1st Edition

Analytical Thomism Traditions in Dialogue

Edited By Craig Paterson, Matthew S. Pugh Copyright 2006
    356 Pages
    by Routledge

    356 Pages
    by Routledge

    Analytical Thomism is a recent label for a newer kind of approach to the philosophical and natural theology of St Thomas Aquinas. It illuminates the meaning of Aquinas’s work for contemporary problems by drawing on the resources of contemporary Anglo-Saxon analytical philosophy, the work of Frege, Wittgenstein, and Kripke proving particularly significant. This book expands the discourse in contemporary debate, exploring crucial philosophical, theological and ethical issues such as: metaphysics and epistemology, the nature of God, personhood, action and meta-ethics. All those interested in the thought of St Thomas Aquinas, and more generally contemporary Catholic scholarship, problems in philosophy of religion, and contemporary metaphysics, will find this collection an invaluable resource.

    Contents: Preface; Introduction; Aquinas, God and being, David Braine; Thoughts addressed to an Analytical Thomist, Hilary Putnam; Three theological appropriations of analytic-philosophical readings of Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas M. Healy; Aquinas and Searle on singular thoughts, Stephen Boulter; Causal relations: a Thomistic account, Gabriele De Anna; Instantaneous change without instants, David S. Oderberg; Aquinas's teleological libertarianism, John J. Davenport; Medieval theories of intentionality: from Aquinas to Brentano and beyond, Anthony J. Lisska; Aquinas, Finnis and non-naturalism, Craig Paterson; Wittgenstein as a gateway to Analytical Thomism, John C. Cahalan; On Analytical Thomism, Brian J. Shanley; The resistance of Thomism to Analytical and other patronage, Stephen Theron; Haldane's Analytic Thomism and Aquinas's Actus Essendi, John F.X. Knasas; God and persons, Hayden Ramsay; Kenny on being in Aquinas, Matthew S. Pugh; G.E.M. Anscombe and Thomas Aquinas on necessity and contradiction in temporal events, Stephen L. Brock; Afterword: Analytical Thomism: how we got there, why it is worth remaining and where we may go next, John Haldane; Select bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    Craig Paterson is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (FRSM) and is now an independent scholar. Previously he was engaged in Information Science research at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA and was previously an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Providence College, USA. Matthew S. Pugh is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Providence College, Rhode Island, USA.

    'This volume shows how much more mileage there still is in analytic Thomism, and thus implicitly suggests that there might be just as much or more in analytic reappropriations of other great medieval philosophers, thinkers whose methods and interests are conceivably even closer to those of modern philosophy. We perhaps would not expect ostrich Thomists to listen to analytic philosophers, but there seems to me some hope that analytic philosophers may follow the example of Anscombe and the others, and listen more attentively to their medieval ancestors. I look forward to more volumes such as this one.' Ars Disputandi '... this is an excellent collection... Recommended.' Choice