Metaphysics, Truth and St. Thomas Aquinas

Metaphysics, Truth and St. Thomas Aquinas

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

In studying natural wisdom, Dr. Boland takes a look at how Aristotle defends the principle of non-contradiction, focusing on the great philosopher’s treatment of the causes that prompted the ancients to deny or doubt it. Boland then examines human knowledge and the problems raised with regard to its truth and certainty, which in essence can be reduced to a denial of this fundamental principle of non-contradiction during the revolt from reason that inevitably followed the rejection of Christian Faith and the divine authority of Christ’s Church.

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Metaphysics, Truth and St Thomas Aquinas is the final book in the series of three devoted by Dr Boland to the queen of philosophical sciences, Metaphysics. In a certain respect it is the most important, for it is principally concerned to justify and defend human intellectual knowledge, all of which has its foundation in the principle of non-contradiction.

In the first part of the book Dr Boland exposes and analyses how Aristotle defended the validity and necessity of this first and self evident principle, and how he corrected the errors the ancients had fallen into about it. He quotes extensively from St Thomas’s commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics – providing his own translations of the original Latin to correct the bad and obfuscating English translations generally available. I believe it will be found to be most enlightening.

In the second part of the book Dr Boland shows with great clarity how the epistemological errors solved by Aristotle have reappeared under various guises in the history of modern philosophy. He begins his analysis with the universal doubt of Descartes and then examines the usual line of philosophers who followed – with special attention given to Kant. He concludes with twentieth century thinkers. The influence of the collective errors bequeathed by these historical figures has caused an almost universal scepticism along with the practical moral evils that inevitably follow.

This book provides much necessary instruction in the wisdom of Aristotle and St Thomas (teachers and students of philosophy would do well to assimilate it), and well exposes the variety of appearances the most pernicious of the errors of scepticism has taken in the history of modern philosophy (teachers and students of philosophy would do well to avoid it). I am very grateful that Dr Boland has again shared his profound philosophical wisdom and knowledge in another outstanding book.

–Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations: An Assessment of Dr Tracey Rowland’s Natural Law: From Neo Thomism to Nuptial Mysticism

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland Ll. B. Ph. D. is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney Australia and is one of its former Presidents. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians. His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Thomas of the Creator

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

Based on the works of St. Thomas, in particular his two Summas and his commentaries on Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics, this book is divided into three parts; 1) The Existence of God; 2) His Essence; 3) His Attributes, so is concerned ultimately with the question of being.

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“The arguments adduced by St. Thomas to prove the existence of God and that God alone is subsisting Being Itself are still today, as they were in the Middle Ages, the most cogent of all arguments and clearly confirm that dogma of the Church which was solemnly proclaimed at the Vatican Council and succinctly expressed by Pius X as follows. ‘The certain knowledge of God as the first principle of creation and its end and demonstrable proof of His existence can be inferred, like the knowledge of a cause from its effect, by the light of the natural reason, from creation, that is to say the visible works of creation’ St Pius X, Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistitum, 1st September, 1910. (Pope Pius XI, Studiorum Ducem, 29th June 1923, #16.)

The five arguments or demonstrations that St Thomas gave to the Church, and the metaphysical principles upon which he based them, and the conclusions he drew from them, are very well exposed and explained by Dr Boland in this top of the shelf book on Natural Theology. The author brings to bear on this most important philosophical science, not only his profound philosophical wisdom and knowledge, but also his great talent for using clear and simple examples to illustrate difficult philosophical concepts.

This book is most timely given the general disintegration of truth under what now goes by the loose name of ‘Catholic’ academia and education where (as Dr Boland shows with the aid of Pope Benedict XVI) the doctrine of Creation is generally disdained and discarded. I believe Thomas of the Creator is destined to contribute substantially to the task of dissolving this fossilized intellectual hubris, and to rebuilding a truly Thomistic and Catholic intellectual culture. To this end I am further encouraged by the following words, which are a continuation of the papal quote with which I introduced my endorsement of Dr Boland’s book.

“The metaphysical philosophy of St. Thomas, although exposed to this day to the bitter onslaughts of prejudiced critics, yet still retains, like gold which no acid can dissolve, its full force and splendour unimpaired.” (Pope Pius XI, Studiorum Ducem, 29th June 1923, #16.)

–Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations: An Assessment of Dr Tracey Rowland’s Natural Law: From Neo Thomism to Nuptial Mysticism

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland Ll. B. Ph. D. is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney Australia and is one of its former Presidents. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians. His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Metaphysics/Ontology and St. Thomas Aquinas (Twenty Readings in Wisdom Forsaken)

Metaphysics/Ontology and St. Thomas Aquinas

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

With this book the author moves from what Aristotle and Aquinas called the order of practical studies to the theoretical. At their highest levels it is from the ethical to the metaphysical. To the modern mind, if the consideration of morality or ethics is hardly relevant in the study of science the consideration of ontology or metaphysics is even less so. Indeed, any principles or conclusions put would almost universally be regarded as quite unscientific.

