This is a Hindu reading of St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises for passing an examination. This is not the final dissertation but only a draft which underwent many changes. It is unpublished.

There are at present 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, which together offer more than 50 health sciences degree programs. But as the Society's membership is shrinking and the financial risks involved in sponsoring health sciences education are rising, the question arises whether the Society should continue to sponsor health sciences degree programs. In fact, at least eight Jesuit health sciences schools have already closed their doors. This paper attempts to contribute to the resolution of this urgent (...) question by reexamining Ignatius' own views on health sciences education and, more specifically, his prohibition of the Society's sponsoring medical education. It concludes on the basis of an historical analysis of Ignatius' views that there is insufficient support for today's ,Jesuits to maintain their engagement in medical and health care education. (shrink)

What is salvific community for Ignatius of Loyola? It is communion with Christ, a dynamic for which Ignatius used the expression ‹societies Jesu›. This wording has a revealing intertextuality. ‹Societas› is the Vulgate’s rendering of Pauline and Johannine koinōnia: «sharing in (Christ)». The NT overtones of the Ignatian experience of communion can be explored regarding a theology of relationship (person), of action (history) and of the Church (representation). Being a person is understood as being friend and servant, (...) history as the salvific kairos of Christ’s activity, and the Church as the communion representing him—each time a typically Christian conception deciding always for that option that cannot be generalised through abstraction. (shrink)

The Heythrop Journal, Volume 63, Issue 1, Page 76-83, January 2022.

This has been published by the Archdiocese of Calcutta in the Roman Catholic The Herald which has been in continuous circulation from 1839. This weekly paper is the mouthpiece of this Roman Catholic Archdiocese and is indexed by the Vatican. The importance of this short piece is that it clears the misconception about the so-called fire-sacrifice which is found in all text books and scholarly papers globally. There is no such thing as a fire-sacrifice. The author draws a parallel with (...) the 'havan' or 'homa' with the Holy Eucharist. For the author the fire is God, as for Roman Catholics, the bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Christ during the Paschal Mystery. Further, the author clearly states the similarities between Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises and Tantric 'nyasas'. These are unique observations within comparative religious studies. The Truth is One and sages call it by various names and so while the paths to this Truth are different, the destination is the same. (shrink)

This article seeks to explore the spiritual guidance of Saint Ignatius of Loyola as a worthy spiritual guide for our time as we consider some ways that we might seek to more clearly understand and authentically live out the call of Christ in our life journey. In this context of considering the work of Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises as a viable tool for such interior conversion, it is necessary for the work of this article to take a closer (...) look at some highlights of Ignatius’ own life journey in order to appropriately consider the significance of key sections of his Spiritual Exercises and the dynamics for Christian formation and transformation inherent in these selected texts. I seek to argue that any assessment of our spiritual maturity in Christ finds clear context in our everyday life experiences as Saint Ignatius so aptly demonstrates. (shrink)

