This four-part doctoral thesis studies the works of Croatian Neo-Scholastics about the role of finality in comprehending Being. The aim of the thesis, which is to present the role of finality in the doctrine of being in Croatian Neo-Scholasticism, has been reached by analysing the works of Croatian Neo-Scholastics. The conclusion has been reached that the Final Purpose, God, is woven into the being of all beings and especially into the dynamics of the human cognitive-voluntary act of longing for God as the Final Purpose. This Purpose directs man towards Itself, and through man all of reality as well. By such reasoning a great contribution is made to postmodern discussion. The method applied in dealing with the topic is reflection combined with elements of analysis, interpretation, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstract thinking, argumentation, refutation, comparison and critical thinking, with the aim of discovering new insights. In the study are included the works of greek philosophy (especially of Aristotle), Scholasticism (especially of Thomas Aquinas), partly of modern and contemporary philosophies and of Croatian Neo-Scholastics: J. Stadler, A. Bauer, V. Keilbach, S. Zimmermann, I. Kozѐlj, M. Belić and J. Ćurić. The importance of the topic was noticed, since it had been the primary topic of greek philosophy and Scholasticism, which has, however, decreased since the time of modern philosophy. In Croatian Neo-Scholasticism the major elements of finality, especially in the works of J. Ćurić, are discovered. By noticing the essential influence of the Final Purpose on the whole of reality, especially on man’s cognitivevoluntary act, a scientific contribution is given particularly to the fields of metaphysics, anthropology, gnoseology and ethics. New insights about Being and the purpose of man are uncovered. I. The role of finality in the understanding of Being – general historical overview: Finality and Being are defined in a historical overview, especially in the works of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, because of their influence on Neo-Scholasticism. The doctrine on finality, purposefulness or teleology deals with the purposeful arrangement of reality. Purpose is the goal which being strives to achieve, to which the action of instinctive beings and human will is oriented. The final purpose is the Highest Good, the value because of which being exists and by which the degree of fulfilment/perfection is measured. The purposeful cause sets into motion all events and actions of beings in the world, directing them towards their Final Purpose. This is the topic of greek, medieval and partly modern philosophy, whereas it has been neglected in contemporary philosophy. 3 Aristotle, mainly in his Physics and Metaphysics, starts off with being, searching for the primary thing that the being of being(s) depends upon, that which in itself focally means “to be”, “to exist”, and that is “ousia” or “substance”. It is in the foundation of everything as the cause of being of things. “Ousia” is also the form, i.e. the essence of the individual being. This can be seen in the analysis of potentiality and actuality, or activity of being. Potentiality is seen as the ability to change at transitioning into actuality, as a feature of “to be” in the realization of being or purpose. The final cause - equivalent to the formal cause and the cause of movement - acts as the mover towards the final cause, purpose, the highest good, prime unmovable cause i.e. prime substance. He considers the prime mover as God in the context of solving the issue of purpose to be the principle of reality and the final cause as pure actuality and the object of thinking and desire, the most thinkable and most pleasant, who is unmoved, unchangeable, non-contingent, necessary and the object and goal of all desire – “telos”. Beings inherently aspire to achieve the final purpose of their nature, but also the external final purpose in the universal order. Specifically through his reason and will, man strives to achieve perfection in relation to the “external” purpose, the prime unmoved mover, the thinking that thinks itself and the prime principle of reality. Beings and their joint purpose are not explicitly linked. In the order of the universe beings pursue their purpose and thereby also the final purpose. Thomas Aquinas follows of Aristotle, taking his thought further and deeper. His philosophy is theo-finality, which is obvious in his main works Summa Theologiae and Summa contra Gentiles. He aims further than Aristotle in his teaching on change, potentiality, actuality and finality, the purpose of which is the Prime Unmoved Mover. He notices deeper than Aristotle the duality of principles in the contingent being: essence and existence. The essence is in potency an own being, which does not necessarily exist, but is limited and created by the necessary Being – God the Creator. God’s