Maurice Blondel

Niniejsza praca ma na celu przedstawienie teorii mitotwórczej J. R. R. Tolkiena, z perspektywy jej wymiaru duchowego. Od czasów antycznych teorie, tudzież filozofie, opierały się na myśleniu abstrakcyjnym i miały za zadanie wyjaśnienie ówczesnemu człowiekowi otaczającej go rzeczywistości. Nie inaczej było z Tolkienowską teorią, na potrzebę której ukuł swój termin Mitopoeia. „Duchowy wymiar Tolkienowskiej Teorii Mitotwórczej” – tłumacząc tytuł tej pracy na język Polski – przekłada się na wiele sfer życia Tolkiena. Pierwsza z tych płaszczyzn, to przypisywany mu przez niektórych krytyków program filozoficzny. Na tym wymiarze skupia się pierwszy rozdział tej pracy: „The Philosophical Disenchantment.” Jednak jak sugeruje tytuł, stanowi on zaledwie tło wszelkich dalszych poszukiwań, gdyż oferuje badaczom Tolkienowskiej myśli jedynie jej racjonalizację i demitologizację. Życiowa pasja Tolkiena, filologia komparatywna, daje wystarczające zrozumienie jego fenomenu, a przynajmniej zdaniem kilku krytyków. Niezaprzeczalnie stanowiła ona inspirację, a zarazem była narzędziem, którego Tolkien użył podług swej ogromnej wiedzy z zakresu językoznawstwa. Pomimo, iż w tej pracy „Comparative Philology” jest omawiana w drugiej kolejności, to właśnie ta dyscyplina była źródłem znajomości filozofii u Tolkiena. Podążając krokami Tolkieniany nie można jednak na tym poprzestać. Trzeci wymiar, jakże metafizyczny i filozoficzny w swych założeniach i implikacjach to odkrycie Owena Barfielda, znajomego Tolkiena. Barfield odkrył Teorię „Jedności Semantycznej,” co Tolkienowi przyszło łatwo przyjąć do wiadomości: język jako narzędzie może również być transcendentny, ze względu na swe początki. Dla Tolkiena była to jedna z tych rzeczy, która pozwoliła mu uwierzyć w smoki. „Philological Philosophy: Let There Be Dragons” – jest zatem łącznikiem między dwoma światami. Jednakże Tolkien nie był byle fantastą, oderwanym od ziemi. Teoria Barfielda, obudziła w nim nadzieję. Pomimo to, tak jak każdy rozsądny i racjonalny człowiek Tolkien musiał dowiedzieć się, „czy to prawda.” Potrzebował czegoś, aby idee odnieść do nie tyle rzeczywistego doświadczenia, ile prawdy. Prawda, bowiem wyzwala. Mimo nieustannego negowania jego wiary, to właśnie ona umożliwiła mu dalsze rozważanie tych teorii. I nie da się inaczej wytłumaczyć jego mitotwórstwa, jak przez uznanie jego wiary. Miłości do Boga, która była tak głęboka, że aż sięgała wiedzy teologicznej. Tego, między innymi, tyczy ostatni rozdział tej pracy: „Myth Becomes Truth.”
Liczba stron: 51

During the years in which France succumbed to nazi ideology and was occupied by German forces, Henri de Lubac, a French cardinal and one of the great contemporary thinkers the Catholic Church can boast of, played a decisive role in the French resistance to anti-Semitism. Active as a priest, de Lubac collaborated in the composition of ''official'' proclamations such as the famous 1941 ''Chaine Declaration" and also arranged conferences, wrote books, and participated in various resistance activities. One of de Lubac’s most intimate friends, Yves de Montcheuil α student companion among others, was shot to death in July 1944 by the Gestapo. De Lubac made clear his commitment to oppose what he termed Europe's "collective apostasy" under Nazism in α confidential letter to his religious superiors in April 1941. The commitment is amply demonstrated in a 260-page book of de Lubac's memoirs published in France, entitled Résistance Chrétienne et l'Antisémitisme: Souvenirs 1940-1944.

