Over the next several months, based on rereading it for a reading group with fellow interested philosophers and scientists, I hope to post some reflections on Rob Koons’s new book, Is St. Thomas’s Aristotelian Philosophy of Nature Obsolete? The book is a summative presentation of an ongoing research project into hylomorphism and modern science which … Continue reading De Koninck’s “philosophical species”
This semester, I am teaching an upper division seminar in medieval philosophy. I hope to post weekly updates and reflections based upon that course, which I have titled “Creator, Creation, and the Common Doctor: The Sapiential Cosmology of St. Thomas Aquinas.” This introduction, then, serves as “syllabus day” for the blog series. The course studies … Continue reading The Sapiential Cosmology of St. Thomas Aquinas
Over at Thomistica, I review two books of interest to philosophers and Thomists. The first is Fr. Ezra Sullivan’s Habits and Holiness. The second is Resnick and Kitchell’s biography of St. Albert the Great.
This January, I will be giving a series of talks here in Wichita. Register at this link! The writings of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, are replete with contemplation of God the Creator and His creation. Despite the distance of eight centuries, the study of St. Thomas’s work still gives us philosophical and theological … Continue reading Creator, Creation, & Cosmos
From the ongoing drafts of Searching for the Cosmos. Let’s say that the universe or cosmos is the unity of order of all mobile beings according to place, duration, and causality. What is a “unity of order”? A “unity of order” is dependent upon a certain type of relation, in this case a certain relationship … Continue reading The universe as a whole
Updated: The following is based upon my remarks at the inaugural meeting of the Institute on the Catechism. I have been tasked with talking about the place of human nature and sexuality in the cosmos. To fulfill this task, I would like to sketch two competing paradigms for understanding that place. The first is older, … Continue reading The Harmony of Creation
Forthcoming in 2023, the proceedings of the IPC 50 Colloque Charles De Koninck et Maurice Dionne. (Read the final draft; for a final copy, please email me.) The volume will be titled Le discernement des habitus – Autour de Charles De Koninck. In his 1941 essay “Are the Experimental Sciences Distinct from the Philosophy of … Continue reading Charles De Koninck and the Cosmos of the Natural Sciences
Now published in Aquinas and Us, edited by Timothy Kearns, Gyula Klima, and Alex Hall, the latest volume (no. 18) of the Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics. From the publisher: “This volume considers the contemporary relevance of Aquinas’ thought and what parameters should influence its reception. It discusses the reception of … Continue reading From First Physics to Fundamental Physics and Back Again
Update: Hittinger’s lecture is now on YouTube. In a recent lecture at the Catholic University of America, Russell Hittinger argues that “a separation” must exist between the kingdom of God and the world. The talk’s title, “How to Inherit a Kingdom,” was inspired by one of St. Augustine’s sermons directing disconsolate Christians towards their true … Continue reading Why “Integralism” and “Separation” Both Fail: A Reflection on Russell Hittinger’s “How to Inherit a Kingdom”
The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety. Psalm 44:10 St. Thomas interprets Psalm 44:10 to describe qualities of the bride of Christ, the Church. However, he also notes that the verse and the qualities of the Church “can be explained as referring to the Blessed Virgin, who is Queen … Continue reading Mary, Queen and Mother
John G. Brungardt 