Abstract
The conclusion to this study comprises two parts. The first highlights and explains the differences between the receptions of phenomenology among French philosophers and religious thinkers prior to 1939 on the basis of their respective Cartesian and Aristotelian foundations and the static versus dynamic orientations of their respective epistemologies. The second part briefly surveys the subsequent history of the reception of phenomenology in France, focusing especially on the two principal phenomenological currents that have had an impact upon contemporary French religious thought, namely the hermeneutical style of phenomenology developed by Paul Ricoeur and the radical strain advanced by Jean-Luc Marion . Their respective approaches mark the displacement of the concerns shared by earlier religious thinkers in France who turned to phenomenology to bolster or redefine their understandings of the nature and development of dogma and the act of faith and to affirm the existence of God. On the other hand, because Marion recognizes that Aquinas’s theology does not belong to the type of onto-theology he rejects, a basis for a fruitful encounter between Thomism and phenomenology may be more possible now than it was in 1932, when the Société thomiste organized a day of study to explore the possibilities for such a rapprochement.
Keywords
- Idealism Idealism
- Phenomenological Method
- French Philosophy
- Phenomenological Philosophy
- Husserlian Phenomenology
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
See Duméry (1957, 257–263).
- 2.
See Concilium General Secretariat (1969). When Philosophie de la religion and three other of his books were censured by the Vatican in 1958, Duméry requested and received laicization.
- 3.
Faithful to the constraints of the phenomenological method, Duméry does not advance any particular conclusion, although the title of his last chapter, “Option and Institution,” hints in Blondelian fashion at the practical alternative toward which his study points. Duméry was in fact one of Blondel ’s closest followers, and had become well known for his interpretations of the latter’s thought, particularly on the subject of religion; see Duméry (1948) and especially Duméry (1954). The fact that Duméry moved easily between Blondel ’s genetic description of the exigencies of moral life and phenomenology supports our contention that Blondel functioned as a precursor to the reception of phenomenology in France.
- 4.
- 5.
See, for example, Connolly (1961).
- 6.
- 7.
For a brief account of the presuppositions of the phenomenological and hermeneutical traditions with which Ricoeur identifies himself, see Ricoeur (1989, 1:63–71).
- 8.
Cf. Ricoeur (1969).
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
See Marion (1975) and Marion (1981). More recently, Marion (1986) has published the third part of his triptych on Descartes ’s metaphysics. These works reveal the depth of Marion ’s engagement with the legacy of Cartesian philosophy, an engagement that began with a translation and commentary on Descartes’s Rules for the Direction of the Mind; see Descartes (1976) and Descartes (1977).
- 14.
See Marion (1989, 11–64).
- 15.
- 16.
See also (Lacoste 1987).
- 17.
- 18.
See, for example, Courtine (1990b).
- 19.
See, for example, Courtine (1990a).
- 20.
See Courtine (1990c).
References
Boehm, Alfred. 1927. Le thomisme en Allemagne. Bulletin thomiste 2(5): 157–169.
Chrétien, Jean-Louis. 1990. La voix nue. Phénoménologie de la promesse. Paris: Éditions de Minuit.
Chrétien, Jean-Louis. 1992. La parole blessée. In Phénoménologie et théologie, ed. Jean-Louis Chrétien, Michel Henry, Jean-Luc Marion, and Paul Ricoeur. Paris: Criterion.
Concilium General Secretariat. 1969. A note on the work of Henry Duméry. In The development of fundamental theology, ed. Johannes B. Metz. New York: Paulist Press.
Connolly, James M. 1961. The voices of France. New York: Macmillan.
Courtine, Jean-François. 1990a. Extase de la raison. Essais sur Schelling. Paris: Éditions Galilée.
Courtine, Jean-François. 1990b. Heidegger et la phénoménologie. Paris: Vrin.
Courtine, Jean-François. 1990c. Suarez et le système de la métaphysique. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Descartes , René. 1976. Index des regulae ad directionem ingenii de René Descartes. Trans. Jean-Luc Marion in collaboration with Jean-Robert Armogathe. Rome: Ateneo.
Descartes , René. 1977. Règles utiles et claires pour la direction de l’esprit en la recherche de la vérité. Trans. Jean-Luc Marion . The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Descombes, Vincent. 1980. Modern French Philosophy. Trans. L. Scott-Fox and J. M. Harding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Duméry, Henri. 1948. La philosophie de l’action. Essai sur l’intellectualisme blondélien. Paris: Aubier Montaigne.
Duméry, Henry. 1954. Blondel et la religion. Essai critique sur la “Lettre” de 1896. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Duméry, Henry. 1957. Philosophie de la religion. Essai sur la signification du christianisme, 2 vols. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Duméry, Henry. 1958. Phénoménologie et religion. Structures de l’institution chrétienne, 2nd ed. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Duméry , Henry . 1975. Phenomenology and Religion. Trans. Paul Barrett. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Eliade, Mircea. 1956. Le sacré et le profane. Paris: Gallimard.
Heidegger , Martin. 1964. Lettre sur l’humanisme. Trans. Roger Munier. Paris: Aubier.
