In this volume, Schmitz brings his encyclopedic knowledge of the Western philosophical tradition to bear in a wide-ranging series of essays grouped under three headings: Being, man, and God. He brings disparate philosophical traditions into conversation, such as: classical Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics, the modern critical rationalism of Kant, the idealist synthesis of Hegel, the postmodern deconstructionism of Derrida and Foucault, and the personalist phenomenology of Scheler, Von Hildebrand, and Wojtyla.
Schmitz explores re-situating classical metaphysics, with its confidence in the human ability to reach speculative truth, into a post-Enlightenment world that rejects the possibility, yet which values human interior richness. Schmitz believes, for instance, that we can have meaningful discourse about God's existence and the role of beauty in helping us recognize that being is a gift received.
Philosophy can draw insight into human being and purpose from Christian revelation--insight that can be presented in ways that engage and draw from many perspectives. Christian doctrine can also help bridge philosophical divides. For instance, many postmoderns believe that principles "flatten" or smother being. Schmitz replies that the doctrine of the Trinity shows that rather than a flat unity, the One God is inherently three, living being in relation. In the Incarnation, He shares His own life with us.
Diverse in topics yet unified in purpose, this volume brings together Schmitz's penetrating and rich insight into being, produced over many years, to offer readers a magisterial study from one of the great Christian philosophers of our time.
