other Work
These works are various things that have not been “fully baked” but which I think should be generally available for interested parties. They have sometimes been posted elsewhere. For more such “partly baked” work, see my various articles at To Be a Thomist.
Translations with Commentary
The Trinity, The Keystone of the Christian Mysteries by Marie-Michel Philipon, OP
(Click here for file)
This paper presents a synthetic meditation on the absolute Trinitarian-centricity of the mysteries of Christianity, presented by a master of Dominican theology.
"Probable Certainty" and "Topicality" by Ambroise Gardeil
(Click here for file)
I am here presenting a series of articles that the great Thomist Fr. Ambroise Gardeil published as part of his recovery of the De locis theologicis of Melchior Cano. In the introduction to my translation, I lay out the importance of these texts, which touch on important aspects, regarding the essence of the Aristotelian notion of dialectical logic and the nature of probable certainty.
Selections from Simon and Maritain correspondence about the "Common Good" (cf. De Koninck) Affair
(CLICK HERE FOR FILE)
This is a draft translation of sections of some of the letters between Yves Simon and Maritain amid the controversy over the common good. The draft is only very early, having been sketched for a student. However, I wanted to make it available online somewhere for anyone interested. These are taken from Maritain and Simon, Correspondance, vol. 2 (CLD Éditions)
Reason: The Rule of Human Action
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As I explain in the introduction to this file, I have here gathered together a number of texts related to an important 20th century Roman Catholic debate concerning certain matters of action theory, the natural law, human reason, etc. In my introductory remarks, I briefly contextualize the debate, note contemporary texts that in a sense are rehashing the same problem, and then present rough draft translations of some texts that might be of use to researchers looking to reengage with this important debate.
F.X. Maquart: On the Nature of Freedom and On the Human Soul
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This is a subsection of François-Xavier Maquart's Elementa Philosophiae, vol. 2. It includes an analysis of the nature of the interaction between intellect and will in free choice, as well as some consideration of the intellective soul itself. This is a draft, provided to someone who is working on a project of completing and editing the collected works of Fr. Austin Woodbury.
Sacraments, Semiotic Causality, and Practical Signs: Comments on and Translation of an Article by F.-X. Maquart
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This is a translation with informal academic comments related to the topic of practical signs - a topic of interest both to the philosopher of culture and to the sacramental theologian. This was a very early translation of mine. However, given the immense importance of the question of practical signs, I believe that this text should be posted online nonetheless.
Non-published Texts
(with no intention to publish)
Who Wasn’t the Sacred Monster of Thomism?: Overcoming Certain Narratives about Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrage, OP, in the Hope of Mutual Honesty Among Faithful Catholics
(Click here for file)
This is a series of essays that I wrote mostly as a private exercise in setting forth some of the themes that emerged through the course of my work as a translator of the works of Garrigou-Lagrange. It might be a bit of a fools errand, looking to set the record straight. In any case, after reflecting on what I might do with such contact I just decided to post it online and let it go off to pasture among anybody who is interested. I welcome feedback and comments.
The basic layout is as follows:
Personal Introduction
Garrigou: Not a Manualist
Not a Syllogism-Obsessed Logic-Chopper
No Wolffian Rationalism
Two Orders but not Two Tiers (Nature and Grace)
The Politics of a Conservative Cleric
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange and the “Nouvelle Théologie” Affair
Who is Much More Than an Uninspiring “Roman Thomist”
Logos: The Quest for Wisdom and the Son of God
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"The encounter between the Biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance." —Pope Benedict XVI
The saving truth of revelation itself presupposed a human reason that was open to the supernatural message. In God's providence, Graeco-Roman philosophy provided a fit instrument for the early Church, who at once purified and elevated natural reason into her supernatural service. In this talk, we will consider the theological reasons why the logic of the Incarnation presupposes certain philosophical truths, which it elevates and redeems. (Transcript of talk given to the Institute for Catholic Culture.)
Sacramental Being, Practical Signification, and Sacramental Causality: A Synthetic Overview
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This text is a semi-technical overview of the issues at play in sacramental causality, defending the position of the supporters of "perfective physical causality" in the Thomist school. It is to be given as a plenary talk at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary's 2019 Symposium: East, West & Beyond: Enriching One Another's Liturgical Tradition.
