Metaphysics is coming back into favour again. Notably via a number of publications on Blondel. The aim of this article is to draw attention to the metaphysics-ontology in Aristotle, its “aporias” in his work as well as its reappearance and outcome in the work of Saint Thomas, through the affirmation of the act of being and of the analogy between the creature and the Creator that it makes possible. Creatures receive being , despite it being a divine prerogative, and gain (...) from it by sharing in the divine absoluteness: Far from corresponding to some totalitarian design, this metaphysics honours the greatness of creatures, particularly that of man, endowcd with his own being or with a wealth that delivers him from the anguish of need. Was it possible, after the culminating point attained by Saint Thomas, to further improve on this metaphysics, exposed moreover to all the criticisms of modernity and even more so of post-modernity? That is what Blondel achieves, in our view, notably in his “second work” . It gives a better account of the responsibility of the free creature and of his divine becoming, according to the suggestions of modern philosophy, while giving better access than Saint Thomas to essence, the area where this divine becoming takes place. (shrink)

Ontology is still relevant for the reception of Christian revelation. Transcendental subjectivity, whose main role is to constitute, calls out for a deeper foundation. It is this deeper foundation that supplies an ontology of participation of all beings in Being and in God, as found in St Thomas and in some interpretations of his work. God's immanence in humanity and in creation, and human participation in Being and ultimately in God, enable us to conceive of a causal action upon the (...) whole of humanity and upon the whole of creation, a causal action issuing from the death-resurrection of Christ. In the context of contemporary philosophy, marked too unilaterally by finitude and historicity, this ontology needs to be supplemented by an anthropological reflection on liberty—liberty donated to itself rather than liberty uniquely devoted to an indefinite search of itself. This is the main point behind A. Chapelle's anthropology. Moreover, it is this sense of liberty that underlies at the same time a genuine pathway to ethics. (shrink)

Ontology is still relevant for the reception of Christian revelation. Transcendental subjectivity, whose main role is to constitute, calls out for a deeper foundation. It is this deeper foundation that supplies an ontology of participation of all beings in Being and in God, as found in St Thomas and in some interpretations of his work. God's immanence in humanity and in creation, and human participation in Being and ultimately in God, enable us to conceive of a causal action upon the (...) whole of humanity and upon the whole of creation, a causal action issuing from the death-resurrection of Christ. In the context of contemporary philosophy, marked too unilaterally by finitude and historicity, this ontology needs to be supplemented by an anthropological reflection on liberty—liberty donated to itself rather than liberty uniquely devoted to an indefinite search of itself. This is the main point behind A. Chapelle's anthropology. Moreover, it is this sense of liberty that underlies at the same time a genuine pathway to ethics. (shrink)

Para lá da dívida que Claude Bruaire reconhece em relação a Blondel, o presente artigo parte do suposto de que existe um parentesco manifesto entre asfilosofias destes dois autores. Nas suas últimas obras, Bruaire desenvolve uma metafísica decidida, tal como Blondel na sua Trilogia. Mas se o élan pneumatológico predomina em Blondel, onde o finito busca continuamente a sua adequação ao Infinito, a veia noética é mais sensível em Bruaire: revendicando o direito do conceito e o seu valor ontológico, ela (...) situa-se mais francamente ainda que a de Blondel na senda de uma meditação do Absoluto. Este é explicitado numa filosofia do dom, da superabundância - ou da Ressurreição - em que o finito se descobre incluído e transfigurado no Infinito. Segundo o autor do artigo, estamos aqui perante um progresso decisivo no seio da própria philosophia perennis. /// Recognizing the debt that Bruaire owes to Blondel, there is a manifest relationship between what the two philosophers propose in their respective works. In his last works, Bruaire develops a metaphysical project, rather like the one advanced by Blondel in his trilogy. The pneumatic élan in Blondel's work underscores the finite as persistently seeking the infinite as its adequate objective. For Bruaire's part, the noetic aspect is more accentuated; he defends the rights of the concept in relation to its ontological value, placing even greater emphasis on the Absolute than did Blondel. The Absolute is explicated in terms of a philosophy of gift, of superabundance - or of the Resurrection - where the finite discovers itself included and transfigured in the infinite. This constitutes a decisive progress in what is considered philosophia perennis. (shrink)