A mediaevalist trying to be a philosopher and a philosopher trying to be a mediaevalist write about theology, philosophy, scholarship, books, the middle ages, and especially the life, times, and thought of the Doctor Subtilis, the Blessed John Duns Scotus.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Thomism After Vatican II
So apparently there is a "Renewal of Thomism" conference going on in DC right now. Here is a link to one of the papers, 'Thomism after Vatican II", by fr. T.J. White OP. I found it a very encouraging read, if it is representative of the younger Thomists. He expresses some interest in Aquinas' contemporaries, eschews the pratice of accusing all medieval thinkers save Aquinas of Heideggerian ontotheology, and even argues that Thomism and Catholicism are not synonyms, that one can be the latter without being the former. Somewhere in the past few days I read a report of a conference in Prague devoted to Thomism that took place a few years ago; they said over 100 professors of Thomism where present. In light of that fact, and the encouraging sings in the linked paper, I think we can safely pronounce that Thomism has been renewed.
I feel like many of the Thomist renewals mostly consist in an Aristotelian renewal. That is, what is being revived under the name of "Thomism" is just Aristotelian metaphysical distinctions, which pretty much any medieval can accept. At the very least this is the case among "analytic Thomists."
ReplyDeleteI do hope all these renewals will eschew the false narratives of the past and will allow room for some pluralism, e.g. for Scotists.
By the way, only somewhat related, do you feel that Ludwig Ott's book has a Thomistic bias?
I think Ott favors Thomism, but I've always thought he is trying to be fair and accurately present the other sides, sort of like a Copleston of the Manualists.
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