Medieval Western philosophy Books

Book Synopsis`For I do not seek to understand so that I may believe; but I believe so that I may understand. For I believe this also, that unless I believe, I shall not understand.'' Does God exist? Can we know anything about God''s nature? Have we any reason to think that the Christian religion is true? What is truth, anyway? Do human beings have freedom of choice? Can they have such freedom in a world created by God? These questions, and others, were ones which Anselm of Canterbury (c.1033-1109) took very seriously. He was utterly convinced of the truth of the Christian religion, but he was also determined to try to make sense of his Christian faith. Recognizing that the Christian God is incomprehensible, he also believed that Christianity is not simply something to be swallowed with mouth open and eyes shut. For Anselm, the doctrines of Christianity are an invitation to question, to think, and to learn. Anselm is studied today because his rigour of thought and clarity of writing place him among the greatest of theologians and philosophers. This translation provides readers with their first opportunity to read all of his most important works within the covers of a single volume. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsINCLUDES: LETTER TO ARCHBISHOP LANFRANC; MONOLOGIAN; PROSLOGION; PRO INSIPIENTE ON BEHALF OF THE FOOL) BY GAUNILO OF MARMOUTIERS; REPLY TO GAUNILO; ON TRUTH; ON FREE WILL; ON THE FALL OF THE DEVIL; ON THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD; WHY GOD BECAME MAN; ON THE VIRGIN CONCEPTION AND ORIGINAL SIN; ON THE PROCESSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; DE CONCORDIA (THE COMPATIBILITY OF GOD'S FOREKNOWLEDGE, PREDESTINATION AND GRACE WITH HUMAN FREEDOM; DE GRAMMATICO; PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS; INDEX

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Book SynopsisHow can the Body and Blood of Christ, without ever leaving heaven, come to be really present on eucharistic altars where the bread and wine still seem to be? Thirteenth and fourteenth century Christian Aristotelians thought the answer had to be transubstantiation. Acclaimed philosopher, Marilyn McCord Adams, investigates these later medieval theories of the Eucharist, concentrating on the writings of Thomas Aquinas, Giles of Rome, Duns Scotus, and William Ockham, with some reference to Peter Lombard, Hugh of St. Victor, and Bonaventure. She examines how their efforts to formulate and integrate this theological datum provoked them to make significant revisions in Aristotelian philosophical theories regarding the metaphysical structure and location of bodies, differences between substance and accidents, causality and causal powers, and fundamental types of change. Setting these developments in the theological context that gave rise to the question draws attention to their understandings Trade Reviewessential for all interested in the religious and intellectual history of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. * Stephen Mossman, Medium Aevum *There are few books that are as careful in its detail and as cosmic in its scope as Adams's Some Later Medieval Theories of the Eucharist: Thomas Aquinas, Giles of Rome, Duns Scotus, and William Ockham. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the nature of Christ's presence among us. * David Efird, Mind *Table of ContentsPROLOGUE ; Introduction ; 1. Aristotelian Preliminaries ; I: WHY SACRAMENTS? ; 2. What, Why, and Wherefore ; 3. Sacramental Causality: 'Effecting What They Figure!' ; II: THE METAPHYSICS AND PHYSICS OF REAL PRESENCE ; 4. Explaining the Presence, Identifying the Change: Aquinas and Giles of Rome ; 5. Duns Scotus on Placement Problems ; 6. Duns Scotus on Two Types of Transsubstantiation ; 7. Remodelling with Ockham ; 8. Accidents without Substance: Aquinas and Gilles of Rome ; 9. Independent Accidents: Scotus and Ockham ; 10. Theology Provoking Philosophy ; III: WHAT SORT OF UNION? ; 11. Eucharistic Eating and Drinking ; 12. Sacraments, Why Ceasing? ; POST-SCRIPT ; List of Numbered Propositions ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisRobert Pasnau traces the developments of metaphysical thinking through four rich but for the most part neglected centuries of philosophy, running from the thirteenth century through to the seventeenth. At no period in the history of philosophy, other than perhaps our own, have metaphysical problems received the sort of sustained attention they received during the later Middle Ages, and never has a whole philosophical tradition come crashing down as quickly and completely as did scholastic philosophy in the seventeenth century. The thirty chapters work through various fundamental metaphysical issues, sometimes focusing more on scholastic thought, sometimes on the seventeenth century. Pasnau begins with the first challenges to the classical scholasticism of Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas, runs through prominent figures like John Duns Scotus and William Ockham, and ends in the seventeenth century, with the end of the first stage of developments in post-scholastic philosophy: on the continTrade ReviewReaders with a keen interest in metaphysics and a doughty historical stamina will find Pasnau's book rewarding. * Anthony Kenny, Times Literary Supplement *Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 is truly a magnificent achievement ...It contains historical scholarship and philosophical argumentation in a very well balanced mix in order to present the reader with a true sense of the historical position held as well as a subtle philosophical assessment of the correctness of these views. It is history of philosophy at its very best ...Pasnau's work is invaluable to anyone dealing with the history of this time period as well as anyone interested in the metaphysics of substance. * Henrik Lagerlund, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *an absolute must for all those interested either in medieval or in early modern philosophy, as well as a highly instructive and inspiring reading for contemporary students of metaphysics. * Claude Panaccio, Mind *Table of ContentsI. MATTER; II. SUBSTANCE; III. ACCIDENTS; IV. EXTENSION; V. QUALITY; VI. UNITY AND IDENTITY

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Book SynopsisRenowned Aquinas scholar Brian Davies offers the first in-depth study of the saint's thoughts on God and evil, revealing that Aquinas's thinking about God and evil can be traced through his metaphysical philosophy, his thoughts on God and creation, and his writings about Christian revelation and the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation.Trade ReviewHe has produced a book for a wide range of readers on perhaps the most difficult question people pose about God ... Davies has produced a remarkable book. * Jeff Phillips, Theology Vol. 116 *[Davies] is an experienced and lucid guide * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; Preface ; 1. The Problem of Evil ; 2. Aquinas, Philosophy, and Theology ; 3. What There Is ; 4. Goodness and Badness ; 5. God the Creator ; 6. God's Perfection and Goodness ; 7. The Creator and Evil ; 8. Providence and Grace ; 9. The Trinity and Christ ; 10. Aquinas on God and Evil ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe topic of certitude is much debated today. On one side, commentators such as Charles Krauthammer urge us to achieve moral clarity. On the other, those like George Will contend that the greatest present threat to civilization is an excess of certitude. To address this uncomfortable debate, Susan Schreiner turns to the intellectuals of early modern Europe, a period when thought was still fluid and had not yet been reified into the form of rationality demanded by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.Schreiner argues that Europe in the sixteenth century was preoccupied with concerns similar to ours; both the desire for certainty -- especially religious certainty -- and warnings against certainty permeated the earlier era. Digging beneath overt theological and philosophical problems, she tackles the underlying fears of the period as she addresses questions of salvation, authority, the rise of skepticism, the outbreak of religious violence, the discernment of spirits, and the ambiguousTrade ReviewWith characteristic breadth of mind and vision, Schreiner combines deep knowledge and understanding of the overlapping fields of theology, philosophy, spirituality, culture and literature in order to project a history of the erratic human mind. Such an adventurous, interdisciplinary approach is often vulnerable to exposure of superficiality and pretentiousness, but happily not in her case. Every sentence she writes is formed in a way that conveys illumination to the reader. * Ian Hazlett, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Glasgow. *This immensely interesting and thoughtful book places the quest for 'certainty' at the center of that era historians have recently come to call 'early modern.' A sensitive reader of texts, whether theological or literary, Schreiner places Protestant and Catholic reformers, Renaissance humanists and dramatists, and philosophical and literary skeptics on the same stage, all probing the same unsettling questions about human ends and how we can come to know them with any certitude. This is a book all students of early modern European history will have to come to terms with. * John Van Engen, author of Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life: The Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages *Susan Schreiner's study of the search for certainty offers a masterful perspective on a central and many-faceted problem of the early modern era. The book is characterized by a mastery of sources primary and secondary and by profound insight into the intellectual and cultural transitions from the Middle Ages into modernity, ranging from philosophical problems of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, to Luther and Tyndale in the early Reformation, to Montaigne and Shakespeare at the end of the sixteenth century. This is a rich, rewarding, and highly significant study. * Richard A. Muller, P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary *Table of ContentsI: Beginnings: Questions and debates in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries ; II: "Abba! Father!": The Certainty of Salvation ; III: "The spiritual man judges all things": The Certainty of Exegetical Authority ; IV: Are You Alone Wise?: The Catholic Response ; V: Experientia: The Great Age of the Spirit ; VI: Unmasking the Angel of Light: The Discernment of the Spirits ; VII: "Men should be what they seem": Appearances and Reality ; Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThrough an interview and sixteen essays, this title explores key intersections of medieval religion and philosophy. It focuses less on individual Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers than on their relationships with one another.Trade Review"This truly is an informative, engaging, and very readable book that will be very useful to anyone with an intellectual interest in things medieval." (Choice) "Highly recommended to scholars of the Middle Ages as well as those in philosophy and religion more generally. They will all be enlightened by careful reading of this book." (Library Journal)"

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Book SynopsisThrough an interview and sixteen essays, this title explores key intersections of medieval religion and philosophy. It focuses less on individual Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers than on their relationships with one another.Trade Review"This truly is an informative, engaging, and very readable book that will be very useful to anyone with an intellectual interest in things medieval." (Choice) "Highly recommended to scholars of the Middle Ages as well as those in philosophy and religion more generally. They will all be enlightened by careful reading of this book." (Library Journal)"

