Prudence Allen

Last updated
Sister Prudence Allen, RSM
Born(1940-07-21)21 July 1940
Oneida, New York
NationalityAmerican and Canadian
Alma mater Claremont Graduate School
Notable work
  • The Concept of Woman
Region Western philosophy
School Thomistic personalism and new feminism
Institutions Concordia University, Montreal Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary
Main interests
Philosophy of gender

Sister Mary Prudence Allen RSM (born 21 July 1940) is an American philosopher who converted to Catholicism and joined the Religious Sisters of Mercy. In 2014 she was appointed to the International Theological Commission for a five-year term by Pope Francis. Her areas of specialization include the history of philosophy, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of woman, existentialism, and personalism. Areas of competence include metaphysics, philosophy of God, epistemology and logic.

Contents

Biography

Allen was born Christine Hope Allen in Oneida, New York, on July 21, 1940. In 1962, she graduated with a B.A in philosophy cum laude from the University of Rochester in New York. She completed one year of graduate study, while serving as Residence Director at State University of New York at Buffalo. Having received a full tuition scholarship from Claremont Graduate School, she moved to California in 1963. She joined the Catholic Church in 1964 and married one year later. In 1967, she earned her doctorate in philosophy from the Claremont Graduate School. During this time, she and her husband had two sons, whom she helped raise while teaching philosophy as an assistant professor (1969–1977) at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, when it was still called Sir George Williams University. Meanwhile, her marriage was annulled in 1972. She was promoted to associate professor of philosophy (1977–1993). In 1983, she was accepted into the novitiate of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. She took perpetual vows in 1990. [1]

While at Concordia, Sister Allen received almost yearly grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her work in the conceptual history of women (1979–1995); these totaled $187,699. She also team taught an introductory course in woman studies, and she received innovative teaching development grants. Concordia University promoted her to full professor in 1993, and she continued teaching until 1996, when she retired as a Distinguished Professor Emerita.

In 1998, she moved to Denver to develop the philosophy program at Saint John Vianney Seminary. From 2000 to 2003, she was the founding chair of the Seminary's philosophy department. At this time, she began developing materials for ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Woman). In 2004, she began an eleven-year appointment as a full professor in this newly formed department. She was also appointed Consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Laity in a Study Seminar on "Men and Women: Diversity and Mutual Complementarity." In 2005, she began a nine-year term serving on the St. Thomas Advisory Committee for Women, Culture, and Society Program at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. In 2008, she served as a Consultant to Rome John Paul II Institute on Gender Identity Issues. From 2011 to 2014, when she retired, she held the Charles J. Chaput Endowed Chair of Philosophy, at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, Colorado. From 2014–2016, she was the Bishop's Archivist for the Diocese of Lancaster, England. Also, in 2014, at the invitation of Pope Francis, she began a five-year term serving on the International Theological Commission with four other women (prior to this only two women had served on this commission). [2] During that term, she helped author "Sinodality in the life and mission of the Church". [3]

Work

Allen has stated that she considers herself a New Feminist philosopher, citing the influence of Pope John Paul II on her writing. She describes feminism as type of humanism and coined the term "personalist feminism." [4] The philosophy of the human person and of human community is a major focus of her writing. She agrees with Aristotle's understanding of the relationship between soul and body, as well as his approach to science, but opposes his view that human males are superior to females. Like other feminists, she wants to eliminate the discrimination and violence that many women face, but, as a New or Personalist Feminist, she opposes abortion. [5] She also argues that gender identity is properly based on sex, that there is a conflict between gender reality and gender ideology, and that gender reality needs to be regained. [6]

