«Sophia» XIII (2021)

Abstract: The essay, historically placing the experience of Chiara Lubich, investigates the precious legacy of Lubich in the political reading of an epochal passage (the transition from “raison d’Etat” to “raison du monde”) to be grasped, deepened, developed, realized. A radical overturning of perspective, where the emphasis on national identities,sheltered from the ever-present risk of nationalism and particularism, is not in contradiction with the serene and constructive recognition of the identities of others. Far from configuring contrasts and fragmentation, this “dialogic” identity is the foundation of a world community enriched precisely by the encounter of diversities.

Keywords: Chiara Lubich – Policy – Dialogue – Global studies – Politics

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-1) 13-27

Abstract: In line with other previous studies, we propose an historic and phenomenological examination of the spiritual friendship between Chiara Lubich and a group of theravada Buddhist monks from Thailand. From this experience we can perceive the emergence of a prophetic style of dialogue.

Keywords: Christianity – Buddhism – Dialogue – Prophecy

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-1) 29-47

Abstract: This article offers a “Cyrillian” reading of some difficult texts from Chiara Lubich’s Paradise ’49, texts which initially seem to contradict one another. They state that, “it is God who suffers”, on the cross, while at the same time affirming that ”as God, Jesus does not suffer”. By “Cyrillian reading I mean a simple but illuminating paralleling of the way the two authors – Chiara Lubich and Cyril of Alexandria – deal with the issue of God’s suffering in Christ. An underlying continuity is observed in these two author’s affirmation of the paradox of the Incarnation. For the Patriarch of Alexandria, Christ “suffers impassibly”, something similar can be found in the Catholic mystic from Trent. The resolution of this paradox lies in understanding God as love in the thought of these two authors..

Keywords: Incarnation – Divine impassibility – Economy of salvation

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-1) 49-61

Abstract: Chiara Lubich, originator of the “spirituality of unity” and foundress of a Movement entirely dedicated to unity, expressed her ideal, particularly in her early letters and writings (1945-1949), with the words “consumare in uno”, going back to the words of the Gospel of John “consummati in unum” (Jn. 17,23). Yet, the verb as used by Lubich, especially when phrased in a reflexive voice, is not without ambiguity. It is to be understood as a conflated term, covering two concepts and two spiritual attitudes in one: “to bring to completion” (“consummate”) and “to use up” (“to consume”). Lubich’s highly original use of the verb “consume” can be explained taking into account that the statements of this contemporary mystic are the result of an exceptional collective experience of unity and at the same time of a new comprehension of Jesus’ words of forsakenness on the cross.

Keywords: Consummati in unum – Chiara Lubich – Spirituality of Unity – Jesus Forsaken – Lubich’s early letters

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-1) 63-74

Abstract: On the occasion of the confirmation of a Professorship Honoris Causa from University College of Literature of Dharma Drum Mountain in 2019, Piero Coda gave a lecture on the comparison between the Nothingness of Buddha and Christian tradition. In the description of Christian tradition, he explored two main arguments: the first argument is around the phrase in the Bible: “from nothing he creates”; the second argument is “the nothingness out of love” within the Trinity, among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Based on these two arguments, this article offers a similar comparison about the concept of creation in the book named Dao De Jing of Laozi.

Keywords: Creation – Laozi – Chinese philosophy – Nothingness – Trinitarian ontology

Read full article in English: «Sophia» XIII (2021-1) 75-92

Abstract: Rosmini receives confirmation from a Pope that his mission consists in bringing men to religion through reason. He calls this mission intellectual charity. He chooses philosophical thought as a starting point and writes about a hundred works that cover practically the entire encyclopedia of knowledge. The purpose of his research and reflections is to demonstrate that science does not go against faith, but seeks faith to complete itself. Thus natural wisdom can come to become supernatural wisdom. Today he, for the Catholic Church, in addition to being a teacher of thought is also a witness of the truths he taught.

Keywords: Rosmini – Intellectual Charity – Persuasion Principle – Christian Wisdom – Ontology

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 175-187

Abstract: Rosmini articulated a Trinitarian ontology for which being, thought and ethical reciprocally contain each other in terms of a ‘grammatical’ propositionality. Since this order exists even in God it provides a solution to the problem of how being, though not a genus, can be divided. However Rosmini also provided a Scotist solution to this problem in terms of being as an abstract essence. The second solution is inconsistent with the first and should be rejected along with kindred purely phenomenological and semi-ontologist readings. The first, Trinitarian solution itself only works if it is modified in terms of analogy, paradox and a radically neo-Chalecedonian Christology.

