Destined for Liberty: The Human Person in the Philosophy of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II by Jaroslaw Kupczak, O.P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 493 Destined for Liberty: The Human Person in the Philosophy ofKarol Wojtyla/]ohn Paul II. By JAROSLAW KUPCZAK, 0.P., Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2000. Pp. 169. $44.95 (doth), $22.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8132-0984-6 (cloth), 0-8132-0985-4 (paper). In Destined for Liberty, Fr. Jaroslaw Kupczak delivers to his readers a comprehensive study ofthe origins of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II's philosophical anthropology. Kupczak accomplishes this by focusing on Wojtyla's pre-papal writings, specifically on "one of the cornerstones of his theory-the notion of the human person as the efficient cause of his own action" (2). This work as a whole is a marvelously detailed philosophical handbook of history and terminology that cuts a scenic path through the seminal thought of Pope John Paul II. It is particularly valuable to the English/non-Polish-speaking world, as most of the early works of this formidable figure are only available in Polish. Kupczak's philosophical mastery and painstaking scholarship combine to make this book an invaluable resource. One might ask how this work measures up to the available English literature on the subject, especially George H. Williams, The Mind ofjohn Paul II: Origins of His Thought and Action (1981); Rocco Buttiglione, Karol Wojtyla: The Thought of the Man Who Became john Paul II (1982 Italian, 1997 English), Kenneth L. Schmitz, At the Center of the Human Drama: The Philosophical Anthropology ofKarol Wojtyla/PopeJohn Paul II (1993); and Peter Simpson, On Karol Wojtyla (2001). First, Kupczak, being a Pole, has ready access to his subject's early texts and thus no need to rely on translations. Second, this work is wholly philosophical and assumes the reader is familiar with philosophical thinkers and trends pertinent to Wojtyla's thought, from the ancient Greeks to the present. Third, Kupczak shapes his analysis of Wojtyla's intellectual formation around the question of human freedom and causality (variously termed "human efficacy," "human efficient causality," and "man as the efficient cause of his own action"). This is decidedly not an introductory work. Despite the twentieth-century renewal of Thomism and its many accomplishments, one may wonder how effective it has been at correcting the errors resulting from the turn to the subject. In Wojtyla, and Kupzcak's illumination of him, we have an intelligent and articulate exposition of what will be perhpas the most successful response to the mid-century crisis of the understanding of the human person. Wojtyla witnessed first hand the marginalization of the human person in World War II, and recognized the war being waged by modernity against the Christian image of the person. His response was to formulate an approach to the human person using the best of the ancients and Church tradition coupled with the best of modernity. Specifically, Wojtyla presents the subjectivity ofthe person objectively, beginning with modern phenomenology (and, to a lesser degree, the psychological sciences), then moving into a metaphysical analysis. In his analysis, existential Thomism (as exemplified by Etienne Gilson) sheds new light on subjectivity, 494 BOOK REVIEWS moving well beyond Thomas yet relying on Thomistic methods and insights. For the practicing Thomist, Wojtyla and his appropriation ofThomism demonstrate that modern methods are not diametrically opposed to Thomism, and in fact, can lead to astonishingly successful results. That being said, Wojtyla is no easy read. We need interpreters of Kupzcak's caliber to unpack this rich body of thought. The book contains six chapters: "Prologue," "The Early Writings," "The Methodology," "Consciousnessand Efficacy," "Transcendence and Integration," and "Conclusions." The lengthiest chapter is devoted to methodology, which is one of the most controversial aspects of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul Il's anthropology. The six chapters are thematically centered around two topics: the influences and formulation of Wojtyla's method (chaps. 2 and 3), and an exposition of his method applied to anthropology, specifically the question of the reality and experience of human efficacy (chaps. 4 and 5). This general twofold partitioning ofthe book follows the author's view ofWojtyla's first five major works: his doctoral dissertation, Faith According to St. John ofthe Cross (1947-48); his habilitation thesis, On the Possibility ofConstructing a Christian...