Allen's three-volume magnum opus, The Concept of Woman, is the culmination of a lifetime of the scholarly investigation into how womanhood has been understood throughout the history of philosophy. Allen argues that there has been a true development in the understanding of gender leading to integral complementarity. This understanding builds upon the thought of Aristotle and Augustine. She discusses three understandings of gender throughout history: gender polarity, gender unity, and gender complementarity. Gender polarity can appear either in its traditional form, in which men are considered superior to women, or in a reversed form, in which women are seen as superior. In its traditional form, gender polarity became dominant in philosophical circles for centuries under the influence of Aristotle. Gender unity holds that there are no significant differences between men and women. Gender complementarity can appear in one of two forms—fractional complementarity, in which men and women form two halves of a whole, and integral complementarity, in which men and women are whole on their own and together form something greater than two wholes. [7] Allen holds to the integral complementarity position. [8]

Honors

Bibliography

All papers are archived at Concordia University Archives in Montreal [16]

Books

Academic chapters

Journal articles

Electronic Publications

Articles published as proceedings of conferences

Video Presentations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Maritain</span> French Catholic philosopher (1882–1973)

Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas for modern times, and was influential in the development and drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pope Paul VI presented his "Message to Men of Thought and of Science" at the close of Vatican II to Maritain, his long-time friend and mentor. The same pope had seriously considered making him a lay cardinal, but Maritain rejected it. Maritain's interest and works spanned many aspects of philosophy, including aesthetics, political theory, philosophy of science, metaphysics, the nature of education, liturgy and ecclesiology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Daly</span> American feminist philosopher and theologian (1928–2010)

Mary Daly was an American radical feminist philosopher and theologian. Daly, who described herself as a "radical lesbian feminist", taught at the Jesuit-run Boston College for 33 years. Once a practicing Roman Catholic, she had disavowed Christianity by the early 1970s. Daly retired from Boston College in 1999, after violating university policy by refusing to allow male students in her advanced women's studies classes. She allowed male students in her introductory class and privately tutored those who wanted to take advanced classes.

New feminism is a form of feminism that emphasizes the integral complementarity of women and men, rather than the superiority of men over women or women over men, and advocates for respecting persons from conception to natural death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Étienne Gilson</span> French historian and philosopher (1884–1978)

Étienne Henri Gilson was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes; he also philosophized in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas, although he did not consider himself a neo-Thomist philosopher. In 1946 he attained the distinction of being elected an "Immortal" (member) of the Académie française. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Theology of the Body is the topic of a series of 129 lectures given by Pope John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in St. Peter's Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall between September 5, 1979, and November 28, 1984. It constitutes an analysis on human sexuality. The complete addresses were later compiled and expanded upon in many of John Paul's encyclicals, letters, and exhortations.

The gender of God can be viewed as a literal or as an allegorical aspect of a deity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Sweet</span> Canadian philosopher (born 1955)

William Sweet is a Canadian philosopher, and a past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association and of the Canadian Theological Society.

Aeterni Patris was an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in August 1879. It was subtitled "On the Restoration of Christian Philosophy in Catholic Schools in the Spirit of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas". The aim of the encyclical was to advance the revival of Scholastic philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Complementarianism</span> Theological view on gender roles

Complementarianism is a theological view in some denominations of Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam, that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family, and religious life. Complementary and its cognates are currently used to denote this view. Some Christians interpret the Bible as prescribing a complementary view of gender, and therefore adhere to gender-specific roles that preclude women from specific functions of ministry within the community. Though women may be precluded from certain roles and ministries, they still hold foundational equality in value and dignity. The phrase used to describe this is "ontologically equal, functionally different."

Reinhard Hütter is a Christian theologian and Professor of Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology at The Catholic University of America and Visiting Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School. During the 2012–2013 academic year, he held The Rev. Robert J. Randall Professor in Christian Culture chair at Providence College.

Brian Leftow is an American philosopher specializing in philosophy of religion, medieval philosophy, and metaphysics. He is the William P. Alston Professor for the Philosophy of Religion at Rutgers University. Previously, he held the Nolloth Chair of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oriel College, Oxford, succeeding Richard Swinburne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Beattie</span> British writer and broadcaster

Tina Beattie is a British Christian theologian, writer and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Aquinas</span> Italian Dominican theologian and philosopher (1225–1274)

Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, an influential philosopher and theologian, and a jurist in the tradition of scholasticism from the county of Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily.

