Maria Fedoryka / Associated Scholar

Dr. Maria Fedoryka lectures and publishes in both academic and popular fora in the field of the philosophy of love, examining issues spanning from the centrality of love in the being of God, to its role at the center of creation, to its meaning for marriage, family, and sexuality. Having been captivated by the writings of Dietrich von Hildebrand as a teenager and deeply drawn to his phenomenological and personalist philosophy, she pursued her studies under Josef Seifert and John Crosby at the International Academy of Philosophy. Among her scholarly writings are an analysis of Dietrich von Hildebrand’s philosophy of marital intimacy and procreation titled Finis superabundant Operis: Refining an Ancient Cause for Understanding the Spousal Act in the ACPQ, and “‘God is Love’”: Personal Plurality as the Completion of Aristotle’s Notion of Substance and Love as the Absolute Ground of the Divine Being” in the Proceedings of the ACPA. Among her popular publications are the booklet The Special Gift of Women for God, the Family and the World published by the Catholic Truth Society in England. She is currently working on an article comparing Hildebrand’s and Aquinas’s philosophy of affectivity, as well as an article on Hildebrand’s theory of motivation as the key to understanding deliberate moral wrongdoing..

Read more about Maria Fedoryka.

Research Areas:

Philosophy of Love

Selected Bibliography:

“A Comparison of Aquinas on the Passions and Affectiones and Hildebrand on ‘Genuinely Spiritual Affectivity’”. Paper delivered at Colloquium on the Heart sponsored by the Hildebrand Legacy Project. University of Dallas, February 2020

“Is Moral Evil Only Privation? Another Look”. Paper delivered at The True, the Good, and the Beautiful – and the Encounter with Evil Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Annual Convention. Montreal, Quebec, September 2019

Forthcoming: “Does Gender Matter for Marriage? The Centrality of Masculinity and Femininity to Marriage as Mutual Self-Gift in the Theology of the Body” in Dutch Communio, proceedings of the 5th International Theology of the Body Symposium, Kerkrade: 2019

Book review for Review of Metaphysics of Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Graven Images

“‘God is Love’: Personal Plurality as the Completion of Aristotle’s Notion of Substance and Love as the Absolute Ground of the Divine Being” in Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 2019

“Human Sexuality: The Battle for the Human Soul” in Mary and the Crisis in the Church, ed. Roger Nutt. Sapientia Press: 2019

“Von Hildebrand, Love and Contraception”, in Humana Vitae, 50 Years Later: Embracing God’s Vision for Marriage, Love, and Life, ed. Theresa Notare. CUA Press: 2019

“Only Union Plus Love Equals Fruitfulness: A Personalist Reflects on the Teaching of Humanae Vitae” in Why Humanae Vitae is Still Right, ed. Janet Smith. Ignatius Press: 2018

“Finis Superabundant Operis: Refining an Ancient Cause for Explaining the Conjugal Act” in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 90, no. 3, 2016, 477-498

The Special Vocation of Women: for God the family and the World, Catholic Truth Society Publications, United Kingdom: 2010


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