EDITION 19-1 L'action-Die Tat (1893) : Versuch einer Kritik des Lebens un-ter einer Wissenschaft der Praxis / Maurice Blondel. Aus dem Französischen übertragen von Anton van Hooff unter Mitarbeit von Ruth Beissel. Mit einem Geleitwort von Karl Kardinal Leh-mann. Mit einem Vorw. von Stephan Grätzel.-1. Aufl. der Neu-übersetzung.-Freiburg ; München : Alber, 2018.-630 S. : Ill. ; 22 cm.-Einheitssacht.: L'action <dt.>.-ISBN 978-3-495-48874-4 : EUR 49.00 [#5816] Es dürfte einer der letzten Texte des 2018 verstorbenen emeritierten Main-zer Kardinals Karl Lehmann sein, der als Geleitwort dieses Bandes publi-ziert wird, in dem eine neue Übersetzung des klassischen Werkes von Mau-rice Blondel (1861-1949) vorgelegt wird. Der erstmals 1893 veröffentlichte Text, den Blondel selbst später nicht wieder auflegen ließ, hat gleichsam eine geheime Wirkungsgeschichte, denn zu seinen frühen Lesern gehörte auch Martin Heidegger, der das Buch las, als er es als Novize gar nicht hät-te lesen dürfen. 1 Das Werk Blondels, der auch später ein durchaus prekäres Leben führte, gehört eher zu den nur partiell als kanonisch geltenden Werken der Philo-sophiegeschichte. 2 Wegen seiner Bedeutung für die Theologie ist es aber 1 Freundliche Mitteilung von Albert Raffelt. 2 Es fehlt etwa in Kleines Werklexikon der Philosophie / Michael Quante (Hg.) Vorarbeiten von Franco Volpi. Unter Mitarbeit von Matthias Hoesch.-Stuttgart : Kröner, 2012.-X, 678 S. ; 18 cm.-(Krö-ners Taschenausgabe ; 402).-ISBN 978-3-520-40201-1 : EUR 27.90 [#2908].-Rez.: IFB 13-1 http://ifb.bsz-bw.de/bsz369284798rez-1.pdf-Doch ist es immerhin mit einem von Albert Raffelt verfaßten Lemma in der umfangreicheren Version dieses Nachschlagewerkes ver-treten: Großes Werklexikon der Philosophie / hrsg. von Franco Volpi.

Resumen: el ensayo pone en relación la filosofía y la mística, atendiendo a su diversa comprensión, desde las claves de fondo del exceso y la donación. Para ello, recoge las aportaciones de Maurice Blondel sobre este tema y ofrece las inspiraciones contemporáneas de algunos filósofos encuadrados en la llamada fenomenología francesa.

In Maurice Blondel's work, the problem of immortality is dealt with in terms of one's resolution of the problem of human destiny articulated in the forms of a self-determinative option. Although this option can take many forms, it is ultimately one between egoism (or selfishness) pr mortification and charity. I outline this opposition and indicate how it bears on intellectual life and culture.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55) and Maurice Blondel (1861Blondel ( -1946 are two modern philosophers, the former Lutheran and the latter Catholic, who deal with the relation of the human person to God. Their understanding of divine transcendence and the immediacy (Kierkegaard) or mediation (Blondel) of the presence of God to the human person has implications for spiritual theology, and the development of a uniquely modern theology of the spiritual life. This study examines their thought separately before bringing it into conversation with one another and briefly with spiritual theology. By examining the emergence of the human 'self' and its relation to other creatures, to God and to its own eternal destiny, it outlines important convergences and divergences between these two thinkers who loom large over much of twentieth century theology.

Itinerarium, que la ténèbre nous sera dans tout cheminement 1 Lettre du 27 déc. 1913 in Maurice BLONDEL et Johannes WHERLÉ, Correspondance I, Henri DE LUBAC (éd.), Paris, Aubier-Montaigne, 1969, p. 505. 2 Nous croyons qu'au fond la solution proposée par TRESMONTANT est donnée toute entière dans « Qu'est-ce que l'Homme », Seminarium 32, 1980, surtout p. 176-180. 3 PR, p. 112-114.

This dissertation presents an historical investigation of the reception of phenomenology in France from 1889-1939. It examines anticipations of phenomenology in French thought as well as early encounters of French academic philosophers and religious thinkers with the phenomenological philosophies of Edmund Husserl, Max Scheler and Martin Heidegger.

