Microsoft Word Jurnal 1 13 ed doc

Fəlsəfə və sosial-siyasi elmlər – 2013, № 1
 
 
 
 
144
works in German, together with the translations with respect to this new 
second edition. Regarding the international response to Edith Stein, Father 
Alfieri’s starting date is 1919
1
, although, in practice, most studies of her 
were published from 1942 to 2012. In the bibliography of secondary 
sources, in addition to monographs, essays, articles and collections, there 
are also reviews, providing a more complete picture of her work. In some 
cases, Alfieri has added brief notes (between guillemots < >), providing the 
reader with background information and reflections he has made over the 
years while consulting various works on Stein for his own research. Where 
possible, the bibliographical information includes ISSN and ISBN codes to 
make the works easier to retrieve. 
The bibliography includes books, articles and essays (on philosophy, 
spirituality and mysticism), of both a scientific and popular nature, demons-
trating the broad and progressive growth of Steinian studies, as well as 
Stein's multi-faceted personality: her writings are based on a sophisticated 
application of the phenomenological method, achieved by means of a rare 
intelligence and intuition, combined with a direct and simple spirituality. 
Her expository style is characterised by clarity, communicative skill, 
conciseness, intellectual honesty and an avoidance of polemics. Balanced 
and without prejudice, Edith Stein seeks to identify what unites us, not what 
divides the various positions, in accordance with the logic of philosophia 
perennis and the teachings of St Paul, who she quotes on many occasions: 
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5, 21). This 
is an invitation to maintain an attitude of openness towards the various 
currents of thought, because on the one hand it is necessary to learn in order 
to consciously adopt a position, while on the other it is appropriate to 
discern before committing oneself. The search for truth therefore requires a 
readiness to consult sources other than simple reason, as in the paradigmatic 
case of medieval thought, which is a synthesis of philosophy and theology. 
Thomas Aquinas is a significant example in this regard, having succeeded in 
integrating Aristotelian thought into the progression of his research. In the 
                                                 
1
 The text of 1919 is Husserl’s recommendation concerning Stein’s habilitation. 

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145
same way, Stein sought to grasp and integrate suggestions from classical, 
medieval and modern thought, in order to «build a bridge between contem-
porary speculation and tradition»
1
. In her opinion, the phenomenological 
school provided an appropriate method for achieving this connection. 
In this context the sense in which she accepts the possibility of a 
‘Christian philosophy’ also becomes clear: it is not a question of grasping 
the truth revealed qua talis in philosophy, but of acquiring responses from 
such a source to insoluble questions, so that faith itself becomes for reason a 
broadening of knowledge. This does not mean that philosophy ceases to be 
rigorous scientific research, in accordance with the Husserlian ideal, but 
rather that it acknowledges the insufficiency of rational methods alone and 
opens up to other perspectives. Starting from this awareness, Stein 
recognises that all routes to the truth are valid. Thus she gathers the 
teachings of the Church, the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers and the ancient 
and medieval philosophers, with both deep respect and a critical eye
2
. Her 
byword is intellectual honesty, which ought to be a requirement for any 
authentic philosopher, along with awareness that individual researchers 
cannot by themselves draw on everything that is possible in the human 
mind. For this reason, research is a community effort that unites across time 
and space. Since truth is inexhaustible, knowledge of it is multi-faceted, 
dialogical and communal. It is not a matter of adhering to a certain current 
or interpretative proposal; rather, it involves gathering the suggestions of 
those thinkers who can best illuminate knowledge of the human being, the 
world and God. Philosophy maintains its autonomy as a field of research in 
which human reason can obtain valid albeit limited results. At the same time 
it can allow itself to be guided by faith so that it may proceed further in the 
search for the truth. Such a recognition implies that the philosopher does not 
submit to reason, but realises its limits. This phase of the journey is 
indispensable, because it can be undertaken together with non-believers; 
reason can be equally at home with the school of the Greeks and the 
                                                 
1
 Ibid., p. 39. (our translation) 
2
 Ibid., p. 21. 

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Fəlsəfə və sosial-siyasi elmlər – 2013, № 1
 
 
 
 
146
moderns. Those who do this and also accept the suggestions of faith can be 
considered ‘Christian philosophers’
1
. 
‘Christian philosophy’ is thus neither ‘pure’ nor ‘autonomous’. 
Indeed, no philosophy that seeks the truth could ever be so, since to reach 
the truth an absolutely autonomous philosophical research is structurally 
insufficient. It is for this reason that Stein detached herself from Husserl, 
who in her opinion, despite having grasped the reasons behind the ‘crisis’ of 
contemporary culture, remained anchored to the same modern mentality that 
he sought to transcend. Here we are dealing with two ways of looking not so 
much at philosophy or the ends of human research, as at the means that 
human beings have at their disposal and their effectiveness. Husserl limits 
himself to pointing out the impossibility of reason providing an exhaustive 
result, raising the prospect of research without end; in contrast Stein, 
inspired by the model of enquiry of the medieval Summae, compensates for 
this intrinsic weakness by accepting the revelation of God and the tradition 
inspired by this. This is what she seeks to achieve in Endliches und ewiges 
Sein, a new and sophisticated summa in which the investigations of the past 
come together with the most convincing aspects of contemporary thought, in 
a universal and transversal ‘community of research’. 
 
References: 
 
 
A
LES 
B
ELLO
 A., Edith Stein zwischen Husserl und Thomas von Aquin. 
Phänomenologie und christliche Philosophie, in F. A
LFIERI
, Die Rezeption Edith 
Steins, p. 11-31. 
 
A
LES 
B
ELLO
 A., Edith Stein. La passione per la verità, Edizioni Messaggero, 
Padova 2003. 
 
A
LES 
B
ELLO
 A., Fenomenologia dell’essere umano. Lineamenti di una filosofia al 
femminile, Città Nuova, Rome 1992. 
 
                                                 
1
 Ibid., pp. 42-43; M. P
AOLINELLI
,  La ragione salvata. Sulla “filosofia cristiana” di 
Edith Stein, Franco Angeli, Milano 2001, pp. 143-149. 

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