THEOLOGY AND POSTMODERNISM

Catalog description

Most putatively postmodern thought is not post -modern but hyper -modern. Radicalizing the premises of early modern philosophy, it seeks to deconstruct any residual belief in reason’s ability to know anything substantially true about the nature of man, the whole, and God. Catholic theology thus finds itself in a unique situation: it currently must defend both faith and reason from modern rationalism’s degeneration into irrationalism. Drawing on the works of theologians such as Karl Rahner, Bernard Lonergan, J ohn Milbank, Ernest Fortin, and Joseph Ratzinger, this course examines theology’s response to this challenge. Special attention is paid to the ways in which a serious, dialectical encounter with both premodern classical and Christian thought allows us to appreciate the strengths and limitations of modern rationalism.