What do human beings desire? Desire is diverse, multi-layered, often contradictory, directed to the most various goals: from the satisfaction of the simplest, biologically-related needs, such as hunger, thirst, or sexuality, to elaborate forms of desire for self-realization, social recognition or religious experience. But what is the ultimate goal of desire? Is there such a goal? The book examines desire as a phenomenon in the intersection area of anthropological and psychological philosophy. It deals with the anthropological principle, indicated in Plato (...) and formulated by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, according to which all desire is ultimately directed to a Supreme Good or God. It critically reconsiders this principle by taking into account current phenomenology, empirical psychology and neuroscience. -/- . (shrink)

In Western intellectual history faith is usually subordinated to knowledge. Ideally, mere faith is to be overcome by knowledge. However is this view appropriate to the Christian self-understanding? Do we not need to assume that faith always includes some knowledge, that faith and knowledge are directly intertwined? But what kind of knowledge would that be? And what does it mean for the idea of an eschatological knowledge of God? The study examines this issue with reference to the Bible, Thomas Aquinas (...) and Hans Urs von Balthasar. (shrink)

Analyses Balthasar's idea of human freedom as a participation to Divine Freedom.

The article deals with the question of the possibility of miracles opposing the theory of miracles of Richard Swinburne and David Hume.