Reading Romans with St. Thomas Aquinas (February 5-7, 2009)

The good people at the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal at Ave Maria University are at it again. Every other year they put on a conference devoted directly to theological themes in Aquinas, while in the interceding year they have a conference on some feature of Catholic doctrine and practice. This year they are holding a conference on Aquinas's commentary on the Letter to the Romans, from February 5-7, 2009 (need the text of Thomas's commentary on Romans? Click here). The conference, entitled "Reading Romans with St. Thomas Aquinas: Ecumenical Explorations," brings together the following ecumenical cast of speakers:

• Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP
• Markus Bockmuehl
• Hans Boersma
• John Boyle
• Edgardo Colon-Emeric
• Holly Taylor Coolman
• Adam Cooper
• Scott Hahn
• Mary Healy
• Paul Keller, OP
• Matthew L. Lamb
• Matthew Levering
• Bruce Marshall
• Emmanuel Perrier, OP
• Charles Raith
• Patrick Henry Reardon
• Michael Root
• Michael Sherwin, OP
• Gregory Vall
• Geoffrey Wainwright
• Michael Waldstein
• Robert Louis Wilken
• David S. Yeago

You can download the general conference flyer (PDF), and the conference registration (PDF). Register early, they say, because space is limited.

On a personal note, I have gone to all the Aquinas-specific conferences save the first, and have found them all to be profoundly informative. In a time when both travel budgets and time are tight, this is my only "can't miss" conference every year, topping even Kalamazoo. And the new digs at Ave Maria University form a lovely conference space—especially in early February!

Kalamazoo 2009 call-for-papers on Aquinas

In from Ed Houser (University of St. Thomas in Houston) and John F. Boyle (University of St. Thomas in St. Paul), a call-for-papers on Aquinas for Kalamazoo 2009 (May 7-10, 2009). The focus in previous years has been upon the seven virtues—with the possibility of eventual publication of papers in a series of volumes from CUA Press. This year's focus is upon the virtue of hope. Paper proposals are due by September 14, 2008, but, as Ed notes, "if past is any indication, we will run out of places well before then." You can download a flyer for the proposal in Word or PDF format.

Ed adds that "the first volume in the series, on temperance, is now being proof read for one last time before sending the manuscript to Catholic University Press."

2008 Conway Lectures at Notre Dame (September 18, 23, and 25)

This in from Roberta Baranowski (Asst. Director, Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame): The Medieval Institute will host Jonathan Riley-Smith, the distinguished historian of the Crusades, who will give three lectures on the subject of “The Templars and the Hospitallers as Professed Religious in the Holy Land, 1120-1291.” The three segments are entitled: “Ethos,” “Community,” and “Governance.”

Each lecture will take place at 5 p.m. at the Eck Visitors Center on the Notre Dame campus. All are free and open to the public. You are warmly welcome to attend.

If further information is needed, contact her by e-mail (rbaranow@nd.edu) or phone (574-631-8304).

The University of Toronto Colloquium in Mediaeval Philosophy 2008

(This just in from Toronto): On 19-20 September 2008 the University of Toronto will be hosting its annual Colloquium in Mediaeval Philosophy. Everyone is welcome! Here is this year's schedule of events:

19 September 2008, Session 1 (4:30 - 6:30):

Chair: Cristina Van Dyke (Calvin College)
Speaker: Robert Pasnau (University of Colorado at Boulder): "The Scholastics and Secondary Qualities"
Commentator: Jean-Luc Solere

6:30 Reception, PIMS Common Room [59 Queen's Park Crescent East]

20 September 2008, Session 2 (10:00 - 12:00):

Chair: Kara Richardson (University of Syracuse)
Speaker: Therese-Anne Druart (Catholic University of America): "Avicenna and Duns Scotus"
Commentator: Robert Wisnovsky (McGill University)

20 September 2008, Session 3 (2:30 - 4:30):

Chair: Jeff Brower (Purdue University)
Speaker: Cecilia Trifogli (All Souls College / Oxford): "Thomas Wylton on Final Causality"
Commentator: Edith Sylla (North Carolina State University)

7:00 Conference Dinner (registration required)

All sessions will be held in Room 301 of the Lillian Massey Building (Centre for Medieval Studies) at 125 Queen's Park on the St. George campus of the University of Toronto, and are free and open to the public.