<i>Love and Responsibility</i> 1960 book by Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II)

Love and Responsibility is a book written by Karol Wojtyła before he became Pope John Paul II and was originally published in Polish in 1960 and in English in 1981. A new translation was published in 2013. Fr. Wojtyła was inspired to write the book when he was a professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, through the experiences he had while teaching young Catholics.

James Francis Ross was an American philosopher of religion, law, metaphysics and philosophy of mind. He was a member of the Philosophy Department at the University of Pennsylvania from 1962 until his death in 2010.

Robert J. Spitzer is a Jesuit priest, philosopher, educator, author, speaker, and retired President of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.

Joseph Koterski, S.J. was an American Jesuit priest, philosopher, author, and professor at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York.

Diana Meyers is a philosopher working in the philosophy of action and in the philosophy of feminism. Meyers is professor emerita of philosophy at the University of Connecticut.

Eleonore Stump is an American philosopher and the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, where she has taught since 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jude Patrick Dougherty</span> American philosopher (1930–2021)

Jude Patrick Dougherty was an American philosopher, Dean Emeritus of the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, and Editor-in-Chief for 44 years of The Review of Metaphysics.

References

  1. ↑ "A Feminist Voice on the Theological Commission: Q&A with Sister Prudence Allen RSM", America Magazine, 29 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Pope names five women to International Theological Commission, National Catholic Reporter, 23 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Flores Ramos, Mario Ángel; Allen, Prudence; Arko, Alenka; Catelan Ferreira, Antonio Luiz; Coda, Piero; Galli, Carlos María; Hachem, Gaby Alfred; Sánchez Rojas, Héctor Gustavo; M'hela, Nicholaus Segeja; Timoner, Gerard Francisco III (2 March 2018), Synodality in the life and mission of the Church, Vatican City: International Theological Commission / Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, archived from the original on 2 October 2018, retrieved 30 November 2022
  4. ↑ Allen, Sister Mary Prudence. "Can Feminism be a Humanism,"in Women in Christ: Toward a New Feminism. Michele Schumacher, ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003): 251–284, 280–81.
  5. ↑ "A Feminist Voice on the Theological Commission: Q&A with Sister Prudence Allen RSM", America Magazine, 29 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Allen, Sister Mary Prudence. 2014. "Gender Reality," Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 1. Available at: http://researchonline.nd.edu.au/solidarity/vol4/iss1/1; "Gender Reality vs. Gender Ideology," in John P. Hittinger and Daniel C. Wagner, Thomas Aquinas: Teacher of Humanity: Proceedings from the First Conference of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas held in the United States of America (Cambridge: Scholars Publishinig, 2015).
  7. ↑ Man-Woman Complementarity: The Catholic Inspiration, Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
  8. ↑ "Nun Sense: Women in the Catholic Church", National Review, 30 April 2010.
  9. ↑ "Noted author and philosopher Sister Mary Prudence Allen to deliver annual Human Dignity Lecture // McGrath Institute for Church Life // University of Notre Dame". 31 October 2017.
  10. ↑ The Dignity of Human Gender: Sr. Prudence Allen, RSM on YouTube
  11. ↑ "Nun explores philosophy of gender // The Observer". 25 October 2017.
  12. ↑ https://mcgrath.nd.edu/conferences/academic-pastoral/the-concept-of-woman-seminar [ dead link ]
  13. ↑ "McGrath Institute seminar will explore". 8 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "The Concept of Woman Seminar // McGrath Institute for Church Life // University of Notre Dame". 26 October 2018.
  15. ↑ The Diakonia of Truth (PDF) (Report). American Catholic Philosophical Association. November 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-11-11.
  16. ↑ "Prudence Allen fonds -".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.