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Curriculum Vitae
2015
Oliva Blanchette
Department of Philosophy
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA 02167
28 Florence St.
Natick, MA 01760
USA
Born May 6, 1929, and educated through High School in Berlin, N.H., USA. Married to Dorothy
M. Kennedy. Two Daughters: Nicole and Frances
Academic Education:
Degree
Institution
Year
Subject
Ph. D.
S.T.L.
M.A.
Ph. L.
A.B.
Université Laval (Québec)
Weston College
Boston College
St. Albert de Louvain
Boston College
1966
1961
1958
1954
1953
Philosophy
Theology
Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy
Work Experience:
Professor of Latin, Greek, and English, Boston College High School 1954-1957
Instructor in Philosophy, Boston College 1964-1965
Assistant Professor, Boston College 1965-1967
Associate Professor, Boston College 1967-1974
Dean, School of Philosophy 1968-1973
Director, Institute for Social Thought 1972Professor, Boston College 1974Professional Organization Membership:
The Metaphysical Society of America (Past President)
Hegel Society of America
International Society for Metaphysics (Past President)
Society for Philosophy and Technology
Fellow of the Institute of Philosophy and Religion, Nottingham University, UK
Listings:
Who's Who in America 1989, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Contemporary Authors New Revised Series 2008
2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century 2004
Dictionary of International Biography 1981, 1989, 2000, 2004
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International Authors and Writers Who's Who 1979, 1986
International Who's Who of Intellectuals 1988
Directory of American Scholars 1982
Areas of Interest and Teaching:
Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of History
Ethics, Social Ethics, Health Care Ethics
Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marx, Blondel
Publications:
A. Books:
Initiative in History: A Christian-Marxist Exchange. An occasional paper published by
the Church Society for College Work, 1967.
For a Fundamental Social Ethic: A Philosophy of Social Change.
New York: Philosophical Library, 1973.
Action (1893) by Maurice Blondel. Translation with Introduction.
Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984. Paperback edition published
in 2003.
The Perfection of the Universe According to Aquinas: A Teleological Cosmology.
College Park: Penn State University Press, 1992.
Philosophical Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization. Ed. Oliva Blanchette,
Tomonobu Imamichi and George McLean. Washington, DC.: The Council for
Research in Values and Philosophy, 2001.
Ethical Judgment in Health Care: Overcoming the Technological Bias. The Boston
College Press, 2003
Philosophy of Being: A Reconstructive Essay in Metaphysics. Washington, D.C.:
Catholic University of America Press, 2003.
--Winner of the J.N. Findlay Award of the Metaphysical Society of America
for Best Book in Metaphysics, 2007.
Maurice Blondel: A Philosophical Life. Grand Rapids, MI / Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 2010.
--Awarded First Place 2011 Catholic Book by Catholic Press Association of US
and Canada…deemed “the first-ever, finest comprehensive, critical examination
of the life and thought” of Maurice Blondel
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Intersubjective Philosophy of Human Existence: Reflection on Theory and Practice of
Selfhood. Revised edition. The Eagle Press, 2014.
The Philosophical Exigencies of Christian Religion by Maurice Blondel, translated by
Oliva Blanchette. Completed and ready to be submitted to the publisher.
Intersubjective Philosophy of Human Existence: Reflection on Theory and Practice of
Selfhood. Revised as volume for course work in academic year 2015-2016 and
soon to be ready for submission to a publisher.
B. Articles:
"The Wisdom of God in Isaia." The American Ecclesiastical Review, CXLV (1961):
413-23.
"Does the CHEIROGRAPHON of Col 2, 14 Represent Christ Himself?" Catholic Biblical
Quarterly, XXIII (1961): 306-12.
"Saint Cyril of Alexandria's Idea of the Redemption." Sciences Ecclésiastiques, XVI
(1964): 455-80.
"The Order of Generation and Time in the Philosophy of Saint
Thomas Aquinas." Laval Théologique et Philosophique, XXII (1966): 45-72.
"The International Symposium on Marx and the Western World."
International Philosophical Quarterly, VII (1967): 129-37.
"Law and Morality." Nexus, X (1967): 9-12, 35-39.
"Transcendence and the Past." Continuum, V (1968): 757-60.
"A New Look at the Postulancy." Sisters Today, XXXIX (1968): 618-21.
