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.

The essays in this volume explore three areas in which St. Thomas Aquinas's voice has never fallen silent: sacred doctrine, the relationship of sacraments and metaphysics, and the central role of virtue in moral theology.

While there has been agreement among followers of Aquinas that being insofar as it is being (being qua being) is the subject of metaphysics, there is not agreement on how this being qua being is to be understood, nor on how we come to know the being that is the object of metaphysical investigation. The topic of what being is, as the object of the science of metaphysics, and how to account for the “discovery” of the being of metaphysics have emerged as central problems for the contemporary retrieval of Aquinas and for the larger project of post-Leonine Thomism in general. This lack of agreement has hampered the retrieval of Aquinas’s metaphysics. The collection of essays within The Discovery of Being and Thomas Aquinas is divided into three major parts: the first set of essays concerns the foundation of metaphysics within Thomism; the second set exemplifies the use of metaphysics in fundamental philosophical issues within Thomism; and the third set employs metaphysics in central theological issues. The Discovery of Being and Thomas Aquinas allows major scholars of the different types of Thomism to engage in a full-scale defense of their position, as well as expanding Thomistic metaphysics to the discipline of theology in important ways.

As the title suggests, this collection of twelve essays – by an international team of researchers – is the result of intersecting two areas of philosophical investigation which are often thought to be widely apart: Analytic Philosophy and the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas. The authors breathe new life into old ideas by examining Thomasic theses and arguments by applying the tools and techniques of Analytic Philosophy. The volume begins with an introductory essay: “What Is Analytically Oriented Thomism?” The other essays divide into four broad categories: (1) The Thomistic Doctrine of God (essays 2-4); (2) Thomistic Metaphysics: Logical Reconstruction (essay 5); (3) Thomistic Metaphysics: Ontology and Epistemology (essays 6-9); (4) Philosophical Theology (essays 10-11). This book will be helpful to anyone interested in understanding and evaluating St. Thomas’s ideas.

This book, written by well-known students of Étienne Gilson and especially dedicated to Armand A. Maurer, helps inaugurate a long-overdue special series in philosophy honoring Gilson’s legendary scholarship. It presents wide-ranging expositions of Thomist realism in the tradition of Gilsonian humanism covering themes related to philosophy in general, historical method, aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, and politics.

With contributions from some of today’s most significant theologians, Engaging Catholic Doctrine is an expression of gratitude to Matthew Levering for his generous collegiality and tireless work to chart a sure path for contemporary Catholic doctrine. Essayists significantly advance the work of Matthew Levering in the areas of Aquinas as a biblical theologian, the doctrine of the Trinity, the significance of sacrifice for authentically Christian worship, the recovery of virtue in moral theology, the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, and much more. In addition to celebrating and honoring Levering’s work, this volume offers new contributions in some of the key areas of theological research today. Matthew Levering is the James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology at Mundelein Seminary and serves as the co-editor of both Nova et Vetera and the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He completed an M.T.S. from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Boston College. A leading proponent of Thomistic ressourcement, he has authored over thirty books and edited or co-edited thirty more on topics in dogmatic, moral, spiritual, and historical theology. These include a nine-volume work of Catholic Dogmatics, as well as: Christ’s Fulfillment of Torah and Temple, Scripture and Metaphysics, Participatory Biblical Exegesis, The Betrayal of Charity, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, An Introduction to Vatican II as an Ongoing Theological Event, The Theology of St. Augustine, Dying and the Virtues, The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity, and Newman on Doctrinal Corruption.

Discusses questions such as, what is knowledge, what qualifies as knowledge, and what does not; what does it mean to say, "I know, I understand," what is truth, and what is certainty? When can we affirm and be certain that -- I know this or that, this or that is a universal truth I can rely upon, and I know that it so because I have a method and at least one criterion to determine that this or that is indeed a universal truth. Furthermore, how do knowledge and understanding compare with belief: Are there evidences so compelling that, in certain cases, propositions of the form 'I know that X' are indeed expressions of knowledge, and in other cases merely expressions of opinions and/or beliefs? Can the words 'belief', 'understanding', and 'knowledge' be used interchangeably? And by the way, what role does reason play in our endeavours to seek knowledge? And what role does human nature play in that endeavour?

A medievalist and defender of the notion of Christian philosophy, Étienne Gilson had a lifelong interest in the philosophy of art. He questioned whether what is reproduced as art in contemporary society is art at all. This is not a simple issue. A cheap version of a novel is still a novel. A picture of a statue is not a statue, nor indeed is a photograph of a painting a painting. Recorded music has particular complications. The organizer of an industrial assembly line is neither an artist nor an artisan. Yet, thanks to such mass production, a much broader population has knowledge of artworks than would otherwise be possible. Religions must minister to mass societies and provide appropriate liturgies. But in the process, there is a danger of misrepresenting complex religious teachings. At the end of his own life, Henri Gouhier, Gilson’s first doctoral student, prepared three essays on Gilson. The first, on Bergson, gives a sense of Gilson’s formation in early twentieth-century French philosophy. The second reconstructs the development of the notion of Christian philosophy and the heated controversy it provoked. Finally, Gouhier presents Gilson’s general philosophy of art and gives a helpful framework to Gilson’s comments on art in a mass society.