When I started teaching at the Catholic University of America in the fall term of 1996, I was assigned the outer room of a split corner office in Saint Bonaventure Hall, a brick building that stood on the triangle between Michigan, Monroe and 7 Street N.E., which was built in 1925 to serve as the House of Studies of the Conventual Franciscans, and which had been acquired by Catholic University after the war. (It was torn down in 2014, and replaced by a multi-venue complex.) My office had a heart-warming view of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, whose dome – as is well-known – reflects rays of gold and blue. On the door of the office on the opposite of the corridor, hung a plate that read “McLean.” I had already heard about Father George McLean, O.M.I., and I was truly happy to meet him in person, which happened very soon. I still have quite a vivid picture of his big office, also a large corner office (unsplit!) with a big table and other small tables and chairs scattered around. Over- flowing bookshelves and piles of books contributed with the lowered shades to create the impression I first had, that of a cave. A cave of wisdom, for Father McLean shared the view made popular by Karl Jaspers, that when Confucius and Laozi lived and taught in China, the Upanishads were produced in India, where the Buddha lived, similarly Zarathustra in Persia, the prophets in Palestine, Homer, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Plato in Greece: “Everything implied by these names developed almost simultaneously in China, India, and the West.” Today we know well that the idea of founding and running the Centre for the Study of Culture and Values (CSCV) was right on. “We now have a dialogical civilization” – as Tu Weiming stated, introducing the magni- ficent paper he gave at the 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) in Beijing, August 2018. A dialogical civilization is much more than a dialogue of cultures. It is a culture that is born dialogical. Learning to be human is an ongoing task and we fulfill it by means of exposure to the arts and the humanities. Having passed away only twenty-three months before the start of the 24th WCP in Beijing, August 2018, Father McLean could not witness one of the greatest achievements of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP), an association to which he dedicated some precious years of his life, when he served on its Steering Committee from 1978 to 1988. FISP was founded at the 10th WCP in Amsterdam in 1948. FISP is a member of the Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines (CIPSH), the non-governmental organization that constitutes the link between all international humanities federations and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). FISP is the highest non-governmental world organization in philosophy. Its members are philosophical institutions at national, regional, and international levels. Each World Congress was a significant cultural event. Until 1998, all WCPs were held in Western countries. The first time the World Congress was held in Asia was the 21st WCP in Istanbul, August 2003; the first time in the Far-East was the 22nd WCP in Seoul, August 2008. It is significant that, after the long-due homage to philosophy in Greece, which was the 23rd WCP (in Athens, August 2013) – the last World Congress that Father McLean attended – the 24th WCP in Beijing, August 2018 – was once again held in the Far-East, this time marking the irreversible trend of establishing philosophy as the foundation of a dialogical civilization. In fact, the international program committee did more than that: it convinced FISP to abandon Aristotelian-Scholastic disciplinary classifications for the plenary sessions and to introduce instead items rooted in the tradition of spiritual humanism (jingshen renwenzhuyi 精神人文主义). Instead of the initial plenary session being on logic and metaphysics, the 24th WCP started with a plenary session on self (ji 己); instead of the second plenary on ethics and politics, it had a plenary on community (jun 群); instead of the third plenary on science, there was a plenary on nature (di 地); and instead of the fourth plenary being on religion, it was on spirit (tian 天). The scheme was completed by a fifth historical plenary on traditions (chuantong 传统), and was continued in the choice of the titles of the ten symposia. In conclusion, I am most grateful to Father McLean for having taught me that innovation lies in understanding dignity and otherness as shaped by history, but threatened by historical, philosophical and – above all – religious illiteracy.

