Maimonides on negative theology

Negative theology (also known as apophatic theology) is the approach to understanding the divine nature that emphasizes that what we know about God is what he is not rather than what he is.  One might take the strong view that all of our knowledge of God’s nature is negative in this way, or the weaker position that much (but not all) such knowledge is negative.  The medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) is among the most famous of negative theologians.  He takes the stronger position.  More precisely, his view is that when we predicate something of God, we are describing either his effects in the world of our experience, or the divine nature itself, and in the latter case we must understand our predications in a purely negative way.

Diabolical modernity

Satan tempted Christ to avoid the cross, and offer us instead the satisfaction of our appetites, marvels or wonders, and political salvation – exactly what modern market economies, science, and liberal democracy promise us.  In my latest essay at Postliberal Order, I discuss Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s analysis of the diabolical, and the light it sheds on the character of the modern world.

Hanson on observation

According to the conception of scientific method traditionally associated with Francis Bacon, science ought to begin with the accumulation of observations unbiased by any theoretical preconceptions.  The idea is that only such theory-neutral evidence could provide an objective basis on which to choose between theories.  It became a commonplace of twentieth-century philosophy of science that this ideal of theory-neutral observation is illusory, and that in reality all observation is inescapably theory-laden (to use the standard jargon).  That is to say, even to describe what it is we observe, we cannot avoid making use of theoretical assumptions about its nature, circumstances, and so on.

Newman on capital punishment

It was announced last week that Pope Leo XIV will be declaring St. John Henry Newman to be a Doctor of the Church.  As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, the Church proclaims someone to be a Doctor on account of “eminent learning” and “a high degree of sanctity.”  This combination makes a Doctor an exemplary guide to matters of faith and morals.  To be sure, the Doctors are not infallible.  Their authority is not as great as that of scripture, the consensus of the Church Fathers, or the definitive statements of the Church’s magisterium.  All the same, their authority is considerable.  As Aquinas notes, appeal to the authority of the Doctors of the Church is “one that may properly be used” in addressing doctrinal questions, even if such an appeal by itself yields “probable” conclusions rather than incontrovertible ones (Summa Theologiae I.1.8).