Romanus Cessario's "A Short History of Thomism"

At a recent conference at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida (web site here), I picked up a copy of Romanus Cessario, OP’s, little book, A Short History of Thomism, which had originally appeared in French. I’ve enjoyed the book so much, and feel it so useful, that I asked the kind people at Catholic University of America Press for the official blurb for the book, which follows:

New from THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS: A Short History of Thomism

Romanus Cessario, O.P.

February 2005
120 pages
Paperback ISBN 0-8132-1386-X, $19.95

Since the first followers of Saint Thomas Aquinas took up the task of explaining and defending his writings, Thomists have influenced deeply the Western intellectual tradition. Together they form a school called Thomism that can claim an uninterrupted history since the end of the thirteenth century. Using carefully selected resources, Romanus Cessario has composed a short account of the history of the Thomist tradition as it manifests itself through the more than seven hundred years that have elapsed since the death of Saint Thomas. A Short History of Thomism, originally published in French as Le Thomisme et les Thomistes, supplies a need that has not been met in over a century, and is the first such comprehensive account written in English. A preface by Ralph McInerny is included in this edition.

The author, who has worked in the field for more than thirty-five years, brings to his study an appreciation for the place that Saint Thomas Aquinas holds as a perennial teacher of Christian theology, and for the influence that the Common Doctor has exercised on all stripes of theology and philosophy.

“A very lucid and well documented introduction to seven centuries of reading Thomas Aquinas.”—Fergus Kerr, O.P., New Blackfriars

“A marked success and should be extremely useful to those just beginning to take an interest in exploring the career of Thomism after 1274.”—Timothy B. Noone, The Thomist

Romanus Cessario is Professor of Theology at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, and Associate Editor of The Thomist. He is the author of numerous works including Introduction to Moral Theology, Christian Faith and the Theological Life, and The Moral Virtues and Theological Ethics, and translator with Kevin White of John Capreolus’s On the Virtues.

TO ORDER: Please contact Hopkins Fulfillment Service, PO Box 50370, Baltimore, MD 21211 Toll free 1-800-537-5487

Two Medieval Academy fellowships to the summer Latin program at Notre Dame

The Medieval Academy of America, through the Committee on Centers and Research Associations (CARA), offers 2 summer fellowships to students studying Medieval Latin or Paleography at the University of Notre Dame. The fellowship covers tuition for one course for credit. Applicants must hold student memberships in the Medieval Academy.

Application details are available at: http://www.nd.edu/~medinst/programs/summer.html.

John Paul II talks about Aquinas in his most recent book

Passed on to me by Jörgen Vijgen (see his web site here):

Wonderful, encouraging words by our Pope! Pope John Paul II talks about Aquinas in the second chapter of his most recent book Memoria e identità (Rizzoli, Milano 2005):

IDEOLOGIE DEL MALE

Come dunque hanno avuto origine le ideologie del male? Quali sono le radici del nazismo e del comunismo? Come si è giunti alla loro caduta?

“Per meglio illustrare questo fenomeno occorre risalire al periodo anteriore all’illuminismo, in particolare alla rivoluzione operata nel pensiero filosofico da Cartesio. Il cogito, ergo sum – penso, dunque sono – portò con sé un capovolgimento nel modo di fare filosofia. Nel periodo precartesiano la filosofia, e dunque il cogito , o piuttosto il cognosco , era subordinato all’ esse che era considerato qualcosa di primordiale. A Cartesio invece l’ esse apparve secondario, mentre il cogito fu da lui giudicato primordiale. In tal modo non soltanto si operava un cambiamento di direzione nel filosofare – ma si abbandonava decisamente ciò che la filosofia era stata fino ad allora, ciò che era stata in particolare la filosofia di san Tommaso d’Aquino: la filosofia dell’ esse”. (19)

“Prima tutto veniva interpretato nell’ottica dell’ esse e di tutto si cercava una spiegazione secondo quell’ottica. Dio come Essere pienamente autosufficiente ( Ens subsistens ) era ritenuto l’indispensabile sostegno per ogni ens non subsistens, ens participatum , cioè per tutti gli esseri creati, e dunque anche per l’uomo”. (19)

“Se vogliamo parlare in modo sensato del bene e del male, dobbiamo tornare a san Tommaso d’Aquino , cioè alla filosofia dell’essere”. (23)

“Con il metodo fenomenologico, ad esempio, si possono esaminare esperienze come quella della moralità, della religione o anche dell’essere uomo, traendone un arricchimento significativo della nostra conoscenza. Non si può però dimenticare che tutte queste analisi, in modo implicito, presuppongono la realtà dell’essere uomo, cioè di un essere creato, e anche la realtà dell’Essere assoluto. Se non si parte da simili presupposti «realisti» , si finisce per muoversi nel vuoto”. (23)

Mediaevalia Philosophica Polonorum is back!

From Professor Elżbieta Jung (Institute of Philosophy, University of Lódz):

It is a pleasure for me to inform you that the Mediaevalia Philosophica Polonorum is back! It is open for contributions in history of medieval philosophy, theology and science in English, French, German and Latin and editions of medieval texts of approximately 30 printed pages (ca 54000 characters).

With best regards, Contact Person: Miss Monika Michalowska, the Secretary of MPP (monikamichalowska@o2.pl)

Mailing address:

Professor Elżbieta Jung
Editor of Mediaevalia Philosophica Polonorum
Director of the Department of History Premodern Philosophy
Institute of Philosophy, University of Lódz,
Ul. Kopcinskiego 16/18, 90-232 Lódz
Poland

Therese Bonin posts English translation of Quodlibet IV.9.3

Therese Bonin (of THOMAS AQUINAS IN ENGLISH: A Bibliography fame) has posted a translation of Thomas’s Quodlibet IV.9.3 (the question on theological determination using authorities or reasons) on her web site. She says:

“I’ve updated my web page a wee bit and put myself among the translators — Quodlibet 4.9.3, brief but very interesting, is now at http://www.home.duq.edu/~bonin/qq493.html You may find it useful for teaching.”

Her site is a must-visit place for on-line resources and bibliography in English.