Owl of Minerva Sounds a Lively Note

Br. James Junipero Moore, OP, challenged our notions of how music affects us in his presentation for the Owl of Minerva, titled “Music and Virtue Ethics: Living Authentically in Today’s Atomized World.” Over forty people attended the discussion last Wednesday the 30th, hosted in the classroom at the FST.

Br. James based his presentation on the research and arguments which he is developing for his MA thesis. He did not shy away from controversy, critiquing such popular musicians as 50 Cent and Brittney Spears, and he sparked a lively discussion on the role of music in developing virtue or vice. He claimed that music can be a great aid to developing a well-ordered soul, or can disrupt the order of one’s soul.

Responses ranged from tentative agreement to disputing his most fundamental premisses. This kind of discussion, of course, is exactly the goal of the Owl of Minerva.

The Owl is a student-led philosophy forum, open to the public, in which students present a brief philosophical argument, followed by questions and discussion. Following the example of Socrates, refreshments are provided before, during and after the discussion.

The Owl was founded by Sophia Leahy (’04), and has been run this semester by Newell Cutter III, who recently completed his own MA degree. Next semester, Br. Christopher Fadok, OP, will take the reins and continue the tradition of engaging, spontaneous philosophy at the DSPT.

For more information, check out the Owl website, http://www.owlofminerva.com/, or contact Br. Christopher at cpfadok@yahoo.com.

New Faculty at DSPT

The DSPT is pleased to announce the hire of two new regular faculty members.

• Marianne Farina, C.S.C. has been appointed to the position of assistant professor of philosophy and theology at the DSPT. A member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana, Sr. Marianne received her doctorate in theological ethics from Boston College (2004). Her dissertation topic was "Moral Goodness and Friendship with God: The Moral Teachings of Thomas Aquinas and Hamid al-Ghazali." She is currently the director for research and scholarship at the Center for Women's InterCultural Leadership , as well as lecturer in ethics and justice (St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN). Sr. Marianne is not a newcomer to the GTU, having taught courses in Christian ethics, Islam, and comparative religion at both PSR and Starr King from 1998-2002. Her research interests include Catholic moral theology, philosophical ethics, Islamic ethics, and Christian and Islamic spirituality.
• John Berkman, Ph.D. has been appointed to the position of associate professor of philosophy and theology at the DSPT. Dr. Berkman received his doctorate from Duke University (1994) and is currently associate professor and area director of Moral Theology/Ethics at The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC). He is co-editor of The Pinckaers Reader: Renewing Catholic Moral Theology (CUA Press, forthcoming) and The Hauerwas Reader (Duke University Press, 2001). His research interests include end-of-life issues, biomedical reproductive ethics, religious ethics, virtue and utilitarian ethics, and the history of Catholic moral theology. Dr. Berkman will teach full-time at the DSPT beginning in the Fall 2006.

Habemus Papam!

Pope Benedict XVI

April 19, 2005

His Holiness John Paul II
May 18, 1920 - April 2, 2005

In his first Encyclical Letter to the Church, Redemptor Hominis, Pope John Paul II made clear his vision for the Church:

"The Church wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person the path of life, with the power of the truth about man and the world that is contained in the mystery of the Incarnation and the Redemption and with the power of the love that is radiated by that truth"(Redemptor Hominis, 13).

Quoting Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church in the Modern World) from the Vatican Council II, John Paul insisted, therefore, that "man [and woman] is the road the Church must walk."

"Man and woman is the road the Church must walk"; just as Christ unites himself with each man and each woman, so the Church, the Body of Christ, must reach out to each man and each woman, every man and every woman, "without any exception whatever", he insisted. The Holy Father not only taught this, but in myriad ways he also lived this: by his travels, by his solidarity with the poor, the dispossessed, the young and the old, in his prayer and in what he exhorted and taught, Pope John Paul II walked with each of us, every one of us, without any exception whatever.

For this reason the world now seeks, for a moment, to walk with him -whether the millions of pilgrims who have traveled to Rome to celebrate his life, or whether the hundreds of millions who cannot be there, but accompany him in prayer. Let us now attend him by our prayers, but then let us be about the work of the Church, which he has so wonderfully illumined for us, so that, in very fact, "each man and woman may be able to find Christ."

Rev. Michael Sweeney, O.P.