by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
The course 2010-2011 was the seventy-second in the history of Fundación Balmesiana, and its journey will be for the memory very significant events that should be remembered.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
Year 60 | 2011 Articles Jaume Balmes: between yesterday and today Vicente Igual Balmes’ logic Josep María Montiu de Nuix Jaime Balmes: Knowledge and action Miguel Ángel Belmonte Sánchez Three distinctive characteristics of Jaime Balmes’ moral philosophy Felipe...
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
“Far from us, the dreadful habit of thinking.” It is well known this protest of orthodoxy attributed to the University of Cervera to reassure Fernando VII, concerned about the infiltration of modernizing ideas. The phrase reads today with hilarity. Perhaps too much, because lucid intelligences aware of the current situation of the university in many countries raise their voices to alert us to the tendency to transform university institutions into professional schools, where practical skills are acquired, avoiding the “mania to think”.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
With the symbolic and eloquent date of January 28, 2011, liturgical memory of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and at the request of the Congregation of Catholic Education, the Holy Father Benedict XVI approved the reform of the ecclesiastical studies of philosophy, which until now came to be governed by the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia christiana and the corresponding Ordinationes (1979). The Decree embodying this reform, signed by the Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, and its Secretary, Archbishop Jean-Louis Luis Brugès, OP, is composed of a dense and argued preamble, a second part of the rules of the Sapientia christiana affected by the reform, the derived norms applicable (Ordinationes) and, finally, some brief transitory norms.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
On August 9, Fr. Roberto Busa SJ died. Characteristically, he would say that at 99, he liked to count them as they started. Father Roberto always looked forward: he was a pioneer, also in recent years, and his originality was that of the wise explorer, scholar, who glimpses the future on the summit of the past. Now, this good and faithful servant contemplates, beyond time, the eternal novelty of God, “my boss, and next to St. Thomas,” as he said in his last hours, serenely and with his usual good humor.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
In view of his: Protestantism compared to Catholicism, Balmes cannot be deemed as an historian, but as an apologist. This work stems from the discussion with Guizot about the motor of progress and Civilization, and apparently brings the two authors closer. Nevertheless, their approach is totally different since Guizot, under the appearance of moderantism and Calvinist religiosity, truly defends liberal theses, to the extent that his thoughts were one of the sources of Marx’s theory on the class struggle as a motor of history. On the other hand Balmes provides us with a work of Catholic apologetics capable of creating an architectural interpretation of the Church’s role in the development of civilization, which would never divert to romanticism nor to historicism.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
This article analyzes how Modernity and Protestantism relate to each other in Balmes, de Maistre and Taparelli’s work. According to Balmes, the negation of truth that Protestantism’s religious subjectivity implies is the basis of modern atheism and liberalism. To de Maistre, modern individualism cannot be understood without the negation of the authority made by Protestantism and, according to Taparelli, Protestantism’s subjectivity allowed the liberalization of the juridical and political order. All this has led to the sovereignty of the individual, which reduces man to his own power possibilities and dehumanize him.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
This paper offers an overview of the educational thinking of Jaime Balmes (1810-1848), who, in the opinion of P. Casanovas —one of his most eminent biographers— was an educator of the highest calibre. Leaving aside the fact that Jaime Balmes devised his a method of his own for instruction, the paper analyses different aspects of Balmes’ teaching philosophy: right thought, his reflections on talent and genius, the realistic dimension of his teaching methodology, the role of European civilisation, the criticism of liberal education policy, the intellectual development of the religious community, the role of the clergy in scientific progress, and his innovations in the field of social education and catechesis. It also defines the different spheres of Balmes’ teaching —individual, family, civic-social— whose echoes, through figures such as Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo and Ángel Herrera Oria, are still heard today.
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
Balmes’ moral-philosophical exposition is marked by three characteristic features: first, the apologetic moe of its discourse, which turns its attention more on the error that threatens the Catholic truth than on the development and explanation of philosophic truth; second, some connaturality with the truths that constitute the ultimate foundation of moral order, and, third, the deficiency in the metaphysical foundation of those truths. Considering these three features allows you to read his moral philosophy without falling into the extremes of judging him either as an immaculate Thomist or as a modern eclectic
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
Jaime Balmes (1810-1848) was a person who knew how to joint practical action with an intellectual life. In a very short life he achieved a deep understanding of main theoretical and practical philosophical problems and how to present them clear to the public in general. Moreover, he saw the necessity of a political intervention in an era of Spanish institutional instability. His proposals were known through a newspaper directed by himself while some politicians like Marqués de Viluma defended them at Parliament. Finally, political evolution of Spain was too far and different from Balmes political thought and he gave up. Balmes’ view of politics included indeed not only a deep understanding of man and society but also a personal knowledge of virtues and vices of real political life
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
The logic of Balmes is The Criterion. Is not the mathematical logic and is not a formal logic, is a way to the truth, the reality, the man, Got. The logic of Balmes is a way to the Truth. Is a house for the Truth
by Revista Espíritu | 142-2011
This article comes from my exhibition “Currency of Jaume Balmes” Philosopher’s Tribute to Vic held at the Foundation Balmesiana February 2011. Not intended to be a scientific investigation. He just wants to contribute something to the knowledge of the personality and thought of Jaume Balmes. He also wants to show, through his own words or those thinkers who know him well and know the current term of your way to address some philosophical issues. Of particular interest is the vision of Joan Maragall on Balmes, a true “master of thinking”.