Now available from the Thomistic Institute Soundcloud is an audio version of the presentation I gave in June 2021 at the Third Annual Thomistic Philosophy and Natural Science Symposium, "Chance and Indeterminacy in the Natural World." The talk is entitled “Chance and Indeterminate Causes in the Cosmos.” From the paper itself: Chance is a necessary part … Continue reading Thomistic Institute Talk
Recently, I acquired the new translation of Karol Wojtyła’s Person and Act, the first volume of the critical edition of the works of Pope St. John Paul II. I had never bothered to purchase a copy of the previous English edition, The Acting Person (Analecta Husserliana, 10), having heard of various serious issues with the … Continue reading Traduttore, Traditore
I review two recent books over at Thomistica, with some comments regarding philosophical pedagogy. An excerpt: The above two books by Prof. Houser and Fr. Dodds are recent entries in what could be an unofficial series answering to Msgr. Sokolowski’s call for “textbooks” that aid students and teachers, especially those in undergraduate programs that are … Continue reading The return of the manuals?
The tomb of Boethius in Pavia, Italy (photo credit, D. Gallorto; WikiMedia) At a key juncture in his Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius ask Lady Philosophy a certain pressing question that has arisen to the forefront of his mind. Lady Philosophy responds that Boethius is asking about a tangential matter, something of a side issue. Here … Continue reading Boethius’s tangent
To the minds of some, the articles of the Angelic Doctor’s Summa Theologiae are captive in a historical or tradition-bound cell from which they cannot emerge. What a pity—for the articles of St. Thomas’s great Summa are complete or perfect acts of the mind. “Perfect” signifies that which lacks none of the parts due its … Continue reading A complete act of the mind
In preparation for an upcoming symposium talk on the Aristotelian-Thomistic understanding of chance and indeterminism in nature, I had the opportunity to read Cardinal Cajetan’s commentary on ST, Ia, q. 115, a. 6, where St. Thomas wonders “whether heavenly bodies impose necessity on things subject to their action?” This article and Cajetan’s commentary is used … Continue reading Cajetan on contingency in the stars
See Thomistica.net for a recent review of mine of Fr. Stephen Brock’s book The Light That Binds. An excerpt: The Light that Binds is an erudite work of Thomistic scholarship and will serve those with sufficient familiarity of Aquinas and his sources as an insightful philosophical guide to a deeper understanding of the Angelic Doctor’s … Continue reading New book review at Thomistica
After being cancelled last year, the Thomistic Institute is hosting its third philosophy and natural science symposium, entitled “Chance and Indeterminacy in the Natural World.” Please see the link for more information or to register, and please forward it to interested philosophy and natural science graduate students!
WikiMedia Commons CC (credit) A recent study of mask effectiveness is hailed by two Oxford professors of evidence-based medicine in the following terms: Yesterday marked the publication of a long-delayed trial in Denmark which hopes to answer that very question. The ‘Danmask-19 trial’ was conducted in the spring with over 3,000 participants, when the public were not … Continue reading Coronalogic
It seems that health is not a common good, because health characterizes an individual. In scholastic terms, it is a qualitative accident of a living substance, an organism. Thus: An individual’s life and health are particular goods, not common goods. It is an obvious metaphysical truth that my health and my life can only be … Continue reading On health as a common good
John G. Brungardt 