The Phenomenology Booth is a virtual exhibit devoted to the philosophical field of phenomenology. The exhibit features a set of interviews with philosophers and theologians working in phenomenology, as well as a selection of Wipf and Stock’s books in phenomenology.
In this first interview for our phenomenology booth, we sit down with Dr. Conor Sweeney, professor of theology at Christendom College and the author of a handful of books with us at Cascade, including his Sacramental Presence after Heidegger: Onto-theology, Sacraments, and the Mother’s Smile.
In this episode, Professor Sweeney and I have a conversation about Heidegger, sacramental theology, John Paul II, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and lots more.

Conor Sweeney is associate professor of theology at Christendom College in Virginia. Prior to this appointment he lectured as Permanent Fellow at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne for six years. He has taught and researched in the areas of evangelization, continental philosophy, sacramental theology, theological anthropology, the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, and John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. He is the author of several books, including Sacramental Presence after Heidegger: Onto-theology, Sacraments, and the Mother’s Smile (Cascade, 2015).
Show Notes
PODCAST LINKS:
The Phenomenology Booth: https://wipfandstock.com/blog/2022/11/15/the-phenomenology-booth/
Author page: https://wipfandstock.com/author/conor-sweeney/
SOURCES MENTIONED:
Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time.
Husserl, Edmund. The Logical Investigations. 2 vols.
Marion, Jean-Luc. In Excess: Studies of Saturated Phenomena.
Sokolowski, Robert. Introduction to Phenomenology.
von Balthasar, Hans Urs. Love Alone Is Credible.
Wojtyla, Karol/John Paul II. Love and Responsibility.
———. Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body.
———. Person and Community: Selected Essays.
OUTLINE:
(01:23) – Phenomenology as the study of givenness
(04:30) – Sokolowski – Husserl – Wojtyla/John Paul II
(08:43) – JP2, Heidegger, and the French theological turn
(12:47) – Phenomenology and golfing
(18:43) – The “destruction” of “onto-theology”
(25:18) – “Dasein,” “being-in-the-world,” and “being-towards-death”
(28:56) – von Balthasar vis-à-vis Chauvet and Boeve
(34:31) – Dasein and “the mother’s smile”