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Book SynopsisCritically engaging the thought of Heidegger, Gadamer and others, this work contributes both to the criticism of Dante's Divine Comedy, and to the theory of interpretation. It uses hermeneutical theory to provide a reading of the poem, focusing on Dante's address to the reader.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: Truth and interpretation in the Divine Comedy 1: Historicity of Truth 2: Truth through Interpretation and the Hermeneutic of Faith 3: Interpretive Ontology: Dante and Heidegger Ch. 1: The Address to the Reader 1: The Ontological Import of the Address to the Reader 2: Reader's Address as Scene of the Production of Sense 3: Truth, Sendings, Being-Addressed: Deconstruction versus Hermeneutics or Dialogue with Derrida? 4: A Philological Debate: Auerbach and Spitzer 5: Petrarch, Boccaccio, and the Fiction of Philology Ch. 2: Dante's Hermeneutic Rite of Passage: Inferno IX 1: Blockage 2: Passage 3: Ambiguities 4: Appendix: Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and the Meaning of a Modern Understanding of Dante Ch. 3: The Temporality of Conversion 1: Interpretation as Ontological Repetition and Dante's Fatedness 2: Ecstatic and Repetitive Temporality 3: Phenomenology of Fear/Anxiety in Inferno I 4: Dantesque Allegory and the Act of Understanding Ch. 4: The Making of History 1: Relocating Truth: From Historical Sense to Reader's Historicity 2: Reality and Realism in Purgatorio X 3: Some History (and a Reopening) of the Question of the Truth of the Commedia Ch. 5: Resurrected Tradition and Revealed Truth 1: Dante's Statius 2: Hermeneutics, Historicity, and Suprahistorical Truth Recapitulatory Prospectus: A New Hermeneutic Horizon for Religious Revelation in Poetic Literature? Core Bibliography of Recurrently Cited Sources Index

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Book SynopsisRevises the history of medieval imagination with a detailed analysis of its role in the period's meditations and theories of cognition. This title examines Bonaventure's meditational works, the Meditationes vitae Christi, the Stimulis amoris, Piers Plowman, and Nicholas Love's Myrrour, among others.Trade Review"A learned and well-written book about the philosophy of imagination and the late-medieval practice of devotional meditation. Karnes's argument is powerful and convincing, and makes a valuable addition to a lively field in current medieval studies." (Nicholas Watson, Harvard University)"

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Book SynopsisBegins by taking up the ancient philosophical notion that the world is composed of two fundamental opposites: atoms, as the philosopher Epicurus theorized, intrinsically unchangeable and moving about the void; and, the void itself, or nothingness.Trade Review"An excellent and beautifully written book, The Lucretian Renaissance narrates fiendishly tricky, obscure, and complex matter normally accessible only to the erudite - philologists, Renaissance scholars, and historians of the book - with the lightness of touch of a storyteller." (James I. Porter, University of California, Irvine)"

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Book SynopsisIt is hard to think of two philosophers less alike than St. Thomas Aquinas and Jean-Paul Sartre. Aquinas, a thirteenth-century Dominican friar, and Sartre, a twentieth-century philosopher and atheist, are separated by both time and religious beliefs. Yet, for philosopher Joseph S. Catalano, the two are worth bringing together for their shared concern with a fundamental issue: the uniqueness of each individual person and how this uniqueness relates to our mutual dependence on each other. When viewed in the context of one another, Sartre broadens and deepens Aquinas's outlook, updating it for our present planetary and social needs. Both thinkers, as Catalano shows, bring us closer to the reality that surrounds us, and both are centrally concerned with the place of the human within a temporal realm and what stance we should take on our own freedom to act and live within that realm. Catalano shows how freedom, for Sartre, is embodied, and that this freedom further illuminates Aquinas's notTrade Review"This book demonstrates Catalano's wide background and extensive life experience with both key philosophical concepts and their practical relevance as he addresses topics including good faith, the universal singular, and the pervasiveness of freedom in the actions of human beings. Catalano has created a coherent yet wide-ranging collection of ideas, presented in a way that is attractive and accessible to a broad reading public. The Saint and the Atheist is the unique product of a seasoned philosopher eager to share his philosophical reflections with an audience that extends well beyond the borders of professional philosophy."--William McBride, author of From Yugoslav Praxis to Global Pathos: Anti-Hegemonic Post-Post-Marxist Essays "In a profound effort to think with and through Sartre and Aquinas, Catalano works out an original and reconstructive reading of these odd bedfellows, one that moves us well beyond both 'the atheist' and 'the saint.' Catalano's emphatic commitment to a corporeal understanding of the human experience is vivid throughout, and his philosophical imagination is rigorous, nuanced, and often poetic. He is, as he has always been, exceptionally good at giving the reader immediate insight into seemingly impenetrable philosophical terms, thanks not least to the power and clarity of his thinking and the inviting and open-textured quality of his writing. Among its many merits, and perhaps above all, The Saint and the Atheist asks the reader to slow down and think--to think hard about things that matter; to think with challenging figures such as Aquinas and Sartre, among many others; to think along with Catalano, too; and, most importantly, to think for oneself."--Matthew Ally, author of Ecology and Existence: Bringing Sartre to the Water's EdgeTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Cast 2. Becoming Acquainted 3. Introducing Good Faith 4. Good Faith 5. Our Twofold Birth 6. From Child to Adult 7. Sartre’s Studies of Flaubert and Genet 8. Lying to Oneself 9. On Being an Author 10. The Value of Universals in Our Lives 11. Universality and Personality 12. My Time, Your Time, the World’s Time 13. Half-Time: The Battle over the Sex of Angels 14. On Truth: A First Glance 15. Pursuing Truth 16. The Truth of Our Present History: Scarcity 17. Our World 18. Our One World 19. Influencing the World: Action and Praxis 20. Intentionality and Methodology Conclusion: The Meaning of Life Appendix 1. Edith Stein Appendix 2. Hitler, the Vatican, and Donald Trump Notes Index

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Book SynopsisGiordano Bruno (1548-1600) is one of the great figures of early modern Europe, and one of the least understood. This biography establishes him once and for all as a peer of Erasmus, Shakespeare, and Galileo - a thinker whose vision of the world prefigures ours.Trade Review"Whatever else Bruno was, he was wild-minded and extreme, and Rowland communicates this, together with a sense of the excitement that his ideas gave him.... It's that feeling for the explosiveness of the period, and Rowland's admiration of Bruno for participating in it - indeed, dying for it - that is the central and most cherishable quality of the biography." - Joan Acocella, New Yorker "Rowland tells this great story in moving, vivid prose, concentrating as much on Bruno's thought as on his life.... His restless mind, as she makes clear, not only explored but transformed the heavens." - Anthony Grafton, New York Review of Books "Bruno seems to have been an unclassifiable mixture of foul-mouthed Neapolitan mountebank, loquacious poet, religious reformer, scholastic philosopher, and slightly wacky astronomer." - Anthony Gottlieb, New York Times Book Review "A marvelous feat of scholarship.... This is intellectual biography at its best." - Peter N. Miller, New Republic "An excellent starting point for anyone who wants to rediscover the historical figure concealed beneath the cowl on Campo de' Fiori." - Paula Findlen, Nation "A loving and thoughtful account of Bruno's life and thought, satires and sonnets, dialogues and lesson plans, vagabond days and star-spangled nights.... Ingrid D. Rowland has her reasons for preferring Bruno to Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, even Galileo and Leonardo, and they're good ones." - John Leonard, Harper's"

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Book SynopsisLeo Strauss argued that the most visible fact about Machiavelli's doctrine is also the most useful one: Machiavelli seems to be a teacher of wickedness. In his critical appreciation of "The Prince" and the "Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy", Strauss explains his thoughts.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction I: The Twofold Character of Machiavelli's Teaching II: Machiavelli's Intention: The Prince III: Machiavelli's Intention: The Discourses IV: Machiavelli's Teaching Notes Index

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Book SynopsisMichel de Montaigne's (1533-1592) Essais, was a profound study of human subjectivity. More than three hundred years before the advent of psychoanalysis, Montaigne embarked on a remarkable quest to see and imagine the self from a variety of vantage points. This title traces Montaigne's development of the Western concept of the self.Trade ReviewIn this exhilarating and learned book on Montaigne's essays, Lawrence D. Kritzman contemporizes the great writer. Reading him from today's deconstructive America, Kritzman discovers Montaigne always already deep into a dialogue with Jacques Derrida and psychoanalysis. One cannot but admire this fabulous act of translation. -- Helene Cixous, author of White Ink: Interviews on Sex, Text, and Politics Throughout his career, Lawrence D. Kritzman has demonstrated an intimate knowledge of Montaigne's essays and an engagement with French philosophy and critical theory. The Fabulous Imagination sheds precious new light on one of the founders of modern individualism and on his crucial quest for self-knowledge. -- Jean Starobinski, professor emeritus of French literature, University of Geneva Lawrence D. Kritzman is centered on the way Montaigne's essays are self-contained expositions of ambivalence and unresolved tension about the difficulties of living, negotiating, and being in the world. He brings us back to archaic but vital issues that haunt us: to monsters and nightmares; to fear of impotence; to thoughts about the end of filial lines; to the ways that writing exhumes and thus copes with traumatic memories; to mimicry not as a way of representing the world but as a tactic of diverting, deflecting, and ultimately assuaging its violence. A strong and enduring contribution not only to early modern study but also to the importance of theory insofar as it can be displaced into and out of the works of canonical authors. -- Tom Conley, Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University Kritzman, whose scholarship and erudition are apparent on every page, skillfully analyzes Montaigne's response to each of these traumas... Highly recommended. Choice Although other books will help modern readers understand Montaigne's place in the intellectual context of the sixteenth century, Kritzman's study achieves something rare in showing how Montaigne's imagination allowed him to confront the reality of his own everyday life. In this way, the Fabulous Imagination proves itself a historical text, but one that filters historical consciousness through a modern and personal prism. A unique mix of the personal, the historical, and the theoretical, the Fabulous Imagination brings Montaigne's Essays into focus as only a highly sensitive author with an extensive knowledge of both history and theory can. -- Michael Randall Substance Essential reading for any student or scholar of Montaigne's essays. Lawrence D. Kritzman... consistently balances a profound understanding of Montaigne's essays with a broad and diverse knowledge of postmodern theory, in the process offering illuminating readings of these texts. -- Kathleen Long The Comparatist The book offers a summary of the work of a major scholar of French Renaissance studies, and hence a showcase of the reading practices that marked the era in which this work first became prominent. -- Hassan Melehy H-France Kritzman's powerful insights lead us to understand the Essais in a new light, -- Elisabeth Hodges Sixteenth Century JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Montaigne Is Theory Part I. Monster Theory 1. Montaigne's Fantastic Monsters and the Construction of Gender 2. Representing the Monster: Cognition, Cripples, and Other Limp Parts in "Des boyteux" (III, 11) Part II. Death Sentences 3. Montaigne's Fraternity: La Boetie on Trial 4. Montaigne on Horseback, or the Simulation of Death 5. The Anxiety of Death: Narrative and Subjectivity in "De la diversion" (III, 4) 6. Excavating Montaigne: The Essayist on Trial Part III. Philosophical Impostures 7. The Socratic Makeover: The Ethics of the Impossible in "De la phisionomie" (III, 12) 8. Romancing the Stone: "De l'experience" (III, 13) Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn this exhilarating and learned book on Montaigne's essays, Lawrence D. Kritzman contemporizes the great writer. Reading him from today's deconstructive America, Kritzman discovers Montaigne always already deep into a dialogue with Jacques Derrida and psychoanalysis. One cannot but admire this fabulous act of translation. -- Helene Cixous, author of White Ink: Interviews on Sex, Text, and Politics Throughout his career, Lawrence D. Kritzman has demonstrated an intimate knowledge of Montaigne's essays and an engagement with French philosophy and critical theory. The Fabulous Imagination sheds precious new light on one of the founders of modern individualism and on his crucial quest for self-knowledge. -- Jean Starobinski, professor emeritus of French literature, University of Geneva Lawrence D. Kritzman is centered on the way Montaigne's essays are self-contained expositions of ambivalence and unresolved tension about the difficulties of living, negotiating, and being in the world. He brings us back to archaic but vital issues that haunt us: to monsters and nightmares; to fear of impotence; to thoughts about the end of filial lines; to the ways that writing exhumes and thus copes with traumatic memories; to mimicry not as a way of representing the world but as a tactic of diverting, deflecting, and ultimately assuaging its violence. A strong and enduring contribution not only to early modern study but also to the importance of theory insofar as it can be displaced into and out of the works of canonical authors. -- Tom Conley, Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University Kritzman, whose scholarship and erudition are apparent on every page, skillfully analyzes Montaigne's response to each of these traumas... Highly recommended. Choice Although other books will help modern readers understand Montaigne's place in the intellectual context of the sixteenth century, Kritzman's study achieves something rare in showing how Montaigne's imagination allowed him to confront the reality of his own everyday life. In this way, the Fabulous Imagination proves itself a historical text, but one that filters historical consciousness through a modern and personal prism. A unique mix of the personal, the historical, and the theoretical, the Fabulous Imagination brings Montaigne's Essays into focus as only a highly sensitive author with an extensive knowledge of both history and theory can. -- Michael Randall Substance Essential reading for any student or scholar of Montaigne's essays. Lawrence D. Kritzman... consistently balances a profound understanding of Montaigne's essays with a broad and diverse knowledge of postmodern theory, in the process offering illuminating readings of these texts. -- Kathleen Long The Comparatist The book offers a summary of the work of a major scholar of French Renaissance studies, and hence a showcase of the reading practices that marked the era in which this work first became prominent. -- Hassan Melehy H-France Kritzman's powerful insights lead us to understand the Essais in a new light, -- Elisabeth Hodges Sixteenth Century JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Montaigne Is Theory Part I. Monster Theory 1. Montaigne's Fantastic Monsters and the Construction of Gender 2. Representing the Monster: Cognition, Cripples, and Other Limp Parts in "Des boyteux" (III, 11) Part II. Death Sentences 3. Montaigne's Fraternity: La Boetie on Trial 4. Montaigne on Horseback, or the Simulation of Death 5. The Anxiety of Death: Narrative and Subjectivity in "De la diversion" (III, 4) 6. Excavating Montaigne: The Essayist on Trial Part III. Philosophical Impostures 7. The Socratic Makeover: The Ethics of the Impossible in "De la phisionomie" (III, 12) 8. Romancing the Stone: "De l'experience" (III, 13) Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisIn Utopia, Thomas More gives us a traveller''s account of a newly discovered island where the inhabitants enjoy a social order based on natural reason and justice, and human fulfilment is open to all. As the traveller, Raphael, describes the island to More, a bitter contrast is drawn between this rational society and the custom-driven practices of Europe. So how can the philosopher try to reform his society? In his fictional discussion, More takes up a question first raised by Plato and which is still a challenge in the contemporary world. In the history of political thought few works have been more influential than Utopia, and few more misunderstood.

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Book SynopsisToo often the study of philosophical texts is carried out in ways that do not pay significant attention to how the ideas contained within them are presented, articulated, and developed. This was not always the case. The contributors to this collected work consider Jewish philosophy in the medieval period, when new genres and forms of written expression were flourishing in the wake of renewed interest in ancient philosophy. Many medieval Jewish philosophers were highly accomplished poets, for example, and made conscious efforts to write in a poetic style. This volume turns attention to the connections that medieval Jewish thinkers made between the literary, the exegetical, the philosophical, and the mystical to shed light on the creativity and diversity of medieval thought. As they broaden the scope of what counts as medieval Jewish philosophy, the essays collected here consider questions about how an argument is formed, how text is put into the service of philosophy, and the social andTrade ReviewThis well-written, accessible collection demonstrates a maturation in Jewish studies and medieval philosophy. It convincingly opens up the canon of philosophical texts and authors, and will enrich readers' understanding of the diverse literary forms of medieval Jewish philosophical projects. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *Comprising sophisticated scholarship and realizing its goal of challenging conventions in the study of medieval Jewish philosophy, [Medieval Jewish Philosophy] convincingly advocates for a fruitful approach that, it may be hoped, others will be inspired to pursue. * H-Judaic *Table of ContentsIntroduction / Aaron W. Hughes and James T. Robinson1. Animal Fables and Medieval Jewish Philosophy / Kalman P. Bland, z'l2. Biblical Commentaries as a Genre of Jewish Philosophical Writing / Raphael Dascalu3. Commentaries on The Guide of the Perplexed: A Brief Literary History / Igor H. de Souza4. Philosophical Commentary and Supercommentary: The Hebrew Aristotelean Commentaries of the Fourteenth through Sixteenth Centuries / Yehuda Halper5. The Author's Haqdamah as a Literary Form in Jewish Thought / Steven Harvey6. Does Judaism Make Sense? Early Medieval Kalām as Literature / Gyongyi Hegedus7. Dialogues / Aaron W. Hughes8. Poetry / Aaron W. Hughes9. Poetic Summaries of Scientific and Philosophical Works / Maud Kozodoy10. The Philosophical Epistle as a Genre of Medieval Jewish Philosophy / Charles Manekin11. The Sermon in Late Medieval Jewish Thought as Method for Popularizing Philosophy / Chaim Meir Neria12. Lexicons and Lexicography in Medieval Jewish Philosophy / James T. Robinson13. Theological Summas in Late Medieval Jewish Philosophy / Shira WeissIndex

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Book SynopsisDuns Scotus's Doctrine of Categories and Meaningis a key text for the origins of Martin Heidegger's concept of facticity. Originally submitted as a postdoctoral thesis in 1915, it focuses on the 13th-century philosopher-theologian John Duns Scotus. Heidegger first analyzes Scotus's doctrine of categories,then offers a meticulous explanation of theGrammatica Speculativa, a work of medieval grammar now known to be authored by the Modist grammarian Thomas of Erfurt. Taken together, these investigations represent an early foray into Heidegger's lifelong philosophical concerns, the question of being in the guise of the problem of categories and the question of language in the guise of the doctrine of meaning.This new and unique translation of one of Heidegger's earliest works offers an important look at his early thinking before the question of being became his central concern and will appeal to readers exploring Heidegger's philosophical development, medieval philosophy, phenomenological iTrade Review"Heidegger's early engagement with medieval philosophy via neo-Kantian logic foreshadows his later explorations of being, truth, and meaning. He concludes by challenging himself to grapple with "historical spirit." Bagchee and Gower's meticulous translation brings this formative phase of Heidegger's thought to English-speaking readers."—Richard Polt, Xavier University"Heidegger's Habilitationsschrift, submitted to the University of Freiburg in 1915, at the age of twenty-six, takes up themes central to scholastic ontology and logic: the categories of reality and the differentiations of meaning. Quite traditional topics, these are not themes that one might suspect would help open the way to the revolutionary work of 1927, Being and Time. And yet: here one sees the phenomenological gifts already at work in the young Heidegger. Here one finds the early formulations of the hermeneutics of facticity and the first hints of the notion of formal indication – one finds the earliest signs of the revolutionary work to come. Ably translated, this text offers insights into key problems of scholasticism as well as into the genesis of the philosophical revolutionary that Heidegger would soon become."—Dennis Schmidt, Western Sydney University"With this careful and scholarly translation of Heidegger's postdoctoral thesis, Bagchee and Gower have provided an indispensible resource for anyone seeking to understand the trajectory of Heidegger's early thinking. A splendid achievement."—William McNeill, DePaul UniversityTable of ContentsTranslator's PrefaceAcknowledgmentsForeword to the First Edition of Frühe Schriften (1972)Duns Scotus's Doctrine of Categories and Meaning ForewordIntroduction: The Necessity of Examining Scholasticism from the Perspective of the History of ProblemsPart I: The Doctrine of CategoriesFirst Chapter: The Unum: Mathematical, Natural, and Metaphysical RealitySecond Chapter: The Verum: Logical and Psychic RealityThird Chapter: Linguistic Form and Linguistic Content: The Domain of MeaningPart II: The Doctrine of MeaningFirst Chapter: Meaning and Meaning Function: Principles of the Doctrine of MeaningSecond Chapter: The Doctrine of the Forms of MeaningsConclusion: The Problem of CategoriesAuthor's NoticeBibliographical ReferencesEditor's AfterwordEnglish-German GlossaryGerman-English GlossaryIndex of NamesSubject Index