Henry, Michel. 1963. L’essence de la manifestation. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Henry , Michel. 1973. The Essence of Manifestation. Trans. Girard Etzkorn. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Husserl, Edmund. 1950. Idées directrices pour une phénoménologie. Trans. Paul Ricoeur with an introduction and notes. Paris: Gallimard.
Husserl, Edmund. 1967. The Paris Lectures. Trans. Peter Koestenbaum with an introduction. 2nd ed. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Ihde, Don. 1971. Hermeneutic phenomenology. The philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Lacoste, Jean-Yves. 1987. Penser à Dieu en l’aimant. Philosophie et théologie de Jean-Luc Marion. Archives de philosophie 50: 245–270.
Lacoste, Jean-Yves. 1990. Note sur le temps. Essai sur les raisons de la mémoire et de l’espérance. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Levinas, Emmanuel. 1947a. De l’existence à l’existant. Paris: Fontaine.
Levinas, Emmanuel. 1947b. Le temps et l’autre. In Le choix, le monde, l’existence, ed. Jean Wahl. Grenoble: B. Arthaud.
Levinas, Emmanuel. 1961. Totalité et Infini. Essai sur l’extériorité. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Levinas , Emmanuel. 1969. Totality and Infinity. Trans. Alphonso Lingis. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University.
Levinas, Emmanuel. 1974. Autrement qu’être ou au-délà de l’essence. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Levinas , Emmanuel. 1978. Existence and Existents. Trans. Alphonso Lingis. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Levinas , Emmanuel. 1981. Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence. Trans. Alphonso Lingis. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Levinas , Emmanuel. 1987. Time and the Other (and Additional Essays). Trans. Richard A. Cohen. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1975. Sur l’ontologie grise de Descartes. Paris: Vrin.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1977. L’idole et la distance. Paris: Grasset & Fasquelle.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1981. Sur la théologie blanche de Descartes. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1982. Dieu sans l’être. Paris: Fayard.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1986. Sur le prisme métaphysique de Descartes. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1989. Réduction et donation. Recherches sur Husserl, Heidegger et la phénoménologie. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1991. God Without Being. Trans. Thomas A. Carlson with a foreword by David Tracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Marion, Jean-Luc. 1995. Saint Thomas d’Aquin et l’onto-théo-logie. Revue thomiste 95: 31–66.
Merleau-Ponty , Maurice. 1962. Phenomenology of Perception. Trans. Colin Smith. New York: Humanities Press.
Nédoncelle, Maurice. 1957. Vers une philosophie de l’amour et de la personne. Paris: Aubier Montaigne.
Nédoncelle , Maurice. 1964. The Nature and Use of Prayer. Trans. Aelfric Manson. London: Burns & Oates.
Nédoncelle , Maurice. 1966. Love and the Person. Trans. Ruth Adelaide. New York: Sheed & Ward.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1949. Le volontaire et l’involontaire. Paris: Aubier.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1965. De l’interprétation. Essai sur Freud. Paris: Seuil.
Ricoeur , Paul. 1966. Freedom and Nature: The Voluntary and the Involuntary. Trans. E. V. Kohák. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1969. Le conflit des interprétations. Essais d’herméneutique. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1971. Du conflit à la convergence des méthodes en exégèse biblique. In Exégèse et herméneutique, ed. Xavier Léon Dufour. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1975. La métaphore vive. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1976. Philosophical hermeneutics and theology. Theology Digest 24: 154–161.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1978. Philosophical hermeneutics and biblical hermeneutics. In Exegesis. Problems of method and exercises in reading (Genesis 22 and Luke 15), ed. François Bovon and Grégoire Rouiller. Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1979. Naming God. Union Seminary Quarterly Review 34: 215–228.
Ricoeur , Paul. 1983–1985. Temps et récit, 3 vols. Paris: Éditions de Seuil.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1984. Herméneutique de l’idée de révélation. In La révélation, ed. Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel Levinas, Edgar Haulotte, Etienne Cornélis, and Claude Geffré. Brussels: Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1985. Temps biblique. Archivio di filosofia 53: 29–35.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1988. Le sujet convoqué: À l’école des récits de vocations prophétique. Revue de l’Institut Catholique de Paris 28: 83–99.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1989. Narrativité, phénoménologie et herméneutique. In Encyclopédie philosophique universelle, ed. André Jacob. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1992. Expérience et langage dans le discours religieux. In Phénomenologie et théologie, ed. Jean-Louis Chrétien et al. Paris: Criterion.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1995a. Biblical time. In Figuring the sacred: Religion, narrative and imagination, ed. David Pellauer. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1995b. The summoned subject. In Figuring the sacred: Religion, narrative and imagination, ed. David Pellauer. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Van der Leeuw , Gerhard. 1948. La religion dans son essence et ses manifestations. Trans. Jacques Marty. Paris: Payot.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dupont, C. (2014). Conclusion. In: Phenomenology in French Philosophy: Early Encounters. Phaenomenologica, vol 208. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4641-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4641-1_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4640-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4641-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)