What the author wishes to show in this book is that this modern mental position could not be further from the truth. A close study of Aristotle shows, and Aquinas clearly demonstrates, that all human science and knowledge depends upon what we can know from Metaphysics. The core of this study, which is given the name “Ontology”, from the Greek to on (Latin ens), rather loosely rendered in English as “being”, is all contained virtually in St. Thomas’s pregnant sentence, id quod primo cadit in intellectu est ens (“that which the human mind is first aware of is being”).

Leave this out and the bottom falls out of all our other knowledge. This evacuation, as Aristotle shows, cannot really be done. But, many philosophers and scientists of the modern era, like Heraclitus of old, pose as if they rejected the certainties of Metaphysics., to the detriment of all science. Hopefully, our readers will see the need for the return of Wisdom, which Metaphysics is, to its position of eminence in the study of science.

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“The fundamental place of Metaphysics (natural wisdom) in the range of human reason and in the full notion of science (as clearly set out by both St Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle) is wonderfully exposed in this book. For its author, Dr Don Boland, it is clearly a labor of love. Not wanting to embarrass him, I shall nevertheless, as a fitting endorsement, quote from the book itself:

‘The object of our series of books is simply to make up if in a small way for the neglect of the study of Aquinas in modern day education, especially as this neglect has spread to Catholic educational institutions, even sponsored by the hierarchy of the various countries of the ‘West’, among which are seminaries … This is despite the constant and clear insistence of the popes in document after document upon education up to university level, to pay special attention to Aquinas.
Somehow or other, even the bishops have been led or misled by those imbued with a secularist program, received no doubt in their own education/indoctrination, to distract the study of the youth and young adults into paths that end up alienating many not just from their Church but also from their own Catholic families. Parents who have been deeply concerned to give their children a good Catholic education are bewildered when the very institutions they have trusted seem to produce the opposite effect. No one should underestimate the power of a secularist culture in which they are required to live.’

If this book is taken as seriously as it should be, it will do much good in restoring the rightful foundations of truly Catholic education.” – Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland Ll. B. Ph. D. is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney Australia and is one of its former Presidents. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians. His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Rational Responses to Skepticism: A Catholic Philosopher Defends Intellectual Foundations for Traditional Belief by Dennis Bonnette, Ph.D.

Read David R. Carlin's Review in The Postil Magazine

See a Video Review from the Apocatastasis Institute

Rational Responses to Skepticism: A Catholic Philosopher Defends Intellectual Foundations for Traditional Belief

by Dennis Bonnette, Ph.D.

Following an avalanche of spirited criticism from skeptics, agnostics, and atheists, who have provided forceful intellectual attacks against Thomistic philosophy and Catholic apologetics – including objections posed by naturalism and contemporary analytic philosophy, Dr. Bonnette has assembled a collection of his most salient articles containing a reasoned defense of the Catholic faith. These articles are organized within this book into sections that (1) demonstrate the weaknesses of today’s philosophy of naturalism, (2) defend epistemological certitudes and metaphysical universal principles, (3) study man — the unique spiritually-souled animal, (4) prove God’s existence, (5) examine God’s nature, (6) solve the problem of evil, (7) defend natural law ethics, and finally, (8) rationally examine various revealed realities — from Adam and Eve to modern-day miracles. A must-read for Catholics who want reasoned responses to common criticisms of classical theism and their faith.

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SOME SAMPLES OF SKEPTICAL QUESTIONS THIS BOOK ADDRESSES:

Who needs philosophy when natural science explains everything?
Why follow a Christian philosophy based on a refuted ancient physics?
Does not biological evolution eliminate ancient belief in “universal forms?”
Since apes can learn sign language, what is so special about humans?
Does not Newton’s principle of inertia eliminate the need for a First Mover?
Who needs a “God,” when the Cosmos simply has its own reality and laws?
If God is all good, why does he allow and even cause evil in the world?
Is not the God of classical theism simply a pile of incoherent properties?
How can an eternally-unchanging God create a constantly changing world?
How can the triune God of Christians avoid amounting to polytheism?
How can the Adam and Eve myth comport with hominid evolution’s fact?
How can the Virgin Mary really answer all those Catholic prayers to her?
How can Christian belief comport with possible rational space aliens?

