CUA
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
School of Philosophy
Office of the Dean
Washington, DC 20064
202-319-5259
FAX 202-319-4731
August 1, 2002
Dear Friend of the School of Philosophy,
My special greetings to all the friends of the School of Philosophy—to all those who have
studied philosophy here at The Catholic University of America and to all our many other
supporters. We want to keep in touch with you and keep you informed about all that is
happening in the philosophical life of our School and the CUA in general. Therefore I am
greatly pleased to send to you this first “Dean’s Letter.” Others will follow on a regular basis.
With all the accomplishments and activities of our faculty, our staff, our graduate and
undergraduate students, our alumni and friends, there is much to talk about. We want to share
with you the vitality of the teaching, learning, and scholarship in philosophy that continues here
at Catholic University and let you know about the many great things that are happening in the
lives of your fellow philosophy alumni and alumnae. We want you to realize, most of all, that
you are a part of our community. We continue to have something very special here at Catholic
University in philosophy, something that keeps informing and guiding our lives, wherever life
takes us.
I have just completed my second year as Dean of the School of Philosophy. Many of you who
are receiving this letter knew one Dean of the School, Jude P. Dougherty. Professor Dougherty
served as Dean of the School for over thirty-one years. It has been a little daunting to follow this
legend as Dean (I hope that I can pick out a future Pope and invite him to lecture at Catholic
University). As I serve in the office I learn more and more about how well and how prudently
Professor Dougherty served the study of philosophy both on campus and around the world.
Professor Dougherty remains highly active, as editor of the distinguished international
philosophy journal, The Review of Metaphysics, as author, and as commentator in the media. His
latest book Western Creed, Western Identity: Essays in Legal and Social Philosophy, is soon to
be followed by The Logic of Religion.
We have just completed an academic year that by any measure was one of the most memorable
and momentous in the history of the School of Philosophy. Two chairs of philosophy were
formally established in the School and two of its most distinguished and beloved members were
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appointed to them. Monsignor John Wippel (B.A. 1955, M.A. 1956, S.T.L. 1960) became The
Theodore Basselin Professor of Philosophy. Monsignor Wippel delivered his inaugural lecture
as The Theodore Basselin Professor, “Thomas Aquinas on God’s Freedom to Create or Not,” on
January 25 to a standing room only audience. Monsignor Robert Sokolowski (B.A. 1956, M.A.
1957) became The Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell Professor of Philosophy. Monsignor
Sokolowski gave his inaugural lecture, “Language, the Human Person, and Christian Faith,” to
an equally large and appreciative audience on April 19. These two occasions were unparalleled
for their significance, as we honored two internationally acclaimed scholars who are alumni of
the School of Philosophy and who have devoted their entire scholarly lives to The Catholic
University of America.
This is a boom time for philosophy at Catholic University. We have about 120 graduate students
in the School of Philosophy and over 100 undergraduate majors divided between the School of
Philosophy and the School of Arts and Sciences. The Basselin Program for diocesan
seminarians is full and thriving. I am collecting statistics from other universities to prove the
claim that we have more undergraduate philosophy majors proportionately than any other school
in North America. The reason for our success, in my view, is this: We offer to our students,
graduates and undergraduates alike, classically based philosophy that is real and relevant. We
have a faculty where every member is a scholar of outstanding achievement with a unique ability
to share philosophical learning in and outside the classroom. I look forward to telling you more
about our faculty in my next “Dean’s Letter.”
October 18-20, 2002 is Homecoming Weekend. We hope that many of you will be returning to
campus. On Friday, October 18, the School invites all our Philosophy Alumni and friends to
attend the offering of our Fall 2002 Lecture Series on “Truth” by Professor Jan Aertsen of the
University of Cologne on “Truth in the Middle Ages: Its Essence and Power in Christian
Thought.” The lecture is at 2:00 p.m., to be followed by a special reception for alumni. It would
be a pleasure to see you then. The faculty will be there to greet you.
I should be very grateful to hear from you. Please let me know what you are doing and how you
see philosophy in your life today. My electronic mail address is pritzl@cua.edu, and my address
and telephone number are printed above. The website of the School of Philosophy is
http://philosophy.cua.edu. Visit it and get a sense of all that is happening in philosophy at CUA.
There is also a place on the website, for you to tell us what you think and what you have been
doing.
May God who is Truth Itself continue to bless you and your family. Please do not hesitate to
contact me. I look forward to future letters and to sharing with you more about the students and
the faculty of our School of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Kurt Pritzl, O.P.
Dean