Microsoft Word Jurnal 1 13 ed doc

Fəlsəfə və sosial-siyasi elmlər – 2013, № 1
 
 
 
 
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reveal itself at the point of departure»
1
. The multiple truths of which the 
human intellect has progressively become capable are expressions of a 
single truth, which has been subject to an inevitable process of 
fragmentation. This premise guarantees the profound intelligibility of the 
universe, which, by proceeding scientifically, our knowledge can discover. 
It also makes it possible to compare thinkers from different epochs, such as 
Husserl and Thomas Aquinas, drawn by a fascination with the truth. Thus 
defined, philosophia perennis presents itself as a knowledge that is open, yet 
bound to a lasting foundation of truth
2
. 
On the theme of truth, Stein however notes a profound difference 
between Husserl and Thomas Aquinas: the former is interested in knowing 
the truth that can be reached by purely human means, whereas the latter 
does not hesitate to turn to the faith. Indeed, in the thought of Thomas 
Aquinas, faith complements and completes philosophy, since, in his view, 
the fullness of the truth cannot be achieved by purely human means. Stein 
also attributes a knowledge value to faith, understood as a complementary 
component of thought, not as a sentiment with no relationship to the field of 
truth and falsehood. It is precisely the search for truth that enables an 
authentic and fruitful relationship between reason and faith: reason finds in 
faith completion and further promptings; faith is fully complemented and 
confirmed by reason in the human journey towards truth
3
. 
                                                 
1
 E.  S
TEIN
,  Endliches und ewiges Sein. Versuch eines Aufstiegs zum Sinn des Seins, 
Anhang:  Martin Heideggers Existenzphilosophie.  Die Seelenburg, Eingeführt und 
bearbeitet von A. Uwe Müller, ESGA 11/12, Herder, Freiburg-Basel-Wien 2006, p. 9; 
English translation Finite and Eternal Being. An Attempt at an Ascent To the
 
Meaning of 
Being, by K. F. Reinhardt, ICS Publications, Washington, D.C. 2002, p. 1. 
2
 In Stein’s view, Christian thought can make a decisive contribution to ‘philosophia 
perennis’ on the great questions of being and knowledge, seeking to heal the rift produced 
in the course of Modernity. 
3
 It is interesting to read Stein's comment in a letter to Roman Ingarden dated 10
th
 of 
February 1928, in response to a reference made by her interlocutor to her ‘philosophical 
dignity’: «I believe that there are things – not only from a religious point of view, but also 
in philosophical terms – that go beyond the confines of what is possible with natural 
knowledge. Philosophy, understood as a science that arises from a purely natural 
knowledge, as you surely see it, can also recognise its own limits. It follows then from a 
philosophical point of view that these limits should be respected, while it is illogical to seek 
to reach something that goes beyond these limits by purely philosophical means» [E. S
TEIN
, 

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Analysing faith in phenomenological terms, Stein began to see the 
relationship between faith and reason, revelation and philosophy. As an act 
of understanding and “being touched by the hand of God”, faith indicates a 
capacity for understanding that is the gift of grace, the result of supernatural 
intervention. In contrast, philosophy limits itself to the exercise of natural 
reason. The word faith (Glaube) indicates the acceptance of a being as true 
or real, and the certainty that it leads to an understanding of what exists 
realiter or idealiter. 
The position expressed by Stein in her essay of 1929 on Husserl and 
Thomas Aquinas is developed further in Endliches und ewiges Sein 
(1935/36), which in the original German has a significant by-line: Versuch 
eines Aufstiegs zum Sinn des Seins. This is an explicit allusion to 
Heidegger’s  Sein und Zeit, which Stein analyses in the final part. In this 
work too, which is heavily influenced by Augustine, her interest in the 
human subject is central. In this work, as in other papers and conferences, 
Edith Stein enters the debate over the legitimacy of Christian philosophy, 
distancing herself from those who argue the irreconcilability of philosophy 
and Christianity. Interest in the being, fundamental in her research, led her 
to go beyond «the neo-scholastic positions in two directions. In the first 
place her intent is to maintain the autonomy of philosophical research in 
terms of its structure and its openness to recognition of the other; in the 
second place, her attitude towards the history of philosophy and more 
generally her appreciation of the contribution made by individual thinkers to 
the clarification of the problems, a contribution that is evaluated and where 
appropriate used without preclusions, is also and above all original»
1
. 
After entering the Carmelite convent, her philosophical talent, which 
had so impressed Husserl, was not missed by her superiors, who quite 
exceptionally allowed her to dedicate herself to philosophy, completing 
works she had previously started and embarking on new research. Her final 
                                                                                                                            
Selbstbildnis in Briefen. Briefe an Roman Ingarden, Einleitung von H.-B. Gerl-Falkovitz, 
Bearbeitung und Anmerkungen von M. A. Neyer, Fußnoten mit bearbeitet von E. Avé-
Lallemant, ESGA 4, Herder, Freiburg-Basel-Wien 2001, p. 195 (our translation)]. 
1
 A. A
LES 
B
ELLO
, Introduzione to La ricerca della verità, pp. 42-43. (our translation) 

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