TESTIMONIALS

“Well-trained in Thomistic epistemology and metaphysics, Bonnette is able to apply calm and rational responses to those who raise questions about the existence of God, the freedom of the will, the essential difference between humans and animals, and the possibility of miracles.” – Dr. Robert Fastiggi, Professor of Dogmatic Theology, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, MI

“Dr. Dennis Bonnette’s work has had a very large impact — everything he writes gets noticed — no doubt due to his unwavering commitment to orthodoxy. Rational Responses to Skepticism is a true contribution to Catholic thought.” – Matthew Levering, James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Dennis Bonnette retired as a Full Professor of Philosophy in 2003 from Niagara University in Lewiston, New York. He taught philosophy there for thirty-six years and served as Chairman of the Philosophy Department from 1992 to 2002. He lives in Youngstown, New York, with his wife, Lois. They have seven adult children and twenty-five grandchildren. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 1970. Dr. Bonnette taught philosophy at the college level for 40 years and has taught free courses at the Aquinas School of Philosophy in Lewiston, New York. He is the author of two books, Aquinas’ Proofs for God’s Existence (The Hague: Martinus-Nijhoff, 1972) and Origin of the Human Species (Ave Maria, FL: Sapientia Press, third edition, 2014), and many scholarly articles.

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Political Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas

Political Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas

by Dr. Donald G Boland

This book seeks to provide a relatively complete basis for the understanding of political science as presented by Aristotle, with the help of Saint Thomas Aquinas mainly by way of his (partial) commentary on Aristotle’s Politics and his own work “On Kingship”.

There is sufficient in this we believe to give anyone good philosophical grounds for a solid critique of the modern studies, not only in Political Science and related subjects, but also, taken together with our book Economic Science and Saint Thomas Aquinas, in Economic Science. Indeed, such a critique seen in the light of the practical ethical principles brought out in the study of Aristotle and Aquinas may justifiably be such as to rise to the level of a severe condemnation simply from the standpoint of common morality and common sense.

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“The restoration of Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics as the necessary basis of political science is the principal objective of Political Science and St Thomas Aquinas. With this book Dr Boland has provided an excellent exposition of two works of St Thomas Aquinas: his Commentary on the Politics of Aristotle and his work on Kingship. Dr Boland has very skillfully traced the golden thread provided by St Thomas and contrasted it against the theories underpinning modern political science where authentic metaphysics has given way to an all-embracing mathematical quantification of nature, and human psychology has (in the words of Chesterton) degenerated from the study of anthropos to the study of anthropoids. Political Science and St Thomas Aquinas is a most thought-provoking book. To me it serves admirably at the level of human reason and philosophical reflection the papal motto of St Pius X: “to restore all things in Christ.” – Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations: An Assessment of Dr Tracey Rowland’s Natural Law: From Neo-Thomism to Nuptial Mysticism

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland, LL. B., Ph. D., is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney, Australia, and served as its president. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians.

His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. He has maintained a constant interest in the relation between moral, social and political philosophy and modern Economic Science. He has written numerous articles on this subject and has now condensed them into this book.

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Ethics Today and Saint Thomas Aquinas

Ethics Today and Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Complete Course on Moral Philosophy for Our Time and All Times

by Dr. Donald G. Boland

This book seeks to provide a complete moral philosophy based on the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. The first part deals with the principles or ‘theory’ according to the final cause, efficient cause, material cause and formal cause. Setting aside grace, it concerns the ultimate end, or happiness as intended; the will and the human act as the principal efficient or moving cause and subject; the sense appetites as the secondary moving and material causes, the intrinsic formal causes which are the habits in the will and sense appetites; and law as the extrinsic formal principle of all human behaviour. The second part deals with the four cardinal virtues and all virtues under them, setting aside the theological virtues, and adding as a fifth section a more detailed treatment of happiness as effected.

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“As its title indicates, Dr Donald Boland’s book is indeed a complete course on moral philosophy for our time and for all time. The moral philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle is exposed and explained in wonderful order and with great clarity. The seminarians for whom this text was originally written as a series of lectures were indeed blessed to have had Dr Boland as their teacher. I recommend it not only to Catholic teachers and students, but to all persons of good will who are desirous of a sane education in right morals and virtue. I believe this book is destined to do a lot of good.” – Frank Calneggia, author of Assertions and Refutations: An Assessment of Dr Tracey Rowland’s Natural Law: From Neo Thomism to Nuptial Mysticism

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donald G Boland, LL. B., Ph. D., is a founding member of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc. in Sydney, Australia, and served as its president. He practiced for a number of years as a lawyer having a degree in law from the University of Sydney. Over much the same time, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Rome, he has taught philosophy and law in both Catholic and secular educational institutions, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Aquinas Academy, the Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc., now operating under the name of the Centre for Catholic Studies Inc., and various Catholic seminaries, such as those of the Marists and the Vincentians.

His doctoral thesis was on the concepts of utility and value in economics as found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. He has maintained a constant interest in the relation between moral, social and political philosophy and modern Economic Science. He has written numerous articles on this subject and has now condensed them into this book.

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