A Twentieth-Century Collision American Intellectual Culture and Pope John Paul II's Idea of a University

by Collins, Peter M.

• ISBN13: 9780761846277
• ISBN10: 0761846271
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-08
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

A Twentieth-Century Collision explores intellectual culture in the United States during the twentieth century, a topic which cannot be understood without attention to the gradual narrowing of the scope of (academic) philosophy and its diminishing influence. This _narrowing_ signifies a growing indifference to, and elimination of, genuinely metaphysical and prescriptively ethical questions, as well as the bifurcation of faith and reason. American Catholic universities, it is contended in this book, can render a seriously-needed contribution to combating the negative effects of this historical development, one of which is the separation of questions concerning the ultimate meaning of life from rational inquiry. This thesis is pursued by 1) reviewing a highly selective_but also highly representative_sample of pertinent mainstream philosophical principles, and 2) comparing them with principles of Pope John Paul II found in three documents in which he elaborates his views on the nature and role of philosophy (and its relationship to theology) in Catholic higher education. This project is not unrelated to recent, persistent criticism that American Catholic universities have forfeited their identity_and thus their unique contribution to American cultural pluralism.

Author Biography

Peter M. Collins earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy of education from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He taught at Marquette University as well as other universities in the United States, Guam, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan, in departments of philosophy and of education. His articles on these subjects have appeared in about thirty different scholarly journals in the United States, Australia, England, Ireland, India, and the Philippines. His previous book on the philosophy of education of William Torrey Harris was also published by University Press of America. Collins is currently a senior research associate at the Institute for the History of Philosophy and Pedagogy in Rockville, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
American Philosophy in the Twentieth Century	p. 1
Preliminary Remarks	p. 1
1880-1920: The Cultural Revolution	p. 2
1920-1960: The First Phase	p. 6
1960-2000: The Second Phase	p. 11
Concluding Remarks	p. 19
Teaching Philosophy in a Catholic University according to John Paul II	p. 29
The Search for Truth and Meaning	p. 29
The Integration of Knowledge in Teaching and Research	p. 31
The Dialogue between Faith and Reason	p. 32
Academic Freedom	p. 33
The Moral Dimension of Academic Life	p. 34
The Academic Community	p. 37
Human Nature	p. 38
Conclusion	p. 41
Bibliography of Materials Used	p. 45
Index	p. 47
About the Author	p. 51
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