"History and Nature in Karl Marx." Abstract in The Journal of Philosophy, LXV (1968).
"The Four Causes as Texture of the Universe." Laval Théologique et Philosophique,
XXV (1969): 59-87.
"Atheism and Christology." Cross Currents, XIX (1969): 257-71.
"History and Nature in Karl Marx." The Philosophical Forum, II, no. 1 (1970): 24-35.
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"The Future of a Dialogue Now Possible: To Become Actual or Remain Impossible?"
Translation of an article by Gaston Fessard, S.J. in Demythologizing Marxism,
Boston College Studies in Philosophy, II (1969): 96-165.
"History and Nature in Karl Marx." Abstract in The Philosopher's Index, 1971.
"Philosophy and the University." The Journal of General Education, XXIII, no. 1
(1971): 29-41.
"La société américaine: une autocritique." Projet, 59 (Novembre 1971): 1031-36.
"History and Language." The Word in the World: Essays in Honor of Frederick L.
Moriarty, S.J. (Weston College Press, 1973): 221-35.
"Language, the Primordial Labor of History: a Critique of Critical Social Theory in
Habermas." Cultural Hermeneutics, I (1974): 325-82.
"Dialectic: Violence or Dialogue? The Issue Between Sartre and Aron." Studies in
Soviet Thought, 14 (1974): 61-75.
"Why Abortion?" The Heights, September 15, 1975.
"Euthanasia/Three Views: Our lives are at stake in the Karen Quinlan case." The Boston
Sunday Globe, November 9, 1975.
"Philosophy and Theology in Aquinas: On Being a Disciple in Our Day." in Tommaso
d'Aquino nella Storia del Pensiero: II, dal Medioevo ad Oggi. "Atti del
Congresso Internazionale Tommaso d'Aquino nel suo Settimo Centenario--2."
Napoli: Edizioni Domenicane Italiane, 1976:.427-31.
"Philosophy and Theology in Aquinas: On Being a Disciple in our Day." Science et
Esprit, 28 (1976): 23-53.
"Justice as Responsibility." Abstract in Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Association, 50 (1977): 279-80.
"Freedom and Determinism." Boston College Studies in Philosophy, V (1977): 46-63.
"Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit Revisited." Philosophy and Social Criticism, 5
(1978): 387-414.
"Praxis and Labor in Hegel." Studies in Soviet Thought, 20 (1979): 257-69.
"The Philosophic Beginning." Thought, 56 (1981): 251-62.
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"Recognition: the Foundation of Justice." Cogito, 1 (1983): 32- 50.
"The Idea of History in Karl Marx." Studies in Soviet Thought, 26 (1983): 89-122.
"ISM East-West Conference on 'The Nature of Society.'" Studies in Soviet Thought, 27
(1984): 15-21.
"To prolong or not to prolong?" Hospital News Boston, Premier Issue (Dec. 1985): 37.
"Should Paul Brophy Be Left to Starve?" Hospital News Boston, vol. 1, no. 2 (Jan.,
1986): 2, 38.
"Technology and Health." Philosophie et Culture. Actes/Proceedings XVIIe Congrès
mondial de philosophie, Montréal 1983. Editions Montmorency, 1988. Vol. II:
595-99.
"Artificial Intelligence and Analogy." Philosophie et Culture. Actes/Proceedings XVIIe
Congrès mondial de philosophie, Montréal 1983. Editions Montmorency, 1988.
Vol. V: 549-50.
"Are There Two Questions of Being?" The Review of Metaphysics, 45 (1991): 259-287.
"The Silencing of Philosophy." Fear and Trembling and Repetition, "International
Kierkegaard Commentary," Vol. 6: 29-65, ed. Robert L. Perkins. Macon: Mercer
University Press, 1993.
"Blondel's Original Philosophy of the Supernatural." Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia,
XLIX (1993): 413-444.
“The Logic of Perfection According to Aquinas.” Thomas Aquinas and His Legacy,
“Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy,” Vol. 28: 107-130, ed.
David M. Gallagher. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press,
1994.
“Suarez and the Latent Essentialism of Heidegger’s Fundamental Ontology.” The Review
of Metaphysics, 53 (1999), 3-19.
“The Problem of Human Identity in the Face of the Global ‘Free Market’ Economy.”
