Humanism in Husserl and Aquinas: Contrast between a Phenomenological Concept of Man and a Realistic Concept of Man

by Joseph McCafferty, Manfred Balkenohl (Editor)

Overview

The skeptical consequences of the psychologist and historicist thinking prevalent in the intellectual climate of the beginning of the twentieth century made it impossible to establish morality, religion and other humanistic sciences on an absolute foundation. Husserl saw in this situation factors which were causing real illnesses of the human spirit. It is the thesis of this work that Husserl, though well-motivated by the best humanistic intentions, fails to furnish an adequate cure for the ills of the human spirit. He fails because his phenomenology lacks a metaphysical foundation and because the aim he has in mind – to remedy the sickness of the human spirit – cannot be attained through the power of human reason alone. In St. Thomas Aquinas we find a more adequate remedy for curing the sickness of the human spirit because of a metaphysically sound doctrine on man and the absence of a purely «this-world» orientation in thought. The conclusion of this work is that St. Thomas’ thought is the more adequate one to respond to the Husserlian problem of the human spirit’s sickness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783631518700
Publisher:	Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Publication date:	12/03/2003
Series:	Moraltheologie - Anthropologie - Ethik , #5
Pages:	108
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

The Author: Joseph McCafferty; born in 1933 in Philadelphia, Pa.; after elementary and high school education, he entered St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Philadelphia, Pa. where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1956; Master’s degree in Philosophy from Villanova University, Villanova, Pa. in 1971; Doctoral studies at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. from 1971-1974. Doctoral work at Lateran University, Rome, with doctoral degree attained in 2002. From 1975 he has been a professor of philosophy and religious studies at the then Holy Family College, now Holy Family University.

Table of Contents

Contents: Husserl’s Humanistic Intent as Expressed in Philosophie als Strenge Wissenschaft – Husserl’s Humanistic Intent in Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften – Husserl’s Concept of Science Compared with the Aristotelian-Thomistic one – Husserl’s Understanding of Essence in Comparison with that of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas – Norms and Objectivity in Husserl and in St. Thomas Aquinas – Husserl’s Concept of Human Being and his Lack of a Metaphysical Foundation in Comparison with St. Thomas – The Self-Sufficient Nature of Consciousness in Husserl – The Sense of Human Life According to Husserl and St. Thomas.