Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
12-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Graduate School of Theology
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Jeff Childers
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Frederick Aquino
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Brad East
Abstract
This thesis aims to understand how the Christian virtue of detachment, understood as the proper ordering of one’s desires toward God, contributes to epistemic transformation. In order to achieve this result, I rely on the work of the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, beginning by mapping out his conception of detachment and demonstrating how it helps one to overcome competing desires and find their true self. Following this, I offer an account of the type of epistemic transformation required to access some theistic knowledge in order to connect Merton’s views on the topic with those of modern-day philosophers and show the critical role detachment plays toward the end of accessing such epistemic goods. Finally, I conclude the project by taking up some potential objections and highlighting certain facets of Merton’s epistemology of theology that are echoed by contemporary epistemologists as a means of spotlighting the wealth of Merton’s epistemological insights that have often been overlooked by modern scholars.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Summers, Simon C., "How Is the Christian Virtue of Detachment Epistemically Transformative?" (2023). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 726.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/726
Included in
Christianity Commons, Epistemology Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons