My last post on Paul Ryan and Aquinas has apparently caused something of a stir. I had only intended it as a bit of humor but some people took it more seriously. In response to that I have tried to put together some more substantive thoughts on Ryan’s relation to Aquinas at our new AMU Philosophy Department blog.
I know I probably get the award for the most silly posts on Thomistica.net. But sometimes I can’t help myself. If you despise these silly posts of mine, then, please, read no further, for this one is sure to bother you too.
We all (at least we Americans) know by now that the big news in the US presidential race is that GOP contender Mitt Romney has just named Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate. Ryan, who is Catholic, has often been connected in the past with the economic views of Russian-American author Ayn Rand (not known for her embrace of Catholic social doctrine), for whom he does appear to have some appreciation.
But not long ago Ryan publicly distanced himself from Rand and let people know that, philosophically speaking, he’s more of a Thomist than a Randian. This is what emerges in an April interview with the National Review’s Robert Costa:
“I, like millions of young people in America, read Rand’s novels when I was young. I enjoyed them,” Ryan says. “They spurred an interest in economics, in the Chicago School and Milton Friedman,” a subject he eventually studied as an undergraduate at Miami University in Ohio. “But it’s a big stretch to suggest that a person is therefore an Objectivist.”
“I reject her philosophy,” Ryan says firmly. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas,” who believed that man needs divine help in the pursuit of knowledge. “Don’t give me Ayn Rand,” he says.
I couldn’t agree more.
By the way, in the same interview Ryan also talks about reading Benedict XVI’s Light of the World and mentions how the Catholic principle of subsidiarity has been an influence on his thinking.
***
UPDATE: I’ve discovered that others have beat me to the punch on this “headline,” some by a few months. I guess the Thomistica.net news cycle is a little longer than the mainstream media’s, which makes sense, right? At any rate, there are pieces that applaud Ryan’s “Thomism,” others that claim his commitment to Randianism is deeper than he lets on, and still others that wonder about the incompatibility of Randianism and Thomism.
I don’t know whether Thomistica.net will involve itself in this debate but it is certainly a worthy one to engage.
One of the first projects of Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University, begun nearly a decade ago, was the translation and publication of Trinity in Aquinas by Fr. Gilles Emery, O.P. Fr. Emery is a Dominican 
priest of the Swiss province of Preachers and professor of dogmatic theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He is a member of the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Fr. Emery is widely recognized as a leading expert in the thought of Aquinas and Medieval Trinitarian theology.
We are happy to announce that a paperback edition of Trinity in Aquinas is now available.
Table of contents:
Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University is also the publisher Fr. Emery’s Trinity, Church, and the Human Person.
I just received the new reprint of the Summa Contra Gentiles, Editio Leonina Manualis, from Lulu.com. I was looking for a copy of the SCG that I could easily fit into a briefcase or backpack, where I could read through it at odd moments. For the ST, when travelling, I prefer the BAC edition, because the Marietti is heavier. Although this reprinted SCG edition feels a lot more like the Marietti ones, it still is portable. I was worried about the legibility and quality. The binding is a lot like dissertation bindings. The print quality is like a very good scan. I have read the first 30 pages without a problem. Sometimes the horizontals are slightly curved, especially in towards the binding. The Table of Contents is very light. It is simply a reproduction of the original printing. It is pleasant to read and serves my purposes, especially since I can’t get used to reading directly from .pdfs or computer screens, and my German-Latin bilingual SCG is too heavy for planes, waiting rooms, etc.
Venue: University of Lisbon & Catholic University of Portugal, April 4-6, 2013
Keynote speakers:
Alessandro Ghisalberti (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Dermot Moran (University College Dublin)
Francisco Meirinhos (Universidade do Porto)
In the 13th century, Philip the Chancellor endeavored to gather and systematize the roll of transcendentals – unum, verum, bonum – as co-extensive properties to being; that would determine all the subsequent medieval philosophical thought. Under the aegis of “unum, verum, bonum”, we now seek to bring together MA, PhD and Post-doctoral researchers on Medieval Philosophy. Their research may be focused on ontology or metaphysics, theory of knowledge (verum), ethics, politics and economics (bonum), aesthetics (pulchrum was itself considered within its relation with unum, verum, and bonum). The scope of this colloquium extends not only to the different philosophical fields explored throughout the Middle Ages, but also to different philosophical lineages (Aristotelian philosophy and Neoplatonism) and to the different religious inspirations (Judaism, Christianity and Islamism).
