own extreme unction
personal succession as sign of doctrinal succession
The world is greater than a city, but the world is not greater than the Chair of Peter.
the subtle similarities between hope and temperance
"Errors in reasoning are lessons and warnings, not to give up reasoning, but to reason with greater caution." Newman
prudence as the structuring principle of reasonable inquiry
We must always strive to render our charity more consistent in practice, more pure in intensity, more universal in scope, and more apostolic in expression.
analysis of arguments in terms of the modal judgments required for them (assertive, judgment of possibility, counterfactual conditional, judgment of necessity)
cp. Williamson's account of the structure of Gettier cases
rituals symbolizing and assisting virtue (etiquette, courts, etc.)
the virtue of religion and classification of sacramentals
general ends (different sacramentals focus more on one or the other)
(1) for stimulating the interior act of devotion
(2) for assisting the interior act of prayer
specific kinds
(1) corporeal adorations
(2) offerings to God
(3) reverences of the Name
(4) impediments to irreligion
(5) imepdiments to superstition
the conditions under which antiquity, long duration, and widespreadness serve as extrinsic marks of truth
allusion as quasi-reference
The reference of names can be fixed not only by description but by pointing, inclining one's head, making marks on a map, attaching a label, or deferring to someone else's use, and can be carried by historical custom received from an original fixing whose nature is unknown, estimation of who or what someone else means, explicit description, and more.
possibility as pre-overlap
mereological interpretations of strict implication systems
All allegorical interpretations of the Resurrection at least strongly suggest that the literal interpretation of the Resurrection is true -- either (as in all orthodox allegorical interpretations) because their truth would be good reason to regard teh latter as true, or (as in more Modernist interpretations) because they suppose phenomena for which the latter would be the simpler interpretation. The strength of the suggestion will vary as evidence strength and simplicity vary, but some kind of case the suggestion can be made in each case.
Coffey's consensus gentium argument against occasionalism ("the universal belief of mankind, based on the testimony of consciousness as rationally interpreted by human intelligence, that we are the causes of thoguth, imagination, sensation, volition, etc.")
traditionalism (e.g. Bonald) // occasionalism // intelligent design theory // divine command theory
speculative reason (ontologism); speculative effect (traditionalism); practical reason (divine command); practical effect (intelligent design)
existence (pantheism?); what it is (Platonism); what it does (occasionalism)
practical effects: operative (situationism?); productive (intelligent design); social (logical positivism)
consensus gentium as evidence that there is evidence
authority as provisional mover of the mind
semi-traditionalism and the distinction between context of discovery and context of justification
the right of free communication among bishops
The standards for miracles for canonization should be such that they are both wonders and fitting symbols of Catholic truths (salvation, for instance).
"Our hoping is proof that hope, as such, is not an extravagance; and our possession of certitude is a proof that it is not a weakness or an absurdity to be certain." Newman
Note that Newman in effect rejects the unity of the virtues (in his comments on phronesis).
reference to fictional characters // reference to political boundaries
patience as the appropriate response to one's own doubt
By overcoming evil, we learn more about the good.
Beauty in the liturgy is like spiritual consolation; one should be encouraged by it, taking heart for the difficult task ahead. But it is not the point, for the liturgy does not exist for the sake of pleasing on being seen.
Rediscovery of liturgical heritage is like rediscovery of the relics of the saints.
Love of truth is not the same as love of evidence.
Christian teaching is an offering to God.
Let your questions be also prayers.
evidence as truthwardness
evidence as mind suggestion
evidence as splendor of truth
Diffusion of ideas is diffusion of signs.
beachhead arguments, prototype arguments, feeler arguments
the right of voluntary association as intrinsic to the sacramental economy of the Church
Legal fiction is the alteration of the application of law through variation in the classification of facts.
What counts as a resource shifts with human use.
The water of justice becomes the wine of charity.
To think about: Every argument from evil that is not merely conclusion-weakening requires an a priori component to justify the should-not-therefore-does-not move.
Thus every argument from evil requires an a priori understanding of pure good / infinite good.
Swearing at other people is a sign that the swearer feels powerless -- defeasible, but remarkably accurate.
Ramon Llull & fruitful juxtaposition
transcendental vs categorical modalities
Scripture is not separate from the proclamation of the Church.
extrinsic vs intrinsic accounts of the working of faith
extrinsic vs intrinsic accounts of hell and heaven
extrinsic vs intrinsic accounts of liturgy