In 2014, an edited version will appear as volume 208 in the Phaenomenologica series under the title: "Phenomenology in French Philosophy: Early Encounters." Please refer to the link below for publication information.

In the 20th century France replaced Germany as the first home of creative contemporary scholarship, philosophy and spirituality. My  essay originated  when I was working on what would become my God in Himself, a study of Aquinas' doctrine of God. I desired to understand the reasons for a reversal I was discovering, one which enabled my particular treatment of St Thomas. It had become apparent to me that the " Aristotelian-Thomist philosophy " had largely given way within the French Catholic Church to more Platonic forms of philosophy, theology, and spirituality and that Aquinas had now been relocated within these.

a) Problemeröffnung: "Eine Offenbarung, die wahrhaftig wäre…" Holbachs Einheit von Religions-und Offenbarungskritik Beginnen wir diese Vorlesung, deren Gegenstand so oft und vielfach diskutiert wurde, nicht mit einer längeren, mehr oder weniger eleganten Einleitung, sondern gleich mit einer fulminanten Problemeröffnung, wie sie vor etwa 250 Jahren im Rahmen der radikalen Aufklärung Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach (1723-1789) formulierte, jedoch ohne in seiner Zeit von den Theologen eine überzeugende Antwort zu erhaltenwas er auch kaum erwartet haben dürfte. "Eine Offenbarung", schreibt Holbach in seiner Streitschrift Le Christianisme devoilé, "die wahrhaftig wäre, die von einem gerechten und gütigen Gott und für alle Menschen notwendig wäre, müßte klar genug sein, um auch vom ganzen Menschengeschlecht verstanden zu werden. Trifft dies aber für die Offenbarung zu, auf die sich der Judaismus und das Christentum gründen? Die Lehrsätze des Euklid sind für alle verständlich, die sie verstehen wollen; dieses Werk ruft keinerlei Streitigkeiten unter den Mathematikern hervor. Ist die Bibel auch so klar und verursachen die geoffenbarten Wahrheiten keine Streitigkeiten unter den Theologen, die sie verkünden? Durch

This little essay focuses on Fr Trouillard’s high regard for and devotion to the thought of John Scottus Eriugena. He saw, and we should follow him in seeing, Eriugena's work as full of hope. The barbarians had overrun the Latin West. As well as the loss of learning, authentic Neoplatonic philosophy had disappeared, gone from the Latin mind for centuries. Then, almost out of nothing, came a cultural miracle—that a philosophical genius from the edge of the world (Scotland-Ireland) both knew Greek and could reach into Christian theological texts and discern the deepest philosophical thinking in them. He recovered what is before thought and being, the Nothing by Excess which is their origin. And, as if that superabundance were not enough, he had the genius and sympathy for the first time to reconcile the Greek and the Latin Fathers. As a result “This Irishman” created something new for the new age: Christian Neoplatonism.
I. JEAN SCOT ERIUGENA AND JEAN TROUILLARD: RE-DISCOVERING NEOPLATONISM “In the first part of the ninth century he undertook to construct a Christian theological synthesis employing the Neoplatonic problematic. His will for orthodoxy was only equalled by the penetration with which he reinvented the greater part of the theses of Neoplatonism largely forgotten.”

