It’s been a few weeks since I last posted.
That’s partly because I spent some time working full-time for Pembroke College, and partly just how things have worked out.
There seem to be quite a few things that I am thinking about simultaneously at the moment but each thing deserves an amount of time and focus that I’m not willing to relinquish just now so it seems I’ve elected to not write anything at all.
This theme (of absence) may become a little more of a permanent as I head into prep for final exams at Cambridge, but I am hoping that as all the work I’m doing comes together, I’ll maybe be able to post some more.
For now, I thought I’d break down some of the things I am thinking about, with links to a few reading recommendations, as a way to bookmark for myself the thoughts I’m having and let you in a bit more on what is going on for me. In no particular order:
- Souls – sort of coming full circle on this having initially swallowed whole the ‘we-have-debunked-Cartesianism’ perspective but now appreciating the possibilities and benefits of undertaking a modernist Thomist (i.e. influenced by Thomas Aquinas) perspective of ‘soulhood’. If you know enough background on this debate, I would recommend Daniel D. De Haan‘s papers on this subject.
- The Problem of Evil – considering evil as an ‘absence of good’, not sure about this yet. I had sort of dismissed this viewpoint as easy/convenient/unsubstantial but it’s interesting understanding this from the perspective of what we term evil being a ‘loss’ or ‘losing’ of good especially where this good can be framed from the perspective of the greatest good for humans as being unity with God. Have really enjoyed taking this beyond the two arguments of analytic philosophy (the logical and evidential argument) to ideas of what it is to have divine solidarity (in Christ’s suffering), and redemption for our present life here and beyond.
- God’s Judgement – reading through Luke’s account in Holy Week and thinking about Jesus’ weeping as he enters Jerusalem as king on Palm Sunday as he brings judgement over the city. What does it mean for the God who brings judgement to also be the God who weeps? How does an interpretation of Romans in which we are judged by our own standards tie into this? Interesting thoughts from this blog about the idea of collective sin and ‘disney princess theology’. Thinking about God’s judgement of oppression and my own understanding of myself as an oppressor.
- Meaning and epistemic perspectives – linked to a reflection on philosophy and my degree in general as I approach the end of it; currently navigating a growing cynicism about the narratives of the Western analytic tradition and its framing of ‘progress’/e.g. the place of medieval philosophy, and the circularity of its own criterion of truth etc., shaped also by reading Heidegger/Wittgenstein in the theology paper that I am taking this year. Another thing is the liberties it takes in making assumptions, for example, in political philosophy about personhood, assumptions which are not consistent with the ‘for-granted’ picture of personal identity it constructs elsewhere (which loops back to some of my thoughts on our having ‘souls’)
- I found the following articles really interesting: ‘This Route Does Not Exist‘, and ‘The Refugee Detectives‘
That’s probably enough to be offloading for now, hey?
See you soon x
thejoyofrachel 