Building on a previous piece that harnessed both the handbook that Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1548/ 1991 ) authored to guide his work – the _Spiritual Exercises_ – and the account of his own transformation experience captured in the _Autobiography_ – to appropriate the dynamics of Ignatius’ _Spiritual Exercises_ into a series of life-affirming questions and delineate his transformation into four phases (Carey and Tran 2023 ), this essay continues our exploratory inquiry. Following a brief overview of (...) the contemporary organizational leadership context, our article positions Ignatius’ insights on transformation within the transformational leadership discourse and considers his contribution to the professional formation of business leaders. Our study concludes with qualitative examples of how insights from St. Ignatius’ conversion process has encouraged online graduate students of organizational leadership in their quest to transition from profession to purpose. To further fuse theory and practice, the student reflections are categorized according to the Ignatian-inspired questions that inaugurated our theoretical inquiry and guides our pedagogical practice as organizational leadership educators. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Using The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola as a Basis for a Buddhist-Christian RetreatLen Tischler and Andre Delbecqorigin of the retreatJesuit (Catholic) universities have struggled to preserve their religious worldview and pass it on to their students, faculty, and staff. Given that most faculty and administrators at these universities are laypeople and many are not Catholic, the universities depend largely on their campus mission/ministry offices for (...) this purpose. One of the primary methods of sharing their worldview has been to provide retreats for students.The retreats are introspective with a religious and Jesuit orientation. Most student retreats are conducted over a weekend; some over a full week. Most Jesuit universities get fewer than ten percent of their students to attend one retreat in their four years on campus. Far fewer students attend more than one retreat. These schools also attempt to encourage faculty and staff to attend similar retreats, and participation in these retreats is similarly modest.Retreats have been a primary tool for the formation of Jesuit priests. Their formation program includes taking at least two retreats of twenty-eight to thirty days each. These retreats use the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, a specific pattern of reflective meditation and introspection over twenty-eight days that leads to greater clarity about one’s life. The Spiritual Exercises are deeply theistic and are focused on the person of Jesus.Jesuit universities have an increasing number of non-Catholics and non-Christians. For most Christians, shorter retreats or spiritually directed meditations based on the Exercises and undertaken over a number of weeks (referred to as the nineteenth annotation form) are the preferred form. However, there have been limited resources for juxtaposing the Ignatian Exercises with non-Christian traditions.With the above in mind, the authors designed a three-day retreat that follows the pattern and purpose of the Exercises for a Christian, but which presents in parallel [End Page 213] meditations and reflections from the Buddhist tradition. (Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, Bo Tep, and Juan Velasco were co-designers of the retreat and co-authors of the manuscript for the retreat.) This allows Ignatian perspectives on the unfolding spiritual journey and Buddhist wisdom to be shared between Christians and Buddhists. To test our design, a first retreat was undertaken by spiritually mature adults with some experience with the interface between Buddhism and Christianity.the retreatThe Spiritual Exercises are published with contemporary commentary in a number of books. Originally written in the early1500s, they have been rewritten or interpreted for modern times. Often both the original commentary by Ignatius and a contemporary interpretation are provided. Since our retreat was only three days, the essence of each section of the Exercises was summarized in a page or so. With the help of three Buddhist teachers (Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, Bo Tep, and Juan Velasco), we then spent the better part of a year meditating with the Ignatian passages and then searching a variety of Buddhist writings for passages that spoke to a similar spiritual challenge within the Buddhist worldview. A manuscript (Andre L. Delbecq, Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, Bo Tep, Len Tischler, and Juan Velasco, Ignatius and the Buddha in Conversation: A Resource for a Religiously Plural Dialog, self-published, 2014) was created that comprised six sections, each containing a summary of the essence of a section from the Exercises followed by the related Buddhist writings. Original artwork related to both traditions was prepared by a talented Zen artist.For the initial retreat we chose people who had a deep background in both traditions with approximately an equal number of Buddhists and Catholics. Since our focus was Jesuit universities, we chose mostly academics, but there were also two executives. Participants were asked to read the manuscript containing the reflections from the Exercises and Buddhist wisdom before the retreat so that they would be familiar with the content. Catholics and some Buddhists also read the Exercises in full. There were twelve participants.The retreat was structured into six parts. Each part began with two thirty-minute meditations, one on the Ignatian Exercises in the corner with the Ignatius icon, the other on the Buddhist quotes in the corner with... (shrink)

Bernard Lonergan’s vocation as a Jesuit was central to his entire life’s work, although this is not well known. This essay shows the indebtedness of Lonergan’s method of self-appropriation owes a great deal to Ignatian spiritual practices. In particular, it shows how Ignatian prayer and Lonergan’s account of the structures of consciousness mutually enhance one another. In particular, it concentrates on how prayer is a transforming encounter between Christ and the one praying.

