Tag

philosophy

Apr 17
0

Young Adults and the Catholic Church – Marcus Grodi interviews JonMarc and Teresa

By | Catholicism, Culture, Uncategorized | No Comments

My wife Teresa, our friend Mary Clare Piecynski, and I were interviewed last year by my father, Marcus Grodi, on the experience of living the faith encountered by young adults in the Catholic church today. I hope you enjoy!

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In this special 3-part video, Marcus Grodi interviews three Catholic young adults on the experiences and struggles faced by young Catholics in trying to live out their faith in the 21st century.

About the Guests:

JonMarc and Teresa Grodi are recent newlyweds and more recent parents (since this interview was recorded last year) who studied and were involved with campus ministry at Bowling Green State University and the St. Thomas More University Parish. JonMarc has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and he works full-time as the Communications Coordinator for the Coming Home Network International, freelances as a web-designer, and blogs at www.restatementoftheobvious.com. In addition to being a full-time mom, Teresa has a master’s degree in History and freelances as a writer and copy-editor. Both help to run a local “Faith on Tap” group and occasionally speak at Catholic events.

Mary Clare Piecynski is a life-long Catholic and staff member of the Coming Home Network International. Mary Clare graduated from Ave Maria University in 2005 with a degree in Theology. She works with lay men and women, young adults, and spouses of clergy who are on the journey to the Catholic Church, along with coordinating the CHNetwork’s monthly newsletter. Mary Clare assisted for several years with RCIA, takes part in various Catholic young adult activities in her area, and is privileged to be a Big Sister with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Sep 27
0

Functionalism and Human Personhood

By | Philosophy and Culture, The Human Person, Uncategorized | No Comments

For your entertainment and pondering, here is a video project from my college days that addresses the topic of “Functionalism and the Human Person”.

Functionalist definitions of person-hood are often used in the abortion debate as a justification for why unborn children do not posses the right to life. The attempt is made to reduce the definition of the “human person” to simply that of the aggregate of its functions. In other words, the functionalist claims that we afford individuals the right to life – “person-hood” – because of what they do rather than what they are.

The two videos provide a quick and dirty look at how functionalism is used (errantly in my opinion) to describe or define (and in some cases, explain away) what it means to be a human “person”. If you enjoy the video and want to read a bit more, I have attached my corresponding essay that is more in depth and has citations for you to pursue.

Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts!

Click to read my essay on Functionalism and the Human Person

Sep 24
0

On the Web: Peter Kreeft.com

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As a fan of his, how would I best describe Peter Kreeft? Simply, the best “teacher” I have ever encountered.

Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College, is nearing the 60 book mark, is a renowned Catholic speaker, and has a host of free articles and audio bytes on his site www.peterkreeft.com.

Kreeft speaks to a variety of philosophical and theological topics with great eloquence and order.
I have often remarked to my friends that while with most authors/speakers one might skim through their topics to find one that sounds “catchy” assuming that it may be one of their more interesting pieces, with Kreeft, some of my favorite works are those that are simply overviews of a basic topic (such as homosexuality, prayer, and why we don’t have priestesses) because he is such a great teacher!

My favorite resource are his talks (available by podcast) – be sure to listen to “Culture War”, “Priestesses”, “Moral Theology and Homosexuality”, and for the more abstract/literary/philosophically minded, “Language of Beauty” is excellent, although it needs a good 4-6 listens to really sink in : )

If, like me, you are not in school but want to continue to be enriched in the deep theology and philosophy of the Catholic faith, Peter Kreeft is an excellent teacher and www.peterkreeft.com is an excellent place to start learning!