KLEUTGEN, JOSEPH

KLEUTGEN, JOSEPH. – Jesuit theologian and philosopher, born on 9 April 1811 in Dortmund (Westphalia), died on 13 January 1883 at S. Antonio di Caldaro (South Tyrol). After teaching ethics and rhetoric for three years, in 1843 he was summoned to Rome to the Order’s General Curia, of which he was also secretary for three years. When the First Vatican Council was suspended, at which he had collaborated as the private theologian of the bishop of Paderborn, taking part in the final formulation of the constitution De fide catholica, he withdrew to Tyrol. He was recalled from there in 1878 by Leo XIII, who entrusted him with the prefecture of studies and the chair of dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University; he is apparently to be credited with the first draft of the encyclical Aeterni Patris. Shortly afterward, however, an apoplectic attack forced him to return to Tyrol. Nevertheless, he continued working on a major theological work, conceived in eight volumes, of which only the first appeared: Institutiones theologicae: De ipso Deo (Ratisbona 1881).

Through the works he wrote and the influence he exerted, K. occupies an eminent place among the scholastics of the nineteenth century, and may be called the most effective restorer of scholastic philosophy in Germany. Kantian speculation had in fact produced confusion among Catholic theologians there and led them to undervalue the scholastic tradition. K. sought to prove to Hermes, Günther, and Hirscher that all the errors of their new theology condemned by Rome derived precisely from their rejection of the traditional philosophical and theological principles. His two fundamental works are directed toward this end: Die Theologie der Vorzeit vertheidigt (3 vols., Münster 1853–60; 2nd ed., 5 vols., ibid. 1867–74) and Die Philosophie der Vorzeit vertheidigt (2 vols., ibid. 1860–63; 2nd ed., Innsbruck 1878), together with the three supplementary pamphlets: Die Verurteilung des Ontologismus (Münster 1867); Vom Intellectus agens u. d. angeborenen Ideen (ibid. 1875); Zur Lehre vom Glauben (ibid. 1875). Acuteness of argument,

Broad erudition, moderation, precision, and clarity particularly characterize Die Philosophie der Vorzeit. Although it was called a “defense,” philosophy (fundamentally Thomistic in orientation, but with contributions from other scholastics, particularly Suarezian ones) was even more “expounded” therein (and this was emphasized in the title of the Italian version, edited by Cardinal Reisach and Fr. Curei: 5 vols., Rome–Turin 1866–68). K.’s particular merit in presenting the problem of knowledge in depth and discussing the views concerning the relationship between science and faith should be noted.

Other works by K.: biographies, letters from Rome, sermons, etc., in Kleinere Werke (5 vols., Münster 1869–74; Regensburg 1880–85); in vol. III, the dissertation Über die alte und neue Schule (1st ed. 1846; Latin translation, 1889), in defense of the old school; regarded as a classic is the Ars dicendi... (1st ed., Rome 1874; 21st ed., Turin 1928).