Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P., has recently written “Losing the Forest for the Tree: Why All Thomists Should (Not) Be River Forest Thomists,” an open-access article in the journal Religions. Here is the abstract: One of the most influential and controversial schools of 20th century Thomism—especially in North America—is the “River Forest School” or “River Forest … Continue reading The Natural Path to Saving the Old River Forest “Tree”
The argument which follows is a recapitulation of a tradition of arguments found in Aristotle’s Physics (VII.1 and book VIII), as well as Aquinas’s “First Way” or proof from motion. Here is the argument in nuce, in its Aristotelian form. 1. Every mobile in motion is put in motion by another mover.2. Every mover (moving … Continue reading From Physics VII.1 to Free Energy
The following remarks are a slightly updated and revised version of a talk given at the Thomistic Institute at Clemson University on April 18, 2024. Derby, An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump (1768; Wikimedia Commons) Atoms Neither Fast Nor Feast: Reflections on Scientific Inquiry and the Good Life When we think about … Continue reading Atoms Neither Fast Nor Feast: Reflections on Scientific Inquiry and the Good Life
Recently, I was asked to join The Boethius Institute as an associate fellow. From their website: The Boethius Institute helps scholars and leaders to grow in their understanding and practice of the traditional liberal arts and sciences, forming a fellowship that unites those passionate about liberal education in a bond of friendship and common effort … Continue reading Boethius Institute
Over at Thomistica, I have reviewed Daniel Shields’s book Nature and Nature’s God. It is highly recommended. An excerpt from the review: For too long has Aquinas’s motion proof languished in the gaol of a contemporary Thomistic metaphysics unwilling to fully countenance the debt which Aquinas’s metaphysics owes to Aristotelian natural philosophy and unable to … Continue reading Review of new book of the First Way
The following is the prepared copy of a paper I delivered on September 15, 2023, at “Aquinas After 750 Years: Still the Common Doctor?” a conference at the Dominican House of Studies. Despite the observation by Pope Leo XIII that “there is no conflict worthy of the name”[1] between scholastic philosophical principles and the modern … Continue reading St. Thomas Aquinas’s Sapiential Vision for the Philosophy of Nature
The Sacra Doctrina Project’s annual Conference has been announced for June 6–8 2024. It’s theme: “All Things That Were Made: On Creation, Creatures, and Their Creator.” For more information, visit the conference website. The main keynotes are Prof. William E. Carroll and Christopher J. Thompson, and I am happy to be contributing as a plenary … Continue reading Sacra Doctrina Project Conference
The following is an excerpt from a manuscript in drafts, Searching for the Cosmos. It is from a chapter concerned with whether history is an essential property of the cosmos as a whole. Comments, criticism, and questions are welcome! Does the cosmos have a beginning in time or is it temporally beginningless? Drawing on key … Continue reading Searching for the Beginning of Time
Below are the links to all of my posts this semester on St. Thomas’s Summa contra Gentiles, based upon course and lecture notes for an upper-division medieval philosophy seminar. The Sapiential Cosmology of St. Thomas Aquinas (introductory overview of ScG) The Polyvalent Hierarchy of Wisdoms (introductory chapters of ScG) God’s Power and Creative Act (ScG, … Continue reading Series on the Summa contra Gentiles
We conclude our examination of Summa contra Gentiles with an overview of ScG, III.114–146 and the surrounding chapters; a consideration of why Aquinas talks about law, and what topics are omitted in our course; on the legal and religious nature of the human person; in light of providence, on the possibility of a philosophy of … Continue reading The Theocentric Drama of History
John G. Brungardt 