essence is his Being – Pure Essence. Through potency being strives to realize its purpose, and the final purpose is God who creates the world. Man as created being and the only rational being participates in God’s goodness through cognition and love. The immediate purpose of created beings is the perfection of their nature, this purpose being subject to the Final Purpose as the purpose of their existence – the glory of God. The world has an ultimate supernatural purpose, and the peak of man’s rational ascent is the knowledge of God’s essence, which is in its entirety only possible in eternal life. This cannot be achieved by man’s natural ability, although man carries a “natural desire” towards the Final Purpose. He conceives this Purpose only analogously and imperfectly, with reason having precedence, since the judgement of reason puts purpose, which man owns by 4 cognition, to the decision of the will. The will, as a desire directed towards good, happiness, beatitude and finally to God’s goodness, chooses freely. The will does not own purpose, but only desires it as something external. Nonetheless, man’s reason knows God indirectly, while man’s will desires God directly, which is why the love of God is more perfect than the knowledge of God. In the supernatural order man requires God’s help to see God’s essence. As a part of the universe, by his knowledge and love of the Final Purpose –Man exists for the purpose of God’s glory, and the universe exists for the purpose of man. Man is akin to God, because God is woven into man’s essence. True happiness is manifested in an ever greater dependence on the Creator and the Final Purpose, that draws man towards Himself in the depths of his being. II. The role of finality in the understanding of Being by Croatian Neo-Scholastics: The term „Neo-Scholasticism” emerged in the second half of the 19th century. It considers the possibility of true Catholic theology and philosophy, in returning to the classical Scholastic tradition of the Church and criticizing modern philosophy and the modern spiritual world. It bears in mind human nature with its supernatural determination. There is a difference in the Neo-Scholastic movement of the first and the second half of the 20th century. The initiative for its development can be found in the encyclical Aeterni Patris of Leo XIII. The selected Croatian Neo-Scholastics who deal with elements of finality in the cognition of Being in their works are: J. Stadler, A. Bauer, V. Keilbach, S. Zimmermann, I. Kozѐlj, M. Belić and J. Ćurić. An outline of finality is present in J. Stadler’s work, mainly in the volumes Philosophy: General Metaphysics or Ontology, Natural Theology and Psychology. Ontology searches for the cause and purpose of beings. The Primary Cause and Final Purpose of beings, which draws them to Himself, is the necessary and perfect Being – God. He is the cause of order and the purpose of the world. The theodicean approach views God’s existence, essence and action. Being receives its being from God, as one, true and good. Being strives towards God as its ultimate end, absolute truth, goodness and perfection. Being, caused ontologically, is purposefully arranged. God as the beginning of being and the Final Purpose, placed a purpose into the nature of beings, both rational and irrational, which they are striving to achieve. Irrational beings do this by instinct directed by God, whereas rational beings do it by intellect and will. Indirectly, through the limited world and with the help of his senses, man analogously and imperfectly conceives God, but not His essence. The intellect presents purpose to the will as the good which it chooses. The beatific vision of God, of God’s essence, 5 is not possible in the natural order, but only in the supernatural, by God’s light. Purpose draws beings nearer by its kindness, as their eternal happiness. A. Bauer offers a design of finality in his works General Metaphysics or Ontology and Natural Theology. In ontology Bauer a posteriori sees the limited being as an effect oriented toward the prime cause, the unlimited Being, God’s essence, the necessary perfect Being and Purpose of all beings. Bauer investigates the essence, being, characteristics, nature and purposeful actions of beings. By his reason man reaches the conclusion about God’s existence and through his nature strives to comprehend God’s essence. Beings emerge by the influence of causes: efficient, material, formal and final, which operate due to purpose. The efficient cause gives being to being, bearing in mind the purpose for which the formal cause forms matter. Order and finality in the world indicate that there is an intelligent and free cause – God. By natural, necessary and intellectual-voluntary desire being is directed towards the purpose as the end of action, and to good, which agrees corresponds to nature. The final purpose is God. Irrational being is drawn to purpose by God through