Brendan Sammon | Saint Joseph's University (original) (raw)

Books by Brendan Sammon

Papers by Brendan Sammon

The Heythrop Journal, 2016

Metaphysics is the lifeblood of theology, and metaxology has been a spectacular instrument for co... more Metaphysics is the lifeblood of theology, and metaxology has been a spectacular instrument for contemporary theologians to escape the clutches of deconstructive and other anti-metaphysical ways of thinking (see, also, Simpson and Sammon, William Desmond and Contemporary Theology. Notre Dame University Press, South Bend, 2017). In that spirit, reflection on this aspect of metaxology opens with a contribution by Brendan Sammon, who points out the similarities between Desmond’s philosophical theology and the divine name tradition of Dionysius the Areopagite. These names have a tendency to name and un-name at the same time, appreciating the constitutive difference between God and creation.

Does beauty have an inherent association with the divine? If so, what sort of impact does such a ... more Does beauty have an inherent association with the divine? If so, what sort of impact does such a claim have upon the field of contemporary ‘theological aesthetics’? The present study addresses these questions by investigating the historical, philosophical and theological dimensions of beauty insofar as it is conceived as a divine name. It is a conception that first appears in the thought of the fifth century figure Dionysius the Areopagite. Dionysius’s thinking on beauty achieves widespread influence throughout the Middle Ages demonstrated by the numerous commentaries written on his treatises. This dissertation examines Dionysius’s doctrine on beauty found in his celebrated treatise On the Divine Names along with the commentary put forth by Thomas Aquinas. The argument advanced in this study is that the Dionysian-Thomistic approach to beauty, an approach that is foundational for the origins of the Western understanding of beauty, reveals that beauty is inherently and therefore indispensably associated with the divine. In Dionysius, the association between beauty and the divine that long gestates in the womb of Western thought explicitly enters the Christian theological tradition when it is appropriated to the status of a divine name. Dionysius’s doctrine of beauty exercises extraordinary influence on Thomas’s understanding

This review essay examines the above title seeing it as an important contribution to Thomistic st... more This review essay examines the above title seeing it as an important contribution to Thomistic studies for a few different reasons: 1) it emphasizes a reading of Thomas that locates his thinking within his context as a friar preacher in the Dominican Order; 2) it thererfore emphasizes dimensions of Thomas's thought that are often ignored by the commentary tradition; 3) it stress the importance of history and historical context without falling into a historicism; 4) it is a reading that stresses a both/and, or middle, logic not only with respect to its own internal substance as a text, but with respect to how Thomas hismelf understood most of the complex issues (grace/nature; intellect/will, etc.). Throughout this essay, many of the primary issues examined in Bauerschmidt's text are highlighted to emphasize the importance that such a middle reading has for Thomistic studies.

It is often assumed that at the very base of all existence resides a primordial conflict, or war,... more It is often assumed that at the very base of all existence resides a primordial conflict, or war, that human reason alone orders and disciplines. But such a conclusion derives from certain philosophical assumptions as arbitrary as they are misguided. This presentation considers a different point of view, that of the contemporary philosopher William Desmond, whose metaphysics is based upon a primordial peace at the heart of all being. Recognizing this primordial peace requires recognizing the nature and limits of the kind of mind that concludes on a primordial war. The Sabbath for thought, configured as festive mindfulness – that is, as the contemplative celebration of mind’s limits in the face of being’s generous excess – becomes a way in which the original peace of being may be continually verified precisely as it is offered in this Sabbath. That there is a peace more primordial than war is a reality whose truth is in excess of determinate categories. This is why it requires a Sabbath: only when the mind willingly relinquishes its act of determination can it arrive at the contemplation of that after which this act is striving. Only then can the mind experience the peace more primordial than war.

