News
Thomism and Anti-Thomism in the Middle Ages
/The universities of Paris and Freiburg-Germany have initiated an exciting and ambitious new research-project entitled ‘Thomism and Anti-Thomism in the Middle Ages’. The project, directed by Ruedi Imbach and Maarten Hoenen, will focus its attention on medieval and Renaissance-interpretations of Aquinas and continues the results published in two thematic fasciculi of the Revue Thomiste 2008.
A first conference is scheduled for January 28-30 in Freiburg on “German Thomism 13th-14th Century.”
While Paris will focus on the 13th-14th Century, Freiburg will investigate the 15th Century. The project in Paris includes among others an investigation of the authenticity of the opuscula De principio individuationis, De natura materiae, De natura accidentis, De natura generis, De instantibus, De quattuor opposites, an edition of the Metaphysics-commentary by Humbertus de Prulliaco (†1298), a partial edition of the Summa by Nicholas of Strassbourg and investigations on Dietrich of Freiberg.
The German section envisages a edition of the Tractatus ostendens concordiam Thomae Aquinatis et Alberti Magni by Gerardus de Monte, dating from 1456, an investigation of the Concordantiae-literature esp. Peter of Bergamo and the publication of a Companion to Renaissance Thomism to appear at Brill (Leiden) as the first volume of a new series on Thomism.
Full descriptions (in French and German) of the project can be found on its website.
Aquinas on the Emotions: A Religious-Ethical Inquiry—by Diana Fritz Cates
/This in from Georgetown University Press:
Greetings from Georgetown University Press! I want to let you know about a brand new book we’ve just published: Aquinas on the Emotion: A Religious-Ethical Inquiry by Diana Fritz Cates.
Cates shows how emotions are composed as embodied mental states. She identifies various factors, including religious beliefs, intuitions, images, and questions that can affect the formation and the course of a person’s emotions. She attends to the appetitive as well as the cognitive dimensions of emotion, both of which Aquinas interprets with flexibiity. The result is a powerful study of Aquinas that is also a resource for readers who want to understand and cultivate the emotional dimension of their lives.
To read more about the book and see what other scholars in the field are saying about it, please visit our website at: http://press.georgetown.edu/detail.html?id=9781589015050.
Georgetown University Press has also kindly provided a discount code for 30% off the cost of the book, for use on their website. Follow the link above, and use the discount code of M46 at check-out time.
PS: The publication of this book sets up an unexpected competition with a similar book, recently published by Robert Miner, reported in September. It will be fun to read the two, side-by-side.
Mediaevalia Philosophica Polonorum: call for papers
/In from Professor Elżbieta Jung, of the Institute of Philosophy, University of Lódz in Poland.
Mediaevalia Philosophica Polonorum seeks submissions for a forthcoming issue of the journal.
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 signs). We will welcome papers on any topic concerning history of medieval philosophy, theology and science. The deadline is 30th March 2010.
With best regards,
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 LódzContact Person: Dr Monika Michalowska, the Secretary of MPP
monikamichalowska@o2.pl
Edward Feser sketches the Thomistic Tradition
/Philosopher Edward Feser, whose Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide has recently been published, has posted a two-part account of the Thomistic Tradition on his blog (part 1/part 2). It's a quick and informative read.
PS: Long live River Forest Thomism!
Mirabile! Digital Archives for Medieval Latin Culture
/One of my favorite resources is Medioevo latino, an annual publication of all things medieval thought. The parent company, SISMEL, has now improved on-line access to that annual, as well as other things it publishes:
The important resources constituted by the well-known SISMEL's repertories (Medioevo latino, the Bibliotheca Scriptorum Latinorum Medii recentiorisque Aevi, the Compendium Auctorum Medii Aevi) and by the prestigious journals published by the Edizioni del Galluzzo are available on line. For information: www.mirabileweb.it · info@mirabileweb.it.
Probably mostly academic research institutions will opt to subscribe to this service, but it's nice to know that the service is available.
Kristeller’s “Latin Manuscript Books before 1600” on-line
/Nerd alert: ON.
