My "Thomist" Phase- Philosophical Developments and Commitments
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- In this video, I discuss my interest in the thought of Thomas Aquinas and - for a phase of my graduate studies - my involvement with Thomism as my main philosophical position.
Over the years I have given quite a few presentations using Thomas Aquinas's thought, been involved in the process of translating some of his works, and engaged with a number of the different schools of interpretation of Thomas' thought.
I don't identify as a Thomist, but I do consider him to be a great philosopher and theologian with whom my own thinking and practice remains in conversation. I also maintain strong interest in and appreciation for certain 20th century interpreters of Thomas.
Here are links to videos, sites, and other materials referenced in this video:
The Aquinas Translation Project -hosted.desales....
Dynamics of Anger and the Difficult Good - • Dynamics of Anger and ...
Thomas Aquinas playlist - • Medieval Philosophy: T...
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Shoutout to thomism and its massive contributions to philosophy. Like gilson, Maritan, geach, ansecombe, foot, MacIntyre, and many more!
I've been VERY interested in Thomas Aquinas for perhaps a decade now, but I never even begun the quenching of my curiosity. Your personal interest in philosophy adds MUCH value to my considerations!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! :-D
You're welcome
I didn't really appreciate St Thomas until I really understood how he appreciated Aristotle, which seems from my perspective to employ logic in his deeply religious thought. It helped me really understand why My Religion really cherishes him. Even though I still am more interesting in the Neoplatonic tradition.
Well, Thomas also draws quite a bit on Platonic thinkers. You'll find quite a few engagements with Augustine and Anselm in his thought, as well as pseudo-Dionysos
Thanks to Fr Andrew Louth, who I highly recommend watching his videos on Christian thinking.
I don't know how to send flowers from Norway to America, but you really deserve them! So here are some virtual flowers :) I am very grateful for every single video you post. I study philosophy and almost everything is in English, and you are so clear and simple to understand. You've helped me understand Aristotle, Plato, Aquinas etc. Love from Julianne, Norway.
I'm glad to read that the videos have been helpful for you!
I used to be Catholic and had hopes of becoming a scholar in philosophy. A lot has changed for me, but this video reminds me how much I loved this philosophy. It's the first time I've heard anyone mention Sertillanges - ever. I fell in love with his Intellectual Life, then spent years scouring used bookstores looking for old volumes of his - and I found a few. Also, my first (and only) metaphysics class used W. Norris Clarke's The One and the Many, which is a sort of updated Thomism through a neoplatonist lens. I absolutely adored that book.
Now I'll have to see if you have other videos on topics like this. It's very much appreciated!
There was actually a really great Metaphysics Colloquium at Saint Anselm's College some years back devoted to Norris Clarke's neo-Platonist metaphysics
Christ is calling you back to His Church 🥰
@@dwong9289 Amen. Praised be Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother, the most blessed creature of all
Awesome! Haha, when I first clicked on this, I wondered "Will he mention Étienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, and Elizabeth Anscombe?" I'd be inclined to call myself a Thomist (though that would be undeserved as I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough of it it), though I refuse to accept a label that doesn't entirely fit me, just like I'm fond of Stoicism, but reject a few central tenets of it. Thomas Aquinas is my favorite philosopher and he holds a special place in my heart, and in honor of him, I'm giving myself a tonsure on his feast day (March 7th). Thanks for this video!
Wow - that's rather hardcore, to get a tonsure!
You're quite welcome!
My Thomist phase is... now. Just writing my fourth-year dissertation on his philosophical anthropology and intellectual virtues. :)
Absolutely interesting in being the exact opposite of 20th Century philosophical thought. My first phase was Platonic, second Nietzschean, and now I find Thomas incredibly valuable. I have to say that the journey made my much more stoical... Yes! No -isms really apply and I find myself much more charitable towards different views, even those that I disagree with. It's caused a change in character; produced a much more well-composed man.
This is what I consider to be my biggest debt to philosophy. And if life is a circle and our actions in this will be re-lived over and over again--forever--I shall see the day I stumbled across Euthyphro as the most decisive and worthwhile one. Being an angry teenager that shredded on the guitar (still do, first love never dies) and was not interested in education at all would've likely continued till this day without Plato. He said what I thought but couldn't put into words. A state that made me angry and defiant.
I had quite a laugh when I discovered your heavy metal philosopher blog! Quite a few uncanny correlations, as you've noticed by now.
In closing, teaching people philosophy is invaluable and you're doing a great work. If there are even a few that had their life paths influenced by your teaching, it was worth it!
Ps. Plato made me leave my post-communist country and learn English and come to study philosophy in the west. Not too happy with the shape of universities right now so will not pursue the 'official' path any further.. But enough of this flu-induced babbling!
All the best, Dr Sadler!
Hey, would you mind explaining what your issues are with universities in the west are? I see many problems with them too, but I'd still like to get a degree in philosophy and go on to teach it one day, much like Dr. Sadler does.
Thanks! Not sure I'd say that Thomas is "the exact opposite of 20th Century philosophical thought". To start with, there's many 20th century Thomists.
