ABC odbudowy cywilizacji łacińsko-chrześcijańskiej według Étienne Gilsona i Mieczysława A. Krąpca OP
ABC of Reconstruction of Latin and Christian Civilization according to Étienne Gilson and Mieczysław A. Krąpiec OP

Summary/Abstract: The article indicates that the basis of the Latin-Christian civilization is its personalistic character. It means that the whole organization of human social life is directed to the good of man as a person. The crisis of the Latin-Christian civilization was expressed in the fact that ethics was detached from politics and economics, and in this way deprived of their proper purpose, which was the good of the human person. At the basis of this – as É. Gilson and M. A. Krąpiec observe – lies a metaphysical mistake, that is, an erroneous understanding of reality (being), which entails an anthropological error (mistaken understanding of man) and a theistic error (misunderstanding of God). In order to reverse this and rebuild the foundations of Christian civilization, a deeper philosophical reflection is needed than the modern philosophy proposes. For this reason, they propose to reach for metaphysics that teaches people to read the world of people and things. This type of philosophy makes a person wise and free in cognition and action. Cognitive freedom is expressed in the fact that we discover the world as a theistic creative act, and so the human being, is said to be created in the image and likeness of God. This is the basis of understanding the European culture as a civilization inspired by Christian principles. On the other hand, freedom in action, in turn, is expressed in the fact that the human action is guided by right will (recta voluntas) and right reason (recta ratio), and these become such when they are directed towards the good and truth of beings. Only a return to such knowledge and to such a philosophy gives a chance to reestablish the foundations of Latin-Christian civilization and restore them to unity.

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