It is the main purpose of this colloquium to bring together MA, PhD and Post-Doctoral researchers in Medieval Philosophy from universities around the world, and also to encourage philosophical discussion between all the participants.
Should you be interested in participating in this meeting we invite you to submit a paper proposal (according to the rules stated below).
We welcome you in advance to Lisbon, the city of the seven hills.
Working languages of the Conference are Portuguese, English, Spanish and French. However, if you want to present your paper in a language other than English, we strongly advise you to provide an English translation in a Word document, 7 days prior to venue.
Paper proposals:
Please send a Word document to callforpapers.uvb@gmail.com, by October 1, 2012, with the following information:
1st page
1. The title of your paper in the language you wish to present it.
2. A 150 to 300 words abstract in English for a 20-minute paper.
2nd page
1. Author
2. Email address
3. Institutional affiliation
4. Brief biographical note (100 words)
Notification of acceptance will be given by December 1, 2012.
A selection of papers will be eligible for publication in electronic format with ISBN.
Scientific Committee:
Giampaolo ABBATE
Catarina BELO
Mário Santiago de CARVALHO
Maria de Lourdes Sirgado GANHO
José da Costa MACEDO
António Rocha MARTINS
Maria Manuela Brito MARTINS
José MEIRINHOS
José ROSA
Maria Leonor XAVIER
Organizing Committee:
Filipa AFONSO
Maria Inês BOLINHAS
Ana Rita FERREIRA
Important deadlines:
Abstract submission – October 1, 2012
Notification of acceptance – December 1, 2012
Early bird registration – January 31, 2013
Fees (speakers and participants):
60€: Conference materials, Certificate and Conference lunch on April 6
20€: Conference materials and Certificate
Please note that the organization of the conference does not provide support for travelling and accommodation.
Further information will be available at www.centrodefilosofia.com.
The call for papers is out for the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, MI. This year’s conference will be held May 9-12th, 2013. In addition to the many planned sessions on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, there are several sessions on philosophical and theological topics, including those on Boethius, Scotus, Cusanus, and the medieval Aristotelian tradition. The submission deadline for paper proposals is September 15th, 2013.
I will let the press-release give the details:
Expert on St. Thomas Aquinas Selected New Randall Chair
Dr. Reinhard Huetter, professor of Christian theology at Duke Divinity School, has been named the Rev. Robert J. Randall Professor in Christian Culture at Providence College for the 2012-2013 academic year.
The Randall Professorship was established in 2002 as the College’s first endowed chair. It is named for the priest and scholar who taught at PC for more than 25 years in the Department of English, the Development of Western Civilization Program, and the Liberal Arts Honors Program.
Huetter is the ninth scholar to serve as the Randall Professor. He will teach a course in the Liberal Arts Honors Program, Thomas Aquinas on Faith, which he said will be an introduction to Aquinas’ theology as well as an introduction to thinking about the Christian faith.
He also will present lectures to the College community during the fall and spring semesters.
“I am thrilled about — and grateful for — the opportunity to teach and write for one year at Providence College, and I am very much looking forward to meeting the students and the faculty,” said Huetter. “I already have some friends on the faculty and am looking forward to making new friends and becoming, for one year, part of an academic community about which I have heard so many good things.”
A native of Lichtenfels, Germany, Huetter holds a master of theology degree from Duke University and a doctor of theology degree from the University of Erlangen in Germany. He teaches systemic and philosophical theology and has developed a special interest in the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas.
His new book, Dust Bound for Heaven: Explorations in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas (Eerdmas, 2012), will be published in late summer. Among his other works are Reason and the Reasons of Faith (T&T Clark Int’l, 2005), edited with Paul J. Griffiths, and Ressourcement Thomism: Sacred Doctrine, the Sacraments, and the Moral Life (The Catholic University of America Press, 2010), edited with Matthew Levering.
Huetter was awarded the Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theology. He has been a visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies of Religion, University of Chicago; a research fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton Theological Seminary; and a visiting professor at the University of Jena, Germany.
In addition, he is an elected member of the American Theological Society, president of the Academy of Catholic Theology, a distinguished fellow of The Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and an ordinary academician of the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
“We are indeed thrilled to have a scholar of such high reputation at Providence College,” said Dr. James F. Keating, associate professor of theology and chair of the Randall Chair Committee. “His background in Protestant theology and recently acquired expertise in Catholicism and, in particular, the thought of Thomas Aquinas, will enhance our students’ learning and the overall intellectual culture of our academic community.”