+Daniel Jackson - you do realize that I left full-time teaching in traditional academic institutions behind years ago?
Gregory B. Sadler Yes, I was a bit unclear. I meant teaching philosophy in a general sense - it doesn't matter much to me whether it's through a university or more akin to what you do. I'm under the impression a degree is basically an essential prerequisite to teaching philosophy if you want to be treated seriously - that or just be an absolutely brilliant philosopher and convince people you're qualified without a degree, but I'm not that good.
Hahaha! You can have a degree and still not be treated seriously!
Would you consider doing a video on your religious development? I'd imagine it's strongly linked to this series.
I think that would require a number of videos. Maybe down the line
@@GregoryBSadler Such a series would be interesting.
On a second note, I really was not able to appreciate St. Thomas until I studied in some serious capacity the metaphysics (or lack thereof) of other philosophers of all generations. While I believe St. Thomas is one of the greatest thinkers of all time, and appreciate Leo XIII's Aeterni patris, I don't consider myself a Thomist, but rather just sort of a truth believer in general. And while I believe there is much overlap of my general views in Thomism, I agree with plenty that is in Plato, Bonaventure, Augustine, Anselm, and even Heidegger and Wittgenstein. I too much dislike "bad" Thomism, and love the renewal of the thought of St. Thomas that seems to be going on. He is a thinker who much deserves this clarity in his legacy of thought, and I think the same is true for many other Medievals. Thanks for sharing.
You're very weclome
Any worthwhile philosophy professor would recognize the significance of Aquinas not just on philosophy of religion but on philosophy as a whole! I cannot believe you encountered such shallow professors as a graduate student. Good to hear that you did a lot of thinking for yourself, because a lot of graduate students are very hesitant to challenge their mentors.
You encounter a lot of shallow professors. Just like other areas of life
I've read a few excerpts from the summa concerning secular matters like economic conduct and I found the structure and way of arguing very similar to legal opinions, at least how they are done where I live (Germany).
I don't consider medieval thinkers any less (or more) sharp or rational than those of antiquity. One cannot blame the low level of societal organisation, welfare etc. on them. Rather, one should ask oneself why there could only be 0.01 % of people like that during that age, whereas during Roman times, substantial shares of the population could read.
Can you elaborate a little bit on Garrigou Lagrange and what's going on with him?
Already have in AMAs
I've heard Interesting thing about Aquinas that he actually thought his philosophical work to not do justice to God after he had strong religious experience. And then we have this alchemist called pseudo-Aquinas, from whom Jung learned a lot for his work in psychology of unconscious.
Perhaps they were not same person, but it's interesting idea that his religious experience would have pushed him into alchemy. Not least because i can relate: I find Summa Theologiae to be super heavy to read :)
Aquinas had that particular experience close to the end of his life. It certainly wasn't his first religious experience, though. He didn't get involved in alchemy after that last major experience, but rather died several months later.
I read some naturalistically-inclined commentator saying that this religious experience was, in fact, a stroke. Which is supposed to explain the subsequent death.
Oh it was so late in his life. Thank you for that information.
Nonake whatsoever: Oh the curses of modern age :)
I wonder how many people in history have had something which nowdays would be considered medical condition:
Dostoevsky had epilepsy (attained from his fake-execution) and just before epileptic fit he had most strong religious experiences as if he was on verge of discovering all secrets of universe... Then the fit hit him. I wonder how both horrible and fascinating experience it must have been. I don't know did this actually converted him into Christianity.
Another in Nietzsche's insanity. As i take that he actually lost his mind as he became too solitary character, got seduced by his dark Anima into thinking that he was something exceptional (which he was) and thus he became Dionysos re-incarnate. I don't think he even can be defined as atheist at end of his life (at least after Beyond Good and Evil). Ofcourse it's possible that it was just the syphilis softening his brain, purely "mechanic" event.
Near-death experiences are perhaps most interesting case in modern age: Scientists can argue all day long about it being hallucination or actual event of soul traveling into gates of heaven. But those who have had such experience generally are not too bothered with it's nature, they take it as it is, life altering experience.
Noname Whatsoever I think it's a mistake to engage in diagnoses at a distance in space i time.
Note as well that Aquinas' experience you're talking about happened months before, and did not lead to his death
i have less faith in the high school educational system than i have in god to be honest.
i was interested in learning ancient greek ( through an incredible textbook apparently), do you think one can make pretty good progess within a year, by learning alone??
thanks for the video.
Depends a lot on the student. I did all right learning languages more or less on my own. I think most people generally don't.
For the last five months I have sought to buy a copy of the Summa but I can never find it anywhere
It's readily available online
What is your opinion of Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange?
Low, and my opinion of his admirers is lower still.
I don’t know whether you’ll see this since this video is two years old as of writing it, but I’ve seen Aquinas’ Summa as an unabridged single volume for £20 on Amazon, do you believe it would be worthwhile buying?
Unabridged? That must be quite a massive volume. I'd get it
Since Aquinas is written in (relatively) easy Latin, how much benefit is there to read him in the original? Surely most translations would be quite adequate?
I guess you'll never know, right?
