Being as symbol : on the origins and development of Karl Rahner's metaphysics / Stephen Fields.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fields, Stephen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rahner, Karl, 1904-1984.

Rahner, Karl.

Metaphysics--History--20th century.

Metaphysics.

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 164 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press, [2000]

Summary:

One of the most important theologians of the modern era, Karl Rahner is best known for his efforts to make Christianity credible in light of the intellectual questions of modern culture. Stephen M. Fields, S.J., now explains how Rahner developed his metaphysics as a creative synthesis of Thomism and the modern philosophical tradition.

Focusing on Rahner's core concept of the Realsymbol, which posits all beings as symbolic, Fields establishes the place of the Realsymbol in philosophical theories of the symbol. He particularly concentrates on those key aspects of Rahner's metaphysics -- his theories of finite realities and language -- that have received insufficient attention.

By examining a wide range of Rahner's works in the context of twelve medieval, modern, and contemporary thinkers, Fields locates the origins of this seminal thinker's metaphysics to an extent never before attempted. He notes the correlations that exist between the Realsymbol and such work as Aquinas's theory of the sacraments, Goethe's and Hegel's dialectics, Moehler's view of religious language, and Heidegger's aesthetics.

Through this analysis, Fields reveals the structural core of Rahner's metaphysics and shows how art, language, knowledge, religious truth, and reality in general are all symbolic. Being as Symbol opens new perspectives on this important thinker and positions him in the broader spectrum of philosophical thought.

Contents:

Being in Rahner 6

Finite Substances 7

Infinite Being 8

Knowledge 9

Language 13

Chapter 2 Realsymbol as Analogous 20

Analogy and Symbol in Neo-Thomism 21

Aeterni Patris, Modernism, and Analogy 21

"Symbolism" 23

Sertillanges 24

De Munnynck 24

Blondel 26

Dialectic of Action 26

Prospection and Reflection 29

Marechal 30

Resultatio 30

Implicit Symbolism 32

Dynamic Finality 33

Transcendental Deduction 35

Chapter 3 Realsymbol as Sacramental 38

Sacramental Theory in Thomism 38

Instrumental Causality 40

Symbolic Reality 42

Eucharist as Symbol 43

Sacramental Theory in Rahner 46

Church and Sacrament as Realsymbol 46

Sacraments and the Individual 49

Eucharist as Realsymbol 50

Chapter 4 Realsymbol as Self-Perfecting 55

Metaphysics of Becoming in Rahner 56

Being and Becoming 56

Becoming and Absolute Being 59

Realsymbol as Self-Perfecting 60

Self-Perfection in Goethe 61

Intuition 62

Analogy of Nature and Art 63

Self-Perfection in Hegel 65

Dialectic as Spirit in Reason 66

Origins of Dialectic in Logic 68

Goethe and Hegel 71

Hegel and Rahner 72

Chapter 5 Realsymbol as Embodied Thought 77

Realsymbol and Mohler 77

History and Reason 78

Doctrine as Symbol 80

Language in Goethe 82

Goethe and Mohler 83

Symbol in Kant 84

Symbol in Hegel 87

Mohler and Rahner's Middle Course 90

Realsymbol and Heidegger 92

Art as Symbol in Heidegger 92

Primordial Words as Art in Rahner 95.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-155) and index.

ISBN:

0878407928

OCLC:

43662003