Hermeneutical Selving as Metaxological Selving: Bridging the Perceived Gap between Theological Hermeneutics and Metaphysics

One of the major developments in Catholic theology after the Second Vatican Council has been the theological application of contemporary philosophical hermeneutics. Hermeneutics both accentuates and assists in mediating the historical complexities of human experience within the horizon of tradition. This is especially important for confronting the ongoing ‘crisis of metaphysics’ in theology, which was precipitated by the widespread contemporary rejection of transcendent metaphysical narratives. In this chapter, the author first outlines the shifts in modern theological metaphysics prior to Vatican II that precipitated this crisis. Second, the author explores the work of one of the most significant theological proponents of the hermeneutical turn: Edward Schillebeeckx. Schillebeeckx approached the question of being as fundamentally hermeneutical based on interpretation and self-understanding. Third, the author applies Schillebeeckx’s hermeneutical reflections on human experience in an explicitly metaphysical way by lining up his work with that of William Desmond in the field of ontology and metaphysics. A hermeneutical account of Desmond’s ‘four-fold sense of being’ provides a systematic way of developing the ontological structure of human subjectivity. Finally, the author illustrates that the eschatological dimension of Schillebeeckx’s account of subjectivity adds a praxical dimension to Desmond’s speculative and metaphysical work on the self.

ISBN:978-3-319-98992-1

Jaar van publicatie:2018