Destined for Liberty: The Human Person in the Philosophy of Karol Wojtya/John Paul II [Hardcover]

Jaroslaw Kupczak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

In this compelling new work, Jaroslaw Kupczak, O.P., presents a complete introduction to John Paul II’s theory of the human person. Both enlightening and accessible, the book traces the development of Karol Wojtyla’s theology from his earlier and lesser-known writings--"The Habilitation Thesis" and "Lublin Lectures"--to his more popular writings--"Love and Responsibility" and "The Acting Person." The author finds that Wojtyla is a remarkably consistent thinker. Unlike many of his contemporaries, his thought has never undergone any intellectual revolution or change. His earlier writings thus make possible a fuller appreciation of the more popular texts and Papal encyclicals.

Throughout the entire book, the author patiently guides the reader through the complexity of Wojtyla’s thought. Kupczak presents analytical commentary of Wojtyla’s key philosophical texts, most of which are still not available in English. Given his access to the original Polish texts, he provides a missing link between the moral teaching of John Paul II and the early stages of his intellectual career.

Kupczak carefully examines the main sources of Wojtyla’s moral theory: the mystical theology of St. John of the Cross, the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, and modern phenomenology, especially that of Max Scheler. Among the key anthropological concepts presented and analyzed are: ethical values and human freedom, the relation between freedom and truth, the conscience and consciousness, the human body, and the process of human cognition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Karol Wojtyla was a professional philosopher before he became a bishop, and Kupczak clearly traces the main streams of thought in his intellectual formation. First Kupczak notes that, even before he was a philosopher, Wojtyla was an actor, playwright, and poet. That experience made him particularly sympathetic to the phenomenological tradition, which, unlike the empiricism and positivism that have dominated Anglo-American philosophy, attends first to concrete wholes experienced by whole persons acting in the world. For Wojtyla, phenomenology meant especially Max Scheler, whose ethics informed his earliest philosophical work. Kupczak depicts Wojtyla's philosophy as a critical synthesis of phenomenological (Schelerian) and metaphysical (Aristotelian-Thomist) strands of a philosophical anthropology depicting the person as efficient cause of his or her own action. Interrupted when he became bishop of Krakow, Wojtyla's philosophical career has continually informed his enormously influential subsequent writings. Kupczak's invaluable introduction to the philosophical background of the papacy of John Paul II accessibly equips readers to encounter the pope's work as an original and sustained contribution to philosophy. Steven Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Jaroslaw Kupczak, O.P., is rector and professor of theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Cracow, Poland. He has written numerous articles popularizing the philosophy and theology of Karol Wojtyla.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Catholic University of America Press (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813209846
• ISBN-13: 978-0813209845
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,268,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great examination of Wojtyla's Thought, April 23, 2005

By 

Juan Olvera (Orlando, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destined for Liberty: The Human Person in the Philosophy of Karol Wojtya/John Paul II (Paperback)

Kupczak's book Destined for Liberty is an excellent book to know more behind Wojtyla's thought. The book starts with an introduction from Michael Novak which ends with a Polish prayer to JPII: " May he live a hundred years".

The book analyzes Wojtyla's thought by first examining his early writings and methodology. In the latter sections he talks about his habilitation thesis and his Lublin Lectrues. In the methodology section he explains his mix of phenomenology with Thomistic thought and does an excellent section that highlights some of the critiques of Wojtyla at the time Wojtyla published and explained his work, The Acting Person.

After Kupczak examines Wojtyla's writings and method he concentrates on Wojtyla's thought on consciousness and efficacy as well as transcedence and intergration. The latter crucial to understanding Wojtyla's thought.

Great book! Read it.