Keywords: Ideology – Theosophy – Being – Grammar – Plotinus – Containment – Category – Paradox

Read full article in English: Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 189-231

Abstract: Rosmini manages to rethink the relationship between unity and multiplicity in God in a “dizzying” way. He confronts a topic already admirably treated by Augustine and Aquinas, but does so with very novel and surprising implications. He allows us to rethink the extraordinary speculative potency contained in the Trinitarian mystery, and in so doing intrinsically “subverts” the meaning of much of the Christian theological tradition. More specifically, the rapport “One and the Many” is rethought by Rosmini in strict relationship with that which seems to connect “thought-and-being” and in his articolation of this relationship, he leaves admirable pages for us to ponder.

Keywords: Unity – Multiplicity – Being – Thought – Relation – Trinity

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 233-247

Abstract: The chief aim of this research is to examine the view that Antonio Rosmini formulates of the philosophy in his two Prefaces to his own Opuscoli filosofici, published in the years 1827-1828, which are the earliest writings of his philosophical production. The analysis of these Prefaces will highlight that Rosmini intends to renovate the philosophy since his earliest works and, in particular, he singles out some pivotal characteristics of the philosophical thought: unity, totality, and love.

Keywords: Rosmini – Unity -Totality – Philosophy – Love

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 249-260

Abstract: Why is it important to bring to light the Rosminian conception of the essence of the human soul? Because only by taking this problem into consideration it is possible to impose a rigorous discourse on the nature of human being. Man, in fact, is placed at the center of philosophical and theological investigations, because he is the “privileged place of a metaphysical questioning”. He is subject and object. He is the “Ego” that pronounces himself and relates to others and to God, but he could do nothing if he did not exist, that is, if the soul of the speaker did not express himself in his existence.

Keywords: Psychology – Metaphysics – Rosmini – Human Soul – Concrete Man

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 261-273

Abstract: The essay reconstructs the historical path that leads Rosmini to accept Galileo’s Method: the method of observing facts. Rosmini’s philosophical research followed this method, later seen by Rosmini himself as the Italian Method. This perspective has had important and lasting developments in the pedagogical and educational fields.

Keywords: Rosmini – Galilei – Experimental Method – Italian Educational Method – Methodology

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 275-288

Abstract: Starting from the positioning of education in the Rosminian theory – the “invisible engine” of Roveretan’s philosophy – the author identified the elements of continuity between education and ontology, anthropology, morality and theology. From this integration of disciplines emerges the pedagogy of being – in particular in his earlier works – the principle of graduality and the multifaceted structure of the Method, which represent the most significant and current outcomes of Rosminian philosophy of education.

Keywords: Rosmini – Pedagogy of being – Gradualness – Method – Philosophy of Education

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 289-301

Abstract: This paper is divided into three sections and intends to study Nédoncelle’s interpretation of Rosmini. (1) In the first part, the essay outlines some essential lines of Nédoncelle’s intellectual path. (2) In the second part, it highlights the most significant aspects of Nédoncelle’s Rosminian reading (in particular: the distinction between person and I; the crossing of the self-oblivion as the key to the conscious event). (3) Finally, in the third section, it proposes an evaluation of Nédoncelle’s interpretation.

Keywords: Nédoncelle – Rosmini – Person – Intersubjectivity – Ontology

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 303-312

Abstract: In the conception of Christianity and its image as a theocratic society, as described by Rosmini in his Philosophy of Law, the main thoughts of Roveretans converge. Theocratic society is no more than the society of mankind, but in a state of perfection. From an ontological analysis of man, Rosmini leads us to see how man is “founded on high” and, therefore, so is the society of mankind, which, through the mediation of Christ, becomes the Church, which, increases its degrees of perfection according to its adherence to the divine archetype.

Keywords: Theocratic society – Church – Philosophy of Law – Christ – Archetype

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 313-325

Abstract: This article develops a method for interpretating Rosmini’s economic thought. It is evident from a brief review of older and current literature that there is a need to understand Rosmini less from the perspective of ‘paradigms” (Smith, civil economics) of which he was undoubtedly familiar and more from his vision of post-revolutionary Italian and europen society. For this reason his economic thought is more similar to that of Hegel who pursues a similar end, and with whom he shares the need to distinguish between moral reasoning and the social-ethical consideration of economics. Contrary to prior claims, Rosmini has a fairly standard articulated economic thought, as the second part of the article seeks to illustrate, without overlooking the moral dimensions of rosminian economics, thus contributing to the question of Rosmini’s liberalism sui generis.

Keywords: Rosmini – Hegel – Civil Economics

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 327-342

Abstract: The article determines the coordinates of Rosmini’s relational and Trinitarian aesthetics. Having described the terms of the issue and setting the reference to the Rosminian opus and criticism, the coefficients of the interaction between Rosmini’s reflection on the person as the “relationship and subsisting right”, the Trinity and the current state of research are provided, including the criterion of comparison on the last Schelling. What is being argued is an approach to the theme concerning moral imagination, the principle and the orders of cognition, affection and human dignity.

Keywords: Aesthetics – Affection – Cognition – Dignity – Relation – Revelation

Read full article in Italian: «Sophia» XIII (2021-2) 343-355