The centuries-old art of spiritual direction continues to be crafted by those who willingly serve as spiritual mentors for countless spiritual seekers who feel drawn by God's grace to engage in the transformative process of spiritual formation. The work of this article offers an in-depth consideration of the spiritual guidance offered by two outstanding spiritual guides, Ignatius of Loyola in his 16th century spiritual manual, The Spiritual Exercises, and Dallas Willard in his recent spiritual book, Renovation of the (...) Heart. After establishing the historical and contextual frameworks needed for getting to know each of our spiritual guides, significant attention will be then given to the exploration of five key spiritual movements that can effectively serve as unifying threads for our consideration of the work of our spiritual transformation into Christ-likeness. (shrink)

Gaston Fessard employs Hegel’s dialectical logic to clarify how St. Ignatius’s _Spiritual Exercises_ envisage and prepare the decisions and choices between contrasting options or major turning points in spiritual life, in moments of what Ignatius would call _Election_.

This article, the first of a two-part series, examines how Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s (1548/ 1991 ) nearly 500 year-old approach to the transformation of others in their leadership journeys is still being actualized, with applications to transformations in workplaces and the graduate education of business leaders, by drawing upon both the handbook Ignatius wrote to guide his work—called the _Spiritual Exercises_—and upon the account of his own transformation experience captured in his _Autobiography_. Our exploratory prelude to (...) practice is guided by the following questions that approximate (both in content and order) Ignatius of Loyola’s approach to personal and spiritual transformation: First, “What are my deepest desires?” (and this question has two distinct parts: “What don’t I want?” and “What do I want?”); once that has been clarified, the next question is “What does this require of me?” (In other words, what must be done to avoid the things you don’t want and achieve the things that you do want?); and finally, the last question requires an answer that lasts a lifetime: “How does this shape the person I am becoming?”. After characterizing the stages of Ignatius of Loyola’s (1548/ 1991 ) own transformation as: Deconstruction (the cannonball at Pamplona); Choice (while convalescing at Loyola); Reconstruction (during his retreat at Montserrat); and Integration (actualized by his mystical experience in Manresa), our contribution concludes by returning to the questions that frame our interrogative inquiry, but with an eye toward the professional formation of online graduate students of organizational leadership. In the second article (Tran and Carey 2023 ), our exploration continues by integrating academic theory with andragogical practice. Particular attention is paid to the qualitative reflections from online graduate leadership education students at a Jesuit university in the Inland Northwest of the United States. (shrink)

The achievement of the common good is generally identified, specially in Christian social, economic and cultural environments, with the Kingdom of God. While for many this is an obvious thinking, in this paper this vision is challenged and dismissed. The recent celebration of the 500 anniversary of the conversion of St Ignatius of Loyola serves us as a revulsive to analyze his process of conversion in order to give light to the discussion about the common good and the (...) Kingdom of God. At the same time, we will use the narrative of the three temptations of Christ in order to reinforce our conclusions. In addition, we will reflect about the purpose of the corporation regarding the conversion of St. Ignatius and will discuss if the orthodox economic model could be a way of building the Kingdom of God. Finally, we will propose that only an economic approach that places in its core love, compassion and the logic of the gift could be compatible with building the Kingdom of God on earth. (shrink)

This book presents a new translation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius de Loyola, of his Spiritual Diary, of his Autobiography, and some of his letters.

From Geert Groote to Ignatius of Loyola: Sexuality, Spirituality, and Governmentality in the Later Middle Ages This contribution discusses late-medieval ‘modern devotion’ in the Low Countries in terms of Foucault’s history of sexuality. This time and area are both historically and theoretically relevant for further refining and elaborating that history: in particular, they invite us to analyze the spirituality of Thomas a Kempis’s Imitatio Christi and Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises in terms of pastoral power and (...) anti-pastoral resistance. The theme of power is largely absent from Pierre Hadot’s notion of ‹spiritual exercises›, Foucault›s great source of inspiration; and even Foucault’s Confessions of the Flesh hardly discusses the question of resistance in or against early Christian practices of the self in any great detail. Further, the spiritual and sexual history of devotional practices of the self in the Low Countries gains even more relief when confronted with those of pre-modern Islamic mysticism. In both traditions, virginity appears to play a strikingly similar role. (shrink)