— Vicki-Ann Downing
From here: http://www.providence.edu/news/headlines/Pages/randall-chair-2012.aspx
It will be a great joy to have Dr. Hütter join Providence College next year as the Randall Chair. Students in our Graduate Program in Theology will especially benefit, as Dr. Hütter is tentatively scheduled to teach a graduate seminar on the Virtue of Religion in Thomas Aquinas.
We look forward to welcoming Dr. Hütter this coming semester.
Follow this link to see a short English interview with Card. Christoph Schönborn, O.P. in which he describes the genesis of his vocation to the Dominican order. He notes being introduced to St. Thomas from a Dominican, Fr. Paulus, who had served as an assistant to Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange in Rome.
From Dr. Peter Kwasniewski and our friends at the Aquinas Institute:
UPDATE July 16, 2012: Due to numerous requests, we have decided to extend the pre-order period until the feast of St. Dominic, August 8th. After this day the possibility for pre-order will be removed so that regular distribution channels will be able to begin marketing the books. Extending the pre-order period to August 8th will NOT affect the current timeline of printing and mailing. We will be posting updates on this page as events warrant.
See our post from from June 12th to learn more about this exciting project which aims to make affordable (and sturdy) Latin-English editions of Aquinas’ major works available.
Several years ago Dr. Mark Johnson created the ”book essentials” page on thomistica.net. Dr. Johnson explains the ratio of this page as follows:
Of course no single book captures it all, but giving people a list of 50 books is of little help, too. So I let my thought-experiment be: “If I had to recommend ten books for someone starting out, what would they be?” The books listed below fit that bill for me; some of them are essential (e.g., Torrell’s two biographical books on Thomas), and others are reliable resources and introductions.
One of the volumes on this list is Augustine Thompson’s extremely helpful book, Cities Of God: The Religion Of The Italian Communes (Penn State Press, 2005).
Just out with Cornell University Press is Fr. Thompson’s most recent book-length foray into the Middle Ages, Francis of Assisi: A New Biography.
According to early reviews, it looks like Fr. Thompson has produced yet another “book essential” for students of Medieval thought, life, and culture. Fruimini
And now for something completely different…
Well-known former LA Dodgers manager Thomas “Tommy” Lasorda is Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila’s godfather. Avila’s paternal grandfather had been vice president of the Dodgers during Lasorda’s tenure and Lasorda became a friend of the Avila family. In a recent interview Avila explained that Lasorda was named for Thomas Aquinas and that his (Avila’s) middle name is also Thomas, presumably from Lasorda and Aquinas.
In 1916 the journal Dominicana was founded at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. It was operated by the studentate of the Province of St. Joseph until 1968, when it ceased publication. But last Spring the journal was happily resurrected. Here is an account of the events from the Spring 2011 issue:
Spring is a time of change. This spring marks the end of Dominican Review and the re-introduction of Dominicana. Dominicana was the original studentate publication of the the Province of St. Joseph, begun in 1916. It contained news about the Province and articles of interest. It also showcased the literary talents of the studentate. By renaming Dominican Review, we hope to reconnect with our past by drawing inspiration from our tradition and presenting it in a compelling way to our readers in 2011. The name of our publication is not the only change you will notice. We have moved to a smaller, neater, booklet format to facilitate reading and we have worked to diversify our content.
The Dominicana homepage says a little more about the projected content:
The re-founded journal seeks to provide commentary on a wide array of topics from a Dominican, contemplative perspective. Entirely student-created, the journal features opinion pieces, spiritual reflections, debates, interviews, short fiction, poetry, and more.
Here is the subscription information, also from the journal’s homepage:
Those interested in subscribing to the print edition of the journal may do so by credit card or PayPal, or by writing to Dominicana Editor, 487 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20017. (Please make checks payable to Dominican Studentate.)
One-year subscriptions are available for $15. Religious houses may subscribe for $20 per year, and institutions and libraries may subscribe for $25 per year.
Among recent articles, readers of Thomistica.net might be especially interested in J. Augustine Di Noia’s “Theological Method and the Magisterium” from the Winter 2011 issue. I was able to access a pdf file of the article for free on Dominicana’s website. I don’t know whether this was because my institution has a subscription to the journal. But you can try for yourself.
Under the direction of the Sacra Doctrina Project
