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| Michel de Certeau, S.J. |
I'm referring to a recent interview Pope Francis gave to a leftist French newspaper where he name drops not one, not two but five 20th century French philosophers.
The Pope also said that the "Arab invasion" (his term) of Europe is a good thing, and France should become more secular in order to be more attuned to the transcendent. Or this and that or some such.
But I digress.
Despite the post title, this is not a criticism of France or the French or even 20th century France or the French.
20th century Analytical Philosophy (mainly English) was about applying logical techniques to analyze words or concepts in order to clarify their meanings.
20th century Continental Philosophy (largely French but also German) was about talking or writing pretentious bull in order to pick up chicks.
Okay, scruples on sexual morality aside, it's pretty obvious to me that one of those two above is clearly superior in, you know, a practical sense. See, I'm not being critical of the French.
Now some guys don't have to talk or write pretentious bull to pick up chicks. But if you look like John Paul Sartre, then you do what you can...
I'm not judging.
What is truly moronic, however, is taking that pretentious bull seriously as anything other than a scheme to pick up chicks. I assume that Pope Francis is not at this point interested in picking up chicks. Therefore, Pope Francis is...well, you know.
Here are some of the names the Pope cited in that interview:
Emmanuel Lévinas
Emmanuel Mounier
Henri de Lubac (Yeah, I know Ignatius published him. They were wrong.)
Paul Ricœur
Michel de Certeau
Plato (not French, but a proto-20th century bullsh*tter if there ever was one)And here are some of their most renowned works:
From Existence to Existents
Time and the Other
Alterity and Transcendence
The Personalist and Communitarian Revolution
The Awakening of Black Africa (okay, that's not strictly philosophy but still)
Time and Narrative
Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning
Aspects of Buddhism, Vol. 2 (Vol. 1 was a bust)
Teilhard de Chardin: the Man and His Meaning
Culture in the Plural
Heterologies: Discourse on the Other
Man, it's enough to make you want to drink a six-pack of Pabst and vote for Donald Trump.
Almost.
Hannah Arendt coined the term "banality of evil." And it so richly fits. It wasn't just about mediocre clerk types who became Nazis. It was also about 1960's Jesuit intellectuals. Or so it seems to me. And Arendt currently isn't in any position to disagree. But I hope she went to Heaven solely for that definition.
Would you like to come upstairs and see my Hannah Arendt collection?
