Conversion as a logic of existential knowledge: Dialogue between philosophy and Ignatian ontology in Karl Rahner

Abstract

The present text proposes a philosophical-theological reading of conversion based on Ignatian spirituality as reinterpreted by Karl Rahner (1904–1984), one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century and a central figure in the anthropological turn of contemporary theology. His work marks the beginning of a new chapter in theological thought by integrating human experience as a hermeneutical locus of revelation and by fostering a fruitful dialogue with the philosophical and scientific knowledge of his time. Inspired by the wound of Pamplona and the itinerary of Ignatius of Loyola, this study understands conversion not merely as a religious event but as a cognitive and affective transformation of subjectivity — a process of transcendence involving reason, will, and sensibility. In dialogue with both classical and modern philosophers, it is argued that the experience of conversion can be understood as a movement of self-knowledge and of heeding meaning, in which the human being discovers himself as a discerning subject. Thus, conversion becomes a privileged hermeneutical categoryfor thinking the unity of pathos, logos, and praxis, revealing itself as an original form of theological knowledge and as a horizon for contemporary philosophical reflection.