Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion: Metaphysics and Practice (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion) (Hardcover)

~ Thomas Hibbs (Author)
Key Phrases: contemporary virtue ethics, divine artistry, sensible singulars, Philosophy of Religion, Portraits of the Artist, Metaphysics of Contingency (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a heady mixture of philosophy, theology, and aesthetics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and above." -- Choice Reviews Online, March 2008, W.P. Haggerty, Associate Professor, Gannon University

"... This is a heady mixture of philosophy, theology, and aesthetics.... Highly recommended." -- Choice

"... this book suggests and models a new direction for the methodology of contemporary philosophical discourse." -- Janine Marie Idziak, Intnl Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 64 1/16/2008 (online)

"A remarkable teacher takes us on an exciting journey to recover Aquinas, followingthe contours of a graduate course to engage contemporary philosophers who mightseem unlikely protagonists. Yet they become salient foils for unveiling the secret ofAquinas' metaphysical inquiry: a 'distinctive sort of intellectual activity closely alliedto the imagination and always including appropriate emotional response' (p. 161).This daring venture both demands and displays a formidable familiarity with contemporary philosophy -- from ethics to epistemology, metaphysics to theology, incorporating analytic with continental modes of reflection. With a judiciously critical eyegiven deft and gracious expression, we are moved gracefully among worlds of discourse,as we acquire the skills needed to compare them. Yet that is precisely whatgood teachers can do." -- David Burrell, C.S.C., Uganda Martyrs UniversityKampala, UGANDA, MODERN THEOLOGY, April 2009

"Hibbs... convincingly argues that the practice of seeking the good -- both moral and intellectual -- leads to and requires metaphysics, and not the reverse.... The book will help those who wantto (1) revisit Aquinas's epistemology, metaphysics, and virtue ethic, especially in light of [Hibbs's] substantial previous work on these questions; (2) investigate [Hibbs's] broader theses about metaphysics; (3) generate a more convincing philosophical foundation and a more robust description of social accountability for virtue theory and narrative ethics; or (4) engage one or more of [Hibbs's] admirably diverse interlocutors (Plantinga, MacDonald, Murdoch, Joyce, Turner,Marion, Zagzebski, Pieper, Gadamer, MacIntyre, Nietzsche, and others)." -- CRISTINA L. H. TRAINA, Northwestern University, Theological Studies, March 2009

"[This book] is an extremely broad-minded engagement -- and this must surely be very welcome -- with the basic contours of contemporary philosophy as practiced in the U.S. today." -- Graham McAleer, Loyola College in Maryland

Product Description

n Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion, Thomas Hibbs recovers the notion of practice to develop a more descriptive account of human action and knowing, grounded in the venerable vocabulary of virtue and vice. Drawing on Aquinas, who believed that all good works originate from virtue, Hibbs postulates how epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and theology combine into a set of contemporary philosophical practices that remain open to metaphysics. Hibbs brings Aquinas into conversation with analytic and Continental philosophy and suggests how a more nuanced appreciation of his thought enriches contemporary debates. This book offers readers a new appreciation of Aquinas and articulates a metaphysics integrally related to ethical practice.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (May 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253348811
• ISBN-13: 978-0253348814
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,044,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars seeing versus knowing, Res significata, analogy,, October 2, 2008

By	Hoo-Zen!! "hoops" (Rockhampton, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews

Its been a while since I read this book but I remember its very good on signification and offers something compatible with Bernard Montagne's "Analogy of Being" and a slight alternative to McInerny's views where modus significandi directly modifies res significata and they must be taken together to determine the significance. Analogy seems to apply to both the mode of signifying (and the way this is modified among the grades of analogy) and the thing signified in a way not made explicit by McInerny and more compatible with Montagne's "grades of being" pointing to God with names applied analogously (via emminence) to the thing. It seems to me to be a way of understanding or partially comprehending how all the transcendentals (being, one true good) refer to One thing relying on continuity of intelligiblity of different analogues (grades)and unity of reference.
Also an analysis of literary practice underscores the difference between seeing and knowing - in the sense that seeing and a general understanding of a thing (e.g. that Pretty girl) don't in themselves bring love in its fullness especially if you are in Ireland undertaking an Odyssey.