Proposal for the 2015 Annual Meeting of
The Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy
-- Author Meets Critics Session -The Aesthetics and Ethics of Faith: A Dialogue Between Liberationist and
Pragmatic Thought (Oxford University Press, 2014)
by Christopher Tirres (DePaul University)
The Aesthetics and Ethics of Faith: A Dialogue Between Liberationist and
Pragmatic Thought explores the methodological connections between two
quintessentially American traditions: liberation theology and pragmatism. It examines
how pragmatism can lend philosophical clarity and depth to some of liberation theology's
core ideas and assumptions. In turn, it also shows how liberation theology offers
pragmatism a more nuanced and sympathetic approach to religious faith, especially its
social and pedagogical dimensions. Ultimately, this work seeks to craft a philosophical
foundation that ensures the continued relevance of liberation thought in today’s world.
Keeping true to the method of pragmatism, the book begins inductively with a set
of actual experiences: the Good Friday liturgies at the San Fernando Cathedral in San
Antonio, Texas. The author offers a thick description of the way these dynamic rituals
integrate the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of faith. Subsequent chapters probe this
integration deductively at three levels of theoretical analysis: experience/metaphysics,
sociality, and pedagogy.
At the level of experience, Tirres brings John Dewey's pragmatism into
conversation with the ecofeminism of Brazilian theologian Ivone Gebara. The author
explores how both thinkers connect their theory of experience to a liberating ethics
through the medium of human intelligence. At the level of sociality, Tirres unpacks and
reconstructs Dewey's "cultural turn," as evidenced especially in Human Nature and
Conduct (1922), so as to yield a richer understanding of religious ritual. And at the level
of pedagogy, the author explores significant convergences between the pedagogies that
inform ritual practice at San Fernando (in particular, Virgilio Elizondo's and James
Empereur's pedagogical contributions), on the one hand, and Dewey's philosophy of
education, on the other. The chapter then reconstructs a Deweyan approach to religious
ritual by pulling together Dewey's scattered ruminations on the topic. As the author
shows, there is some compelling evidence within Dewey's writings to support a
sympathetic reading of religious ritual.
At all three levels, the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of faith emerge in
different yet related ways. The author argues that utilizing the categories of the aesthetic
and ethical enables a richer understanding of the dynamic relationship between faith and
politics.
A discussion of this book is a good fit for SAAP's annual conference given the
book's trans-hemispheric and interdisciplinary focus. It builds new bridges between a
number of discourses, including pragmatism, Latin American liberation theology, U.S.
Latino/a theology, feminism, ritual studies, and the philosophy of education.
This panel gathers leading scholars who have taken an interest in pragmatism in
Latin America and its diaspora. Christopher Tirres is Associate Professor of Religious
Studies at DePaul University. In addition to his book, he has written a number of articles
and chapters on the fertile intersections between pragmatism and liberation thought,
including contributions to Beyond the Pale: Reading Theology from the Margins, ed.
Miguel A. De La Torre and Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas and Decolonizing Epistemologies:
Latina/o Theology and Philosophy, ed. Ada María Isasi-Díaz and Eduardo Mendieta.
Panel respondents include (in alphabetical order):
Jim Garrison, Professor of Philosophy of Education, Virginia Tech. Garrison is
a renowned scholar of John Dewey's philosophy of education. Included among his
many publications are Dewey and Eros: Wisdom and Desire in the Art of
Teaching (Teachers College Press, 1997); Teaching with Reverence: Reviving an
Ancient Virtue for Today's Schools , co-edited with A. G. Rud (Palgrave, 2012);
and "Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education in the Hispanic World: A
Response," co-authored with Gregory Fernando Pappas, in Studies in Philosophy
and Education 24, no. 6 (2005).
For this panel, Garrison is an excellent choice given the book's focus on
the pedagogical significance of religious ritual. In addition to being a thoughtful
interpreter of Dewey's theory of education, Garrison is also a sensitive interpreter
of Dewey's religious humanism.
Gregory Fernando Pappas, Professor of Philosophy, Texas A&M University.
Author of John Dewey's Ethics: Democracy as Experience (Indiana University
Press, 2008), Pappas is a leading interpreter of John Dewey's ethics. In addition,
Pappas has led several important efforts to create sustained dialogues between
pragmatism, on the one hand, and Latin American and Latino/a thought, on the
other, as evidenced by his edited volume Pragmatism in the Americas (Fordham
University Press, 2011) and by his work as editor-in-chief of the Interamerican
Journal of Philosophy.
Pappas is a great choice for this panel given the book's trans-hemispheric
focus and its main thesis, which is that Dewey's philosophy of religion is
significant because it unites the ethical dimensions of experience with the
aesthetic dimensions of experience in an organic, non-reductionistic, and
mutually-sustaining way.
Kenneth Stikkers, Professor of Philosophy and Africana Studies, Southern
Illinois University, Carbondale. The past president of SAAP and an active
member of SAAP's Committee on Inter-American Relations, Stikkers has been a
major proponent in bringing SAAP into conversation with Latin American
organizations and institutions. Author of Utopian Visions Past, Present, and
Future, he also holds a position at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Mexico
as Professor of Economics and Sociology.
Stikkers is a superb choice for this panel given his deep appreciation for
international dialogues around pragmatism as well as well as his abiding interest
in socially-engaged forms of faith.