In this paper we shall consider whether John Rawls’s treatment of Ignatius of Loyola is a fair one. Rawls claims in A Theory of Justice that Catholic theology (and Ignatius’s theology in particular) aims at a “dominant end” of serving God that overrides other moral considerations. Rawls argues that dominant end views lead to a disfigured self and a disregard for justice. We do not question Rawls on the normative issue of whether dominant end conceptions are untenable, (...) but rather on his factual claim that Ignatian spirituality and Catholic theology in general presupposes a dominant end view as he defines it. The Loyola whom Rawls attacks in Theory of Justice is a straw-man. Ignatian spirituality and Catholic theology in general embraces something closer to an inclusive end view, since it argues that several different ways of virtuous living can lead to happiness. (shrink)

The numerous biographies on Ignatius of Loyola’s that emerged in recent years have rarely addressed the post mortem treatment received by the body of the Holy Jesuit. Even more, those that actually talked about this chapter of the Saint’s life did not take into account the descriptive and interpretive richness that provides the History of Medicine. Therefore, this paper aims to reconstruct the postmortem treatment received by the body of Ignatius of Loyola’s. In addition, we aim (...) to suggest some ideas about the health professionals who performed the autopsy and subsequent embalming of the corpse, the “signs of holiness” found in the body and the places where it was preserved. (shrink)

Reflection on the encounter with theologians as significant as Rahner and Balthasar can lead to a new appreciation for their personal and ecclesial influences. Each saw his work not as a final system but as a limited and relative contribution to the Church’s theology. While Rahner took a concretely dialectical approach to transcendence in history, Balthasar’s cultural theology has a dramatic center of gravity, most obviously in his great final trilogy. For all the difference between their respective horizons, however, both (...) theologians remained fundamentally rooted in the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. (shrink)

The article considers the concept of gustus spiritualis, in particular its possible historical connection with (aesthetic) taste in the seventeenth century. By ‘aesthetic’, I mean a radically modern phenomenon, attitude, sensibility, and so forth, that is, a new type of experience. Its discourse has many keywords; one of them is taste, an inner faculty by which its possessor is able to make sharp and proper distinctions, and simultaneously to enjoy fine delights. Here, I am obliged to confine myself to the (...) interpretation of some Jesuit authors within the wide tradition of gustus spiritualis: St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis de Sales, Baltasar Gracián, and Dominique Bouhours in sequence. The latter two are usually treated in the historical narratives of aesthetics, which, however, usually take gustus/gusto/goût as if it were a purely secular (moral, political) notion in the seventeenth century, while its theological roots are ignored. Exploring the role of gustus spiritualis in the evolution of (aesthetic) taste can cast light, on the one hand, on the important fact that this entails volition, that is, the determination and enchantment of human desire and hope without constraint; and, on the other, on the historical process of the emergence of a new type of ‘beholder’ with a sensitive attitude to transcendence, and, in the same manner, to his or her worldly life as well; moreover, it is a process in which, simultaneously, the nature of transcendence is transformed into a tastable one. (shrink)

This article brings together the Rules for Discernment of Spirits from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola and the avuncular, if diabolical, advice given by C. S Lewis' shrewd and experienced devil, Screwtape, to his fledgling nephew, Wormwood, who is still learning his satanic craft. The juxtaposition of Ignatius' cautions regarding the wiles of the evil spirit with the counterpoise of the recommendations of the crafty old Screwtape for the temptation, beguilement and conquest of souls and (...) the triumph of his evil satanic empire, may serve to deepen if not enrich our appreciation of the factors that draw good souls away from the paths of virtue. To mediate the discussion I have chosen to recast some of these reposts in terms of more contemporary psychoanalytic concepts in an effort to extend the borders of reflection between psychoanalysis and religious perspectives. (shrink)

Both René Descartes and Bernard Lonergan were educated at Jesuit schools in their youth, and both had exposure—the former perhaps indirectly, the latter directly—to Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. Several scholars have outlined parallels between Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy and the Exercises. This article reviews those parallels, and then uses them as guides for exploring traces of the Meditations in Lonergan’s Insight: A Study of Human Understanding.