Here in my office I have the beefy printed edition of Paul Oskar Kristeller's Latin Manuscript Books before 1600: A List of the Printed Catalogues and Unpublished Inventories of Extant Collections staring at me, and telling me, "get to work!" If you need access to this work, it's now on-line (link). Happy hunting for the manuscript that breaks your stemma!
Nerd alert: OFF.
Aquinas at Blackfriars
/The people at Blackfriars aren't sitting still. They've put together a compelling program of studies (link) for their Aquinas Institute. The program is headed by Fr Fergus Kerr, OP. A scrape:
The Aquinas Institute was established in 2004 under the directorship of Fergus Kerr OP. It aims to foster study of St Thomas at Oxford through seminars, occasional conferences, summer schools, and programmes that will bring international research scholars to the university each year.
Make sure to see the cool seminar series that they've put together, too.
From William E. Carroll, of Blackfriars:
Fergus Kerr is now retired and the new director of the Aquinas Institute is Vivian Boland, O.P.
The “Introduction” to the new Cursus philosophicus thomisticus edition
/John Deely, of the University of St Thomas (Houston, TX), worked long and hard to get a reprint of John of St. Thomas’s (Jean Poinsot’s) Cursus philosophicus thomisticus. Thanks to the Georg Olms Verlag, and the editorship of Martin Walter, the thing has been reprinted in a glorious, three-volume set. And Deely, who knows a thing or sixty about John of St. Thomas (link), has kindly shared a PDF of his “Introductory Remarks on the Value of Poinsot’s Work to Philosophy Today.” A selection:
The standard histories of philosophy over the whole of the 20th century have tacitly agreed to give the impression that nothing of value or interest happened in the Latin tradition after the death of William of Ockham. I was first led to see the falsity of this standard view by a reading of Jacques Maritain’s writings on sign, published together in his book Quatre Essais sur l’Esprit dans sa Condition Charnelle (nouvelle edition revue et augmenté; Paris: Alsatia, 1956). In those writings, Maritain directed me to the Tractatus de Signis of John Poinsot, then thoroughly embedded within the hefty volumes of Poinsot’s Cursus Philosophicus.
Mainly interested at the time in the newly developing idea of semiotics as a study of the action of signs, I spent the next fifteen years in preparing Poinsot’s semiotics for presentation as an independent edition, which was published in bilingual format by the University of California Press in 1985. Over the course of that work I came to appreciate the value of Poinsot’s work not only on the sign, but as a whole. For what the Cursus Philosophicus presents us with is nothing less than a careful and complete summation of what philosophy was able to achieve independently and in its own right prior to the advent of science in the modern sense as a complementary intellectual development.
It is true that the period of early modern philosophy approached from its Latin side, rather than from the side of its emergence out of Latin into the national language traditions of classical modern thought, is a dismaying maze of the greatest difficulty to navigate. This is precisely the value of Poinsot’s work as a whole.
Download the PDF here.
thomistica now on twitter
/This one was too easy. Some required ICANN checking lead me to a reminder to see whether the name “thomistica,” was available on twitter. I was shocked, truly shocked, to find out that it was, so I nabbed it, and have set things up here. Now you can follow us here on thomistica (link) when I tweet about the small things.
You’ll also note on the right sidebar that I’ve included that last few tweets. All the best.
Edward Feser's Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide
/Catholic philosopher Edward Feser has published Aquinas: A Beginner’s Guide (link), an introduction to the thought of St Thomas. Here’s a scrape from Amazon’s page:
One of history’s most influential philosophers and theologians, Thomas Aquinas was the father of modern philosophy of religion, and is infamous for his proofs for God’s existence. In this cogent introduction to his work, Edward Feser argues that you cannot fully understand Aquinas’ philosophy without his theology and vice-versa. Covering his thoughts on the soul, natural law, metaphysics, and the interaction of faith and reason, this is an essential introduction to the great thinker.
Feser is a well-known philosopher who vigorously engages contemporary philosophy and science, from an Aristotelian-Thomistic point of view (i.e., supportive of natural philosophy and A-T metaphysics). While at Amazon.com, check out his important The Last Supersition: A Refutation of the New Atheism.
Feser is also an active blogger, writing on an array of topics ranging from philosophy of mind to contemporary politics. More on his book (including the Table of Contents) at his website.