Archive for September, 2008
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Conversations with Augustine: Essay #1, Augustine, Henry of Ghent, and Scotus
13 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 31st, 2008 in Augustine, Duns Scotus, Henry of GhentPer Caritatem’s first annual Augustine Blog Conference is now underway! Below is the first of a series of posts bringing Augustine into conversation with philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages, Reformation, Modernity, and Postmodernity. The format of the conference is as follows: an essay will be posted for a two days, then a short [...]
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A Tribute to Michael Brecker
4 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 27th, 2008 in Music, NewsThough this is probably old news to many, I recently found out that Michael Brecker, jazz saxophonist extraordinaire, died this past January at age 57 after battling leukemia for two years. I had the opportunity to hear Brecker live in a small club in Seattle, and as most jazz enthusiasts, I was amazed at his [...]
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And You Thought Her First Thought Was “Mama”
5 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 17th, 2008 in AquinasDid you know that your child’s first conceptions are the transcendental conceptions of being, one, and good? According to Robert Pasnau (articulating St. Thomas’s position), these transcendental conceptions rather than food, mother, father, etc are the first conceptions of a child’s mind. As Pasnau explains,
“all of these more obvious candidates for a child’s first conceptions [...]
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Anglican Discussions in the Blog-o-sphere
14 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 15th, 2008 in AnglicanismFr. Dan at “Catholic in the Third Millennium” blog has a series of provocative and insightful posts related to recent events in the Anglican world. Even if one doesn’t agree with him on every point, the posts are well worth the read. If there are other thoughtful discussions that you’ve come across in the blog-o-sphere [...]
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Scotus Against the Philosophers: Ordered Love, Not Knowledge Perfects Human Rationality
6 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 13th, 2008 in Duns ScotusRegarding Scotus and his late-thirteenth century context, Mary Beth Ingham and Mechthild Dreyer write:
“[Scotus's] own philosophical re-working of key philosophical elements is best understood against the background of the overly intellectualized, philosophical model, especially as it had emerged from the 1250s and as it appeared in the constellation formed by several propositions condemned in 1277. [...]
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The Abstract Art of Vasily Kandinsky
2 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 10th, 2008 in AestheticsKandinsky, himself an accomplished musician, once said “Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” The concept that color and musical harmony are linked has a long history, [...]
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Part 4: Sufficiency and Satire: Reading the Consolation through the Menippean Form
1 Comment Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen July 7th, 2008 in BoethiusA guest post by Dan McClain. Dan is a doctoral student of theology at the Catholic University of America and blogs at The Land of Unlikeness.
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Sketches of Insufficiency
While Marenbon and Relihan disagree on the extent and the finality to which Boethius departs from Philosophy, the astute reader will certainly agree that Boethius’ subversion of Philosophy [...]


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