A retrieval of Neoplatonism is a powerful, widely, and significantly present, but little recognised, feature of twentieth-century French philosophy, theology, and spiritual life.  It begins about one hundred years ago with Henri Bergson (1859-1941) with whom also its purposes and the modifications Neoplatonism undergoes in being adapted to the contemporary world begin to show.  There are two major characteristics: it is generally opposed to the Western metaphysical tradition insofar as this is understood to determine modernity. It is also generally anti-Idealist, endeavouring to link the sensuous and corporeal immediately with an unknowable first Principle, a descendent either of the Neoplatonic One-Good or what is ineffably beyond that. This second characteristic sets the twentieth-century retrieval in opposition to that in the nineteenth century and even to the ancient and medieval Neoplatonisms generally. On both accounts this Neoplatonic retrieval has an ambiguous relation to Augustine, to the Augustinian tradition, and to “the unspoken but rampant neo-Augustinianism of twentieth-century French philosophy” ( Jacob Schmutz).
The persistence of this neo-Augustinianism may be gathered from Jean-Luc Marion’s inaugural lecture as Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Chicago: Mihi magna quaestio factus sum: The Privilege of Unknowing,” just published in the Journal of Religion. Set under a text from Augustine, it connects the unknowability of the human to that of God in order to oppose late medieval and modern ontology and the contemporary objectification of human life.
The lecture distinguishes three stages in the relations between this neo-Neoplatonism and this neo-Augustinianism. First with Maurice Blondel (1861-1949), their projects are identical. Second with Henri de Lubac (1896-1991), there is a strong criticism of the Augustinian tradition together with an endeavour to hold to Augustine as sharply distinguished from his late medieval and modern followers. The reason for this differentiation is that de Lubac discovers the late medieval and modern Augustinian tradition to be at the origins of the problems with modernity for which he is seeking a solution. Third with Jean Trouillard (1907-1984), Henry Dumery, Stanislas Breton (1912-2005), and others, there is a criticism of Augustine himself as a source for what is causing the destruction of transcendent religion in Western Christendom. Jean-Luc Marion’s position mixes a number of these moments and the lecture closes with some remarks about it.

Ce mémoire va retracer trois années de la vie du philosophe Maurice Blondel . Durant les deux dernières décennies et à l'occasion de divers anniversaires, les études blondéliennes ont connu un renouveau considérable. L'histoire notamment s'est saisie du philosophe, dont l'influence dans les milieux catholiques n'est plus à prouver. Ce que nous faisons ici est différent car nous avons dépouillé de manière systématique, toute la correspondance du philosophe pour ces trois années 1 . C'est donc d'une biographie qu'il s'agit. Mais avant de développer notre problématique, notre angle d'attaque, décrivons brièvement dans quel paysage philosophique, Blondel prend place en ce XIXe siècle finissant.

The PhD-thesis “Stottern im Firmament – das kollektive Gedächtnis denken” addresses how the ‘individual’
at the point of interception within the stream of collective representations, according to Maurice
Halbwachs, can be thought and which problems this concept leads to.

Chapter [2] “From Time Toward Duration Toward Memory…” gives an idea of the historical
context in which the term ‘collective memory’ has been formed. This chapter starts with ‘time-subjectrelations’
before Halbwachs, shows a central opposing position to that of Halbwachs and asks how his
conception of collective memory has been used after Halbwachs.

Chapter [3] “…Toward Memory as Duration: The Collective Memory” presents a close reading of
Halbwachs’ main texts by on collective memory. The goal is to more clearly determine the ‘individual’
situated within the stream.

Chapter [4] “The Collective Memory as Social Function” first evaluates the outcome of how
thinking the point of interception is possible within social dynamics by presenting collective memory as
keeping of collective representations in time (‘Im-Gedächtnis-Haben’) and as activity. The ‘individual’
takes place. Its status is precarious because it is de-centred and drawn towards a plurality from which no
positive determination can be derived. In comparison to the concept ‘Gedächtnis der sozialen Systeme’, the auto-reflexive aspect is emphasized. In comparison to the concept ‘Subjekte der Konversion’
(Foucault, Derrida, Badiou), the structural aspect towards the ‘individual’ is stressed.

Chapter [5] “Interrupts at the Limit of the Firmament” is a critical questioning of the collective
memory from a standpoint in the ‘stream of collective perceptions’. On the one hand, in relation to the
sociolinguistic paradigm from within Halbwachs developed his concept, and on the other hand, by not
limiting to the sociolinguistic dimension of shifting paradigms of thinking concepts of collective
connectivity. Moreover, Halbwachs has situated the ‘individual’ between, among the flows of collective
representations, and the questioning has to be expanded with the concept of media theory.