According to the reading offered here, Descartes' use of the meditative mode of writing was not a mere rhetorical device to win an audience accustomed to the spiritual retreat. His choice of the literary form of the spiritual exercise was consonant with, if not determined by, his theory of the mind and of the basis of human knowledge. Since Descartes' conception of knowledge implied the priority of the intellect over the senses, and indeed the priority of an intellect operating independently (...) of the senses, and since, in Descartes' view, the untutored individual was likely to be nearly wholly immersed in the senses, a procedure was needed for freeing the intellect from sensory domination so that the truth might be seen. Hence, the cognitive exercises of the Meditations, modeled not on the sense- and imagination-based exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, but on the Augustinian procedure of turning away from the senses and imagination to perceive the unpicturable with the fleshless eye of the mind. (shrink)

Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shusako Endo’s novel Silence takes up the anguished experience of God’s silence in the face of human su-ering. .e main character, the Jesuit priest Sabastião Rodrigues, /nds his faith gu0ed by the appalling silence of God. Yujin Nagasawa calls the particularly intense combination of the problems of divine hiddenness and evil the problem of divine absence. Drawing on the thought of Jesuit founder, Ignatius of Loyola, this essay will explores the way Scorsese’s Silence might (...) enable viewers to both encounter the problem of divine absence and /nd a way of living with it, thereby o-ering a practical response to the problem of divine absence. .is mode of response makes the sort of a0itude Nagasawa recommends accessible by grounding it in an experience akin to catharsis, delivering a clarifying emotional consonance. In this sense, I will argue, /lm can be a practical theodicy. (shrink)

This article explores the relevance of the thought of Ignatius of Loyola regarding moral discernment of the magis for adjudicating the debate between traditionalists and proportionalists in contemporary Catholic ethical theory. The Ignatian criteria for discerning the magis have ceteris paribus qualifiers attached. The relevance of this type of qualifier for ethical theory in general is assessed by examining contemporary analytic philosophy’s quest to interpret what W. D. Ross means by prima facie obligations. The similarity between his thought (...) and that of Ignatius is explored, as well as the resulting paradoxical implications for resolving the debate between traditionalists and proportionalists. (shrink)

John F. Kavanaugh and W. Norris Clarke, two twentieth-century Jesuits, contributed to philosophy through their development of a Thomistic and personalist view of reality emphasizing the human endowments of knowing, freely choosing, and loving. While spiritual exercises played a role in the formation of both Jesuits, the function of spiritual exercises in their own philosophy has not been explored. Recent interest in philosophy as a way of life provides a means by which this can be accomplished. In their work Michel (...) Foucault and Pierre Hadot have shown how spiritual exercises function in the formation of the self and in the acquisition of a synoptic vision that allows contemplation of one’s participation in the whole. This paper shows that while Kavanaugh primarily uses spiritual exercises in his philosophy to accomplish a disciplinary/formational aim Clarke’s aim is dialogical/exploratory. A brief examination of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola reveals how these different aims in fact complement one another. (shrink)

There is a pressing need for a theological approach to community organizing that addresses two key problems: burnout among organizers and an unwillingness of ecclesial institutions to commit to authentic structural change. What is needed is a new, practical theology that spiritually sustains organizers and convinces decision-makers of the centrality of community organizing for the life of the Church. The authors propose a reinterpretation of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s meditation on the call of the eternal king in the (...) Spiritual Exercises, in which Jesus invites all to join the social project of the Reign of God. This call comes not just to individuals but to a communion of saints whose efforts throughout history contextualize current actions within the broader synodal march of the People of God toward integral liberation. (shrink)

The influence of St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises on Descartes’ work, including the Meditations, has been recognized and discussed by many historians. I just mention a few fairly recent and easily accessible instances. In The Metaphysics of Descartes, J. L. Beck suggests that the literary form of the Meditations is most likely due to the Ignatian meditations to which Descartes had been exposed during his training at the Jesuit college of LaFlèche. Arthur Thomson in ‘Ignace de (...) class='Hi'>Loyola et Descartes’ traces some elements in Descartes’ method and psychology to Ignatian sources, mainly focusing on the Discourse. (shrink)

