My Class Schedule

Since I am currently missioned to study philosophy, I thought I would share my class schedule this semester. We are already two weeks in, but I am thinking that this current semester will be my most difficult semester here at Fordham. After this semester, I hope never to take four classes again in the MAPR program. (It's a bad sign when you feel stressed the first week of classes)

Anyway, I thought I would give little excerpts from my syllabi:

Nineteenth Century Philosophy (required):
"Situated between Kant's Copernican revolution and Nietzsche's perspectivism, the nineteenth century experienced a radical questioning of the nature of truth and human understanding. The major reflections on the problem did not occur primarily in the abstract discourse of epistemological theory but in the concrete discourses of religious, social, and cultural critique."

I will be reading in this class from Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.

Philosophy of Literature (elective):
"Philosophy of Literature is a doctoral-level graduate course devoted to examining central questions pertaining to the philosophical assessment of literature and the relationship between philosophy and literature as contested since the beginnings of the Western philosophical traditions...Issues to be addressed include the autonomy of literature, the nature of literary language, the distinction between poetry and prose, the relation of literature to history, the distinctions among literary, scientific, and everyday language, ontological and phenomenological accounts of the literary work of art, and, quite prominently, the status of author and reader in the constitution of the literary work."

Most of the philosophers I will be reading here fall under the realm of Continental Philosophy.

Introduction to the New Testament (elective):
"In this course we will study the origins of Christianity by analyzing its most important literature, now known as the New Testament, in historical context. Theological themes--such as doctrine of God, Christology, sin and salvation--will occupy our attention as they arise in the texts, but they are not our only concern. We will also explore issues of social history, contemporary hermeneutics, religious identity formation, Jewish-Christian relations, gender and sexuality, and political power."

We are reading a lot here.

Analysis for Ministry (required):
"Analysis for Ministry" is meant to foster the reflective habit and analytic ability called for by the Society (of Jesus). This course will attempt to bring faculty together from across the curriculum in order to engage students in a vigorous conversation on social justice and the methods of social and cultural analysis in the Christian tradition. The seminar will begin with a reading of the entire corpus of papal encyclicals on Catholic social doctrine. The course will then progress to relate the principles of this extensive body of magisterial teaching to theology and to economics."

We have about 5 professors team teaching this course. This course helps to form our "habit of reflection in a serious and systematic way on the experience of our human condition in the light of the Gospel."

I think overall that this should be a good semester content wise, but I just need to be able to keep up with the mounds of work already piling up for myself.

A New Year at Ciszek

Our community this year welcomed 10 new Jesuits into the fold. We are 28 altogether under 1 roof spanning 13 different provinces (my province, for example, consists of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska). 4 comes from outside the United States - 2 from Jamaica, 1 from Indonesia, and 1 from Mozambique. We all have different backgrounds, stories, ideologies, interests, etc. But, what unites us is our faith, our vocation, and our desire to serve and to love in Christ's imitation. We are human beings marked by our failings and weaknesses, but we all believe we have been touched by the grace of God in our lives -- God who calls us into the world as we are, remaking our shortcomings into places of strength and hope.

Except for our two eldest brothers (who are most excellent formators, by the way), all of us have been asked to dedicate a majority of our time here towards our studies in philosophy -- called, in Formation, First Studies. One of our documents on formation describes philosophy as: "one of the principal means by which the Society forms men, who have reflected on the essential questions which challenge man, who have formed the habit of critical and positive reflection on these question and upon the answers given to them formerly or given today, and who have some understanding of the history of ideas and can relate these things to present cultures." As Jesuits, we have the phrase "Finding God in All Things," and at this time of our formation, we are challenged to seek God in our studies. Hopefully, through these studies and through critically engaging the type of questions that philosophy asks, we become better Jesuits formed to see the world in a different way than when we first began First Studies.

I am taking three courses this Fall - Kierkegaard, History of Christianity I, and Classical Modern (studying philosophers somewhat around the time of Descartes and Hume). Practically 2/3 of our community is in that History class, which should make an interesting dynamic in the classroom. I'm actually looking forward to this semester and think it will be good times all around (crosses fingers). As last school year, I sometimes bring what I have been studying into my blog, so don't be surprised if I use my blog to process what I have been learning.

As a side note, I've decided to be a little more judicious with my writing for the time being. That means I would like to write with some sense of regularity, but probably not the 4-5 times a week like I had been doing at one point in time. I'm aiming for once a week, maybe twice. However, I have been known to do "theme weeks," and if I'm feeling it, I'll throw those in every so often. I have had one request by one of my fellow Jesuit brothers which might show up soon.

