Ens primum cognitum in Thomas Aquinas and the tradition : the philosophy of being as first known /
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Ens Primum Cognitum in Thomas Aquinas and the Tradition presents a reading of Thomas Aquinas' claim that "being" is the first object of the human intellect. Blending the insights of both the early Thomistic tradition (c.1380-1637AD) and the Leonine Thomistic revival (1879-present), Brian Kemple examines how this claim of Aquinas has been traditionally understood, and what is lacking in that understanding. While the recent tradition has emphasized the primacy of the real (so-called ens reale ) in human recognition of the primum cognitum , Kemple argues that this misinterprets Aquinas, thereby closing off Thomistic philosophy to the broader perspective needed to face the philosophical challenges of today, and proposes an alternative interpretation with dramatic epistemological and metaphysical consequences.
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1 online resource (viii, 376 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004352568 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Divine being and its relevance according to Thomas Aquinas /
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Aquinas' theology can be understood only if one comes to grips with his metaphysics of being. The relevance of this perspective is exhibited in his treatment of topics like creation, goodness, happiness, truth, freedom of the will, the unity of the human being, prayer and providence, God's personhood, divine love, God and violence, God's unknowablility, the Incarnation, the Trinity, God's existence, theological language and even laughter. This book endeavors to treat these questions in a clear and convincing language. Is there a better method for improving one's own theology than by grappling with the arguments of Thomas Aquinas?.
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1 online resource :
9789004413993
Revisiting Aquinas' proofs for the existence of God /
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Edited and introduced by Robert Arp, Revisiting Aquinas' Proofs for the Existence of God is a collection of new papers written by scholars focusing on the famous Five Proofs or Ways ( Quinque Viae ) for the existence of God put forward by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) near the beginning of his unfinished tome, Summa Theologica . It is not an exaggeration to say that not only is Aquinas' Summa a landmark text in the history of Western philosophy and Christianity, but also that the Five Proofs discussed therein-namely, the arguments that conclude to the Unmoved Mover, Uncaused Cause, Necessary Being, Superlative Being, and Intelligent Director-are as compelling today as they were in the 13th Century. Written in a debate format with different scholars arguing for and against each Proof, the papers in the book consist of arguments utilizing various combinations of contemporary science and philosophical ideas to bolster the positions. The result is a revisiting of Aquinas' Proofs that is relevant, stimulating, enlightening, and refreshing.
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1 online resource (x, 273 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-264) and index. :
9789004311589 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Talking about God and Talking about Creation : Avicenna's and Thomas Aquinas' positions /
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Comparing Avicenna's and Thomas Aquinas' positions regarding human knowledge, this volumes talks about God and the nature of the creative action and the beginning of the universe. The overall argument of the book is that their conception of theological language plays an important role in shaping their positions concerning the creation of the universe. In the first part, their conception of the theological language and divine formal features are explored and how their positions regarding theological language differ from each other is discussed. The second part includes a comparison of their conceptions of the nature of the divine creative action-which provides a good example showing how their conceptions of theological language affect the way they talk about creation-and their arguments concerning the beginning of the universe.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047415923
9789004144774
Thinking Theologically about the Divine Ideas : Reexamining the Summa of Thomas Aquinas /
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Thinking Theologically traces Aquinas's subtle grammatical and thematic engagements with the doctrine of the divine ideas throughout the Summa Theologiae. This study offers new insights into the contributions of Aquinas's doctrine to debates about eschatology, christology, providence, natural law, virtue, and creation's participation in the trinitarian life of God. It argues that Aquinas adapts the doctrine to support his pedagogical goal of guiding readers from the confession of faith to the wisdom of sacra doctrina. In turn, this demonstrates that Aquinas's reading of the divine ideas reinforces his understanding of the dynamic exchange between philosophical reasoning and theological inquiry.
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Thinking Theologically contains new insights into the place of the divine ideas in the pedagogical design of Aquinas's Summa Theologiae. It subsequently challenges the false dichotomy between philosophy and theology in the interpretation of Aquinas's engagement with the doctrine. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004511514
9789004511507
Integrated truth and existential phenomenology : a Thomistic response to iconic anti-realists in science /
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Integrated Truth and Existential Phenomenology: A Thomistic Response to Iconic Anti-Realists in Science relates an existential phenomenology to modal reasoning. By this reasoning, rooted in a consciousness of phenomena in themselves, a Thomistic realism is advanced wherein scientific inquiry yields objective truth and presupposes a causal principle. This principle, as an inferably true modality, strictly implies a first cause. And this cause as a supreme norm, causally created human nature as it ought to be. So with no naturalistic fallacy, a naturalistic ethics is inferred from our psycho-biological nature that also informs art and politics. Politics, as the institutionalization of ethics, is inferable from ethical prescriptions that are as certifiably true as the descriptions of science that inform it.
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1 online resource (xxiii, 169 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-158) and index. :
9789004299757 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Thinking being : introduction to metaphysics in the classical tradition /
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In Thinking Being , Eric Perl articulates central ideas and arguments regarding the nature of reality in Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and Aquinas. He shows that, throughout this tradition, these ideas proceed from and return to the indissoluble togetherness of thought and being, first clearly expressed by Parmenides. The emphasis throughout is on continuity rather than opposition: Aristotle appears as a follower of Plato in identifying being as intelligible form, and Aquinas as a follower of Plotinus in locating the first principle "beyond being". Hence Neoplatonism, itself a coherent development of Platonic thought, comes to be seen as the mainstream of classical philosophy. Perl's book thus contributes to a revisionist understanding of the fundamental outlines of the western tradition in metaphysics.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004265769 :
1871-188X ;
The Apostles' Creed 'He Descended into Hell'.