Pozzo, R. (2020). Father McLean and Dialogical Civilization. In William Sweet, Hu Heping (a cura di), George F. McLean: Reminiscenses and Reflections (pp. 159-161). Washington, D.C. : Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

Father McLean and Dialogical Civilization

Pozzo, Riccardo
2020-12-01

Abstract

When I started teaching at the Catholic University of America in the fall term of 1996, I was assigned the outer room of a split corner office in Saint Bonaventure Hall, a brick building that stood on the triangle between Michigan, Monroe and 7 Street N.E., which was built in 1925 to serve as the House of Studies of the Conventual Franciscans, and which had been acquired by Catholic University after the war. (It was torn down in 2014, and replaced by a multi-venue complex.) My office had a heart-warming view of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, whose dome – as is well-known – reflects rays of gold and blue. On the door of the office on the opposite of the corridor, hung a plate that read “McLean.” I had already heard about Father George McLean, O.M.I., and I was truly happy to meet him in person, which happened very soon. I still have quite a vivid picture of his big office, also a large corner office (unsplit!) with a big table and other small tables and chairs scattered around. Over- flowing bookshelves and piles of books contributed with the lowered shades to create the impression I first had, that of a cave. A cave of wisdom, for Father McLean shared the view made popular by Karl Jaspers, that when Confucius and Laozi lived and taught in China, the Upanishads were produced in India, where the Buddha lived, similarly Zarathustra in Persia, the prophets in Palestine, Homer, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Plato in Greece: “Everything implied by these names developed almost simultaneously in China, India, and the West.” Today we know well that the idea of founding and running the Centre for the Study of Culture and Values (CSCV) was right on. “We now have a dialogical civilization” – as Tu Weiming stated, introducing the magni- ficent paper he gave at the 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) in Beijing, August 2018. A dialogical civilization is much more than a dialogue of cultures. It is a culture that is born dialogical. Learning to be human is an ongoing task and we fulfill it by means of exposure to the arts and the humanities. Having passed away only twenty-three months before the start of the 24th WCP in Beijing, August 2018, Father McLean could not witness one of the greatest achievements of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP), an association to which he dedicated some precious years of his life, when he served on its Steering Committee from 1978 to 1988. FISP was founded at the 10th WCP in Amsterdam in 1948. FISP is a member of the Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines (CIPSH), the non-governmental organization that constitutes the link between all international humanities federations and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). FISP is the highest non-governmental world organization in philosophy. Its members are philosophical institutions at national, regional, and international levels. Each World Congress was a significant cultural event. Until 1998, all WCPs were held in Western countries. The first time the World Congress was held in Asia was the 21st WCP in Istanbul, August 2003; the first time in the Far-East was the 22nd WCP in Seoul, August 2008. It is significant that, after the long-due homage to philosophy in Greece, which was the 23rd WCP (in Athens, August 2013) – the last World Congress that Father McLean attended – the 24th WCP in Beijing, August 2018 – was once again held in the Far-East, this time marking the irreversible trend of establishing philosophy as the foundation of a dialogical civilization. In fact, the international program committee did more than that: it convinced FISP to abandon Aristotelian-Scholastic disciplinary classifications for the plenary sessions and to introduce instead items rooted in the tradition of spiritual humanism (jingshen renwenzhuyi 精神人文主义). Instead of the initial plenary session being on logic and metaphysics, the 24th WCP started with a plenary session on self (ji 己); instead of the second plenary on ethics and politics, it had a plenary on community (jun 群); instead of the third plenary on science, there was a plenary on nature (di 地); and instead of the fourth plenary being on religion, it was on spirit (tian 天). The scheme was completed by a fifth historical plenary on traditions (chuantong 传统), and was continued in the choice of the titles of the ten symposia. In conclusion, I am most grateful to Father McLean for having taught me that innovation lies in understanding dignity and otherness as shaped by history, but threatened by historical, philosophical and – above all – religious illiteracy.
1-dic-2020
Settore M-FIL/06 - STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA
English
Rilevanza internazionale
Commento
Metaphysics, Values, Intercultural Philosophy, George F. McLean
Pozzo, R. (2020). Father McLean and Dialogical Civilization. In William Sweet, Hu Heping (a cura di), George F. McLean: Reminiscenses and Reflections (pp. 159-161). Washington, D.C. : Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.
Pozzo, R
Contributo in libro
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/276387
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