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Book SynopsisJames A. Steintrager received his M.A. in French and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. He teaches English and comparative literature at the University of California, Irvine. He has published articles and essays on Enlightenment philosophy, poststructuralist theory, and libertine fiction, and is now writing a study on pleasure as a social system.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a superb introduction to the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is so lucidly and wittingly written that even a Thomistic novice like this reviewer quickly lost most of his apprehension and became absorbed in the broad and fascinating survey offered by the author." —Homiletic and Pastoral Review“McInerny has succeeded in making the thought of the Common Doctor accessible to the common man . . . the book is both clear and helpful. Thanks to Professor McInerny for having written this introduction to Saint Thomas’s thought. It is the best available.” —The Canadian Catholic Review“... intended to be a ‘first, informal look into the vast world of St. Thomas Aquinas.’ Extensive bibliographical notes with additional suggested readings for each chapter are found at the end of the book. There is also a discussion of the various English translations available of Thomas’ writings. If a church library needs an introduction to the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, this is a good one to buy.” —Church and Synagogue Libraries

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Book SynopsisIn this classic work, Frederick C. Copleston, S.J., outlines the development of philosophical reflection in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish thought from the ancient world to the late medieval period. A History of Medieval Philosophy is an invaluable general introduction that also includes longer treatments of such leading thinkers as Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham.Trade Review"There is always room for a new look at old things when it is taken by a master who is not afraid to make up his own mind or to accept a justified consensus of opinion, and such is the book now before us. There is nothing better of its size on the market." —Heythrop Journal"To write well a history of ideas is notoriously difficult. Dr. Frederick Copleston, an established master who has made both historians and philosophers sit at his feet by his well-known History of Philosophy, wrote some years ago a short account of medieval philosophy. This little book he has now remade and expanded to become a substantial survey." —Spectator

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Book SynopsisWilliam Ockham is probably the most notorious and most widely misunderstood philosopher of the later Middle Ages. Accused by John Lutterell, the former chancellor of Oxford University, of teaching heretical doctrines, Ockham was summoned to Avignon by Pope John XXII and eventually lived under the protection of Louis of Bavaria. Yet, with Aquinas and Scotus, he remains among the three greatest philosophers of the period.This landmark book, split into two volumes, offers a clear and concise account of Ockham''s philosophical positions (his ontology, logic, epistemology, and natural philosophy), along with the arguments for them. It then shows how Ockham''s theological disagreements with his most eminent predecessors are a logical consequence of underlying philosophical differences. According to Marilyn McCord Adams, Ockham emerges as a Franciscan Aristotelian, much more philosophically and religiously conservative than commonly supposed. Adams challenges the notions that OckhamTrade Review"In this illuminating work, Adams offers an impressive and exhaustive series of detailed discussions of Ockham's thought on complex problems and issues within the domains of logic, ontology, epistemology, metaphysics, and theology. . . . The comprehensive and definitive treatment of each topic . . . makes Adams's studies useful as an introduction to the complex problems and concerns of medieval philosophy and theology in general." —Choice“It is undoubtedly the most impressive, perceptive, and fair-minded study of both the strength and shortcomings of Ockham’s metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion that has appeared in many a year.” —International Studies in Philosophy "In Adams's study we get . . . the most thorough and careful study imaginable of [Ockham's] work. [It is a] huge and rich treasure house of medieval philosophy." —Philosophy of Religion"Adams's present . . . Herculean effort is nothing if not the work of a precise mind getting absolutely clear about the arguments and issues under examination. . . . It is likely to remain the standard work on this scholastic giant for the next generation." —Canadian Journal of Philosophy“Both the Ockham scholar and the general reader interested in ontology, universals, epistemology, the philosophy of science (time, cause, and motion), and natural theology, will learn much from this extensive and detailed tribute." —The Philosophical Quarterly"[Marilyn McCord Adams's] book William Ockham is a tribute to her persistent and careful scholarship. Her comprehensive study provides far more than a passing introduction to Ockham's thought and should serve as a basis for further discussion among Ockham experts." —Franciscan Studies"If I had written this book, I could die a happy man. I did not write it, but still I can join mediaevalists everywhere in celebrating its publication. . . . Adams's William Ockham will stand as the definitive study of Ockham's overall philosophical and theological views for a long time to come. . . . It is an impressive achievement. . . . Adams's book is a milestone." —The Philosophical Review

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Book SynopsisPublished in 1913 as La Philosophie Bergsonienne, this incisive critique of the thought of Henri Bergson was Jacques Maritain''s (18821973) first book. In it he shows himself already to have an authoritative grasp of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and an uncanny ability to demonstrate its relevance to alternative philosophical systems such as that of Henri Bergson. Volume 1 in the series The Collected Works of Jacques Maritain, this edition faithfully reproduces the 1955 translation published by the Philosophical Library. It would be difficult to overestimate Bergson's role in extricating French philosophy from the deadening materialism that dominated the Sorbonne. It was that cultural milieu that brought Maritain and his wife Raïssa to the brink of suicide. They drew back for two major reasons. First were the lectures of Henri Bergson at the Collège de France, in which the Maritains found a defense of metaphysics, of the transcendent beyond the material, wiTrade Review"Maritain's (1882-1973) first published book was La Philosophie Bergsonienne (1913), which so harshly criticized Henri Bergson that he made a point of urging readers of his later books to study him. It also established his credentials as a major commentator on the thought of Thomas Aquinas. This 1995 translation for the Philosophical Library edition inaugurates the series of Maritain's collected works." —Reference and Research Book News

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Book SynopsisJames Diamond''s new book consists of a series of studies addressing Moses Maimonides'' (11381204) appropriation of marginal figureslepers, converts, heretics, and othersnormally considered on the fringes of society and religion. Each chapter focuses on a type or character that, in Maimonides'' hands, becomes a metaphor for a larger, more substantive theological and philosophical issue. Diamond offers a close reading of key texts, such as the Guide of the Perplexed and the Mishneh Torah, demonstrating the importance of integrating Maimonides'' legal and philosophical writings.Converts, Heretics, and Lepers fills an important void in Jewish studies by focusing on matters of exegesis and hermeneutics as well as philosophical concerns. Diamond''s alternative reading of central topics in Maimonides suggests that literary appreciation is a key to deciphering Maimonides'' writings in particular and Jewish exegetical texts in general.Trade Review“Diamond takes a linguistic pebble and throws it into the sea of Maimonides' thought, following the ripples where they lead: verses connect to verses and to rabbinic glosses upon them, which in turn lead to further exegetical and philosophical ripples. In addition to being an extraordinarily learned and careful reader, and in addition to being a deep thinker, James A. Diamond is also a fine craftsperson of the English language-the book is a joy to read.” —Shofar “This richly detailed book presents a fascinating study of the way Moses Maimonides, the supreme medieval Jewish philosopher, uses marginal figures to define broader philosophical issues. . . . For this study Diamond draws equally on Maimonides' philosophical writings and on his halakhic (legal) writings, demonstrating the interplay between these genres. This examination of figures on the margins provides a filter to allow Maimonides to explore ideal characteristics in a unique way.” —Congregational Libraries Today“. . . James A. Diamond presents a refreshing, if somewhat unconventional, approach to Maimonidean interpretation, which, if integrated with the prevailing philological contextualization, will undoubtedly lead to fruitful conclusions as to the intentions of the Guide.” —Speculum“In this remarkable book, James A. Diamond continues his project of close and sensitive readings of the Maimonidean corpus. Taking the Rambam at his word in the introduction to the Guide of the Perplexed, Diamond leads us into the inner recesses of that and other works to revel in the master’s religious and poetic artistry, thereby revealing something of the hidden desires and fractures in Maimonides’ positioning of philosophy vis-à-vis religion.” —H-Judaic“James Diamond's book about Maimonides is a welcome addition to the regular stream of books about the thinker Jews have rightly called ‘the great eagle.’ His unique contribution to the Maimonidean literature is to show that the true Jewish philosopher like Maimonides is always an outsider in ordinary Jewish thought, and he is thus uniquely able to appreciate and explicate what Jews and other worshipers of the One God have to learn from other outsiders like himself.” —David Novak, J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Toronto". . . a series of extraordinarily close readings of core texts of Maimonides', readings which illuminate the delicate interplay of philosophical and religious ideas in Maimonides. In his previous work, Diamond convincingly illustrated the way in which Maimonides carefully chooses, subtly interprets, and circumspectly weaves together rabbinic materials to address philosophers and talmudists alike, each in their own idiom. This book is a further expression of Diamond's mastery of this intricate methodology and is a work to be studied and re-studied. All students of Maimonides are in his debt." —Menachem Kellner, University of Haifa“Converts, Heretics, and Lepers is a very sophisticated exploration of Maimonidean religious philosophy. Although there have been numerous studies on Maimonides, perhaps more than any other Jewish thinker, James Diamond manages to approach the master from fresh perspectives. The result is a stunningly lucid and deep engagement with Maimonides.” —Elliot Wolfson, Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University

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Book SynopsisThe concept of the goddess Naturaone of the most significant allegorical figures of medieval Latin and vernacular poetrydrew upon many strands of classical and Christian thought, from Plato's Timaeus to Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy. In what is perhaps the best history of the goddess Natura, George Economou provides a full-length study of her philosophical background and the literary traditions that contributed to her image.Economou's work focuses on the renaissance of the twelfth century, when a new kind of allegory appeared that celebrated and explored the nature of the cosmos. He analyzes the central role that Natura played in the writings of Bernard Silvestris, Jean de Meun, Alain de Lille, and Geoffrey Chaucer. This edition features a new introduction by the author and an updated bibliography.Trade Review“Economou’s study remains unsurpassed as a survey and analysis of the Christian intellectual, theological, and poetic traditions that formulated Nature as a deity who is also the mediator of the Divine purpose. The Goddess Natura in Medieval Literature is a work of solidly grounded intellectual history and of real literary sensitivity.” —Robert W. Hanning, Columbia University“Economou’s The Goddess Natura in Medieval Literature is one of the little classics of medieval literary scholarship, ranking with works by C. S. Lewis and E. K. Rand.” —John Ganim, University of California, Riverside“In this well-shaped book [Economu] traces the evolution of the concept of nature from its Aristotelian beginnings to its incarnation as the goddess Natura in Medieval literature. What emerges is a motif study which is both interesting and useful. . . . I heartily recommend the book as a handsome, well-written and useful work to anyone interested in the literature of the Middle Ages.” —Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature

