Can the Unity of the University Be Restored in Our Age?

Balázs M. MEZEI

Institute for Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Péter Pázmány Catholic University, Egyetem utca 1, 2087 Piliscsaba, Hungary , Hungary

Abstract

In this paper I argue that the intellectual unity of the university, in particular the Catholic university, can and must be restored. This becomes clear in the light of a new reading of the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae and the Encyclical Fides et Ratio—both promulgated with the intention to reform university research and teaching. I offer a reconsideration of these documents on the basis of what I call a ‘radical philosophical theology of revelation,’ and also on the basis of a ‘philosophy of the people’ developed with respect to the intellectual background of Pope Francis. If the intellectual unity of the Catholic university is restored along these lines, the question of the genuine community of university researchers and teachers can be addressed anew. In particular, I argue that the philosophical basis of Catholic universities needs to be reinterpreted and linked to important fields of contemporary science, especially quantum theory and awareness study. As I show in a Venn-diagram, the various layers of the unity of university research, teaching and community can be connected to one another in a systemic way in which philosophy, in particular the philosophy of revelation, plays the fundamental role.

Keywords:

university, renewal of the Catholic university, philosophy of revelation, philosophy of the people, quantum physics, awareness research, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Fides et Ratio