Ultimate Questions: Theology & Philosophy

Letter from the Inaugural Associate Director of Ultimate Questions

Dear Faculty, Adjunct Faculty, and Graduate Student Instructors,

All of us are tasked with teaching Ultimate Questions courses in the Saint Louis University Core. We are trained as philosophers, and we know how to teach philosophical content and methods; we are trained as theologians, and we know how to teach theological content and methods. Ultimate Questions courses, however, ask something more of us.

They ask us to expose students to the rich intellectual and religious tradition that motivated the founding of the university and shapes its mission and identity today. They also ask us to nurture students’ own innate curiosity about ultimate questions and to wrestle with those questions in dialogue with that Catholic, Jesuit tradition. This work is done in order to help students achieve the first Student Learning Outcome of the Core curriculum as a whole: “Students will be able to examine their actions and vocations in dialogue with the Catholic, Jesuit tradition.”

Regardless of our own personal philosophical, theological, and faith commitments, it is our responsibility to facilitate such dialogue, even as we are welcome to educate our students in other traditions as well. For those who identify as being outside the Catholic, Jesuit tradition or for those who are Catholic but not Jesuit, we might find ourselves struggling or feeling very limited in terms of how much we can do this work. This page is meant to provide resources for support and some starting points for reflection as a community.

The goal is to listen to the voices of those who embody the Catholic tradition and/or the Jesuit sub-tradition within it and to learn from them what motivates their tradition, what is distinctive about their approach to philosophy and theology, why they consider these disciplines so important for the education of the whole person, what they might hope students of any background gain from a study of their tradition, and what key concepts of Ignatian spirituality mean and how they might inform classroom discussions and exercises.

As we think about our syllabi and, more importantly, our engagement with students in the classroom, and as we think about how to incorporate and introduce the Catholic, Jesuit tradition, perhaps we can move beyond thinking merely about which author to assign and how many Catholic thinkers should be on our syllabi. Perhaps we can discern ways in which the Catholic, Jesuit tradition can infuse the types of questions we raise, the goals we make for our students, the kinds of assignments we give, and the attitude and response we display toward events around us and students in front of us.

Atria A. Larson

Spring 2022

Reflections from Jesuit Scholastics

Click here to read reflections from men who have committed themselves to a life embodying the Ignatian charism, of living a life of service to humanity inspired by the theological commitments of the Catholic Church and spiritual ideals of St. Ignatius of Loyola. All of these men pursue studies in both philosophy and theology in their formation as Jesuits and have thoughts about why they do so, what is special about their tradition, and what they hope students gain from their study of ultimate questions in philosophy and theology and the Catholic, Jesuit tradition.

External Resources

Click here to find a guide to a small selection of what is available on the internet and in readily accessible journals about particular aspects of Ignatian spirituality, including explanations of key terms that express guiding ideas in Jesuit faith and life. Also included is an essay by M. Ross Romero, SJ (Kenrick-Glennon Seminary) and David McPherson (Creighton University) about the role of philosophy in a Catholic university.