Getting the Middle Term Right: Cenoscopy, Idioscopy, and the Formal Objects of Sciences
(Click here for file)
This paper was given at the 2018 AMA meeting. The topic was suggested by Brooke Deely and elicited by her, with an example given by a friend of the Deelys', Mr. Donald Eaglehouse.
Logic and Intentionality According to Hervaeus Natalis (Final form of Dissertation)
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This is the text of my doctoral dissertation, which I do not plan to publish officially. While I would rewrite various aspects of it, I thought it to be worthwhile to post it online in case there were others who might be interested. My thought on these matters has been developed (and, in some ways superseded) by two articles in the ACPQ: "Beyond Non-Being: omistic Metaphysics on Second Intentions, Ens morale, and Ens articiale" (Summer 2017) and "Thomism and the Formal Object of Logic" (Summer 2019). However, I see no reason to revisit this in a book-length project along the lines of the dissertation itself. As anyone who has written a dissertation knows, such work is subject to many limitations—not the least of which is the desire merely to have the dissertation completed and avoid endlessly being in graduate school!
The official abstract for the works is as follows:
Hervaeus Natalis’s De secundis intentionibus represents the crystalization of an important philosophical tradition concerning the nature of logic. As the 14th century opened, thinkers focused on the nature of logic vis-à-vis the inherited Aristotelian schema of sciences and ontology. Hervaeus’s treatise considers in detail the metaphysical claims necessary for maintaining that second intentions—i.e. notions such as genus, species, enunciation, syllogism, and others—are relationes rationis that are a kind of “non-being” in comparison with the ten categories. The De secundis intentionibus shows itself to be a generally conservative attempt to explain the nature of logic from a broadly Peripatetic perspective. This dissertation articulates this interpretation of the treatise.
The first chapter frames the De secundis intentionibus from the perspective of Aristotle’s remarks in the Metaphysics regarding “being as the true and the false” and Avicenna’s brief remarks regarding second intentions at the beginning of his Liber de prima philosophia. Then, two emblematic 13th century figures are considered, namely Robert Kilwardby and Thomas Aquinas.
The second chapter focuses on the advances and ambiguities found in the thought of John Duns Scotus, who is presented as an important proximate source for Hervaeus’s treatise. The chapter emphasizes Scotus’s use of the distinction between subjective and objective existence in explaining his views concerning logic and second intentions. This distinction is important for Hervaeus, and its likely Scotistic provenance is not given adequate attention in the scholarly literature. The chapter also discusses the ambiguities found in Scotus’s remarks regarding the relationship between the various acts of intellection and the formation of second intentions. It advocates a broader interpretation of Scotus’s position than is sometimes advanced in the scholarly literature on this topic.
The third chapter presents the overall view of Hervaeus’s intentionality doctrine. The doctrine is presented as being part of medieval discussions concerning Aristotle’s “being as the true and the false.” This dissertation challenges the reigning hermeneutic applied to the treatise, a hermeneutic that tends to emphasize questions pertaining to cognition and “realism.” This chapter explains Hervaeus’s position that second intentions are relationes rationis formed by all three acts of the intellect. It focuses on the fact that for Hervaeus “intentionality” indicates a non-real relation from the known thing to the knower. The consequences of this view are discussed at length.
The fourth chapter considers the final question of the De secundis intentionibus in detail. It explains Hervaeus’s defense of the possibility of a science of second intentional being. The chapter also discusses Hervaeus’s distinction between second intentions and other kinds of entia rationis, emphasizing how the treatise greatly expands the inherited Peripatetic domain of “being as the true and the false.” The chapter closes by defending the claim that the De secundis intentionibus is primarily a work of metaphysics, not logic or epistemology.
By reading the De secundis intentionibus in light of the broader medieval question concerning the nature of logic and the Aristotelian division of “being as the true and the false,” it is clear that Hervaeus’s treatise aims to present the philosophical distinctions necessary for delineating a robust, broadly Peripatetic metaphysics of logic.