John Paul II’s Gamble with ‘the Meaning of Life’

• Authors: Hochschild Joshua P.
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

One of John Paul II’s remarkable innovations was his embrace of the question of “the meaning of life.” The question of “the meaning of life” was never asked before the 19th century, and it was slow to be integrated into Catholic discourse. When the question of life’s meaning emerged, it effectively replaced a prior question, about the purpose or telos of life, with a very different set of theoretical assumptions. From the traditional perspective, the question of life’s meaning is highly suspicious, and even Pope John Paul II’s unparalleled embrace of the question confirms that he framed his personalism in terms of the older question of life’s purpose or telos.

Keywords

EN

John Paul II; meaning of life; existentialism; personalism

• Publisher: International Étienne Gilson Society
• Journal: Studia Gilsoniana
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 491-515

Dates

published

2021-09-30

Contributors

author

Hochschild Joshua P.

• Mount St. Mary’s University, Md., USA

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7600-2075

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