In the past, biblical scholarship has neglected the hermeneutical contribution that an imaginal engagement with the text may make. The author’s aim in this article was to develop theological imagination as a hermeneutical device. This was done by briefly considering the concurrence in the hermeneutic contributions of three interpreters of biblical texts, with specific regard to their understanding of biblical imagination. These were Walter Brueggemann, Paul Ricoeur and Ignatius of Loyola. Their hermeneutical contributions concur in their understanding of (...) a biblically informed imagination, and it is specifically this aspect of the concurrence of their thought that was explored. An illustration from Proverbs 14:27, which draws on the metaphor and biblical motif of the fountain or source of life, was put forward to demonstrate how the concurrence in the contributions of these biblical interpreters may influence an imaginal engagement with the text.Keywords: Old Testament; Proverbs; Hermeneutics; The fear of the Lord/Yahweh; Walter Brueggemann; Paul Ricoeur; Ignatius of Loyola; Imaginal engagement. (shrink)

This article argues that Henri de Lubac's conception of the homo ecclesiasticus has deep roots in the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. Drawing upon Splendor of the Church, the article first presents de Lubac's vision of the homo ecclesiasticus and his or her temptations; particularly important here is what de Lubac calls the ‘camouflage of the good’ and the consequent importance of discernment and asceticism. The article concludes by analyzing the Ignatian matrix of de Lubac's thought, especially its (...) emphasis on the discernment of spirits, a generous catholicity, and the inseparability of the spiritual and the ecclesial. (shrink)

Karl Rahner’s thinking can be understood by looking at several of its coordinates. First, it unfolds in close connection with the fundamental dynamics of human existence. Second, it is prompted by a personal and immediate experience of God, namely, the one of the author himself. Third, it is influenced by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Fourth, it aims to show the reasonableness and, therefore, the credibility of the Christian faith. Fifth, it is guided by intellectual honesty (...) that leads to facing reality without reduction or concealment. Finally, it combines philosophy and theology, more precisely, treats philosophy as a necessary moment in theology. Karl Rahner is remembered for operating the “anthropological turn” in theology. This means that, in his view, one should not reflect on God without reflecting on the human being as well. Rahner is particularly interested in examining the human’s ability to receive what comes from God’s self-revelation. It is an aspect that gives occasion to the discussion that Hans Urs von Balthasar has with him. At the heart of Rahner’s anthropology is the “transcendental experience”. It is originated by the absolute mystery that is present in human existence, precisely that mystery that Christians call God. It is such a fundamental experience that it must be taken into account when leading one’s own existence. (shrink)

This is a review of a book which is unique in the history of contemporary ideas --- the authors make explicit the religious imperative in a connected world which is glocal.