natural desire, whereas the intelligent-voluntary being conceives with reason and presents purpose to the will, which desires Purpose due to its goodness. God as the efficient cause of the world gives being to beings intelligently and freely, which can be observed in the order and finality of the world. According to being received from God, beings strive towards God’s goodness and perfection. Rational and free beings do this in a more perfect way through cognition and love towards Purpose – God as beatitude, happiness and perfection, which is also the final purpose of the Creator. The cognition of the absolute, limitless and perfect essence of God equal to Be-ing is possible only through analogy. In his works Ontology and Natural Theology V. Keilbach gives an outline of finality in Being. He ontologically analyses being, his features, categories and causes. Being in the analogue sense, consisting of act and potency, essence and being, receives being from the uncomposed Being – God, whose essence equals Being. The properties of being: one, good and true are based on Being from Himself, which is absolute one, good and true - God. Being is caused by the following causes: efficient and final, material and formal. The prime cause, which everything else depends upon, is God, and all the others participate in Him. The efficient cause translates potency into actuality out of nothing and determines objects by forming matter according to purpose. Beings strive towards the Final Cause and because of It act according to the purpose of their nature. The Absolute, Final Purpose is God. The theodicean problem of God in philosophy deals with God’s existence, nature and effect. This is the fundamental question of man’s existence, as its purpose and meaning. By proving 6 God’s existence Keilbach rejects a priori theories and accepts the a posteriori rational cognition based on the experience of kindness, beauty, truth, order and harmony of the limited world, which points to the Prime Cause – a necessary, limitless, perfect Arranger and Governor of the world and its purpose – God. The intellect analogously comprehends being, good, purpose, by which it prompts the will to strive for beatitude. The evidence based on purposefulness arises from the order in the world, from God who is intelligent, free and transcendent as the world’s purpose, and also from the gradual growth of being in perfection up to the limitlessly perfect Being. Within the teleological evidence Keilbach provides the biological and anthropological evidence as well, and excludes coincidence. He points out the evidence about the end of the world as the fulfilment of the assigned purpose. By observing the human spirit and based on moral obligation, Keilbach provides deontological evidence about the existence of a transcendent personal Legislator as the source of this obligation, the Divine will that obliges the human will to strive towards divine Goodness as the ultimate end. The natural desire of the will for beatitude – eudaimonological evidence - implies purposefulness, since the will strives for unlimited good as its purpose. Irrational beings instinctively strive towards purpose, whereas man does that by rational, indirect and abstract comprehension, and then by the desire of the will. The final orientation is sufficient reason for the existence of the purpose of this desire. The ideological and noetical evidence reaches the truth of universal and eternal value, which points to its source – God. Keilbach rejects ontologism, a direct intuitive knowledge of God out of truth, and accepts that intellect can, by abstract thinking through analogy, reach some level of God’s perfection after which it strives. The knowledge of God, of God’s nature and essence, is analogous and limited. God is a Being of Himself, the fullness of Being as Pure Act, and out of this essence arises His life and work, immanent and external, through the creation of the world. As the efficient cause of the world, He creates the nature of all beings, dependent of him, which by their nature aspire to Him as their purpose. God maintains all beings and participates in their works, respecting the freedom of rational beings. The purpose of the world and of beings is God’s glory and kindness, which is in harmony with the nature of beings, and which intelligent and free beings choose. In his work Philosophy and Religion S. Zimmermann presents the finalistic dimension of life with religious meaning, because God is the cause and purpose of life. The moral law is built into man’s rational nature, which is led by rational desire (will) towards God as the Highest Good of human life, which gives this life a theocentric meaning. Zimmermann wants to reach a secure cognition of God. He starts with the non-necessity and contingency of the world, following the path of causality up to the immutable, uncaused cause of the world, the 7 perfect personal Being – God. He notices