Abstract

This dissertation provides an account of commitment to a transcendent good. Part One shows that in commitment there exists a tension between trust and control. This tension is acute in the form of faith and reason in a religious commitment. ;Part Two examines representative positions from philosophy, and finds two traits: an emphasis on one pole of the tension to the exclusion of the other; and a tendency to treat the problem of commitment as static. Augustine, Averroes, and Gilson variously argued that the tension between faith and reason could be resolved by a single acceptance, followed by a single, uninterrupted resistance to any other conflicting circumstance that the committed individual encounters. Aquinas illustrated the kind of program needed, i.e. one which gives due accord to the interactive relationship between faith and reason. We then sought principles broad enough to ground any encounter between faith and reason, and not one suited to a particular religious context. ;In Part Three, Whitehead's view of permanence and flux provides the first clue for accounting for commitment. Commitment has a dynamic dimension. Paul Weiss's presentation of the Primal Invitingness provides a structure for commitment which recognizes the dynamic dimension. ;Part Four presents commitment to a transcendent good as having a dynamic character, but it also has constant features. We show this by building on Weiss's initial suggestions for the Invitingness. This view requires a modification of some basic elements of Weiss's metaphysics. ;The Conclusion shows how the Invitingness makes evident the nature and role of resistance and acceptance in relation to commitment. There are constant features in commitment: resistance and acceptance. At the same time, commitment is dynamic, requiring constant interaction between resistance and acceptance. Commitment is also cyclical. From the side of the invitor, the Invitingness is a continuing circle of reaching out to and pulling back the invited. Likewise, from the side of the invited, commitment is a progression forward, followed by a return to the realm of actualities, followed by yet another journey into depths of the Invitingness