Augustinian phenomenology
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Augustinian phenomenology is a relatively new field of study within phenomenology. Augustinian phenomenology attempts to reconcile the so-called existential theology of St. Augustine of Hippo with the methodology of Martin Heidegger, Max Scheler, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and other phenomenologists. This synthesis of Augustine and phenomenology was perhaps first attempted by the late Anglican theologian, John Macquarrie, in his existential theology. The term "Augustinian phenomenology" is being used today by a number of philosophers and theologians, most notably by Craig J. N. de Paulo and Joseph O'Leary. While it is different for each philosopher or theologian, it is essentially a Christian existential phenomenology that focuses its study on human anxiety, restlessness, conversion, the call of conscience and the experience of fallenness and death. It can also be said that in each case, it is a methodological reclaim of Augustine and the religious origins of existentialism and phenomenology. Augustinian phenomenology is part of the contemporary movement within phenomenology "to turn back to religious roots," which appears in philosophers and theologians like Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste and James K.A. Smith.
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