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Book SynopsisJohn Buridan (ca. 13001361) was the most famous philosophy teacher of his time, and probably the most influential. In this important new book, Jack Zupko offers the first systematic exposition of Buridan's thought to appear in any language. Zupko uses Buridan's own conception of the order and practice of philosophy to depict the most salient features of his thought, beginning with his views on the nature of language and logic and then illustrating their application to a series of topics in metaphysics, natural philosophy, and ethics.Part 1 of John Buridan considers the picture of language and logic developed in Buridan's Summulae de dialectica. Buridan systematically overhauled the logic he first learned and later taught at the University of Paris, redeeming the older tradition of Aristotelian logic in terms, propositions, and arguments. This made possible newer and more powerful forms of philosophical discourse. The second part of this volume provides a reading of BTrade Review"Zupko's John Buridan…. is the first full-length synthetic work on Buridan to appear in English. This book is not only a thorough exposition of Buridan's logic and a select number of related topics, but it also provides an excellent introduction to medieval philosophy as understood by one of its most accomplished late-medieval practitioners." —Speculum"…it is an excellent book, and will… do a great deal to make Buridan's philosophical views more accessible to philosophers who are not mediaeval specialists. Zupko's work [is] an excellent and informative addition to our knowledge of Buridan." —Philosophy in Review“This book is at once an accessible introduction to nominalist philosophy and an intellectual biography of one of the most important figures in the history of Scholasticism.” —First Things"Jack Zupko's excellent book offers the coherent overall picture of John Buridan's thoughts that the subject has been waiting for. ...I admire Jack Zupko's achievement. This book is an excellent piece of work, which will help to rescue the legacy of John Buridan from neglect." —The Philosophical Quarterly“Zupko’s book is a work by one of the leading scholars on Buridan and a considerable contribution to Buridan studies.” —Ars Disputandi“Zupko’s book combines breadth with detailed analysis of the sources.” —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews“There is much to commend in this treatment of Buridan.” —ISIS“In this outstanding book, Zupko provides the first critical study in any language of the philosophy of one of the most significant arts masters of the 14th century, John Buridan. This work of impeccable scholarship in the history of late medieval thought will interest all scholars of medieval philosophy.” —Choice“... edifying for modern philosophers. For the historians, the book is a goldmine of information and a useful synopsis of what we know of this prominent 14th-century forerunner of the modern period.” —The Medieval Review“Buridan’s thought as a whole deserves to be better known, and in this comprehensive examination of it Zupko has provided a model of historical and philosophical scholarship.” —Dialogue“Jack Zupko's John Buridan: Portrait of a Fourteenth-Century Arts Master argues that 'virtually all of Buridan's written work is based on the arts curriculum at Paris, and reflects his pedagogical concerns as a member of that faculty' and that 'Buridan made his most lasting contribution as a teacher.' Besides emphasizing Buridan's role as a teacher in the Arts Faculty at Paris, Zupko sees Buridan as an early leading figure in the secularization of philosophy, that is, in its separation from theology.” —History of Universities

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Book SynopsisThis book makes available for the first time an English translation of William Ockham's work on Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, which contains his theory of scientific demonstration and philosophy of science.Trade Review“Longeway's claims are well-considered, and Ockham's influence on early modern philosophy is never far from his mind. His careful translation, compilation of relevant documents, and impressive history of medieval empiricism should interest any scholar studying the history of philosophy of science.” —Journal of the History of Philosophy“Longeway provides not only a very accessible translation but also extensive commentary of his own, including a book-length detailed history of the intellectual contexts of Ockham's Latin Middle Ages. . . . The result is an effective translation of Ockham's seminal work but also what may become a foundational text in intellectual and science history.” —Research Book News“The present work is the result of decades of study of Ockham's philosophy of science. The translation and commentary are introduced by a chapter in which Longeway presents an overview of Ockham's thought in this area and highlights its philosophical significance. This introduction is in its own right a significant contribution to the history of philosophy.” —Owen Goldin, Marquette University“Like much else in medieval philosophy, medieval theories of demonstrative knowledge are historically important, philosophically interesting, and little understood. There are a few extensive studies into medieval discussions of demonstration and even fewer translations of these important discussions. Longeway's translation of Ockham in Demonstration and Scientific Knowledge in William of Ockham is among the few English translations of medieval commentaries on posterior analytics we have and in this way is an important contribution to the field. Longeway's lengthy introductory survey both introduces readers to the development of medieval discussion of Posterior analytics prior to Ockham and situates (historically and philosophically) Ockham's discussion within that development. These translations will be of value to scholars working on a variety of areas on Ockham's thought as well as to scholars interested more generally in medieval theories of demonstration, science, and epistemology.” —Susan Brower-Toland, Saint Louis University

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Book SynopsisThe thirteenth-century logician Lambert of Auxerre was well known for his Summa Lamberti, or simply Logica, written in the mid-1250s, which became an authoritative textbook on logic in the Western tradition. Our knowledge of medieval logic comes in great part from Lambert''s Logica and three other texts: William of Sherwood''s Introductiones in logicam, Peter of Spain''s Tractatus, and Roger Bacon''s Summulae dialectics. Of the four, Lambert''s work is the best example of question-summas that proceed principally by asking and answering questions on the subject matter. Thomas S. Maloney''s translation of Logica, the only complete translation of this work in any language, is a milestone in the study of medieval logic. More than simply a translation, Maloney''s project is a critical, comprehensive study of Lambert''s logic situated in the context of his contemporaries and predecessors. As such, it offers a wealth of annotation and commenTrade Review"Thomas S. Maloney fully commands the primary and secondary sources necessary to elucidate Lambert's Logica. An expert on Roger Bacon's philosophy, he demonstrates a rare proficiency in medieval Latin and Scholastic logic. His references to sources from the ancient (Aristotle and Boethius) and medieval worlds are apposite, perspicuous, and useful. The volume's presentation with an appropriate introduction and commentary in the endnotes will no doubt establish it as an indispensable resource for scholars in the twenty-first century." —Alan Perreiah, University of Kentucky"This is an invaluable addition to the growing library of medieval logic sources available in English. Thomas S. Maloney’s translation is highly readable. His comprehensive overview of the state of research on Lambert’s life and work will be a reference-point for future scholars working on thirteenth-century Latin logic." —Paul Thom, University of Sydney"With this well-crafted translation with a first-rate introduction and notes on Lambert of Auxerre’s Logica, Thomas S. Maloney has again established himself as a very able translator and commentator on thirteenth-century logic. Now many scholars will be able to study Lambert, Roger Bacon, and Peter of Spain in the context of the period 1240–1260. This new and excellent translation will be a great help to all who study medieval philosophy. The introduction contains a comprehensive account of the identity of Lambert of Auxerre." —Jeremiah Hackett, University of South Carolina"This translation of the Summa (or Logica) of Lambert, commonly said to be from Auxerre, is a useful addition to current translations of medieval texts, in particular logical ones. Thomas S. Maloney, the translator, also has written extensive notes and a long introduction. The translation is reliable, with some caveats noted below. The book is very well produced, with a good bibliography." —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews“Thomas Maloney offers us a critical translation of a mid-thirteenth-century logic text, Logica, or Summa Lamberti, written by Lambert of Auxerre. The translation is replete with notes and includes an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources. Prominent histories of western philosophy make scant reference, if any, to Lambert of Auzerre and his Logica . . . so Maloney’s fresh translation and critical introduction may be found relevant to subsequent research in the history of medieval philosophy of logic.” —Comitatus

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Book SynopsisThis book debates the controversy over whether or not it is possible to love God more than oneself through natural powers alone. Thirteenth-century philosophers and theologians study how one's own good is achieved through virtuous action and how to adapt Aristotle's philosophical insights to a Christian framework.Trade Review"Twenty-first century readers are likely to be more interested in the love of self than the love of God. They may be surprised to find how much the understanding of each of these loves can teach us about the other. Thomas Osborne's excellent book makes thirteenth century ethics highly relevant to twenty-first century readers." —Alasdair MacIntyre, University of Notre Dame“This book is an ambituous, technically innovative account of the nature of God.” —Australasian Journal of Philosophy"The book aims to treat the 'thirteenth-century debate concerning the natural love of God over self with an eye to how the thinkers of this period saw the connections between one's own good and the aims of virtuous action'. . . This is a complex volume, based on close textual analysis and intricate tracing of intellectual relationships and developments." —The Heythrop Journal“Love of Self and Love of God in the Thirteenth-Century Ethics is an excellent book, representing a most ambitious project . . . [it] remains an excellent resource for experts and for scholars with broad research interests and integrative approaches. It is also well suited to serve as a graduate level textbook. Osborne’s erudition is vast and his general analysis, accurate.” —American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly“The theme of this book is the medieval discussion of the question whether one can naturally love God more than one can love oneself… Those who have an interest in medieval moral theory will gain from this book a greater knowledge of important themes in the writings of medieval thinkers in the thirteenth century.” —The Review of Metaphysics“The self seeks its own completion; yet paradoxically this self-completion, properly understood, requires self-abandonment. Thomas Osborne's book is devoted to this paradox, which it approaches from the point of view of the tension between Aristotelian eudaemonism and the Christian commandment to love God above all else, including oneself.” —Speculum“Osborne provides a dense read of an important topic, the natural love of God over self. . . . He explores in what way Aquinas and Scotus are alike and different in explaining that we ought to love God more than ourselves and that in doing so we find our happiness.” —Theological Studies“Thomas M. Osborne's study of the development of thirteenth-century ethics focuses on a thematic that has not received the attention it deserves: the relationship of love of self to love of God. . . . This is an extremely good introduction to the ethical debates of the thirteenth century, providing a wealth of textual and bibliographical resources.” —The Thomist“Thomas Osborne's study is doubly successful-first as a careful account of the historical sources and multiple layers of concerns shaping thirteenth-century debates about whether God can be naturally loved more than oneself. Second, it is also an excellent articulation of the metaphysical and conceptual gaps between ancient and medieval eudaimonistic ethical theories and contemporary morality.” —Journal of the History of Philosophy"This book is solidly historical, its feet firmly planted in the relevant medieval texts. And yet its arguments could not be more relevant to contemporary Christian theology, so marked as it is by the debate over the natural desire for beatitude." —Kevin L. Flannery, S.J., Pontifical Gregorian University

