The idea for the project of “Trinitarian ontology” originates from the philosophical and theological thought of Klaus Hemmerle (1929–1994). According to Hemmerle, the specifically Christian revelation of God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit allows to understand “being” in a novel, Trinitarian way.
Picking up the threads of classical, medieval, and early modern metaphysics, as well as the modern philosophical concepts of German idealism, phenomenology, and dialogical personalism, “Trinitarian ontology” has been recently discussed and pursued mostly in Italian, German, and Anglo-American intellectual milieu. However, following the legacy of the great Bohemian and Moravian philosopher and theologian, Jan Amos Komenský, or Comenius (1592 – 1670), this endeavour has also substantially influenced the leading 20th century Czech philosophers and theologians (Karel Floss, Pavel Floss, Karel Říha, Zdeněk Neubauer).
“Trinitarian Ontology of the Human Person” Project
The main goal of the project “Trinitarian Ontology of the Human Person” (2021-2023) is to re-establish and strengthen the connection of the Czech theology and theological philosophy to the ever-growing international “Trinitarian ontology” scholar community and movement, and, at the same time, to foster and deepen an interdisciplinary dialogue of theology and philosophy within the Czech academia. All the many anticipated outputs of this research project (including an extensive thematic issue of AUC Theologica 2/2021 on ‘Trinitarian Ontology’; co-organisation of the New Trinitarian Ontologies EuARe Panel 2021; a series of research seminars at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Charles University; original research articles and monographs concerning the Trinitarian ontology of the human person; or an international “Trinitarian ontology” conference in 2023 in Prague) will contribute to the vivid field of “Trinitarian ontology” from the personalistic point of view, stressing the Trinitarian foundations of the personal being-in-relations.
Project Team Members:
Pavel Frývaldský is a priest of the Pilsen diocese and a university teacher at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Charles University in Prague and at the Faculty of Arts of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. He studied dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. He specializes in the thinking of Romano Guardini and Joseph Ratzinger. Within the Primus project, he serves a Principal Investigator and focuses on the relationship between Trinitarian ontology and dialogical personalism.
Petr Macek received PhD in Church history in 2018 from the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Charles University Prague after previously studying History and Theology at the same university. He currently works as an associate professor at the University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, and participates as a research fellow in the project “Trinitarian Ontology of Human Person” at Prague’s Catholic Theological Faculty. His main research area includes Catholic social philosophy and theology, especially in the dialogue with Marxism.
Martin Danišek is a priest of the Žilina diocese. He studied theological anthropology at the Teresianum Faculty of Theology in Rome. He specializes in problematics of the “desiderium”, especially in the context of Jacques Lacan thought and Carmelite mystics. As a researcher fellow in the project “Trinitarian Ontology of Human Person” at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Charles University, he focuses on the relational meaning of the human person in the work of Edith Stein and its significance for understanding Trinitarian ontology.
Eduard Fiedler graduated with a degree in law at the Masaryk University in Brno and in theology at the Charles University in Prague. He is a doctoral student of philosophy and aesthetics at the Masaryk University in Brno and at the Universität Regensburg. In his doctoral dissertation, he develops a Trinitarian ontology of beauty based on the German-speaking Trinitarian ontology of the 20th century. As a research fellow within an interdisciplinary research project focusing on the “Trinitarian Ontology of the Human Person” at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, he continues his research focused on German authors like Ferdinand Ulrich, Heinrich Beck, and Klaus Hemmerle, and coordinates the international activities of the research team.
International Cooperation:
During the time of the “Trinitarian Ontology of the Human Person” research project we will cooperate with our research partners, academic institutions, and research groups in the field of Trinitarian ontology abroad: Istituto Universitario Sophia - Dipartimento di Teologia, Filosofia e Scienze Umane (https://trinitarian-ontology.org); Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg - Lehrstuhl für Christliche Religionsphilosophie (https://www.theol.uni-freiburg.de/disciplinae/cr); New Trinitarian Ontologies in Cambridge (https://twitter.com/ntontologies).
