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H.D.gardeil Cosmology

An excellent work on philosophy of nature or cosmology, mostly following Aristotle's works and St. Thomas' commentary.

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ILikeMozart821
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285 views116 pages

H.D.gardeil Cosmology

An excellent work on philosophy of nature or cosmology, mostly following Aristotle's works and St. Thomas' commentary.

Uploaded by

ILikeMozart821
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
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+ H. D. GARDEIL, O.P. Introduction to the Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas IL COSMOLOGY Translated by John A. Otto, px.v. B. HERDER BOOK CO. 15 © 17 South Broadway, St. Louis 2, Mo. anv 2/3 Doughty Mews, London, W.C. 1 This book originally appeared under the title Initiation @ la philosophie de S, Thomas @’Aquin: Vol. Il, Cosmologie, and ‘was published in 1953 by Les Editions du Cerf, of Paris, France. IMPRIMATUR 4 Joseph E. Ritter, $.T.D. Archbishop of St. Louis January 16, 1958 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 56-9194 corynicnt © 1958 BY 8. HERDER BOOK CO. Second Printing, 1962 Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Inc,, Binghamton, New York Foreword + OF Aristotle’s philosophy none was more promptly challenged by the modems than his physics or philosophy of nature. Witness, among others, the criticism leveled against it by Descartes. Nevertheless, Aristotle's phys- ical doctrine is an essential part of his philosophy, and the student of Aristotelian thought cannot afford to neglect it. Not a few Scholastic authors have tried to give it a more modem twist, how successfully is not now the point. We have chosen to adhere more closely to the analysis and reasoning which Aristotle himself presents in his text. At the same time we have made note, as occasion called, of certain aspects that could stand improvement, provided this be done discreetly, so as not to undermine the very foundations of this time-honored philosophical edifice, Both history and philosophy would, we believe, be bettered served by such prudent handling. At all events, this volume is not an attempt to modemize the traditional philosophy ’ vi Foreword of nature, to bring it up to date, as it were. A modem philosophy of nature according to the mind of Aristotle presumedly waits to be written, but it was not what the author set himself. A second point bears on terminology and the content of natural philosophy. Through the influence of Christian Wolff (1679-1754) it became the fashion to speak of “cosmology” instead of “philosophy of nature” or “natural philosophy.” Wolff also popularized the word “psychology.” ‘Whether or not one adopts this terminology may be a matter of taste. More important, however, is the sharp cleavage which then came to be made between one and the other, between cosmology and psychology. It is not so in Aristotle; psychology is the orderly continuation of natural philosophy or, if one chooses, of cosmology. Again, in their cosmologies some modern authors include the general study of life. We believe the better place for this is at the beginning of psychology. To put the preliminary notions of life into cosmology leads to excessive isolation of another kind. In the study of man, that is, it has the effect of stranding his mental self from his physiological self. This, too, ill comports with Aristotle's view in the matter. Lastly, many of the older and still available textbooks on Aristotle’s natural philosophy display a great concern to harmonize the scientific notions of their day with Aristotle's thought. Thus, these books were wedded to the fate of the science they sought to “Aristotelize”; they are out of date. Partly on this account we have limited the present study to what is more basic, hence further removed from the swings of fortunes that modern science cannot Foreword vii escape. This has made for a more abbreviated volume than others in this series on the philosophy of St. Thomas. As an introduction to the traditional philosophy of nature, however, which is its scope and purpose, it is meant to be complete and should be adequate.

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