Chapter [6| “Thinking the Collective Memory” demands the attempt to relocate the interception
point relative to the critical questioning, whereby the focus is no longer to place it, but is based much more
upon the resulting aporia. The focus is to show which kind of aporia will become visible within the
concept of collective memory when it is analysed in terms of ‘individual’, ‘collective’, ‘time’ and ‘space’.
The analytical horizon of the problem of collective memory becomes transparent revealing where research
after Halbwachs could start.
Supervisors: Elisabeth von Samsonow and Arno Böhler

This article argues that Erich Przywara's analogical understanding of the nature-grace relationship, though sometimes thought to align with the anti-extrinsicist positions of Blondel, de Lubac, and Balthasar, differs from these by virtue of its "parallax" view. The standard bearers of the nouvelle théologie hold that Aquinas teaches a natural desire for the beatific vision and deny, more generally, the utility of the concept of pure nature for safeguarding the gratuity of the supernatural. Przywara, by contrast, holds that Aquinas, like the Christian tradition more broadly, alternates between theoretical lines of sight, with the result that the capacity for the beatific vision appears to lie, by turns, both in and beyond human nature. This apparent difference of position is what this article calls the "parallax" effect. According to Przywara, one attains the least inadequate view of nature and grace by entering the "rhythm" of mutual correction between various perspectives. Though he refines his articulation of this rhythm across the course of his career, Przywara consistently upholds the concept of pure nature as a legitimate theological Konstruktionsprinzip and salutary corrective to "intrinsicist" accents. The complete picture of nature and grace thus lies in the interplay of the various ecclesially approved theological traditions. Suspendium elegit anima mea-Bonaventure, Itinerarium mentis ad Deum 7, 6.

309] Schroff, fast wie ein Schlusswort, klingt das Urteil, das Walter Brugger in dem von ihm erstmals 1947 herausgegebenen, auch für Theologiestudenten bestimmten Philosophischen Wörterbuch über den Materialismus fällte: Er ist "wirklichkeitsblind, da er die Eigenart des Überstofflichen u[nd] seiner eigenen Gesetze übersieht. In seiner Anwendung auf das Leben zersetzt er Kultur und Sittlichkeit." 1 . Bruggers Artikel steht noch ganz im Banne einer Auseinandersetzung, die auf sogenannte Weltanschauungen fixiert war und sich an einer genaueren historischen Situierung des keineswegs monolithischen materialistischen Diskurses wenig interessiert zeigte. Die bis heute andauernden Schwierigkeiten einer theologischen Materialismusrezeption würden sich minimieren, wenn ein genauerer Blick auf die Interessen und Argumente der jeweiligen Diskurse und nicht so sehr ein Denken in fest gefügten Lagern das Urteil bestimmte. Aber auch das Verhältnis der Theologie zum Idealismus war keineswegs spannungsfrei: Die Schöpfungslehre ist nicht identisch mit der Reduktion der erscheinenden Welt auf ein absolut Erstes; für die Idee einer leiblichen Auferstehung bleibt die Fortexistenz der unsterblichen Seele als anima separata defizitär; die in ihrer Vollendung noch ausstehende Erlösung ist schließlich mit einem identitätsphilosophischen Denken nur schwer kompatibel, bleibt doch die Differenz von Denken und Sein in einer ihrer Erlösung noch harrenden Welt schmerzlich bewusst. Gleichwohl fand die philosophische Tradition "von Jonien bis Jena" 2 , wenn auch in modifizierter Form, Eingang in die Theologie, während der Materialismus außen vor blieb und noch nicht einmal die Dienstbotenkammer der Theologie beziehen durfte; die Philosophie wurde also nur in halbierter Form rezipiert 3 . Prima facie scheinen ja auch wichtige Merkmale des Materialismus mit den jüdischen und christlichen Traditionen nur schwer vereinbar zu sein: der Anspruch, die Welt aus sich selbst heraus, ohne Rekurs auf einen transzendenten Schöpfer zu erklären; die Betonung der naturalen Basis 1 Walter Brugger (Hrsg.), Philosophisches Wörterbuch, Freiburg/Br. (1947), 14 1976 Franz Rosenzweig, Der Stern der Erlösung, hrsg. von Reinhold Mayer, Frankfurt/M. 1988, 13. 3 René Buchholz, Körper-Natur-Geschichte. Materialistische Impulse für eine nachidealistische Theologie, Darmstadt 2001, 9-32.

