The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 29, 1998 Page: 1 of 11
eleven pages : ill. ; page 18 x 12 in. Scanned from physical pages.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
V1STTTU
—The. ;
Umver,
*7
News
Volume XXVII, Number 12
http://acad. udallas. edu/udnews
Wednesday, April 29,1998
Fournier calls
for Catholic
political unity
By Jason Pierce
Contributing Writer
Deacon Keith Fournier, president of
Catholic Alliance, made his first visit to
UD Tuesday, to give a lecture entitled
“Building the Catholic Vote.” Fournier
called for those in attendance to begin
making their Catholicism a major part of
their political ideals. A very positive re-
sponse from faculty and students alike fol-
lowed the talk, going as far as inspiring
students to begin to put together an or-
ganization in conjunction with Catholic
Alliance on campus.
Deacon Fournier came to UD to speak
as a representative of a recently formed
organization called the Catholic Alliance.
This organization is a group who hopes
to “ensure that will be a discernible Cath-
olic vote in the upcoming elections.” Is-
sues Catholic Alliance focuses on are
those issues which Catholics keep at the
top of their priorities, such as abortion,
euthanasia, and social justice issues.
Fournier came to UD with an impres-
sive list of accomplishments, holding sev-
eral degrees from top Catholic Universi-
ties. He is a member of the Virginia, Ohio,
West Virginia, and Pennsylvania bars, and
holds an honorary Doctor of Laws. Hav-
ing seven of his books published, along
with numerous booklets, articles, and col-
umns, Deacon Fournier has established
himself as a well-known author. He is also
the Director of Deacons for Life and Fam-
ily International, a program of Human
Life International.
In his talk, Fournier spoke about the
mission of Catholic Aliance, which is to
“infuse the political process and public
conversation with the values informed by
our Catholic faith.” He also explained the
four pillars the organization focuses on:
the dignity of human life, primacy of the
family, authentic freedom, and solidari-
ty with the poor and needy.
“I hope to lead a movement that will
soon make political history....and if there
is a sleeping giant called the Catholic vote,
it needs to be mobilized,” said Fournier,
“the Catholic vote will decide in 2000.”
Fournier claims that this mobilization
can only begin if Catholics are educated
on the very idea of what it is to be Cath-
olic. By this education, he says, Catho-
lics will become the single most forceful
■ Please see Catholic on page 3.
nside
• Local rock-climbing gym
satisfies students’ adrenaline
needs........................................2
• Learning to talk the talk by
today’s slang standards..........6
• Baseball team brings it’s
inaugural season to a decent
close.......................................12
Professors debate understanding of Hegel
Public discussion result of controversial exchange in The University News
By John Campbell
Managing Editor
A debate on Hegel took place between Dr.
Thomas West, politics professor, and Dr. Rob-
ert Wood, chairman of the philosophy depart-
ment, early last week. The talk was the result
of a recent three week-long exchange in The
University News between Wood and mem-
bers of the politics department.
Dr. Scott Crider, English professor, mod-
erated the discussion.
Wood, who spoke first of the two, began
his opening with an apology to the politics
department for any insult he might have
caused through the exchanges in The Univer-
sity News. “If I’ve offended people in the pol-
itics department, I certainly do apologize,” he
said.
Wood indicated that Hegel respected Chris-
tianity. “Like Aristotle looking back over the
thinkers that preceded him as one sitting on
the pinnacle built by those thinkers and able
to bring the various strands together, Hegel
looks back over the history of thought trans-
formed radically by Christianity and brings the
strands to what he regards as systematic com-
pleteness,” he said.
West
Wood
Wood also indicated that Hegel’s progres-
sive view of history does not necessarily pose
moral problems when human evils are com-
mitted. One might find a way of consolidating
Hegel’s positive view of history with the seem-
ing contradiction of slavery. “For Hegel, sla-
very is always a violation of the human spirit,
but it took a long time for that to be recog-
nized,” he said.
Wood attempted to relate Hegel to Chris-
tianity and the liberal arts. “Hegel opens up
the possibility of a deep and fruitful dialogue
with the whole of philosophy, with Christian
theology and with the political tradition which
views modernity as the development of Chris-
photo by Carolyn Baldwin
Saturday's Mallapalooza attracted many students to the musical performances and
other activities like Sumo wrestling. Here, Elvis, otherwise known as Johnny Lovett,
entertains the crowd. See related story on page 3.
tian principles which have deepened the philo-
sophic tradition set in motion by the Greeks,”
said Wood.
West thanked Wood for his public apolo-
gy. He added, “I hope by the end of this de-
bate today that he will praise me for my knowl-
edge of Hegel. I’m not stupid, Bob!”
West claimed in his opening that Hegel was
“a historicist, with the historical relativism of
standards of right that that entails.”
“What I mean is that for Hegel, no one,
including the philosopher, can escape his time.
One’s views of right and wrong, of God, of
beauty, of Being itself are always tied to the
political state of one’s time, which in turn is
the basis of the intellectual state of the devel-
opment of man’s mind,” he said.
West criticized Hegel’s progressive view of
humanity which he said means “the initial
enslavement of one man by another, described
in Hegel’s chapter on mastery and slavery, is
a necessary progress from the original natu-
ral condition of animal laziness in which man
found himself.”
Hegel, West claimed, also rejected democ-
racy and the principles of the Declaration of
Independence and the American Constitution.
■ Please see West on page 2.
Prominent
French
philosopher
visits campus
By Spencer Canon _
Contributing Writer
Last Monday, April 20th, renown philoso-
pher and scholar Jean-Luc Marion presented a
lecture on seventeenth century philosopher
Rene Descartes at the annual Aquinas Lecture
in Lynch Auditorium.
Marion is one of the world’s foremost ex-
perts on Descartes. He has published several
books and numerous essays in French, many
of which are being translated into English by
major publishers. Marion has also written a
theological work (and the topic of a lecture
earlier on Monday afternoon) which has been
translated God Without Being.
Marion’s lecture, entitled “Between Analo-
gy and the Principle of Being: Causa Sui, ” fo-
cused on an unusual aspect of Descartes’ phi-
losophy. Causa sui, or cause of itself, is an
idea applying to God that, although rejected as
contradictory by the philosophical tradition
preceding Descartes, Descartes nonetheless
uses in his proof of God’s existence.
Also, Marion claimed that for the first time
in theology or philosophy God became the “ob-
ject of metaphysics.”
Marion’s contention was that Descartes was
perfectly aware of the difficulties of the causa
sui but never intended to overcome them. Des-
cartes saw the world as intricately connected
by a chain of causes. And in his “onto-theolog-
ical” positing of God, Descartes included God
as the origin of this causal chain.
Marion showed that, for Descartes, any con-
tradictions arising from thinking God as a cause
of himself were necessary ones; otherwise, Des-
cartes’ causal proof of the existence of God
would not work.
Marion commented on the danger arising
from Descartes’ “ontological argument,” say-
■ Please see Aquinas on page 3.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 29, 1998, newspaper, April 29, 1998; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth841514/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Dallas.