thomistica

View Original

CUA Press publishes collection of Lawrence Dewan, OP's articles

FormBeingDewan.jpgThe Catholic University of America Press has published a collection of Lawrence Dewan, OP’s articles, all of them dealing with metaphysics. Form and Being: Studies in Thomistic Metaphysics is volum 45 in the CUA Press series “Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy.”

Once again they have provided me with a PDF announcement of the publication, along with contact information. Here is a description of the book, from the PDF announcement:

Written over a period of twenty-five years, they range from an overall conception of the primary philosophical wisdom, to such particular subjects as the conception of substance in an evolutionary context; the natural seed of intellectual knowledge within the human being; the principle of causality; the immortality of the soul; and the real distinction between particular form and the act of being, crucial for our understanding of reality as created.

The method combines close readings of and reflections on the texts of Thomas Aquinas and other relevant thinkers. Because the essays were written largely in response to the work of several prominent twentieth-century metaphysicians, they regularly offer alternative views on fundamental issues.

The distinctive contribution of this volume is its focus on the role of form among the various items in the ontological analysis. The most prominent Thomistic metaphysicians in the twentieth century laid great stress on the role of the act of being. Dewan’s essays present what is essentially the same picture, but in a way that emphasizes the continuity between Christian philosophers and their predecessors in ancient Greece.

The volume contains thirteen of Dewan’s most significant pieces on metaphyics. Here is the table of contents:

CONTENTS:

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations

1. What is Metaphysics?
2. What Does It Mean to Study Being “as Being”?
3. St. Thomas and the Seed of Metaphysics
4. St. Thomas, Physics, and the Principle of Metaphysics
5. St. Thomas and the Principle of Causality
6. St. Thomas and Analogy: The Logician and the Metaphysician
7. The Importance of Substance
8. St. Thomas, Metaphysics, and Formal Causality
9. St. Thomas, Metaphysical Procedure, and the Formal Cause
10. St. Thomas, Form, and Incorruptibility
11. St. Thomas and the Distinction between Form and Esse in Caused Things
12. Nature as a Metaphysical Object
13. The Individual as a Mode of Being according to Thomas Aquinas

Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Topics

What else has Fr Dewan published during his career? How about 110 items? Here is a downloadable version of his Curriculum vitae, which one can consult to find other articles of interest. A collection of his articles on ethical matters is in the works.