the order and lawfulness in the world. Presuming that God is the creator of rational man, He set a purpose to man’s life, and that is the practice of moral law. Natural purpose is the precondition for supernatural superstructure. Zimmermann dedicates the first part of his investigation to reason on its way towards truth, and the second part to man's relationship towards God. He notices the boundaries of sensory and mental reasoning, but also the power of the mind to overcome experiential objects. Natural knowledge about God is attained by proving, alongside with the prior noetic, cognitive reexamination of truth. A conscious subject is - with all of his being, knowledge, emotions and will - in a relationship with God the Creator and Purpose of Life. He relies on the objective truth reached by reason, but - on the path of (efficient) causality - searches for a reliable cognition of God, who determines man’s purpose in the moral sense. The knowledge of God and the soul leads to the fulfilment of the assigned life task – the realization of purpose through good deeds. Thus Zimmermann reaches the truth about the soul, life’s purpose and God in a cognitive-critical – noetic way. This truth is the cognition of being in general, which is value, and after that the cognition of Absolute Being, which is an outside-ofawareness value. Based on causality and finality as the foundation of metaphysical religion, independent of awareness or anything else, a relationship between the conscious subject and God emerges. Awareness is directed towards God, it intends God, so that religion is aware of facts. In man’s second aspiration – the will – Zimmermann perceives the moral obligation whose binding power leads to the One who obliges – the Good as Purpose, the goodness of God’s will. Man reaches a relationship with God as his own Purpose by understanding God as an Objective Transcendent Being, that unconditionally obliges man’s will, leaving him with free choice to choose the Highest Good as his own purpose and meaning, perfection and beatitude. In the supernatural order this is fully attainable only in Heaven. Apart from theodicean-ontological topics, I. Kozѐlj dealt with the philosophy on man, i.e. conscience in his works Theodicea, Phylosophy on Man and Conscience. Theodicy, bearing in mind the metaphysical foundation of being, finds the foothold of God’s existence, nature and actions. On this Kozѐlj builds his philosophy on man, in whose conscience he discovers the path to God. The Absolute personal God reveals Himself to the rational and free human nature as a phenomenon of universal human experience. The arrival of the Goal – God - is achieved by openness and directedness of the dramatic dynamism in the conscience towards God. Based on deontological evidence Kozѐlj develops his personalistic doctrine. At the core of the human person, in the dynamism of life, God is experienced as the call of Kindness that surpasses conscience. In the conscience two wills are exhibited: man’s and 8 God’s, which obliges man’s will by absolute moral obligation. Moral obligation has a threefold finalistic trait: the obligation towards God as law-giver and His will, the determination of rational nature and the natural desire towards happiness. In the dynamism of the phenomenon of conscience, the directedness towards Being as transcendental Highest Value, Good, Pure Being – God, who obliges absolutely, is active. This is an active openness and directedness towards God in the longing for the Final Goal, the Good that man chooses and to which he surrenders. In accomplishing this goal, i.e. Beatitude, at the core of his being – his conscience – man is in community with the entire reality carried by Being, God. M. Belić speaks about the role of finality in understanding Being in his works Ontology and Metaphysical Anthropology. Belić solves the problem of being by discussing Parmenides’ problem, through tractates about actuality and possibility, analogy, possible beings, categories and finally causes. There are two grounds: the dialectics of being from itself and being from another. Through analogy he partly overcomes the difference between the Uncomposed Being – God and the composed being – man. In his spirit man carries the desire for life, happiness and goodness as the highest values. In this natural desire all of man’s desires flow into the Centre, the Source and the Estuary, i.e. Pure Value, Pure Being, God. Thus the purpose of why to be, and not not to be, are the kindness and love of the Source and Purpose – Being, God who instigates us to do that. Man is more than a biological and sensory being, since by his intellectual insight and free voluntary decision about the meaning of his own life, he strives to attain his own purpose, the fulfilment in God. Herewith the productive cause (efficient cause) is marked as the principle that influences the existence of the contingent being, whereas the final cause