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Though the number of Christians in Western societies is declining, many areas of our daily life are still influenced by Christian thoughts, expressions and images, sometimes without people being aware of it. This volume is about Christ's descent into hell as it appears in The Apostles' Creed 'He descended into hell' , the Apostles' Creed professes. But what are Christians who recite this Creed supposed to believe in when they profess their faith in the descent into hell? Or, to put the same question more poignantly, what is at stake if people deny the descent? Would it make any difference if we did not believe in the descent? How did the early Church interpret this belief? What influence has this article of faith had on contemporary theology and culture? Starting with a biblical view, the volume covers the history of theology by discussing the ideas of Augustine, the liturgy of the Early Church, the role of Christ's decent in Franciscan spirituality and in the theology of Thomas Aquinas. It also asks whether similar theological ideas are present in Judaism. In addition, it gauges the meaning of Christ's descent for today by reflecting on pastoral activities and on computer games. The volume concludes with a fundamental theological reflection which systematises and summarises all the material presented in this volume. These and other questions are discussed by theologians against the background of various disciplines: Biblical Studies, History of the Liturgy, Jewish Studies, History of Theology, History of Spirituality, Practical Theology, Cultural Theology and Systematic Theology. Contributors are: Frank Bosman, Toke Elshof, Paul van Geest, Harm Goris, Marcel Poorthuis, Gerard Rouwhorst, Marcel Sarot, William Marie Speelman, and Archibald van Wieringen.
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1 online resource. :
9789004366633
Wittgenstein's (misunderstood) religious thought /
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Wittgenstein's religious thought is not well understood. And Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion is charged with fideism, religious non-realism, and even crypto-atheism. These charges, however, are borne of misunderstandings that are a result of the critics' being oblivious of apophatic theology. This book is intended to help clear some of those misunderstandings and neutralize the above-mentioned charges. It argues that Wittgenstein's religious thought shares kinship with the thought of apophaticists in Christendom such as the Pseudo-Dionysius and St. Thomas Aquinas. What appear to be fideism, non-realism, or crypto-atheism to the critics appear differently to those who see Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion from the apophaticists' point of view--Wittgenstein's religious point of view.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-237) and index. :
9789004186118 :
2210-481x ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
On prejudices, judgments, and other topics in philosophy /
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The volume contains almost thirty papers by Kazimierz Twardowski (1866-1938), the founder of the Lvov-Warsaw School. The papers are published in English for the first time. They stem from the Lvov period, which is often contrasted with the earlier Vienna period of Twardowski's scientific activity. Contrary to received opinion, the editors argue that the Lvov period is just as important as the Vienna period. Indeed, the scope of Twardowski's investigations was much broader and more profound in later years. The papers concern fundamental problems of philosophy: the methods of philosophizing, the boundary of psychology and semiotics, the conceptual apparatus of metaphysics, ethical skepticism, the question of free will and ethical obligation, the aesthetics of music and so on. The systematic considerations are complemented by concise but excellent sketches of the philosophical views of Socrates, Aquinas, Leibniz, Spencer, Nietzsche, and Bergson.
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1 online resource (396 pages) :
9789401212045 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
On Proclus and his influence in medieval philosophy /
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Proclus (c. 410 - 485) was one of the major Greek philosophers of late Antiquity. In his metaphysics he developed and systematized fundamental problems of Plato's thought, such as participation; transcendence - immanence; causation - participation - return; henads and monads. In a theological way he interpreted some of Plato's dialogues. In the tradition of the neo-platonic school of Athens he tried to bring together Orpheus, Pythagoras and Plato. Before and after his works had been translated into Latin, Proclus influenced the Christian West through the Liber de causis (\'Book of Causes\'), a Latin translation of an anonymous Arab version of his Elementatio theologica . Among those who commented on the Liber or on some of its theses, were many well-known philosophers: Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Master Eckhart, Berthold of Moosberg and William of Ockham. The Liber de causis stimulated discussions about the concepts of God, first and second causality, universals, metaphysics of being as opposed to metaphysics of the one. In the volume various specialists discuss these problems: Saffrey, De Rijk, Meyer, Steel, De Libera, Aertsen, Beierwaltes and Bos.
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Papers presented at a symposium held Sept. 7-8, 1989 at the University of Leiden.
Contributions in English, French, or German. :
1 online resource (vi, 206 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-199) and index. :
9789004320758 :
0079-1687 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religions challenged by contingency : theological and philosophical approaches to the problem of contingency /
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In this volume, the relationship between religion and contingency is investigated. Its historical part comprises analyses of important philosophers' interpretations of this relationship, viz. that of Leibniz, Kant, Lessing, Jaspers, and Heidegger. Its systematic part analyses how this relationship should be currently (re-)interpreted. The upshot of the different interpretations is a re-evaluation of the traditional assumption that accepting contingency is detrimental to the pursuit of religion. It is shown that a number of the philosophers scrutinized are not as critical regarding the acceptance of (certain sorts of) contingency in the religious realm as is often thought, and the systematic contributions show that it may be unavoidable, sometimes even desirable, to accept contingency when dealing with religion. Contributors include: Lieven Boeve, Wim Drees, Joris Geldhof, Dirk-Martin Grube, Frans Jespers, Peter Jonkers, Donald Loose, Ben Vedder, Henk Vroom.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047433583 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.