Gerard J Hughes SJ

Many professional philosophers still share the widespread view that to be a believer, and especially a Catholic believer, must surely clash with being a good philosopher who has to be willing to follow an argument wherever it might lead.  There is a pervasive cultural assumption that theology, or religious belief, is at best an optional extra, a matter of personal taste or lifestyle choice.  Truth is to be found in the sciences, not in theology or religion.

I would like to hope that I had over all those years done something to overcome all those perceptions which surely undermine any efforts we might make to share our faith with non-believers.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of it all.  Unfortunately, it is much harder to know when the challenge has been successfully met.  But I have been constantly encouraged by the number of people who have seriously asked me how I manage to reconcile being both a philosopher and a Jesuit.  To provoke such curiosity is, I believe, to offer people the beginnings of wisdom.

Very Socratic and, I hope, very Jesuit!