Siguiendo a Aristóteles, el Aquinate afirma que la contemplación de las realidades divinas constituye el fin último del hombre (In Boet., pr.1). Ahora bien y durante esta vida, este acto debe corresponder analógicamente con la triple división de la sabiduría, es decir, filosófica, teológica o infusa. De allí que sea importante subrayar la distinción real que rige a cada sabiduría -particularmente, filosófica y teológica- para evitar el peligro de confundirlas. Repasaremos la opinión de algunos filósofos (Blondel y Maritain) y teólogos (Günther y Frohschammer) que infringieron esta distinción y contrarrestaremos estos errores según la síntesis del gran comentador tomista Santiago Ramírez: la filosofía no se subalterna, sino se subordina indirectamente a la teología. Finalmente, daremos una especial consideración a la naturaleza psicológica y ontológica de la contemplación infusa, sabiduría superior a las dos anteriores, ya que participa estrechamente de la visión beatífica de los santos en el cielo y depende de la moción especial del Espíritu Santo.

Deely's work, the Four Ages contains a brief explicit discussion of the issue of Christian philosophy, referencing the Middle Ages and the 1930s French debates. Closer attention to the debates reveals a plurality of positions rather than the agreement Deely depicts, indicating that the complex issues remained unresolved.  I contest Deely's interpretation of Maritain's position, provide exegesis of Maritian's position , argue that Deely's explicit position is closer to Neo-Scholastic opponents of Christian philosophy, and briefly discuss Gilson's and Blondel's criticisms of such positions.  I also indicate that Deely's approach bears some similarities with proponents of Christian philosophy, and suggest that Deely's semiotic approach could bear additional fruit for postmodern Crhistian philosophy's ongoing projects of self-understanding

Qu'est-ce qui oriente la philosophie ? Depuis Platon, le philosophe est celui qui tourne son regard vers le Bien et qui adopte une manière de vivre en accord avec sa pensée. Qu'est devenue cette manière de vivre comme exigence philosophique, pour un philosophe qui se laisse inspirer par la révélation chrétienne ? Faut-il la nommer « sainteté » ? Cet ouvrage présente six philosophes du XX e siècle qui ont cherché à accorder leur pensée et leur manière de vivre : Des philosophes à l'écoute d'une inspiration qui oriente leur existence. La philosophie comme un acte de ré-sistance spirituelle. Il y a là beaucoup à apprendre. « Que la philosophie en sa nature soit une manière de vivre, un chemin pour « la vie bonne » ou sagesse, cela sem-ble aller de soi en dépit des artifices d'une discipline scolaire, des pesanteurs des canons universitaires qui la présentent souvent comme un commentaire ou une construction théo-rique. Quête de la sagesse, donc. Mais la philosophie peut-elle être un chemin vers la sainteté, qui est folie aux yeux des sages ? Cette question, peu posée, intéresse le philo-sophe-fût-il non croyant-et elle intéresse le croyant-fût-il simple fidèle éloigné des bibliothèques. Elle se pose au croyant pour qui la sagesse comme sérénité conquise ne saurait être le but ultime. L'appel de la charité porte une in-quiétude que rien n'apaisera. La philosophie peut-elle faire entendre une telle inquiétude ? La question se pose aussi pour tout philosophe qui n'a pas renoncé à la poursuite de la vérité. Les austères études auxquelles se sont consacrés les plus grands esprits comportent une forme radicale de don de soi, de sacrifice, qui semble bien outrepasser la tran-quillité du sage. Les Pères de l'Église, dans leur souci de re-cueillir l'héritage païen, ont reconnu en Socrate une figure de « préparation évangélique » et Justin n'hésite pas à écrire que ceux qui, comme Socrate, « ont vécu dans le Logos » étaient déjà chrétiens. Spinoza ou Nietzsche, comme bien d'autres, font entendre à quel point l'exercice de la pensée est une aventure spirituelle. » Jean-Noël DUMONT

The T&T Clark Companion to Henri de Lubac introduces the life and writings of one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. A highly controversial figure throughout the 1940s and 50s, Henri de Lubac (1896 - 1991) played a prominent role during the Second Vatican Council and was appointed cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1983. His work, which covers an impressive range of theological, philosophical and historical inquiries, has left an indelible mark on modern Christian thought. This volume, including contributions from leading Catholic, Protestant and Anglican scholars of de Lubac's work, introduces readers to the key features of his theology. By placing de Lubac's writings in both their immediate context and in conversation with contemporary theological debates, these essays shed new light on the theological ingenuity and continuing relevance of this important thinker.