Models of Identities in Postcommunist Societies: Yugoslav Philosophical Studies,
I, Ch.11: 185-195, ed. Zogorka Golubovic and George F. McLean. Washington,
D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 1999.
“Globalization or Humanization: A Question of Priorities in Human Development.”
Philosophical Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization, Ch. 1: 11-26, ed.
Oliva Blanchette, Tomonobu Imamichi and George F. McLean,. Washington,
D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2001.
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“Method for a Metaphysics of the Concrete.” The Metaphysical Society of America
annual meeting, Mar. 15-16, 2002, at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA.
“Is Metaphysics Relevant for Contemporary Theology?” TheCatholic Theological
Society of America annual meeting, June 7-8, 2002, in New Orleans, LA.
“Maurice Blondel.” The New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2, 440-42. Washington, D.C.:
Catholic University of America Press and the Gale Group, 2003.
“Cultural Foundation for Person and Community: A View from the Center.”
International Conference on Dialogue of Cultural Traditions: A Global
Perspective, Aug. 8-9, in conjunction with The World Congress of Philosophy, in
Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 10-15, 2003.
“Foreword.” The Human Being in History: Freedom, Power, and Shared Ontological
Meaning by H. Daniel Dei, tr. by James G. Colbert. New York: Lexington Books,
2003.
“Analogy and the Transcendental Properties of Being as Key to Metaphysical Science.”
The Saint Anselm Journal, 2 (2004).
“The Conflict of Traditional Values and Commercial Values in the American Way of
Life.” International Journal of Philosophy, 1 (2004), 99-105.
“The Rationale for a Catholic Philosophy According to Maurice Blondel.” Revista
Portuguesa de Filosofia, 60 (2004), 329-48.
“Globalization and Dehumanization: A Political and Cultural Critique of the Global
Corporate Economy.” Humanity at the Turning Point: Rethinking Nature, Culture
and Freedom, ed. Sonja Servomaa, Renvall Institute Publications 23, Helsinki,
2006.
“Blondel’s Philosophical Probe into the Mystery of the Trinitarian Life as Mystery of
Mysteries.” Science et Esprit, 59/2-3 (2007), 181-191.
“Metaphysics as Preamble to Religious Belief.” Belief and Metaphysics, ed. Peter
Chandler and Conor Cunningham, SCM Press (2007), 141-160.
“Metaphysics and the Transcendence of Cultures.” Pre-Congress Conference on
Philosophy Emerging from Culture, Seoul, Korea, July 27-29, 2008.
“Metaphysical Discourse as Intersubjective, Intercultural, and Interreligious.” XXII
World Congress of Philosophy in Seoul, Korea, July 30-Aug. 5, 2008.
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“Metaphysics and the Transcendence of Cultures.” Proceedings Metaphysics 2009: 4th
World Conference (Rome, November 5-7, 2009), ed. Paolo Zordan, David
Murray, Robert Badillo, Montserrat Lafuente, Editorial DYKINSON, Madrid, 6473.
“Why We Need Maurice Blondel.” Communio: International Catholic Review, XXXVIII
(2011), 138-167.
“On the Need for a Philosophy of the Christian Spirit.” Communio: International Review,
XXXVIII (2011), 168-186. (Translation from Blondel)
“Aquinas’ Conception of the Great Chain of Being: A More Considered Reply to
Lovejoy.” Philosophy and Theology in the Long Middle Ages: A Tribute to
Stephen F. Brown, ed. Kent Emery, Jr., Russell L. Friedman & Andreas Speer,
Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2011, 155-187.
“Blondel, Maurice (1861-1949).” Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine
(OGHRA), Oxford University Press (Oct., 2013), 197-199.
“Blondel on the Hermeneutics of Christian Tradition.” On the Hermeneutics of Tradition,
Catholic University of America Press (forthcoming).
“Phenomenology and Metaphysics on Transcendence and Being.” Culture and
Philosophy as Ways of Life in Times of Global Change, Series on Cultural
Heritage and Contemporary Change by CRVP (forthcoming).
“The Problem of Global Justice in a Corporate Global Economy.” Justice and
Responsibility: Cultural and Philosophical Considerations, Series on Cultural
Heritage and Contemporary Change by CRVP (forthcoming).
“From Questions of Being to the Question of Being as Being.” Revue Philosophique de
Louvain (under review by Revue Philosophique de Louvain).