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Book SynopsisAlthough Pseudo-Dionysius was, after Aristotle, the author whom Thomas Aquinas quoted most frequently, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of this Neoplatonist thinker in the formation of Aquinas'' philosophy. Fran O''Rourke''s book is the only available work that investigates the pervasive influence of Pseudo-Dionysius on Aquinas, while at the same time examining the latter''s profound originality. Central themes discussed by O''Rourke include knowledge of the absolute, existence as the first and most universal perfection, the diffusion of creation, the hierarchy of creatures, and their return to God as final end. O''Rourke devotes special attention to the Neoplatonist element in Aquinas'' notion of being as intensity or degree of perfection. He also considers the relation of being and goodness in light of Aquinas'' nuanced reversal of Dionysius'' theory of the primacy of the good, and Aquinas'' arguments for the transcendental nature of goodness.Trade Review"This is one of the two or three most important books on Aquinas published in the last fifty years." —Alasdair MacIntyre, University of Notre Dame"The substantial and detailed analysis of the texts of both authors will prove an invaluable work of reference for students of Pseudo-Dionysius and Aquinas." —International Philosophical Quarterly"A truly magnificent study." —Angelicum"Although the argumentation of the book is subtle and profoundly conceived, it is stated with the most lucid and compelling clarity. The book was a labour of love and is certain to remain for many decades or more the standard work in an extraordinarily difficult area of the history of metaphysics." —International Journal of Philosophical Studies"The book's footnotes constitute a terrific, topically arranged guide to the primary sources." —Speculum“. . . the completeness of O’Rourke’s survey of the vast quantity of relevant (and often untranslated) text, as well as his extensive knowledge and prudent employment of the multilingual literature, make it a genuinely useful resource for scholars. . . Thus, because of its exhaustive historical scholarship, its even-handedness and its continued philosophical cogency, the reissue of O’Rourke’s book can be greeted with applause.” —Journal of Ecclesiastical History

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Book SynopsisThe Roman philosopher Boethius (c. 480-524) is best known for the Consolation of Philosophy, one of the most frequently cited texts in medieval literature. In the Consolation, an unnamed Boethius sits in prison awaiting execution when his muse Philosophy appears to him. Her offer to teach him who he truly is and to lead him to his heavenly home becomes a debate about how to come to terms with evil, freedom, and providence. The conventional reading of the Consolation is that it is a defense of pagan philosophy; nevertheless, many readers who accept this basic argument find that the ending is ambiguous and that Philosophy has not, finally, given the prisoner the comfort she had promised.In The Prisoner''s Philosophy, Joel C. Relihan delivers a genuinely new reading of the Consolation. He argues that it is a Christian work dramatizing not the truths of philosophy as a whole, but the limits of pagan philosophy in particular. He views iTrade Review“Going beyond the stance that the Consolation has merely some latent religious convictions, Relihan argues that Boethius is using the resources of Menippean satire to show the limits of pagan philosophy and the need to turn to prayer instead… The present volume is a masterful re-thinking of a classic text that rightfully has an honored place in the philosophical canon. Its thesis is carefully argued and richly deserves a scholarly hearing.” —Journal of the History of Philosophy“Relihan develops the innovative interpretation of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy that he previously advanced in his Ancient Menippean Satire and elsewhere. . . . Although Relihan's conclusions will be considered radical by many, he offers thoughtful approaches for examining some of the difficulties of the Consolation.” —Choice“Relihan contends that the Consolation is a Menippean satire, which explains its failure in achieving its surface goals, and that the true intention of the work is to temper the arguments of philosophy with Christian sentiments, expressed in biblical allusions at crucial junctures, with liturgical language, and with an emotional and devotional stance.” —Research Book News“. . . a detailed, comprehensive, yet approachable synthesis of the broader philosophical, literary, and historical sources and context of Boethius’s most well-known work. It argues that the Consolation belongs decisively to the genre of Menippean satire, a genre whose primary function, Relihan argues, is to uncover the limits of theoretical knowledge.” —Bryn Mawr Classical Review“Professor Relihan’s The Prisoner’s Philosophy: Life and Death in Boethius’s Consolation has two central theses. The first is that Boethius’s swan song is an important, coherent, complex, and misunderstood philosophical work. The second is that the Consolation is the work of a Christian philosopher, who writes as a Christian.” —American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly“Relihan’s book argues that the Consolation is Menippean satire, a parody of both philosophy and the form of consolation. There is much to admire in this complex and literarily sophisticated reading. The connections it makes—not just to Job but to Matthew’s gospel, to Plato’s Crito, to the book of Esther, and to the Odyssey—appreciably deepen our understanding of the Consolation.” —Religious Studies Review“This text will become one of the most important critical sources for study on the Menippean problem. . . . Relihan makes an important and compelling argument for paying attention to the narrative of the Consolation. . . . Relihan does a valuable service to the reading and teaching of the Consolation. He brings a sense of excitement and even suspense to the text.” —Speculum“Acknowledging that the Consolation of Philosophy is ‘over-familiar and under-read,’ Joel Relihan puts to the side old bromides about the work and instead pays careful attention to the narrative(s) Boethius constructs, grounding his readings in the contexts the work cultivates, especially its Menippean elements. The result is perhaps the first satisfying reading of the Consolation to be produced, a satisfaction felt also in the ways Relihan mirrors Boethius himself in the thoroughness of his scholarship and the elegance of his exposition. No one who studies Boethius will be able to ignore this book.“ —Joseph Pucci, Brown University"Anyone who has been fascinated, intrigued, or perhaps puzzled by the meaning, structure or argument of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy will find Joel Relihan's new book, The Prisoner's Philosophy: Life and Death in Boethius' Consolation, a welcome addition to the study of this core text of the early medieval world whose influence extends to the present time. Relihan lays out his thesis with scholarly rigor and insight as he argues that the Consolation is a Christian work written to expose the limitations of pagan philosophy but that it is also to be read in the context of the literary genre of the Menippean satire. In other words, the Consolation is philosophic even as it is ironic, erudite even as it is playful. Relihan's study is a tour de force that belongs in the library of all those who appreciate Boethius' depth and subtlety. Fortune's wheel has indeed turned in the favor of those who wish to explore with Relihan the intricacies and brilliance of the Consolation." —Fr. John Fortin, O.S.B., Saint Anselm College“The Prisoner’s Philosophy is an excellent work both of scholarship and of communication in support of a provocative thesis. Relihan and Heise present the Consolation as a new beginning for philosophy within a Christian context—a beginning only rarely appreciated since it enlists philosophy in aid of human affairs and resists the lure of an other worldly escape. Boethius not only despoiled Cynics, Satirists and Neoplatonists of their gold, but also crafted out of it a new Christian realism. Through a close reading of the text and of its reception, Relihan and Heise attend to the challenge that Boethius’ Christian vision and literary genius posed to rationalist conceptions throughout the Middle Ages.” —Paul LaChance, College of Saint Elizabeth

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Book SynopsisThis books covers an important period in the debate over religion and public schools and the legislative history of the fight over federal aid to education from 1918 to 1932.Trade Review“Slawson's book is most concerned with the Smith-Towner Act of 1918 and successor bills that, depending on one's perspective, promised or threatened federal funding, centralization, and control of education throughout the country.” —American Historical Review“This is a solid legislative history of the fight over federal aid to education from 1918 to 1932. The research is thorough and the topic is important.” —John McGreevy, University of Notre Dame". . . The book is an exceptional historical work. Little was known about these issues and the role of the NCWC in protecting the Catholic educational system, while trying, best as could be done in the situation, not to portray the Catholic Church as hostile to public schools. The author left no stone unturned in his relentless quest to report what was going forward, and how people and editors were interpreting, and misinterpreting, what was happening." —American Catholic Studies"In this well-researched volume, Slawson covers an important period in the debate over religion and public schools. Slawson details the conflict over public education between American Catholics and Protestants from the end of WWI to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In a clear and meticulous manner, the author sheds light on a forgotten part of church-state history. Recommended." —Choice"The meticulous and massive documentation (forty-nine pages of endnotes) will make Slawson's study the definitive work on this important but neglected aspect of twentieth-century American Catholicism." —The Catholic Historical Review"Slawson certainly deserves a place on the research shelf in every Catholic school since his work explains the reluctance of Pastors and Bishops in the 40s, 50s, 60s and even the early 70s to accept any governmental financial aid seeing in that a move toward federal control of the schools." —Catholic Library World

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Book SynopsisTreatise on Divine Predestination is one of the early writings of the author of the great philosophical work Periphyseon (On the Division of Nature), Johannes Scottus (the Irishman), known as Eriugena (died c. 877 A.D.). It contributes to the age-old debate on the question of human destiny in the present world and in the afterlife.The work survives in a single manuscript of which editions were published in 1650 and 1853. It has been most recently edited in 1978. The present translation was made from that edition. Modern scholars are able to discern in this early work strong intimations of Eriugena''s later major writings.Trade Review“The De divina praedestinatione liber was written in 850-51 at the request of two prelates while John the Scot resided at the court of Charles II, grandson of Charlemagne. It is his earliest attested work, a refutation of the heretical teaching of Gottschalk on double predestination. Both John and Gottschalk claimed to base their interpretation on St. Augustine, and both continued to be subjects of controversy during the decade between 850 and 860.” —Theology Digest“Mary Brennan’s translation is as helpful as her foreword. The rendition into English of Madec’s text from the Corpus Christianorum is careful. The book is elegantly produced and a delight to read.” —The Medieval Review