AbstRact: This paper is proposed as an introduction to the study day of the Department of Philosophy of the Diocesan Seminary on Maurice Blondel. Knowing the biography of the philosopher from Aix-en-Provence allows us to situate his thinking in the context of his time, and helps explain the accents of his philosophical work. The fundamental idea of the action is presented, it serves as the guiding thread of all his works and provides the title of his doctoral dissertation: «L'Action» (1893). Along with this one, some of his other works are analyzed, such as «La Pensée», «L'Être et les êtres» and «Histoire et Dogme». The exhibition is completed with a brief presentation of the aspects of Blondel's thinking that have most influenced contemporary philosophy and theology.

Starting with James Urmson’s article “Saints and Heroes” (1958), the categories of saint, hero, and the supererogatory have become part of the vocabulary of English-language moral philosophy, having previously been excluded by the tradition. Recently, however, in the context of what is called “heroism science”, some have proposed a separation between the concepts of the saint and the heroic in its moral sense, arguing for the extra-moral character of heroism with the explicit intention of encouraging its spread in contemporary societies. Starting with the reflections of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Henri Bergson on the figure of the hero, in this article we will seek to demonstrate that in all respects heroism is a moral phenomenon that reflects the dynamics of human freedom and constitutes the object of a non-enforceable supererogatory obligation.

The subject of this presentation is the opening of man to the supernatural in Mau-rice Blondel. In theology the term «supernatural» designates «grace», that is, God as He freely contacts man. Blondel approaches this theological subject from philosophy, although his approach had much more impact in theology than in the philosophy. Therefore, this paper will also examine the transposition of Blondel's insights into the field of theology. Perhaps Blondel's influence is best perceived in the theology of the supernatural developed by Henri de Lubac. Therefore, the theology of the supernatural of Henri de Lubac will also be examined to appreciate his inspiration from the philosopher of Aix. This inspiration is not limited to Lubac, but it is present in much of the Catholic theology of the twentieth century.

Blondel’s Action (1893) contains a remarkable rehabilitation of the “scandal of particularity”, concluding that the transcendent must be immanent in the real and particular. Blondel’s dialectic reveals a universal drive to superstition in human action: actively placing in a real finite object of the will a perfection which can only be received as gift from outside the natural order. Not restricted to fetishism, Blondel maintains that superstition insinuates itself into philosophy and theology, and is manifest in the Enlightenment reduction of religion to reason. Totalizing thought systems which contract the divine initiative to the human risk repeating this Enlightenment error.

This thematic bibliography provides a narrative account of the most important literature comprising, and about, the 1930s debates about Christian carried out by Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Maurice Blondel, Emile Brehier, Gabriel Marcel, and many others

La métaphysique du dernier Blondel est encadrée par deux images architectoniques qui, bien que publiées à des années l'une de l'autre, sont en directe continuité, et encore plus : en progrès, l'une devenant le prolongement et l'approfondissement de l'autre. La première est la célèbre « Allégorie du bastidon », publiée pour la première fois, en 1930, en appendice à ce qu'on a souvent considéré comme la reprise de la thèse latine 1 . La seconde est la comparaison du Panthéon d'Agrippa, qui conclut l'un des derniers articles du philosophe, en 1946 2 . Ces deux images se trouvent l'une au commencement et l'autre au terme de l'oeuvre mûre de Blondel. En effet, d'une part, la reprise de la thèse latine ouvre l'immense travail de réélaboration que Blondel entreprend précisément à partir du problème qui constituait déjà sa toute première « inspiration » philosophique : le vinculum substantiale. L'article de 46, d'autre part, est un vrai « Témoignage de philosophe » où l'auteur, désormais au terme de sa production philosophique, remonte à la source de sa première « impulsion » aristotélicienne, insistant sur l'explicatio terminorum du terme qui, dès sa première proposition, engendra refus et malentendus : l'action. Mais pourquoi utiliser des images et des architectoniques ?