It has been said that after the publication of John Milbank’s Theology and Social Theory (1990), ... more It has been said that after the publication of John Milbank’s Theology and Social Theory (1990), the sociological critique of religion is no longer possible since, as Milbank demonstrates, sociology cannot escape its theological origins, assumptions, and therefore its theological constitution. Milbank’s tour de force is breathtaking in its scope and involves an erudite treatment of the historical and philosophical foundations upon which contemporary sociology bases itself. Much like St. Augustine’s approach in his De civitate Dei, Milbank draws out the contrasts that emerge between Christianity and the so-called secular sphere when contemporary sociology, arguably the primary foundation of contemporary secular thought, is unmasked as another religious narrative. Within the context of this exposition, Milbank argues that Christian theology provides an equally, if not more, effective discourse and resource for the art of polis-making.
Theology and Social Theory is an achievement that easily induces fatigue to the scholar who seeks to plum its pages in hopes of unraveling the many arguments that comprise its major theses. The modest aim of this presentation is to draw out and analyze four or five of the primary arguments that ground the consequences of Milbank’s Theology and Social Theory in hopes of stimulating interest in this important work as well as stimulating thoughts and discussions about the controversial claim that the sociological critique of religion is no longer possible.

This paper highlights some of the primary elements of the poetics of the middle ages by focusing ... more This paper highlights some of the primary elements of the poetics of the middle ages by focusing on two of its most well known figures, Thomas Aquinas and Dante Alighieri. The term ‘poetics’ is not easily associate with the Middle Ages, a period thought by most to have been a vast, lifeless, desert in which the Western world wandered until it was finally brought into the “promise land” of Enlightenment. One of the greatest achievements of the middle ages was scholasticism, which was marked by concerns for order, intelligibility, and clarity. Textually these concerns began to manifest themselves in the work of Anselm of Canterbury, Anselm of Laon, Peter Abelard, Peter Lombard and many others. But nowhere did scholasticism’s order, intelligibility and clarity appear more refined than in the immense corpus of Thomas Aquinas, meriting him the title of “Prince of the Scholastics.” Consequently, scholasticism was and remains characterized as a sensibility more associated with systems, structure and scientific precision than with poetics. This paper will challenge this view and instead argue that there was a rich poetic sensibility running throughout the middle ages. It is well known that Dante’s most prominent influence was the scholastic sensibility in which he was reared, and, as some Dante scholars have argued (e.g., Wicksteed) the influence of Thomas Aquinas was particularly present. Using Aquinas as representative, this paper will investigate the poetics of the middle ages that culminated in the work of Dante Alighieri by addressing the question: how could an age that was concerned only with system, structure and scientific precision give birth to the brilliance of Dante?

Within the work of certain scholars who have written on Dionysius the Areopagite (e.g., Dodds, Ar... more Within the work of certain scholars who have written on Dionysius the Areopagite (e.g., Dodds, Arthur, et al.) there is the view, as widespread as it is unexamined, that his thought, being little more than a parody of Neoplatonic idealism, promotes a disembodied theology and philosophy. Within the realm of art and beauty, arguably the center point of the Dionysian project, historians of aesthetics (Croce, Bosanquet, Gilbert, Kuhn, et al.) have encouraged such a disembodied portrait of the Areopagite.

This judgment in part derives from wrongly viewing the Areopagite from the perspective of Modern aesthetics, disintegrating his thoughts on art and beauty for the sake of a science (viz. aesthetics) that did not exist in late antiquity. Within such a disintegration, art and beauty are wrenched from their place in the overall Dionysian project and one begins from an already disembodied point of view.

One primary controversy that has emerged from all this concerns the way that ‘art’ functions with respect to divine pedagogy in the Areopagite’s thought. The most recent and most widely read (not to mention severely criticized) translation of the Corpus Dionysiacum, done by Rorem and Luibheid for the Classics of Western Literature series, interprets a significant passage from the Celestial Heirarchy in such a way as to completely alter the Dionysian view of the way that art functions in the service of divine pedagogy. Their interpretation follows the thought of the well-known 20th c. French Dionysian scholar, Rene Roques, who in a series of essays argued for his own position against the translation done by Eriugena on the grounds that Eriugena interpreted Dionysius through the lens of Eriugena’s own aesthetics and thus distorted the Dionysian view.

In this presentation, we want to challenge this interpretation and subsequent translation from three perspectives: 1) historical; 2) philosophical and 3) intra-textual. We will argue that not only is this translation deeply flawed, but that a more accurate translation of this passage will throw light on a doctrine of divine pedagogy that recognizes the ‘splendor of these created things’ as its medium of communication. More broadly, it will help to reorient Dionysian scholarship away from viewing him as a merely disembodied thinker in an effort to reintegrate his theories of art and beauty within his overall project that includes an

The Heythrop Journal, 2016