is his purpose. Determination (directedness) of the productive cause, that is not from itself, but from another, requires reason which foresees and will which chooses purpose, to which it directs the action of productive cause. Pure Being, God, is the Source of created being, whose nature is composed of essence – potency as God’s idea about him and His act – existence as its realization. Out of the “explosion” of the dynamism of Pure Being - God, emerges oneness, truth, goodness and dynamism of the created being as his source and final purpose. Into the be-ing of the created being “from God to God” is inscribed. III. The role of finality in understanding Being in the philosophy of J. Ćurić: Finality is obvious in the following works of Ćurić: Compendium of Theodicy, Ontology, We Believe with our Heart and Thomism Then and Now. Finality plays a crucial role in understanding Being. Ćurić searches for the primordial cause of everything, the mysterious Primordial Being that permeates and exceeds everything, the foundation of being, that which makes reality real. 9 Being is the principle created by God, resembling Him, yet different from Him (analogy), allencompassing and universal, the Act from which all objects exist and receive their being. The ontology of J. Ćurić is open, since all beings exist “through the strength of Being”, which is Infinity, Premordial Cause and Final Purpose – God. Through cognition the Premordial Being is co-affirmed as Purpose. In the original human experience the Supra-Empirical – i.e. God is discovered. This is the key according to which theodicean interpreters provide arguments for God´s existence. Ćurić notices two aspects of man's cognition: intellectual (direct insight into reality) and conceptual (abstract thinking). In every conscious personal act man directly and objectively experiences himself in reality, his awareness is object-oriented, and the object has a final role, because through the object man strives for Absolute All-Reality, by being directed to the Transcendent Final Goal. Thus man experiences the affirmation of his personal Final Goal as the real Final Cause, that directs him toward Himself and determines his original enthusiasm of being. In this act the self-realization of being in the directedness towards Absolute Truth and Goodness is increased. Man tries to articulate this intellectual insight analogously and notionally. The finalistic philosophy of J. Ćurić is based on Blondel’s deliberation on thought and action – “action” in the original dynamics of the heart directed towards Purpose. The co-natural cognition takes place in the depths of man’s being as an experience of kinship with the whole of reality and its Source. In the eagerness of the heart, the deep “willing will” – “volonté voulante“ - assimilates the individual wants – „volonté voulue“ (“willed will”), which reaches further and further in its zest, since there is always a “rest” that pushes one to reach realization, up to the final decision about man’s life and being in general. Through the visible reality the confrontation with the Presence of the Originator and Perfector of the human heart and the whole universe finally takes place. Ćurić notices here that a standpoint towards God, the Author of existence, and towards the whole of reality needs to be taken. At the bottom of man’s heart there is love for God as his Last Objective. This original love in the zone of consciousness – the “volonté voulante“ makes it possible for the explicit „volonté voulue“ to even oppose the Supreme Purpose and get into contradiction with one’s own depth. On this track Ćurić reflects about co-natural cognition and dialectics of the relationship between the natural and the supernatural in view of the Final Purpose. All beings are primordially akin based on Being, whereas their differences are linked to essence. In the depth of man’s being there is the beginning of the Goal manifested in similarity with the Goal, a longing or inclination in the form of a final zest of all beings towards God as the Final Purpose. The Thomistic/Rahner’s notion of „excessus ad esse“ („Vorgriff“) indicates the original openness and final directedness of the human spirit and will, which precedes all 10 conscious acts and represents the core of the human being, surpassing all that is limited. Herein Ćurić discovers the influence of the transcendent Divine Primordial Being at the base of man’s actions. In the final zest of the spirit, in every conscious action, man implicitly touches the Absolute Being – the Personal God as his Final Purpose. The dialectic relationship of nature, intellect and will, carries a supernatural determinant set by God, as an intimate determination of being for his supernatural Purpose, the Absolute Truth and Goodness. In this way, man by his nature strives to observe God’s Essence, that what God is, which will fully ensue in Heaven. IV. A review on the role of finality in