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Book SynopsisAs a cure for modernity's individualism, Remi Brague urges a return to medieval thinking to illustrate why humanity and civilizations are goods worth promoting and preserving.Trade Review“Rémi Brague is a most singular polyglot and polymath, not to mention one of Europe’s wisest and wittiest Christian intellectuals. Curing Mad Truths is an impressive collection of his addresses to English-speaking audiences. As with all of Brague’s work, the volume uniquely combines cleverness and profound insight.” —Douglas Kries, Gonzaga University "With his distinctive combination of philological, philosophical, and historical erudition that ranges from the ancient world to our present moment, Rémi Brague poses more to ponder in each of these essays—about God and the good, creation and culture, virtues and values, modernity and meaning—than most writers manage to convey in a book. At issue, ultimately, is whether human beings have the will and wherewithal to go on living in a humane manner. Curing Mad Truths is a gem, and the stakes couldn’t be higher." —Brad Gregory, University of Notre Dame “Brague's Curing Mad Truths is a radical assault on many of the things taken for granted in modern liberal societies… It calls us to reconnect the branches of truth upon which modernity sits to the metaphysical trunk from which they have been severed. It's a provocative, convincing, and accessible little book by an important scholar, and it deserves wide attention.” —Faith and Theology"Brague argues that the modern world is dying because it cannot answer the question of why it should live. To answer that question will require humility, according to Brague, because it is medieval truths about God, man, reason, and nature that are necessary for renewal." —The Catholic World Report"Rémi Brague argues that the modern project has failed, and that the source of the failure is a kind of heresy. To be sure, he does not himself use that word. But it is an apt label for what he describes. Modernity, on Brague’s account, is defined by several ideas it borrowed from Christianity, while at the same time it rejects the larger conceptual context that made those ideas intelligible." —Catholic Herald"Remi Brague this month releases a new book arguing for a reevaluation of medieval thought. . . . It’s Brague’s first book in English. . . . Curing Mad Truths will be of interest to a learned audience of philosophers, historians, and medievalists." —Law and Religion Forum“The brevity of this anthology... does not prevent the careful reader from gazing beyond its idealism. Like many thinkers, Brague may be less useful in directing us away from our predicament to our fulfillment. But he does restore a wise insight into a conservative approach... which treasures aesthetic and nourishing measures to bring back to life deadened sensibilities of billions who seek, deep down, lasting meaning.” —Spectrum Culture Magazine"While he argues convincingly for the superiority of abandoned ways of thinking, Brague is not a ‘restorationist’ seeking to return us to an idealized past, his concern is to point out the weaknesses in the conversations we are having and so to improve them and our chances of a better future. He is a delightful, witty, interlocutor. He makes his vast learning accessible and relevant, providing a master-class in critical thinking all can attend." —Irish Catholic"Culture and politics are different, but they are not separate. They influence one another in unpredictable ways. Rémi Brague has given us a most insightful analysis of one half, perhaps more than a half, of the pairing that encompasses our human experience." —Society“Should humanity survive and adapt itself to the modern project? More specifically, now that humanity has commodified its existence (being) . . . is its existence better than its nonexistence? . . . These are the questions at the center of . . . Rémi Brague‘s . . . short collection of essays consisting primarily of unpublished lectures given in Europe and North America.” —The Review of Politics“Brague proposes that the medieval Christian view demonstrates the good of man’s existence by reorienting him to God and Creation.” —Catholic Social Science Review“This intriguing cultural critique will prove useful to anyone exploring how the modern world came to be and how a disciple of a more classical tradition might respond to the decadence of society in the modern period.” —Homiletic and Pastoral Review"Curing Mad Truths, a short collection of essays and lectures, is Rémi Brague’s plea for ‘some sort of return to the Middle Ages’...in the teeth of the ideology of Modernity which, he posits, threatens human flourishing and even survival.... Although many will reject his assessment, few philosophers are better placed to handle these matters than Brague, professor emeritus at the Sorbonne, a noted multi-disciplinary intellectual." —The New Bioethics"Curing Mad Truths might, from the title, look like just one more expression of Catholic nostalgia for a bygone age that the secular world has dismissed as the Dark Ages. But Brague has in mind quite specific and sophisticated points of medieval wisdom that need to be recovered, even as he would want to reform or reject other parts of that heritage." —The Catholic Thing

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"McInerny ... does a good job of relating the key concepts in Aquinas's natural and supernatural theologies. This is a reliable introduction for people who are not already experts in Thomistic studies—and it has many insights for those few who are." —Vernon J. Bourke"McInerny ... has written a compact and lucid introduction to the philosophy of Aquinas that manages to be philosophical at the same time. By a liberal use of quotation and paraphrase McInerny presents Aquinas's own arguments for evaluation, drawing us into the inner works of his philosophy. This method, coupled with McInerny's sure touch, makes Aquinas speak directly and forcefully as a philosopher." —International Philosophical Quarterly“This is an excellent short introduction to the life and work of its subject. It is a pleasure to recommend this modest and distinguished book as perhaps the best short introduction to the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas available in English.” —Scottish Journal of Theology“[McInerny] presents the thought of Aquinas with precision and care, and adorns it with insights which will doubtless delight, and enlighten, even the seasoned reader of Aquinas.” —The Thomist“. . .an invaluable little resource book on a great thinker.” —Studies in Formative Spirituality“McInerny should attract new readers to St. Thomas and give fresh insights to those who already know him somewhat. His book is remarkably comprehensive.” —The Heythrop Journal

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Book SynopsisHow do we judge whether we should be willing to follow the views of experts or whether we ought to try to come to our own, independent views? This book seeks the answer in medieval philosophical thought.In this engaging study into the history of philosophy and epistemology, Peter Adamson provides an answer to a question as relevant today as it was in the medieval period: how and when should we turn to the authoritative expertise of other people in forming our own beliefs? He challenges us to reconsider our approach to this question through a constructive recovery of the intellectual and cultural traditions of the Islamic world, the Byzantine Empire, and Latin Christendom.Adamson begins by foregrounding the distinction in Islamic philosophy between taqlid, or the uncritical acceptance of authority, and ijtihad, or judgment based on independent effort, the latter of which was particularly prized in Islamic law, theology, and philosophy Trade Review“This is a highly original work in its combination of popular and scholarly themes. Adamson weaves together a number of disparate sources under the broad theme of the epistemic legitimacy of authority, many of them unexpected companions.” —Deborah L. Black, author of Logic and Aristotle’s “Rhetoric” and “Poetics” in Medieval Arabic Philosophy"Don’t Think for Yourself is a timely intervention from the past into the present. And while it is up to the individual reader to decide who they think offers the best insight today, Peter Adamson offers us a chance to have a dialogue across the generations, cultures and geographies. . . . We may not agree with what our predecessors thought about expertise and our relationship to it, but reading them might trigger a new way of thinking about our problems. A thoughtful, engaging and erudite book that leaves one wanting more." —The New Arab"Thoughtful, lucid, and concise... A book which can be read fruitfully not only by medievalists of all disciplines, but also by anyone interested in the philosophic contributions of the past." —The Medieval ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Taqlīd: Authority and the Intellectual Elite in the Islamic World 2. Too High a Standard: Knowledge and Skepticism in Medieval Philosophy 3. Testing the Prophets: Reason and the Choice of Faiths 4. Using the Pagans: Reason in Interreligious Debate 5. Some Pagans are Better than Others: the Merits of Plato and Aristotle 6. Finding Their Voices: Women in Byzantine and Latin Christian Philosophy 7. The Rule of Reason: Human and Animal Nature