Thanks very much for the video. Aquinas is always a good read. As far as his interpreters, and what people do with him, do you have any thoughts on the Analytical Thomism movement?
I've been very underwhelmed by them, to say the least. But then, I've had similar experiences with Analytics who try their hand with other figures as well
@@GregoryBSadlerI tend to agree. A lot of dialectical subtlety is thrown out. I think Feser has done some good work, however. Thoughts?
@@koffeeblack5717 I decided to quit giving my scarce time to paying any attention to Feser well over a decade ago
@@GregoryBSadler Besides MacIntyre, what living thinkers do you pay attention to that work in a Thomist frame?
@@koffeeblack5717 Mainly just friends and colleagues
Salve. I actually prefer the other summa - contra gentiles. A philosopher who I especially like in this area is Ed Feser. Feser is a terrific writer as well. the Last Superstition is a very good book that provides a concise overview of scholastic philosophy. He does a nice job of ripping into the twin windbags of dennet and Dawkins' as well. I'm currently reading your paper on St. anselm as a model for christan philos. thanks!
You're very welcome
Feser is indeed great.
would yo consider doing video on transcendental thomists like karl rahner
th-cam.com/video/vkXKtxleGA8/w-d-xo.html
🙏
I have a hard time reading Aquinas in English!
Well, I guess you could try Latin then
Have you done the video on Maritain yet, or is that a future project still?
I have not.
You can easily search videos in any content producer's page
I didn't see it, but I've overlooked (or otherwise not seen) videos before. Thanks! Btw, is Gilson pretty good in English (i.e., are the translations good)? I have a couple books, mainly because my French isn't that good yet
NerdyJock Gilsons English translations are excellent, methodical realism are spirit of medieval philosophy are good places to start. Definitely check out more Gilson though.
What are your thoughts on Ed Feser?
Largely uninterested in him. I generally like my Thomas straight, and I've already got plenty of other Thomists I find interesting
@@GregoryBSadler do you think his arguments have ground in modern philosphy?
studio of greatness No idea what you’re asking
@@GregoryBSadler do you think the arguments he presents in his 5 proofs for the existence of God at least have some ground in reality? Especially the aristotelian proof?
studio of greatness who’s your “he” here?
Do you think that any of the five proofs succeed in proving God's existence? Thanks :-)
Depends on what you mean by "prove"
"Prove", as in demonstrating the truth of the existence of God.
grant Yep. You substituted one synonym for another - "demonstrate" has multiple uses as well.
Why is it that you dislike Garrigou-Lagrange? As far as I know, he upholds the 24 Theses which makes him a solid Thomist in my book (unlike those Transcendental "Thomist" types who gave too much ground to Kant). What makes him radically different from someone like Gilson? Is it because Garrigou-Langrage defends Cajetan? Is it just a Gilsonian "but that's just Aristotle" attitude? Perhaps I just have low standards and am willing to rubber stamp anyone who admits the 24 theses.
Let's get straight. I dislike him. And I dislike anyone who views his version of Thomism as somehow better than the other ones out there. I've said plenty about him elsewhere in AMAs. Not going to waste any more of my scarce time discussing him
@@GregoryBSadler Thank you for the reply. If you know the specific AMA you spoke of him on, I would be interested in listening to it. If you don't remember off the top of your head, I'll search for it on my own but even a year would be helpful.
Edit: I found a bit on the third AMA (timestamp: 17:07). Did you speak about him in any other AMA? If so, I'll search the rest. I'm particularly interested in knowing if you talked about any specific differences between his Thomism and other interpretations (the role of the commentary tradition, esp. Cajetan, the continuity with Aristotle, the search for Aquinas' philosophy in the commentaries on Aristotle instead of the Summa, etc).
Oh my gosh, Cicero for first time Latin reading? That is awful. I felt in my own studies St. Thomas is a great intro level in reading Latin.
Yes, Thomas is a great way to start tackling actual readings
Are you a Roman Catholic sir?
What's it to you?
I'm interested, being as Christian and having come across your channel recently. I watched a couple of your self directed study videos which are great, thank you very much!
Glad you enjoy the videos
Sign of a good professor is being ambiguous regarding your personal beliefs, as it allows you to naturally steelman whichever position you are currently presenting. I had a high school history teacher do the same thing; I had no idea where he stood politically but he was still a great teacher.
Good vids Dr. Sadler.
@@glof2553 Perhaps you're right.
In either answer to my original question, to both of you, I would ask if you knew the Gospel - that Christ the Son of God died for our sins, and rose again from the dead - and encourage you to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation He gives freely to those who will come, rescuing us from the wrath to come because of our sins and reconciling us to God for eternal life.
If you're Roman Catholic, I would seek to warn you against the false doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, chiefly in it's errors on the gospel itself.
Thanks again.
Sad but true, the modernists have thrown Thomas out of the educational canon and the Church has changed since Vatican II
Nah. For the most part anti-modernist “Thomists” stuff is third rate, and way out of line with any faithful reading of him. They did a lot to discredit Thomism.
And yes, Vatican II. Lots of needed changes for the better.