<If> you plan to attend please let us know—medieval.philosophy@utoronto.ca—and be sure to let us know if you intend to participate in the conference dinner! The colloquium is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, Department of Classics, the Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Toronto, and the Canada Research Chair program of the Canadian government.

Ethics of organ transplantation conference at University of St Thomas (Houston)

The Center for Thomistic Studies is sponsoring a conference on the ethics of organ transplantation (March 27–29, 2009). The mini-site for the conference has the following description:

The Ethics of Organ Transplantation, an interdisciplinary conference on medical and philosophical issues surrounding organ transplantation, will bring together experts from a variety of fields, such as philosophy, theology, and medicine. The conference seeks a coherent vision that promotes healing united with a respect for the dignity of each individual.

Keynote speakers include:

• D. Alan Shewmon, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
  Topic: Brain Death
  
• Janet Smith, Ph.D., Fr. Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Issues, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, MI
  Topic: The Ethics of Ova Donation for Stem Cell Research
  
• A.A. Howsepian, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Administration Central California Health Care System, Fresno, CA
  Topic: Organ Transplantation and Anencephalic Infants
  
• Christopher Kaczor, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
  Topic: Organ Donations after Cardiac Death

It is possible to submit a paper for inclusion in the conference, responding to the call for papers. Papers will be accepted as they are received, preference given to earlier submissions, with a final deadline of January 1, 2009.

William A. Wallace, O.P. on the Philosophy of Nature

Cruising though the ‘net last evening—where did I start from?—I came across an on-line version of a short course in natural philosophy, taught by one of my Dominican heroes of the River Forest School (though he was never located at River Forest, Illinois), Fr William A. Wallace, OP (also here). The course is affiliated with Ralph McInerny’s International Catholic University. The course exists in six-parts, and constitutes a wonderful overview of Thomistic natural philosophy (based on Aristotle), as well as the other elements of philosophy in a Thomistic worldview. A good way to get “up and running.”

You can also see Fr Wallace himself read through the opening lecture on YouTube:

A follow-up of sorts. You can see a two-part interview with Fr Wallace on the Dominican Order and the Intellectual Life, dating from 1982, which has much of Fr Wallace’s own life-experience (part 1 / part 2).

Common abbreviations in critical texts

This is surely for medievalist geeks. Reading through Eric Knibbs, "How to Use Modern Critical Editions of Medieval Latin Texts," History Compass 5, no. 5 (2007): 1521-49, I came across a link to web page with what seem to be all the abbreviations one is likely to find in a critical edition of a classical—I add: medieval—text. The page (here) is put together by Karl Maurer of the University of Dallas.

Maurer's page is probably overkill for the Thomist. Still useful—indeed, normative, perhaps—is Fr Antoine Donaine's «Liste des abbréviations latines et sigles recommandés pour l'apparat critique,» Bulletin SIEPM 2 (1960): 142-149, which you can see on Enrique Alarcon's miraculous Index Thomisticus website (here).

A volume honoring Alain de Libera

By way of Adriano Oliva, OP, an announcement of a volume of studies honoring Alain de Libera, and an opportunity to subscribe to the book's publication:

À l'occasion du soixantième anniversaire d'Alain de Libera, une trentaine de collègues de France et de l'étranger ont souhaité, par une série d'études d'histoire de la philosophie et de métaphysique, saluer son œuvre scientifique et lui offrir un témoignage d'amitié. L'histoire de la métaphysique étant l'un des points cardinaux du travail philosophique d'Alain de Libera, à qui l'on doit notamment de magistraux ouvrages sur les universaux, il a semblé judicieux d'étudier ces entités mineures mais néanmoins indispensables qui viennent compléter la substance pour constituer l'individu : les propriétés accidentelles.

La question des accidents est ici étudiée sur la longue durée – d'Aristote à la métaphysique analytique contemporaine, avec une attention particulière portée aux discussions médiévales – et sous ses différents aspects : ontologique, sémantique, épistémologique et psychologique. Sont ainsi abordés des problèmes philosophiques aussi fondamentaux que ceux induits par les catégories aristotéliciennes de qualité et de relation, les tropes, la causalité, l'individuation.

