Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) October 8, 2024: My favorite scholar is the American Jesuit Renaissance specialist and cultural historian and pioneering media ecology theorist Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University - where I took five courses from over the years.
In plain English, when I was an undergraduate student at Saint Louis University about 60 years ago, I became an Ong fan, and when I subsequently became a scholar, I continued to be an Ong fan.
In my various OEN articles over the years, I have frequently discussed Ong's work - most notably in my OEN article "Walter J. Ong's Philosophical Thought" (dated September 20, 2020):
In the meantime, I recently published an OEN article titled "Robert Moore on Optimal Human Psychological Development" (dated September 17, 2024):
In it, I discussed the work of the late Jungian psychotherapist and theorist Rober Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in religion and psychology, University of Chicago, 1975), most notably (1) The Impotent Lover "shadow" form of the feminine Lover archetype in the human psyche, (2) The Addicted Lover "shadow" form of the feminine Lover archetype in the human psyche, and (3) the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in the human psyche.
Also in my OEN article about Robert Moore dated September 17, 2024, I connected The Impotent Lover "shadow" form of the feminine Lover archetype in the human psyche, and The Impotent Lover "shadow" form of the masculine Lover archetype in the human psyche, with the moral vision of the Roman Catholic Church regarding individual personal morality.
By specifying the moral vision regarding individual personal morality, I mean to differentiate the Church's teaching regarding individual personal morality from the commendable body of Catholic social teaching.
For example, Pope Francis' widely read 2015 eco-encyclical Laudato Si' is part of the commendable body of Catholic social teaching.
For further discussion of the commendable body of Catholic social teaching, see the English lay theologian Anna Rowlands' 2021 book Towards a Politics of Communion: Catholic Social Teaching in Dark Times (T&T Clark).
For a well-informed historical survey of Roman Catholic thought about individual personal morality, see the American Jesuit moral theologian James F. Keenan's 2022 book A History of Catholic Theological Ethics (Paulist Press).
Now, as a Jesuit priest, Father Ong took a vow of chastity, and he lived out that vow of chastity in his individual personal life to the best of his ability.
Good for him!
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