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Book SynopsisA thoroughgoing examination of Maximus Confessor's singular theological vision through the prism of Christ's cosmic and historical Incarnation.Jordan Daniel Wood changes the trajectory of patristic scholarship with this comprehensive historical and systematic study of one of the most creative and profound thinkers of the patristic era: Maximus Confessor (560662 CE). Wood''s panoramic vantage on Maximus's thought emulates the theological depth of Hans Urs von Balthasar's Cosmic Liturgy while also serving as a corrective to that classic text.Maximus''s theological vision may be summed up in his enigmatic assertion that the Word of God, very God, wills always and in all things to actualize the mystery of his Incarnation. The Whole Mystery of Christ sets out to explicate this claim. Attentive to the various contexts in which Maximus thought and wroteincluding the wisdom of earlier church fathers, conciliar developments in Christological aTrade Review“The Whole Mystery of Christ offers a brilliant interpretation . . . and both its novelty and its audacity will make for an intense and hopefully fruitful theological discussion in the years ahead. This book offers a new paradigm for Maximus scholarship and does it superbly well.” —Hans Boersma, author of Embodiment and Virtue in Gregory of Nyssa"Wood’s contribution lies not simply in his own speculative audacity, but also in an unremitting willingness to take Maximus at his word without lazily assigning the most challenging formulations to hyperbole. Consequently, this book provides endlessly rich material for reflection and argument. Wood’s ingeniously original interpretation demonstrates that Maximus is still as revolutionary and enigmatic a Christian thinker now as he ever was, and that the real Maximus needs to be rescued from the sort of scholarship that has too often sought to tame his exorbitant genius." —David Bentley Hart, author of You Are Gods"Jordan Wood makes a compelling case that creation is itself 'incarnation,' the radical identification of the Creator not just 'in' the creation or 'with' the creation but 'as' the creation. Wood skillfully analyzes key texts in drawing out the ramifications of this thesis for Maximus’s Christology, cosmology, and other aspects of his doctrine. The Whole Mystery of Christ will certainly engage important new discussion of one of the most prolific thinkers of the Eastern Christian tradition." —Paul Blowers, author of Maximus the Confessor"Jordan Daniel Wood’s The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus the Confessor sets out to free Maximus the Confessor from the captivity of scholarly discourses that have misperceived him." —Reading Religion"Wood's tour de force asks the very valuable and interesting systematic questions so often missing in historical theology." —Modern Theology"Wood's Maximian vision should enrich contemporary constructive discussions about the relationship of God to a fallen world that has yet to become creation in its fullness." —Christian Century"Wood engages vigorously with much recent Maximian scholarship and offers a lively and distinctive contribution of his own."—The Heythrop JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Preface Introduction: The God-World Relation in Modern Maximus Scholarship 1. The Middle: Christo-Logic 2. The Beginning: Word becomes World 3. The End: World becomes Trinity 4. The Whole: Creation as Christ Conclusion: The Whole Mystery of Christ An Analytic Appendix of Key Concepts Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The Whole Mystery of Christ offers a brilliant interpretation . . . and both its novelty and its audacity will make for an intense and hopefully fruitful theological discussion in the years ahead. This book offers a new paradigm for Maximus scholarship and does it superbly well.” —Hans Boersma, author of Embodiment and Virtue in Gregory of Nyssa"Wood’s contribution lies not simply in his own speculative audacity, but also in an unremitting willingness to take Maximus at his word without lazily assigning the most challenging formulations to hyperbole. Consequently, this book provides endlessly rich material for reflection and argument. Wood’s ingeniously original interpretation demonstrates that Maximus is still as revolutionary and enigmatic a Christian thinker now as he ever was, and that the real Maximus needs to be rescued from the sort of scholarship that has too often sought to tame his exorbitant genius." —David Bentley Hart, author of You Are Gods"Jordan Wood makes a compelling case that creation is itself 'incarnation,' the radical identification of the Creator not just 'in' the creation or 'with' the creation but 'as' the creation. Wood skillfully analyzes key texts in drawing out the ramifications of this thesis for Maximus’s Christology, cosmology, and other aspects of his doctrine. The Whole Mystery of Christ will certainly engage important new discussion of one of the most prolific thinkers of the Eastern Christian tradition." —Paul Blowers, author of Maximus the Confessor"Jordan Daniel Wood’s The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus the Confessor sets out to free Maximus the Confessor from the captivity of scholarly discourses that have misperceived him." —Reading Religion"Wood's tour de force asks the very valuable and interesting systematic questions so often missing in historical theology." —Modern Theology"Wood's Maximian vision should enrich contemporary constructive discussions about the relationship of God to a fallen world that has yet to become creation in its fullness." —Christian Century"Wood engages vigorously with much recent Maximian scholarship and offers a lively and distinctive contribution of his own."—The Heythrop JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Preface Introduction: The God-World Relation in Modern Maximus Scholarship 1. The Middle: Christo-Logic 2. The Beginning: Word becomes World 3. The End: World becomes Trinity 4. The Whole: Creation as Christ Conclusion: The Whole Mystery of Christ An Analytic Appendix of Key Concepts Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"There is always room for a new look at old things when it is taken by a master who is not afraid to make up his own mind or to accept a justified consensus of opinion, and such is the book now before us. There is nothing better of its size on the market." —Heythrop Journal"To write well a history of ideas is notoriously difficult. Dr. Frederick Copleston, an established master who has made both historians and philosophers sit at his feet by his well-known History of Philosophy, wrote some years ago a short account of medieval philosophy. This little book he has now remade and expanded to become a substantial survey." —Spectator

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Book SynopsisAlthough Pseudo-Dionysius was, after Aristotle, the author whom Thomas Aquinas quoted most frequently, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of this Neoplatonist thinker in the formation of Aquinas'' philosophy. Fran O''Rourke''s book is the only available work that investigates the pervasive influence of Pseudo-Dionysius on Aquinas, while at the same time examining the latter''s profound originality. Central themes discussed by O''Rourke include knowledge of the absolute, existence as the first and most universal perfection, the diffusion of creation, the hierarchy of creatures, and their return to God as final end. O''Rourke devotes special attention to the Neoplatonist element in Aquinas'' notion of being as intensity or degree of perfection. He also considers the relation of being and goodness in light of Aquinas'' nuanced reversal of Dionysius'' theory of the primacy of the good, and Aquinas'' arguments for the transcendental nature of goodness.Trade Review"This is one of the two or three most important books on Aquinas published in the last fifty years." —Alasdair MacIntyre, University of Notre Dame"The substantial and detailed analysis of the texts of both authors will prove an invaluable work of reference for students of Pseudo-Dionysius and Aquinas." —International Philosophical Quarterly"A truly magnificent study." —Angelicum"Although the argumentation of the book is subtle and profoundly conceived, it is stated with the most lucid and compelling clarity. The book was a labour of love and is certain to remain for many decades or more the standard work in an extraordinarily difficult area of the history of metaphysics." —International Journal of Philosophical Studies"The book's footnotes constitute a terrific, topically arranged guide to the primary sources." —Speculum“. . . the completeness of O’Rourke’s survey of the vast quantity of relevant (and often untranslated) text, as well as his extensive knowledge and prudent employment of the multilingual literature, make it a genuinely useful resource for scholars. . . Thus, because of its exhaustive historical scholarship, its even-handedness and its continued philosophical cogency, the reissue of O’Rourke’s book can be greeted with applause.” —Journal of Ecclesiastical History

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Book SynopsisThe Semantics of Analogy is the first book-length interpretive study in English of Thomas de Vio Cajetan''s (1469?-1534) classic treatise on analogy. Written in 1498, De Nominum Analogia (On the Analogy of Names) has long been treated as Cajetan''s attempt to systematize Aquinas's theory of analogy. A traditional interpretation regarded it as the official Thomistic treatise on analogy, but current scholarly consensus holds that Cajetan misinterpreted Aquinas and misunderstood the phenomenon of analogy.Both approaches, argues Joshua P. Hochschild, ignore the philosophical and historical context and fail to accurately assess Cajetan''s work. In The Semantics of Analogy, Hochschild reinterprets De Nominum Analogia as a significant philosophical treatise in its own right. He addresses some of the most well-known criticisms of Cajetan''s analogy theory and explicates the later chapters of De Nominum Analogia, which are usually ignored by commentaTrade Review“Cajetan’s work on analogy is ‘the’ classic, systematic account of this logico-linguistic phenomenon and its far-reaching metaphysical and epistemological implications. While historians of philosophy, especially Thomists, tended to evaluate Cajetan’s theory in terms of its faithfulness to Aquinas’ intentions, Hochschild’s work engages it from a systematic philosophical perspective, showing its relevance to contemporary theorizing about the subject, despite its historical and conceptual distance from contemporary research in the field. While always treating Cajetan’s work in its proper historical context, Hochschild’s down-to-earth philosophical style effortlessly closes the conceptual gap between Cajetan and us, breathing new life into Cajetan’s difficult, rarefied philosophical prose.” —Gyula Klima, Fordham University“Students of the Protestant Reformation may remember Cardinal Cajetan as Martin Luther’s key opponent during a crucial early phase of the reformer’s public career. . . . Joshua Hochschild’s careful analysis of Cajetan’s recondite defense of analogy late in the 15th century may yet once again challenge Protestants to become more self-conscious about how they speak about God, themselves, and the world in the early 21st century.” —Books and Culture“In this work, Joshua Hochschild presents the semantic principles of Cajetan’s understanding of analogy, arguing that they should be understood on their own terms and not as a commentary on Aquinas despite the inevitable comparisons between the two thinkers. Hochschild’s work is both readable and well argued and will no doubt expose Cajetan’s writings to a wider audience. Moreover, this volume should appeal to scholars interested in semantics and philosophy of language, as well as those interested in religious language and the history of philosophy.” —Journal of the History of Philosophy“In his study of De nominum analogia, Hochschild sets out to do two things. First, he demolishes what he describes as an outdated paradigm concerning the interpretation of Cajetan’s work. Second, Hochschild gives an explanation and what amounts to a paraphrase of Cajetan’s distinctions and arguments in their order of presentation. . . . this book should certainly be read by Thomists, and by anyone who wants a readable account of what Cajetan actually said.” —Philosophy Reviews“Re-reading this classic text required hermeneutical skills akin to untangling a knot tightened by generations of misreading, so readers engaging in the task with the author can only admire his deft hand. Hochschild sets out to restore the logical-grammatical perspective of the original text. After an illuminating analysis of Aristotle on analogical usage and a brief resume of key figures between Aristotle and Aquinas, Hochschild executes a hermeneutical tour-de-force, using Collingwood, Gadamer, and Thomas Kuhn to initiate a ‘new paradigm,’ one based on identifying the questions Cajetan actually faced rather than reading in the expectations later Thomists brought to the text.” —Nova et Vetera“Hochschild’s book provides a clear exposition of Cajetan’s doctrine and a philosophically intriguing analysis of it. . . . But for historians of philosophy generally, and historians of early modern philosophy of language in particular, Hochschild’s book provides a fabulous introduction to Cajetan’s historically and philosophically important doctrine and is an ideal companion for reading it.” —Philosophy in Review“In The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia, Joshua Hochschild takes on some of the most difficult issues, and, in a major contribution to the history of analogical discourse, convincingly shows why Cajetan (1469–1534) was not explicating Aquinas’ theory of analogy.” —Modern Theology“Hochschild convincingly argues that, considered as a philosophical response to a Scotistic criticism, Cajetan’s discussion of analogous naming is sophisticated and initially plausible. In general, the book is well written, enjoyable to read, and includes many rich discussions which cannot all be mentioned in a short book review.” —The Thomist“. . . this is an excellent and constructive contribution to a topic that is still of considerable relevance to the philosophical questions surrounding religious language.” —Journal of Theological Studies“This lucid . . . study is an account of Cajetan’s short work, De nominum analogia. After successfully refuting a number of earlier inaccurate accounts of the work’s nature and importance, Hochschild gives a useful extended paraphrase and explanation of the work’s contents. In so doing, he raises a number of interesting issues about late medieval semantics which call for further exploration.” —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

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