Introduction to the Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Volume III: Psychology
Type
Book
Authors
Category
Psychology
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Publication Year
1963
Publisher
B. Herder, United States
Volume
3
Pages
303
Description
Introduction to the Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas first appeared in French and comprises four volumes. The author is a contemporary Dominican student of St. Thomas, HD Gardeil, OP. Psychology, the third volume in the original French series, is the first in English. The translation of the other volumes is in preparation. They are: Vol. I, Logic; Vol. II, Cosmology; and Vol. IV, Metaphysics.
In Psychology, Father Gardeil presents St. Thomas' philosophical doctrine of animate nature, that is, of living corporeal being. The content of the book is a philosophical psychology which, as the author observes in the Introduction, is neither dependent on nor superseded by the work of modern psychologists.
The author's study follows closely the arrangement of Aristotle's De Anima and St. Thomas' Commentary on the same. The Introduction traces the history and meaning of psychology, and the sources of St. Thomas' psychology. Then follow chapters on the definition of life and the soul, on vegetative and sensitive life, and several chapters on the activities and the nature of the intellectual soul.
A distinctive merit of the book is the fullness of treatment accorded the intellectual soul, and the inclusion of matters not generally found in works of similar scope and purpose, e.g., the question of the human soul's self-knowledge. Also of special value are the readings from St. Thomas appended to the volume and selected with a discrimination that bespeaks the author's mastery of his subject. Thus the student may read side by side the author's chapters and, from St. Thomas' own writings, the capital passages on which each chapter is centered.
Father Gardeil adheres closely to the positive task of presenting St. Thomas' doctrine. But there are occasional interpolations from the great commentators, Cajetan and John of St. Thomas. Major questions, moreover, are concluded with penetrating reflections that relate St. Thomas to his predecessors and followers, including modern authors. These items enhance a volume which, like its companions in this philosophical series, found enthusiastic welcome abroad in the original. We believe, therefore, that teachers and students alike will be comparably gratified with the English version.
Taken from the inside flaps.
Translated by John A Otto, PhD.
In Psychology, Father Gardeil presents St. Thomas' philosophical doctrine of animate nature, that is, of living corporeal being. The content of the book is a philosophical psychology which, as the author observes in the Introduction, is neither dependent on nor superseded by the work of modern psychologists.
The author's study follows closely the arrangement of Aristotle's De Anima and St. Thomas' Commentary on the same. The Introduction traces the history and meaning of psychology, and the sources of St. Thomas' psychology. Then follow chapters on the definition of life and the soul, on vegetative and sensitive life, and several chapters on the activities and the nature of the intellectual soul.
A distinctive merit of the book is the fullness of treatment accorded the intellectual soul, and the inclusion of matters not generally found in works of similar scope and purpose, e.g., the question of the human soul's self-knowledge. Also of special value are the readings from St. Thomas appended to the volume and selected with a discrimination that bespeaks the author's mastery of his subject. Thus the student may read side by side the author's chapters and, from St. Thomas' own writings, the capital passages on which each chapter is centered.
Father Gardeil adheres closely to the positive task of presenting St. Thomas' doctrine. But there are occasional interpolations from the great commentators, Cajetan and John of St. Thomas. Major questions, moreover, are concluded with penetrating reflections that relate St. Thomas to his predecessors and followers, including modern authors. These items enhance a volume which, like its companions in this philosophical series, found enthusiastic welcome abroad in the original. We believe, therefore, that teachers and students alike will be comparably gratified with the English version.
Taken from the inside flaps.
Translated by John A Otto, PhD.
Number of Copies
1
