Justin Sean Luis Canaria

The Good is Love: The Body and Human Acts in Humanae Vitae and John Paul II turns a nightmare into a wonderful dream come true. The primary topic discussed is about a contemporary real-life issue that is put forward in the mainstream culture as progress in human development. But this work manages to expose the truth behind this so-called progress. Instead of the progress as it is often portrayed, contraception is actually a recess in human moral development. Through the analysis of the encyclical Humanae Vitae and the philosophical and theological writings of John Paul II, Reimers was able to showcase the metaphysical reality behind the issue that the proponents of the practice reject. It does this in a profound yet down to earth manner that readers will be able to relate to. Reading this book will open one’s eyes to the bigger picture: that is portrayed as true, good, and love in contemporary culture is an evil practice legitimized as a result of decades of philosophical and cultural movements that shaped the world we know today. Moreover, he will be able to understand the Catholic Church’s teachings against contraception and abortion for example, thereby enabling them to find true happiness. Ergo, the reader will be made aware about the truth about the good, which is love, and vice-versa.

Where is God in a Coronavirus World? is successful in its attempt to answer a question that many people are lasting at the present more than ever before. The primary topic discussed is a perennial philosophical issue (God’s existence) that is being negated in the mainstream culture with the ongoing pandemic as its proof. But this work manages to expose the truth behind this refutation. Instead of the progress as it is often portrayed, atheism is shown to be inconsistent and ultimately unhelpful, especially in hard times such as the pandemic. Lennox was able to showcase the metaphysical, moral and logical reality behind the issue that the opponents of the practice reject. It does this in a profound yet down to earth manner that readers will be able to relate to. Reading this book will open one’s eyes to the bigger picture: that it is in hard times that God’s presence is both truly present and ever more so needed and those who reject his existence due to the circumstances are either ignorant or have ulterior motives in doing do. This was made possible as a result of decades of philosophical and cultural movements that shaped the world we know today. Thus, the reader will be made aware of where God is in the coronavirus world and he need not feel so alone.

Juan Manuel Burgos presents his own version of personalism, which is nevertheless well rooted in the personalist tradition. He has been developing his project for years and is among a group of world-renowned personalists who study the complexity and mystery of the human person. His new book deals with the relationship between personalism and metaphysics. He poses the question of whether personalism can be considered a first philosophy. The answer is positive: it is indeed a sectorial first philosophy, which may or may not be supported by traditional metaphysical projects, especially Thomistic ones. Not every personalist has to agree with its final thesis, although its position is well-founded and deserves much scholarly attention. It provokes further questions and opens up new areas of personalist discussion. This book confirms that personalism is a dynamic and growing school of thought that goes beyond describing the mere phenomena of the person and seeks deeper reasons for his being. I highly recommend this book as a new step to help us better understand the reality of the human person.

Karol Wojtyła’s Acting Person: In Philippine Contextscould servereaders looking for an introduction/pastoral approach to themes developed by Wojtyła. However,from ascholarly perspective,it fails to add any meaningful contribution to the discussion onpersonalismor Karol Wojtyla’s philosophy. Its dependence on outdated translations, lack of engagement with the English Critical Editionof Person and Act, absence of recentsecondary scholarship, and structural driftfrom sustained textual analysis cause this particular work to fail to meet current academic standards.

Human experience occupies a central place in philosophical anthropology. A famous dictum calls it as the best teacher. This paper wishes to assess whether that popular dictum is accurate. It does so by engaging the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and Karol Wojtyła (Pope St. John Paul II). Although formed in different intellectual contexts, these thinkers offer complementary insights. Aquinas, drawing from the Aristotelian tradition, grounds experience in sensation, memory, and abstraction, showing its indispensable role in the acquisition of knowledge and in the regulation of the passions. Wojtyła, building upon this realist foundation, develops a phenomenological account of lived subjectivity, emphasising consciousness, self-determination, and moral responsibility. Together, they show that experience is not self-validating, although it already includes an initial understanding of what is experienced. Experience provides contact with reality and the material of human becoming (fieri), but its cognitive and moral significance must be critically clarified by reason and ordered toward the truth about the good. Thus, experience is indispensable but not sovereign: it teaches epistemically and morally only under the guidance of truth and virtue.

This article explores the concept of heaven as defined by St. Karol Wojtyła and Confucius. By comparing the structural parallels of heaven from both perspectives, we can see how each thinker illuminates the other. Both emphasise the objectivity of the norms and that the ultimate goal of sagehood (for Confucius) and sainthood (for Karol) necessitates alignment with a transcendent moral order. However, there are crucial differences between the impersonal order of the Sage and the personal call of the Saint. Whereas the Junzi espouses alignment and harmony with the cosmic order, the Saint responds dialogically to a Divine Subject, thereby discovering that true self-determination consists in a genuine gift of self. Ultimately, the paper argues that classical Confucian thought parallels Christian ethics, thus serving as a praeparatio evangelica for Western personalism by demonstrating how the ethical discipline of the Junzi lays the foundation for a civilization of love grounded in interpersonal communion.

Studies of Karol Wojtyła’s personalism have consistently kept to his theme of understanding the person in a way that begins with the individual, prior to addressing the community. Following the paradigm of Person and Act, the I is seen as the ground for understanding the We, as it is through experience that one has contact with reality, and the community is itself composed of individual subjects. This article, however, inverts the question. Can a Community‑First approach strengthen personalism without falling into the trap of collectivism? I argue that the community is not merely a result of individual participation, but also the primordial soil that allows the subject to emerge as a person.