The contribution of Jesuits to the different fields of knowledge, including philosophy, is historically well known. In fact, since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in the 16th century, Jesuits from different generations and cultures have taken part in the philosophical debates of their time and their different contexts. Since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in 1540, the Jesuits, individually and as a body, have engaged in a fruitful dialogue between the Christian tradition and different dimensions of (...) human culture. During almost five centuries, numerous Jesuits taught philosophy in academic institutions all over the world. Some of them have their names recorded in the history of philosophy. Of course, the majority of them is not anymore remembered, despite their valuable contribution to the development of the Jesuit intellectual tradition up to our times. In fact, as an heir of the Roman College, the first academic institution founded by the Society of Jesus, in 1551, the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, is a witness to this tradition, which has been kept alive thanks to the discrete work of both Jesuits and lay intellectuals. Known as the University of the Nations, this institution corroborates not only the capacity of the Jesuit tradition to put faith in dialogue with reason, but also the option to take the concrete reality of each human culture and its historical context as its point of departure. The Jesuits’ willingness to engage in dialogue with different intellectual perspectives is underpinned by one of the most defining traits of the Jesuit charism, namely, the conviction that God can be found and served in all things. Accordingly, Jesuits have adopted, from the beginning, an amenable stance towards the world with its different cultures and intellectual trends. As such, Jesuits have, since the beginning, inhabited the frontiers of human thought. According to the contemporary philosopher Paul Gilbert, SJ, within the institutions under the leadership of the Society of Jesus, it was always possible to maintain an equilibrium between two principles: “intellectual unity” and “openness to the world.” Without detriment to the Jesuit identity, the companions of Ignatius have been willing to dwell in the various dimensions of human reality, in their multiplicity and plurality. Either in the renewal of Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ metaphysics, or in the dialogue with modern philosophers such as Descartes, Kant, or Hegel, and even in the inculturation in non-European contexts, the Jesuits have been able to preserve the Christian tradition through an original development of human culture in all its richness and diversity. With respect to the last century, it has to be acknowledged that a significant number of Jesuits made significant contributions, with recognized competence, to philosophy. Certainly, the 20th century was particularly complex in many respects. It would be enough to recall that this period, which brought with it unprecedented social, scientific, and technological developments, was also the stage for the two World Wars. With the emergence or consolidation of philosophical currents such as Marxism, Phenomenology, Existentialism, Structuralism, and Post-Modernism, the past century was, without any doubt, fascinating from the intellectual point of view. Jesuits such as Karl Rahner, Frederick Copleston, Bernard Lonergan, William Norris Clarke, John F. Kavanaugh, Teilhard de Chardin, Gaston Fessard, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, Michel de Certeau, Xavier Tilliette, Paul Valadier, Paweł Siwek, Ignacio Ellacuría, Francisco Taborda, Henrique de Lima Vaz and, in the Portuguese context, Diamantino Martins or Júlio Fragata, among many others, were able to engage different philosophical currents, problems and controversies of their times. Faithful to their long tradition of being present in the frontiers of thought, those Jesuits have engaged in a fruitful dialogue with these intellectual trends, offering relevant contributions to different ongoing debates. Within this context, the present volume recalls and discusses the philosophical contribution of some of the most prominent Jesuit protagonists of the intellectual interchange that took place in the 20th century. This volume also intends to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, which happens just before the inauguration of the Ignatian Year. Decreed by Father Arturo Sosa, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, this celebratory Year will start on May 20, 2021, precisely 500 years after Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, was wounded at the battle of Pamplona. We are happy that this volume could bring together outstanding specialists in the thought of some of the most prominent Jesuits philosophers of the last century, namely Paul Valadier, Paul Gilbert, Józef Bremer, Jacek Poznański, Alexander Maar, Patrick H. Byrne, M. Ross Romero, Carlos Alvarez, Hélio Pereira Lima, José Gama, Domingos Terra, Gabriel Flynn, Marie-Gabrielle Lemaire, José Sols Lucia, Lorena Zuchel Lovera, Pedro Pablo Achondo Moya, Enzo Solari, Massimo Borghesi, Mendo Castro Henriques, João Barbosa, and Dominique Lambert. In addition, in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Júlio Fragata’s birth, Maria Teresa Fragata presents a memory of his life and thought. We hope that this volume may be useful to all those interested in the Jesuit philosophical tradition. Hopefully, it will stimulate scholars to pursue a fruitful and creative dialogue with contemporary philosophy, in the footsteps of the Jesuit philosophers featured here. We would like to thank all the authors and all those who, in different ways, made this volume possible. (shrink)

According to the reading offered here, Descartes' use of the meditative mode of writing was not a mere rhetorical device to win an audience accustomed to the spiritual retreat. His choice of the literary form of the spiritual exercise was consonant with, if not determined by, his theory of the mind and of the basis of human knowledge. Since Descartes' conception of knowledge implied the priority of the intellect over the senses, and indeed the priority of an intellect operating independently (...) of the senses, and since, in Descartes' view, the untutored individual was likely to be nearly wholly immersed in the senses, a procedure was needed for freeing the intellect from sensory domination so that the truth might be seen. Hence, the cognitive exercises of the Meditations, modeled not on the sense- and imagination-based exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, but on the Augustinian procedure of turning away from the senses and imagination to perceive the unpicturable with the fleshless eye of the mind. In accordance with this reading, the function of Descartes' skeptical arguments is not to introduce skepticism so that it can be defeated but to aid the meditator in withdrawing the mind from the senses in order to attend to truths of the pure intellect. These truths then offer the basis for a new natural philosophy, including a new theory of the senses. (shrink)