the understanding of Being by Croatian NeoScholastics and their contribution to postmodern understanding: After the analysis about the role of finality in the understanding of Being in the works of J. Stadler, A. Bauer, V. Keilbach, S. Zimmermann, I. Kozѐlj, M. Belić and J. Ćurić, a review on the type, level and depth of finality in the understanding of Being in their philosophy ensues. One of the common traits of their philosophy is the Aristotelean-Thomistic tradition about finality in the understanding of Being. There is also a similar viewpoint of the world, the order in the universe and finality of things. This order was established by a Being from itself, necessary, outer-worldly, transcendent, unchangeable and perfect Being – God (cosmological, transcendental, objective, external Finality). God is the Creator of the world and the order in it, and all beings are directed towards Him as their own Final Purpose (theocentric finality). Order also refers to the nature (subjective, immanent, internal finality) of instinctive and especially intelligent-voluntary beings. Only man can comprehend and want his Purpose, make a choice for it, whereas all other beings are directed to serve man (anthropocentric finality), and through man they are also directed towards God as their Final Purpose. Man can reach his own perfection and happiness in the beatific vision of God. The only difference in this doctrine by certain Neo-Scholastics refers to the scope, emphasis and depth of particular aspects of finality, specifically anthropological aspects in the elaboration of the cognitive desire and the cognition of truth about one´s own purpose. Apart from that, there is a difference in the approach to understanding the voluntary desire towards Good as its own purpose and the decision about this Purpose, the commitment to Final Good (deontological, ethical aspect), completely realized in the beatific vision of God. The analysis of works of Croatian Neo-Scholastics shows that in the first half of the 20th century finality was dealt with in passing, with an emphasis on apologetics and polemics with different philosophies that are not open to metaphysics, in ontology, theodicy and partly psychology and ethics. Thus, J. Stadler gives a blueprint of finality in Being within ontology, 11 theodicy and psychology. A somewhat more developed framework is given by A. Bauer. V. Keilbach provides a broader theodical and ethical outline of certain aspects. S. Zimmermann adds the (no)ethic aspect to finality within the deontological evidence. However, Croatian Neo-Scholastics of the second half of the 20th century: I. Kozèlj, M. Belić and J. Ćurić, under the influence of European philosophers like M. Blondel, K. Rahner, J. Maréshal, P. Rousselot and others, apart from the ontological and theodical approach, deepen particularly some aspects of philosophical anthropology and ethics on finality. Thus, I. Kozèlj presents the dynamics of conscience in man´s ascent towards God as his Purpose, M. Belić brings this dynamic aspect into ontology and anthropology, and J. Ćurić does the same in a particular way. His philosophy is ontologically, theodically, anthropolocially, gnoseologically and ethically explicitly finalistic, while he deepens the theme of finality in the dynamics of the cognitive-voluntary act. In contrast to that, postmodern philosophy represents a challenge by criticizing the whole old worldview, Being as the foundation of everything, the individual as subject, the final purpose of being and history as the foothold of Western metaphysics. These critiques converge towards relativizing teleology. After their foundation – Being - is undermined and removed - the world, being, man and history are utterly disoriented and relativized by denial of their Purpose, which leads to meaninglessness. Noticing the consequences of these standpoints, the Croatian Neo-Scholastics reject them by arguments. They consider that history, reality, the world, being and man cannot, by their nature, act without purpose, since it is woven into the foundation of their being. Being is realized in the inclination toward Purpose, that draws him to Himself. By realizing his purpose, being achieves his fulfilment and meaning of existence. Man as an intelligent-voluntary being in the dynamism of his own nature, in the depth of his own being, discovers his own Purpose, Pure Being – God. This concerns the purpose of man’s being and reality. In the achievement of this Final Purpose the whole of life’s dynamism is included. It concerns truthfulness, oneness and selflessness of being as man’s identity, since subject surrenders to the other (Other) at the core of his own existence, thus achieving the fulfilment of his own being and the world, as well as giving glory to God as his Source and Purpose. Both Greek and Scholastic traditional philosophy, followed by Croatian Neo-Scholastics, offer old, yet new bases for purpose in the world.