Volume VI - No. 3 - 2003

ARTICOLI

S.E. Card. Angelo Sodano
La Civiltà dell’Amore
Summary: In recent times the Church’s social doctrine has developed like a flourishing tree, also striving to present to the world the richness of the Christian message, in brief and synthetic form. The present contribution wishes to closely examine a typical example of this social magisterium: the expression: “the civilization of love”. Pope Paul VI, of venerable memory, thus denoted Christian civilization and Pope John Paul II has forcefully reproposed the same.
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Fernando Pascual, L.C.
Alcune riflessioni critiche sul primo capitolo di Principi di etica biomedica di T.L. Beauchamp e J.F. Childress
Summary: The ongoing research conducted by Beauchamp and Childress on ethical principles applied to biomedicine shows clearly the complexities involved in this field of applied knowledge. One serious defect in their endeavours however comes from insufficient reflection on the philosophical basis on which their ethical positions rest. The authors have limited their method to a certain level of bioethical discourse where general criteria and norms are applied to medical problems. This would be sufficient if the principles applied were self-evident and not in need of critical reflection. Such critical reflection can only be done in the context of a general theory on what is right. In other words, any discussion on Bioethics must be grounded in clear principles of Metaethics.
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Jesús Villagrasa, L.C.
El análisis fenomenológico-ontológico: método de Teoría del objeto puro
Summary: In his work, The Theory of the Pure Object, A. Millán-Puelles carries out a “phenomenological-ontological analysis” of objects insofar as they are objects. This method presupposes the possibility of passing from phenomenology to ontology, and that both kinds of analysis, though distinct, are complementary. First the article presents the nature of Millan-Puelles’ The Theory of the Pure Object; how it differs form A. Meinong’s Theory of Objects; its similarity to N. Hartmann’s Ontology. It then studies whether this method is possible. The conclusion is that phenomenology constitutes a good start for philosophy but not the last word. Metaphysics has to follow upon phenomenology, without sacrificing the results of phenomenological analysis.
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Armando Genovese, M.S.C.
La creazione dell’uomo. Un discorso antropologico al tempo dei Padri
Summary: The theme of man, image of God, unquestionably has a central place in the thought of the Fathers of the Church. Once neglected and underestimated in theology, since decades it arouses the interest of historians of Christian antiquity. For that reason, monographs have superabounded, dedicated to the most prestigious representatives: Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Alexandria, just to give some examples. This revival of a central theme of patristic theology coincides with contemporary research about man, in philosophy and in sciences. It seems normal, therefore, that the believer or the historian of religion should also try to give an idea. Why did the Fathers incessantly scrutinize the text of Genesis: “God created man in His image” and give such importance to the story of creation?
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José María Antón, L.C.
El concepto de G. Grisez sobre la anticoncepción: un acto contra la vida
Summary: This article presents Grisez’s thought about contraception. The first section shows briefly how this author perceives contraceptive acts as choosing to prevent the beginning of a new life. Therefore, these acts are always against life («a contralife act»).
The second section of this work analyses Grisez’s vocabulary about the human act: choice, «the proposal adopted by choice» (finis operis, object of the act), intention (‘immediate’ and ‘ulterior’), and it’s application to the contraceptive act.
The third section consists in a valuation of Grisez’s position. His analysis of the human act is thomistic and sound, but the object or meaning of the contraceptive act is not to prevent the beginning of a new possible life, but to make infertile the sexual relations. The contraceptive act is directed against the conjugal acts, not against the nonexistent child. Moreover, the intention about avoiding the beginning of a new life is not illicit in itself. It can be licit, as in the cases of periodic abstinence due to serious reasons of responsible paternity and in the situations of sexual aggression.
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A. Pedro Barrajón, L.C.
Quale futuro per l’antropologia cristiana? Guardando il secolo XXI dalla prospettiva di Giovanni Paolo II
Summary: Taking Crossing the Threshold of Hope as a point of reference, the essay presents some of John Paul II’s major contributions to the 21st-century theological anthropology. Throughout his Pontificate, John Paul II offered a solution to human anguish with a powerful invitation to believe in Christian hope. “Do not be afraid,” was his first message to the world. This essay sums up main themes of his Pontificate, such as the dignity of every man, salvation in Christ, man’s longing for God, the theology of the body, women’s role in society and in the Church, the Christian wisdom, and the challenges of the new evangelisation. His insightful doctrine portrays the features of the civilisation of justice and love to build up in the new millennium.
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RECENSIONI
Joseph Ratzinger, Fede, verità, tolleranza. Il cristianesimo e le religioni del mondo (J. Villagrasa, L.C.)
Pontificio consiglio per la famiglia (a cura di), Lexicon. Termini ambigui e discussi su famiglia, vita e questioni etiche(F. Pascual, L.C.)
Karol Wojtyla, Metafisica della persona. Tutte le opere filosofiche e saggi integrativi (J. Villagrasa, L.C.)
Antonio Millán-Puelles, La lógica de los conceptos metafísicos. Tomo I: La lógica de los conceptos transcendentales (J. Villagrasa, L.C.)
Edith Stein, Potenza e Atto. Studi per una filosofia dell’essere (J. Villagrasa, L.C.)
Hugo Rahner, Mitos griegos en interpretación cristiana (J. Villagrasa, L.C.)
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SEGNALAZIONI
Lino Ciccone, Bioetica. Storia, princìpi, questioni (F. Pascual, L.C.)
Michel Henry, Encarnación. Una filosofía de la carne (R. Frías Urrea)
Eudaldo Forment, El personalismo medieval (J. Villagrasa, L.C.)
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