I now have a tentative plan for reading and for posting here. I am starting to work my way once again through Summa Contra Gentiles. SCG is my favorite work of St. Thomas, and I have not read it in…
Blog Archives
The Guidelines are Void
This rubbish has no legal or judicial or administrative force in the real world where we all live. Like last summer’s vacuous, vapid, and vacant SCOTUS decision, these so-called guidelines were a dead letter upon issuance. Like I said about…
Tagged with: human nature, line in the sand, natural law, orwellian, Prayer, reason, tyranny, western civilization
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas - Philosophy, Aquinas - Theology, Western Civilization
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas - Philosophy, Aquinas - Theology, Western Civilization
Gratitude
St. Thomas writes: It is only right that we should be grateful not merely to those whom we think have found the truth and with whose views we agree by following them, but also to those who, in the search…
Tagged with: Aquinas, charity, disagreements, discover the truth, gratitude, truth
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Charity, Humility, Uncategorized
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Charity, Humility, Uncategorized
Maritain on Epistemology
Maritain is a valuable antidote for the skepticism and subjectivism that is so prevalent today. Conclusion IX – The truth of knowledge consists in the conformity of the mind with the thing. It is absurd to doubt the reliability of…
Tagged with: empiricism, knowledge, maritain, philosophy of st thomas, truth
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Books
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Books
Maritain, Observations about Philosophy
Here are some helpful observations about the nature of philosophy as a human endeavor. The author is the great French Thomist Jacques Maritain: Philosophy is not a “wisdom” of conduct or practical life that consists in acting well. It is…
Aristotle, De Anima, and Aquinas
Alliteration always amuses me a lot. Sorry about that. I’ve got it out of my system now. I have written about St. Thomas’ commentary on De Anima before. I am going to do it again. Seriously: if you have any…
Tagged with: Aquinas, Aristotle, de anima, philosophy
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Aristotle, Books
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Aristotle, Books
What is a Form?
I have said it before, and I will say it again now, and I am quite certain that I will repeat myself more than once after this: to limit one’s reading of Aquinas to the Summa Theologiae is like reading…
Tagged with: Aquinas, Aristotle, forms, moderate realism, philosophy
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Aristotle
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Aristotle
While I am on the subject
Here is a quotation from CS Lewis that I think relates well to my previous post. If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilized morality to savage…
Tagged with: Aquinas, natural law
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas - Philosophy, Catechism, Natural Law
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas - Philosophy, Catechism, Natural Law
Reply to a Reader
Recently a gentleman left a couple comments in response to a post here, and I don’t think I did justice to his remarks. In this post I would like to rectify that situation. He begins with this: Unfortunately, it seems…
Tagged with: Aquinas, natural law, summa contra gentiles, summa theologiae
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas - Philosophy, Aquinas - Theology, Natural Law, Summa Contra Gentiles, Summa Theologiae
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas - Philosophy, Aquinas - Theology, Natural Law, Summa Contra Gentiles, Summa Theologiae
Aquinas, Etc. 
Exactly
Quoth The Philosopher: A well-educated man will expect exactness in every class of subjects, according as the nature of the thing admits. (Nicomachean Ethics) In short: the subject matter determines the degree of certitude we may have about our conclusions…
Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Charity, Comment Guidelines, Fides et Ratio