By the way, if you couldn't tell, I'm the brown one in the middle =p There's also one who had the audacity to be in the picture even though he would be away at England for the year! We talked about the possibility of photoshopping, so you may see a revised picture in the future (see 2nd row, far right in bright yellow). Shame. /end tongue-in-cheek

On Freedom

Probably one of the more helpful things about being a philosophy student is that I can look at the image above and ask myself: what does that really mean? Is that a lived reality in the US? You might find those questions silly--I don't. We throw around these terms a lot, especially in the political realm, but I do not think there is one shared understanding of what they truly mean--or even how we go about achieving these goals.

The US was founded on these principles, and it is our duty as US citizens to at least give these principles some critical thought--and I don't mean that in the negative sense.

What does it mean to be free? Is freedom merely the choice of choosing one brand of cereal among five? Even then, you don't have complete choice in the matter, since it's the companies that set the choices before you. Is freedom the ability to say whatever you want? Clearly, we can't just say anything.

Now, I'm not providing answers, but it's important to see that these principles that the country fights for are highly complex with a lot of nuance.

Personally, one of the helpful ways that I have come to see and experience freedom comes from my Jesuit training. One of the most important questions that is asked of us to consider is to reflect on those places in our lives in which we are most unfree. Many of us enter the novitiate with a lot of personal baggage, and we are asked to sort through that. Some of what we carry with us in our hearts is very life-giving, and it is important to be grateful for those memories. Other baggage, however, has shaped us into who we are today--and not necessarily in the best way possible. That may be memories of physical abuse, addiction, abandonment, etc. These moments of great hurt, through God's grace, can be moments of joyous light and reconciliation, but too often they continue to weigh us down in anger and despair. If we are not able to deal with the baggage in a healthy way, it can consume us for the rest of our lives. In a sense, we become people of unfreedom.

St. Ignatius knew this, and the Spiritual Exercises was one of his ways of forming people to lead more free lives. It's about having rightly-ordered desires that give life, not bring death. We are asked to have faith that God can heal us of these infirmities, that God can lead us into fuller and richer lives. If we grant permission, God will carry our burdens in the same way that Christ carried the cross. But, if we cling on tight, we will never be able to let go.

God wants us to be free people. Let us rejoice in that, and let us allow God to lead us into such a life.

Reflections on Social Justice p.2 - A Brief Philosophical Reflection

One of the goals of students in philosophy is acquire the ability to think accurately and precisely.  For example, when we speak about 'liberty' and 'freedom', what exactly do we mean? Is freedom merely to choose what brand of cereal you want to eat for breakfast? Does freedom mean to do anything you want to do? Etc.  

As I mentioned on Saturday's post, one of the terms you hear often if you attend Jesuit institutions is 'social justice.'  Sometimes, though, I wonder if we throw out that word without a real, or perhaps a shared, understanding of what exactly we mean by 'social justice.' The word 'justice' carries its own challenges of understanding, and it is typically used more often than not in the context of law.  One who talks of 'justice' may be talking about fairness in actions, another may use it to really mean 'revenge'--the 'eye-for-an-eye' option.  

What, then, do we mean by 'social justice'?  

The all-knowing website, wikipedia, defines it thusly:

"Social justice, sometimes called civil justice, refers to the concept of a society in which justice is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than merely the administration of law.

Look, already, how difficult it is to define.  This website defines the term using 'justice', which brings us back to asking what 'justice' means.  The same site, then, defines justice in this way

"Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness and equity."

Now, look at all of these terms we have just introduced--moral, ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness, and equity.  What do these mean???  I'm sure you can see, then, why philosophy can sometimes be quite frustrating. But, that is because philosophy demands being precise--it seeks to attain clarity of thought.  Let us then, not, think it too much trouble to ask the question of what 'social justice' means.  Rather, in asking the question, we may at least get a better understanding of what we mean, at least in Jesuit institutions.  

I think what is inherent in our dialogue of 'social justice' is the understanding that there are stark inequalities that exist in our world.  We do not live in a world in which all share equal benefits. And, human beings must fulfill a number of basic necessities in order to live.   

1. Access to food and drink
2. Proper shelter and clothing to shield from the elements
3. Since we live in a communal society and not in the wilderness, access to work through which our earnings give us the ability to fulfill the first two needs.  
4. Access to education to properly fulfill all of these

Now, perhaps there are other basic necessities that we have, but the first two, at least it seems to me, are absolutely minimum. I'm sure there are others, such as the need to be safe from harm or the social dimensions to being human. That many people around the world struggle to fulfill these basic requirements is unjust.  Their ability merely to live is highly compromised--human beings are relegated to the status of surviving animals.  

Is this due to laziness? Maybe these human beings just aren't working hard enough? Yet, what do you say to children who, through no fault of their own, are born in these circumstances? How much are we available to supporting all the newborns in this world? 

Now, clearly I do not have the ability to definitively define 'social justice' in one sitting. I'm sure one can write an entire book and then some about it. What I think is important for us to keep in mind, especially at Jesuit institutions, is to know what we mean when we say 'Social Justice'. Let us not use it as some nebulous term. And let us not assume that our audience knows what it means either.