Review article
Seeking the Fullness of Truth in the Thought of Edith Stein
Mirjana Pinezić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6157-8314
; Teologija u Rijeci, Područni studij Katoličkoga bogoslovnog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Abstract
The person who lives on a deeper spiritual level desires a complete worldview and inquires of necessity into the total truth. This is the firm conviction of Edith Stein, a prominent German philosopher, Carmelite, mystic and martyr who lived in the first half of the turbulent twentieth century. She wishes to point out that this reality demands much more of the person than merely his consciousness. It demands the participation of the depth of his internal life which touches the core, that is, him as man-person. Orientedness to the full truth demands the whole person, and the direction taken is not to be deemed unimportant. Man's activity shall depend upon that which he believes and that wherein his conviction lies. For this reason, truth-seeking of this kind entails not only the cognitive but also the ethical aspect. Great is the responsibility of science, especially that of philosophers and theologians for they are expected be able to provide the answer to man's ultimate questions. If an attitude of openness and sincerity prevails, and an adequate method exists, philosophy shall alone guide one toward metaphysics, and the latter toward theology. An example of this are some phenomenologists who through a faithful analysis of reality have emerged from subjective structures of consciousness and have pointed to an objective reality which opened the path to faith. However, those who have negated it, have shut themselves off also from the religious reality. By accepting faith, the longing for the fullness of reality does not wane, but instead is enhanced by a new dynamic. Stein is of the opinion that one who accepts this call of truth will slowly be transformed to a degree which will render one capable of a most sublime love that unites one with God. In this context theology also necessarily strives for continual openness, that is for the transcendence of faith in love as the ultimate true reality. This love is at the core of the Science of the Cross which, according to Edith Stein, is the ultimate and most sublime science which alone can satisfy the radical search for truth.
Keywords
Edith Stein; truth; science; phenomenology; theology; ethics; the Science of the Cross
Hrčak ID:
85701
URI
Publication date:
17.9.2012.
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