Complementing the scholastic view of philosophy as 'ancilla theologiae', reaching upwards from human reason towards theological truth, Maurice Blondel argues that theological knowledge itself aids in the philosophical enterprise. Not only does philosophy reach ‘upwards’ towards theological truth, therefore, but theology shines light ‘downwards’ on philosophy, which for Blondel is more a task to be accomplished than an object of knowledge – Philosophy is not simply concerned with the
relation of knowledge and reality in terms of abstract generalities from which contingent applications are derived in the form of concrete acts. Rather, philosophy is concerned with the entire mystery of human life and its destiny. Philosophy is not merely 'ancilla', therefore, but 'adjutrix'. The freedom of philosophy is assured only by admitting its incapacity to answer the ultimate
questions: 'non adjutrix nisi libera; non libera nisi adjutrix philosophia'. The fundamental claim is that
philosophy is insufficient unto itself and cannot ‘close the circle’ of human existence within the bounds of rational human capacity. The deepest truth of the natural order is a call for a super-natural
fulfillment, and the highest task of philosophy is to demonstrate this truth.

Christianity brings to philosophy not some kind of arbitrary ‘excess baggage’, nor a repression of reason, but real solutions to philosophical enigmas: i.e. the Christian mysteries provide
their own lights for human reason and assure that philosophy remains ‘free’, not only through internal intellectual coherence but by a complex and fruitful mutual co-operation analogous to a
conjugal union, or symbiosis. What seems like an impasse for reason can, in fact, turn out to be a passage opened by revelation.

The question of the supernatural brings out this mutual dependence. In a sense ‘scandalous’ to reason, the supernatural proposes a union between two incommensurable orders, running the risk of the sacrilegious ambition which the ancients called 'hubris', susceptible to 'nemesis', punishment by
the gods. The dogma of the Incarnation, however, is crucial to resolving this philosophical enigma. In the light of the Incarnation, the question is not how to maintain distance between divinity and
humanity, but to understand how the assimilating ‘rapprochement’ of a supernatural gift becomes effectively possible. As the supernatural is an elevation of our rational faculties, a vital and vitalizing compenetration of divine and human life, without confusion, but also without separation or
juxtaposition, it is legitimate for philosophy to investigate what exactly in our human faculties is elevated and transformed in the supernatural vocation. For Blondel, the true role of philosophy
comes to light here: in pointing out this enigmatic abyss that the supernatural solution comes to fill.

Finally, although a layman, Blondel’s work shows the deep influence of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, above all in the fundamental orientation of the human subject to a divine
fulfillment through a union of the divine and human wills achieved in human action as the irreducible concrete universal. For Blondel, the transcendent is immanent in human action, the point of contact between the divine and human.

Teilhard has never given up on permanence behind change, whereas Blondel, although interested by permanence, presents a very keen consciousness of irreversibility. Blondel attempts to construct an ontology that integrates this fact of change or becoming. Would this have satisfied Teilhard? Blondel develops a "logic of moral life" insisting on the initial option right to the end of our destiny. Teilhard develops a consciousness of time with a direct hold on a world apprehended first by the senses, whereas Blondel is suspicious of the sometimes misleading testimony of the senses. We thus see a Blondelian attempt to see where the will reach its limits from this only standpoint, while Teilhard admits the influence of a mystical vision. We thus find in both thinkers a primacy of eternal light and truths, strongly affirmed by Blondel, although present in Teilhard; a specificity of evolution, and the necessity of a complement to prevent thought to close itself off. Both thinkers agree on the idea that "Everything holds from above." They recognize that our humanity represents only a sketch, that it is infra-substantial.

In this paper I try to show that final cause is a real cause, and not a metaphoric one. To reach my scope I study the presence of final causality in thomistic philosophy in two levels: a predicamental-categorial level of Aristotelic inspiration, a trascendental level fully and originally thomistic. At the very end we show, based in the intensive metaphysic of being (Fabro, Gilson, Contat, O'Rourke...) the triadic structure of: esse, essentia et ordo. Together with this analysis secundum rationem, we elaborate the passages of the resolutio secundum rem showing the trascendental roots of being as final cause (under the notion of good) depending in the supereminence of divine per essentiam perfection.