On Creation Conservation And Concurrence [Hardcover]

Francisco Suarez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2002

The Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suarez (1548–1617) was an eminent Catholic philosopher-theologian whose Disputationes Metaphysicae were first published in Spain in 1597 and came to be widely studied throughout Europe during the seventeenth century. The Disputationes Metaphysicae not only constituted the high point of sixteenth-century scholastic metaphysics but exercised a great influence on early modern philosophers such as Descartes, Malebranche, and Leibniz.

This is the first time that Disputations 20–22 have been translated into English. These disputations, which deal with the divine actions of creation, conservation, and concurrence, form the last half of Suarez’s treatment of efficient causality. The present work completes thus Freddoso’s translation of Suarez’s full account of efficient causality in the Disputationes Metaphysicae.

In his lengthy introduction, Freddoso situates the Disputationes Metaphysicae within their proper intellectual context, provides a basic introduction to scholastic ontology and treatments of efficient causality, and traces the main lines of argument proposed by Suarez in Disputations 20–22.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant piece of scholarship. . . . Freddoso's introduction and notes are a tour de force." -- Philosophical Review

"A brilliant piece of scholarship. . . . Freddoso’s introduction and notes are a tour de force." -- Philosophical Review

"Freddoso is medieval philosophy's best and most prolific translator. Here, as in his earlier works, the English is both clear and faithful to the original. The translation is literal enough to satisfy philosophers, but not so ploddingly literal as to wear down the reader. Frequent footnotes help make sense of obscure references and tangled arguments. In comparing forty pages of the translation with the original Latin I was unable to find a single significant mistake, omission, or even questionable rendering" -- The Philosophical Review

"Freddoso's translation and introduction are, quite simply, splendid pieces of work." -- International Philosophical Quarterly

"Freddoso’s translation and introduction are, quite simply, splendid pieces of work." -- International Philosophical Quarterly

"[This serves] to indicate the brilliance of the translators at understanding the intricacies and subtleties of medieval scholastic Latin, and their sensitivity to modern readers' needs and problems." -- The Thomist

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Augustines Press; 1 edition (July 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890318760
• ISBN-13: 978-1890318765
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,327,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Work and Translation, August 31, 2002

By 

T. B. Vick "T.B.V." - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Creation Conservation And Concurrence (Hardcover)

This is the conclusion, according to Freddoso, of his translated works on Francisco Suarez. Freddoso has put together a first rate text that note only provides his reader with Suarez's text (Metaphysical Disputations 20-22) but an introduction to the material that entails one quarter of the text.

The value of the introduction of this text cannot be overstated. Freddoso gives his reader so much detail (to aid the reader in what Suarez is communicating in these disputations) that even a lay reader who had merely a cursory understanding of the issues would gain a better grasp on Suarez's views. In the intro, Freddoso describes some of the distinctions Suarez is making between esse and essentia, the composition of substantial form and primary matter, the composition of substance and accident, and the Aristotelian concepts of `act' and `passive potency'(actuality and potentiality). Furthermore, Freddoso details that Suarez, in the same vein as Aristotle, takes efficient causality to be "a relation holding between agents and their effects at the very time at which the effects are produced." Of course here Freddoso describes Suarez's intent to distinguish between ut quod and ut quo (substance which exercises a power to which the result is attributed and the power by which a substance operates). So as one can see, Freddoso clearly describes the ontological preliminaries needed to understand Suarez's text (and the examples that I have given barely scratch the surface, that's how detailed his intro to this text really is!!).

The actual text of Suarez includes detailed and exhaustive footnotes from Freddoso to help the reader not only understand some of the various nuances of the Latin that Suarez is using, but also philosophical concepts, terms, etc. which are perhaps overlooked by the untrained eye. The footnotes are very helpful in gaining a better understanding of all the concepts and general/specific ideas that Suarez wants his reader to understand.

Overall, this text is an invaluable tool for later medieval studies. Freddoso has done an excellent job in his introduction, footnotes, and translation of this one of kind work (this is the only English translation of disputations 20-22). If you are interested in later medieval philosophy, metaphysics, or Aristotelian influence in the arena of metaphysics then you will not want to be without this text! Thank you so much Dr. Freddoso for such a wonderful text!