Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Abstract for submitted paper on the Soul

The following is an abstract for a paper I've submitted for publication:
Critical responses to classical body-soul dualism claim that physicalism is compatible with core Christian theological doctrines. Yet, such critics reject the soul as a doctrine that is unsubstantiated by scientific perspectives on personhood. This paper argues that the soul is a plausible concept that is coherent with emergence theory and the Thomist tradition, particularly in the thought of philosopher Bernard Lonergan. In the first part, I outline the Thomist perspective on the soul in terms of the substantial form of the person. I describe Lonergan’s interpretation of the Thomist perspective. For Lonergan, unlike classical Thomists, the soul is an ordering principle for the exercise of a wider rationality, one which mediates the self-transcendence of human subjects, moral emotions and God’s grace. Second, I show how the application of emergence theory to human personhood in act corroborates Lonergan’s account. For both Lonergan and emergence theorists, consciousness and mind are evolutionary realities which demonstrate top-down causation. The mind’s unified free potential implies the existence of the soul, a natural form that I show to be confused with the specifically theological concept of the imago dei, of humanity as image of God. In concluding remarks, I suggest that human dignity is a moral/political concept that necessitates a prior ontological evaluation of ordered personhood.

2 comments:

  1. Dr. Prof. Allen,

    Interesting! Has this article been published? I have an interest in critiques of physicalism as well as in Lonergan (see my MA thesis and a paper (undergrad) on Lonergan at my website. (http://www.rjgrace.com). In retrospect, I should have incorporated Lonergan into my thesis... it would have been more interesting and positive. I'd love to read your work on this...

    Jeff Grace

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  2. Hopefully later this year Jeff. Don't know yet... but it is a shortish piece.

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