Research
FPA researchers have introduced countless philosophical, theological and spiritual advances over the last few years. This includes the first successes with the development of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre, EHOC UGent in Belgium and Voegelinian studies in Ireland, Germany, Holland and the United States. With the official introduction of, for instance, Music as field of philosophical and theological reflection, FPA scholars have been responsible for the identification of the flow of presence in art, music, poetry, biographies and ancient manuscripts as well as in their own personal experiences and writings. Early work on the search of 'the thinking heart', by Etty Hillesum as well as the exploration and the indepth research of historical material by Eric Voegelin evolved into a more all-encompassing understanding of flowing presence. Today, FPA research activities take place in that same presence in a wide range of Universities, departments, programs, and centers.
Biography of the flowing presence
In the Introduction to ‘Hitler and The Germans’ Brendan Purcell refers to Etty and Voegelin as participants in ‘the biography of the flowing presence’, inviting us to be differently: The “Hitler and the Germans” lectures are a powerful anamnesis of the humanity of each man and woman as imago Dei, as participating in “the biography of the flowing presence.” Only within the context of that presence can we ground a judgement regarding the absolute dignity of each victim and the awful guilt of each attempt at desecrating that image of God. Etty Hillesum (1914-1943), herself a Dutch Holocaust victim, while at Westerbork concentration camp spoke of “her love for all our neighbours, for everyone made in God’s image.” And she reveals the source of actualisation of her participation in universal humanity to be her intense consciousness of the fact that each one is a you-for-God, when she writes, “My life has become an uninterrupted dialogue with you, my God, a great dialogue.” Voegelin’s belonging, in its existential height and depth, to the worldwide “community of suffering” would not claim comparison with Etty Hillesum’s. Yet, by his reminding us that our judgement of the Nazi period must be made within the perspective of her “great dialogue”, he is inviting us too, not just to think or to speak differently, but to be differently. (HG, 40)