“Metaphysics as the Way from Phenomenology to Theology.” Revue Philosophique de
Louvain (special issue to appear in the Fall of 2015).
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C. Book Reviews:
"Social Research and Societal Values," Review of A Time to Speak: On Human Values
and Social Research, by Herbert C. Kelman, in Theory and Decision, 4 (1974):
397-99.
"Historical Approaches to Theory and Practice," Review of Theory and Practice, by
Jürgen Habermas, in Studies in Soviet Thought, 15 (1975): 341-51.
A review of Hegel's Phenomenology, Part 1: Analysis and Commentary, by Howard P.
Kainz, in The Owl of Minerva, 8, n. 2 (Dec. 1976): 3-6.
A review of Index Thomisticus, in International Philosophical Quarterly, XVII (1977):
101-3.
A review of Christ and Power, by Martin Henge, in Religious Media Today, 2, nos. 2 &
3 (Winter-Spring, 1978): 38-39.
A review of The Self-Embodiment of God, by Thomas J.J. Altizer, in Ibid., 39-40.
A review of Consciousness and Reality: Hegel's Philosophy of Subjectivity, by Joseph L.
Navickas," in International Philosophical Quarterly, XVIII (1978): 235-38.
A review of Ethics in Medicine: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Concerns,
ed. by S. J. Reiser, A. J. Dyck, and W. J. Curran, in Social Science and Medicine,
XII (1978): 60-61.
A review of Organism, Medicine, and Metaphysics: Essays in Honor of Hans Jonas on
his 75th Birthday, May 10, 1978, ed. by Stuart F. Spicker, in Social Science and
Medicine, XIV (1980): 185.
A review of Justice, ed. by Eugene Kamenka and Alice Ehr-Soon Tay, in Studies in
Soviet Thought, 24 (1982): 57-62.
A review of Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind: Analysis and Commentary, by C.V.
Dudeck, in The Owl of Minerva, 13, no.4 (June 1982): 9-10.
A review of Marxism: An American Christian Perspective, by Arthur F. McGovern, in
Studies in Soviet Thought, 27 (1984): 187-91.
A review of Marx's Social Critique of Culture, by Louis Dupré, in Studies in Soviet
Thought, 31 (1986): 149-52.
A review of Three Worlds of Christian Marxist Encounter, ed. by Nicholas Piediscalzi
and Robert G. Thobaben, in Studies in Soviet Thought, 34 (1987): 202-8.
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A review of Heidegger and Aquinas: An Essay on Overcoming Metaphysics, by John D.
Caputo, in International Studies in Philosophy, XIX (1987): 69-71.
A review of Beyond Justice, by Agnes Heller, in Canadian Philosophical Reviews, VIII
(1988): 218-20.
A review of Beyond Justice, by Agnes Heller, in Studies in Soviet Thought, 39 (1990):
177-81.
A review of Quest for the Absolute: The Philosophical Vision of Joseph Maréchal, by
Anthony M. Matteo, in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 67 (1993):
264-66.
A review of The Road to Disillusion: From Critical Marxism to Postcommunism in
Eastern Europe, ed. Raymond Taras, in Studies in Soviet Thought,, 45 (1993):
39-47.
A review of Aquinas on Human Action, by Ralph McInerney, in Speculum, 69 (1994):
842-43.
A review of Individuation in Scholasticism: The Later Middle Ages and the
Counter-Reformation, 1150-1650, ed. Jorge J.E. Gracia, in Revista
Latinoamericana de Filosofia, XXIII (1998): 185-87.
A review of Donation et consentement: une introduction méthodologique à la
métaphysique, by Emmanuel Tourpe, in American Catholic Philosophical
Quarterly, 76 (2002): 361-64.
A review of The Idealist Illusion and Other Essays, by Maurice Blondel, tr. Fiacra Long,
in International Philosophical Quarterly, 42 (2002): 116-18.
A review of Being and Some Twentieth-Century Thomists by John F. X. Knasas,
in The Thomist, 68 (2004): 148-53.
A review of Aims: A Brief Metaphysics for Today by James W. Felt in Notre Dame
Philosophical Reviews, ed. Gary Gutting: ndpr.nd.edu, 2008.06.06: 1-9.
