Category: Current Reading

Dialectical Method in Peripatetic Philosophy of Nature and the Predicability of Physical Reality

The following essay has been submitted for consideration to an upcoming conference in Milan. Hopes for its acceptance do not outweigh the wish to share it now. Comments, criticisms, and any replies are welcome. * * * “Aristotle’s physics too often sound like mere terms of dialectic, which he rehashed under a more solemn name … Continue reading Dialectical Method in Peripatetic Philosophy of Nature and the Predicability of Physical Reality →

The Mother of God is Queen

In anticipation of the upcoming feast of Our Lady, and as part of the season of Our Lord's birth, I present a translation of the question regarding the queenship of Mary, excerpted from the Mariologia of Merkelbach, for all those interested.

Deduction of an Infra-Angelic Universe

Could there be a derivation of the material universe? Could we see our inferior world arise in our contemplation from its superior principles through a type of hierarchical comparison? The following “deduction” is an argument schema that Charles De Koninck employs in several of his published works. Here, it appears in a much more uninhibited style … Continue reading Deduction of an Infra-Angelic Universe →

Brother Thomas and the Universe

The following is the prepared text of a lecture given to the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. * * * Brother Thomas and the Universe John G. Brungardt Lecture at the DSMME Motherhouse December 6th, 2017 Introduction G. K. Chesterton once gave St. Thomas the title “St. Thomas of the Creator.” However, … Continue reading Brother Thomas and the Universe →

Common Sense, Science, and the Pursuit of Wisdom

The following lecture was prepared for the students of Hillsdale College, MI, with the kind support of the Hillsdale Catholic Society. * * * Common Sense, Science, and the Pursuit of Wisdom John G. Brungardt Lecture for the Hillsdale Catholic Society 5 December 2017 1. Introduction It is a commonplace to claim that science and … Continue reading Common Sense, Science, and the Pursuit of Wisdom →

Review of a new edition of a work by John of St. Thomas

Cluny Media has recently reprinted the 1951 Sheed & Ward edition of John of St. Thomas' The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, translated by Fr. Walter Farrell, O.P., with a new introduction by Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P., written especially for this reprint. The editor-in-chief, John Clarke, provided me with a copy of the book, and what follows … Continue reading Review of a new edition of a work by John of St. Thomas →

The Empty Brain

The effects of the Cartesian view of human nature permeate our scientific thinking to an impressive degree. This is all the more a paradox since "the isolation of the mind from the body entails an isolation of the mind from the world" and hence the isolation of the knower from what he wants to know. The resulting … Continue reading The Empty Brain →

Unreal City

Descartes pines for the ultimate fresh start to human reasoning: Thus also, those ancient cities which, from being at first only villages, have become, in course of time, large towns, are usually but ill laid out compared with the regularity constructed towns which a professional architect has freely planned on an open plain; so that … Continue reading Unreal City →

Dealing with the Fact that We Live with Minds

Roger Scruton's EPPC essay "Living with a Mind" is worth a thoughtful perusal. The heart of the essay concerns Scruton's understanding of leisure in the Aristotelian sense. The introduction of this human ideal occasions a three-sentence review of Parfit's massive On What Matters as an illustrative aside: Aristotle describes work as ascholia, the absence of leisure, … Continue reading Dealing with the Fact that We Live with Minds →

Chesterton’s anthropic principle

Jaki's Chesterton, A Seer of Science, is an enjoyable tour through the Englishman's common sense understanding of the deliverances of science—it could almost be called a statement outlining his philosophy of science if that term did not conjure up such stodgy material by comparison to the vigorous wit Jaki's lectures abstract from a variety of Chesterton's … Continue reading Chesterton’s anthropic principle →