Product Description

Classical notions of truth and objectivity have steadily eroded in the face of postmodernism. Meeting this challenge head-on, Joseph Bracken here reconstructs the metaphysical tradition of the West on solid new foundations. Drawing on the thought of Alfred North Whitehead, Ervin Laszlo, and Jürgen Habermas, Bracken presents a new philosophical perspective that roots the relationship between God and the world in community.

Bracken first answers objections to the possibility of developing a new metaphysics in our postmodern age. He then lays out the "vertical" and "horizontal" dimensions of his new metaphysical scheme, a constructive perspective that results in a consciously communitarian understanding of the God-world relationship. The uniqueness of Bracken's position is its advocacy of a strictly "social ontology" in which the classical relationship of the One and the Many is reversed — not the transcendence of the One over the Many but its emergence out of the Many in dynamic relationship.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1122973 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 234 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780802848925
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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Customer Reviews

Process-Relational Metaphysics Articulated in Trinitarian Terms
In this work, Bracken articulates Whitehead's process-relational metaphysics and/or Hartshorne's dipolar theism in trinitarian terms. He analyzes the works of numerous academicians and weaves their thought into what he calls a "social ontology" and a "metaphysics of intersubjectivity." In particular, he intends to "reconstruct" the Thomistic metaphysics of "being" with the Whiteheadian metaphysics of "becoming." He is also intent on ensuring that some basic Catholic doctrines remain intact - namely, "creation ex nihilo," and "subjective immortality" (Hartshorne rejected subjective immortality, something that I always felt was religiously inadequate).

The bottom line is that this a wonderful read. I really enjoyed it! I was amazed with Bracken's ability to distill the thought of so many eminent intellectuals and present the essence of their thinking in a nutshell. He covers a lot of ground here. Along the way, you will encounter Karl Rahner, Jon-Luc Marion, Louis-Marie Chauvet, Catherine LaCugna, Elizabeth Johnson, Jurgen Habermas, Bernard Lonergan, Hans-George Gadamer, Jacque Derrida, Alfred N. Whitehead, Kitaro Nishida, Ervin Laslo, Colin Gunton, Nancey Murphy, Calvin Shrag, David Ray Griffin, Robert Neville, and William Desmond.

This is highly recommeded to those who are interested how process-relational metaphysics may be reconciled with trinitarian theology.