A review of The Possibility of Christian Philosophy: Maurice Blondel at the Intersection
of Theology and Philosophy by Adam C. English in Notre Dame Philosophical
Reviews, ed. Gary Gutting: ndpr.nd.edu, 2008.12.
A review of Maurice Blondel, Social Catholicism, and Action Française: The Clash over
the Church’s Role in Society during the Modernist Era by Peter Bernardi, S.J.,
in Theologische Revue Nr. 1 (2013): 38-39.
A review of Analogia Entis: Metaphysics, Original Structure and Universal Rhythm
By Erich Przywara in Horizon (forthcoming)
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D. Recent Off-Campus Speaking Engagements:
Organizer and keynote speaker for consultation in the Boston area with Council
for Research on Values and Philosophy on “Re-Learning to be Human in a
Globalizing Age” to be held on Dec. 18-19, 2015.
Speaker on “From Questions of Being to the Question of Being as Being” at the
Annual Meeting of the Metaphysical Society of America at Williams College, on
Apr. 11, 2014.
Organizer of an International Symposium on Global Justice and Responsibility
held at Boston College, Sept. 20-21, 2013 and Lead Speaker on “The Problem of
Global Justice in a Corporate Global Economy”.
Keynote speaker, as President of the International Society for Metaphysics, on
“The Necessity of Metaphysics in the Struggle for World Peace” at a Round
Table, on Aug. 8, at XXIIIrd World Congress of Philosophy, in Athens, Greece,
Aug., 4-10, 2013.
Keynote speaker, as President of the International Society for Metaphysics on
“Metaphysics at the Crossroads of Intersubjective, Intercultural, and
Interreligious Dialogue” at a Round Table, on Aug. 6, at XXIIIrd World Congress
of Philosophy, in Athens, Greece, Aug., 4-10, 2013.
Keynote speaker on “Phenomenology and Metaphysics on Transcendence and
Being” for a Special Session, on Aug. 2, at the pre-Congress conference on
“Culture and Philosophy as Ways of life in Times of Global Change” sponsored
by the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP), in Athens, Greece,
Aug. 1-3, 2013.
Keynote speaker on “The Need for Philosophy in Supernatural Religion” in
Satelite Session sponsored by COMIUCAP at Annual Meeting of ACPA in St.
Louis, MO., Oct. 28, 2011
Keynote address on “The Necessity of Metaphysical Transcendence in the
Struggle for World Peace” for UNESCO sponsored World Philosophy Day in
Tehran, Iran, Nov. 21-25, 2010
Keynote speaker at Plenary Session on Metaphysics and Society at
Metaphysics 2009: 4th World Conference, Rome, Italy, 5-7 Nov. 2009
Keynote speaker at the Pre-Congress Conference on Philosophy Emerging from
Culture in Seoul, Korea, July 27-29, 2008, with a paper on “Metaphysics and the
Transcendence of Cultures”
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Main speaker at Roundtable of the International Society for Metaphysics at The
XXII World Congress of Philosophy in Seoul, Korea, July 30-Aug. 5, 2008, on
“Metaphysical Discourse as Intersubjective, Intercultural, and Interreligious”
Weekend of seminars and lectures on Metaphysics and Philosophy of Religion at
Ave Maria University, Naples, Florida, in Mar. 2007
Paper on “Metaphysics as Preamble to Christian Belief” at Conference on Belief
and Metaphysics in Granada, Spain, Sept. 2006
Paper on “ Globalization and Dehumanization: A Political and Cultural Critique
of the Global Corporate Economy” at International Conference on Humanity at
the Turning Point: Rethinking Nature, Culture and Freedom in Helsinki, Finland, July
2005
Paper on “The Reconstruction of Metaphysics” presented at The College
Theology Society Annual Convention at Catholic University of America,
June 3-6, 2004
Main Address on “Analogy and the Transcendental Properties of Being as Key to
Metaphysical Science” at Metaphysics Colloquium, The Institute for St. Anselm
Studies, St. Anselm College, Manchester, N.H., June 16-17, 2004
Paper on “Cultural Foundation for Person and Community: A View from the Center” at
International Conference on Dialogue of Cultural Traditions: A Global Perspective,
Aug. 8-9, in conjunction with The XXI World Congress of Philosophy, in Istanbul,
Turkey, Aug. 10-15, 2003
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