See this PDF file for details, which also contains a list of the volume's contributors. By subscribing to the book's publication before September 1, 2008, your name will appear in the volume, along with other subscribers. The volume is scheduled to appear on October 3, 2008.

A Conference about MacIntyre in Indiana

The International Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy is holding its second annual conference at Saint Meinrad’s in Indiana, from July 30 through August 3, 2008. The topic is: “Theory, Practice, and Tradition: Human Rationality in Pursuit of the Good Life.” You can see the conference’s dense schedule here (DOC format).

Aquinas on the Divine Simplicity: a new book

Peter Weigel, of the Department of Philosophy at Washington College, has authored a book on Aquinas’s doctrine of the divine simplicity, due to appear this year. Here’s some of the blurb:

Aquinas’s teaching that God is entirely simple is central to his philosophy of God. Much of his thought cannot be properly understood without an adequate grasp of what simplicity involves and why he argues for it. The depth and rigor of Aquinas’s account of divine simplicity mark a significant contribution to the development of this crucial position in traditional philosophical theology. Commentators usually focus on limited aspects of Aquinas’s position, and contemporary philosophical assessments often reflect an incomplete understanding of the distinctive ontology supporting his theological conclusions.

This book offers an in-depth examination of what divine simplicity means for Aquinas and how he argues for its claims. Simplicity and other divine predicates are analyzed within the larger metaphysical and semantic framework surrounding Aquinas’s philosophy of God. The work thus goes beyond the issue of simplicity to some of the fundamental tenets of Aquinas’s philosophical theology and his views on divine predication. The author also engages with a variety of Aquinas’s recent commentators, bringing the insights of this great figure to bear on contemporary discussions.

Aquinas on Love and Charity

A team consisting of Peter Kwasniewski and others has produced a translation of texts from Thomas’s Scriptum super sententiis that deal with charity. Published by Catholic University of America Press, the volume will appear shortly (see this PDF file). Here’s a snippet from the blurb:

Among the great works of Thomas Aquinas, the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard has suffered almost total neglect among translators. Such neglect is surprising, considering that the massive Commentary—more than 4,000 pages in the last printed edition—is not only Aquinas’s first systematic engagement with all the philosophical and theological topics on which he expended his energy over the span of a short career but is also characterized by an exuberance and elaborateness seldom found in his subsequent writings. Although Chenu had already drawn attention decades ago to the importance of studying this youthful tour de force for a fuller understanding of Thomas’s more mature work, the Commentary on the Sentences has remained a closed book for many modern students of Thomistic and medieval thought because of its relative inaccessibility in English or in Latin.

The present volume, containing all the major texts on love and charity, makes available what is by far the most extensive translation ever to be made from the Commentary with the added benefit that the better part of the translation is based on the (as yet unpublished) critical edition of the Leonine Commission. The collection of texts from all four books has a tight thematic coherence that makes it invaluable to students of Thomas’s moral philosophy, moral theology, and philosophical theology. In addition, the inclusion of parallel texts from Aquinas’s first (Parisian) Commentary as well as from his second (Roman) attempt at a commentary, the recently rediscovered Lectura Romana, makes this edition all the more valuable for those who wish to track the internal development of Thomas’s thinking on these matters.

This volume is part of the Thomas Aquinas in Translation Series from CUA, which also has three other texts.

W. Norris Clarke, SJ (1915-2008)

Scraped from a number of places, some information on the passing of W. Norris Clarke, SJ, long of Fordham University in New York City:

We regret to inform you of the death of Father W. Norris Clarke, S.J., Fordham University Professor Emeritus, who died on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, at St. Barnabas Hospital, Bronx, New York.  Father Clarke was born on June 1, 1915. He joined Fordham's Philosophy Department in 1955 and became Professor Emeritus in 1985.  See more biographical information at:

http://www.fordham.edu/philosophy/faculty/clarke.htm

WAKE:
Sunday, June 15, 2008
3:00-5:00 & 7:00-9:00 PM
Loyola Hall Chapel
Fordham University
Bronx, NY 10458

MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL:
Monday, June 16, 2008
10:30 AM
Fordham University Church
Bronx, NY 10458

BURIAL: Jesuit Cemetery, Auriesville , NY

Other links that I have found are:

• Link to his faculty page at Fordham's website.
• Notice about his funeral services from Fordham.
• Notice on the First Things website, and one on the America website.