Thomas Merton, David Tracy and the Uncanny: Signs... Still... of the Times.

Thomas Merton and David Tracy travelled similar paths in engaging the complex and ambiguous reality of the twentieth century, and the challenge of living in it with faith, hope and love. They both did so as Roman Catholics, but in different contexts (the monastery vs. the university). It is fruitful...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Merton Annual Vol. 38; pp. 101 - 122
Main Author: Ashley, J. Matthew
Format: Article
Published: Fons Vitae Publishing 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Thomas Merton and David Tracy travelled similar paths in engaging the complex and ambiguous reality of the twentieth century, and the challenge of living in it with faith, hope and love. They both did so as Roman Catholics, but in different contexts (the monastery vs. the university). It is fruitful to put the mystic and the theologian into conversation. Tracy's diagnosis of our most fundamental modern experience as "the uncanny" and the proper form in which to respond to it as "the fragment" both reflect and are given flesh by Merton's own evolving views on solitude, the mystical and finding a home in our increasingly fragmented world.