Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology

by Thomas Joseph White

This book considers the merits of Thomas Aquinas's arguments for the existence of God. Aquinas portrays philosophical reason as a form of wisdom that can attain to true knowledge of God. Should his views matter for contemporary Christian theology? What are the Aristotelian presuppositions required for these arguments to make sense, and are such presuppositions rationally defensible today? Particularly, should the modern Kantian and Heideggerian objections to any possible philosophical approach to God (as onto-theology) apply to the arguments of Aquinas? The author argues robustly in favor of the recovery of a sapiential conception of Thomistic philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Christianity

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. is rector of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome (the “Angelicum”). Fr. White is an expert in Thomistic metaphysics, Christology and Roman Catholic-Reformed ecumenical dialogue. Fr. White converted to Catholicism at age 22, while studying at Brown University.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing accomplishment.

The purpose of the book is to defend Thomas’ metaphysics against the criticisms of Kantian skepticism about the knowledge of God by means of the causal metaphysics of Aristotle.

This is obviously not the first or only response to the modern critique by a Thomist and so its novelty is recovering certain Aristotelian dimensions of Thomas’ thought, namely, his progressive analysis of the causes of being. The main thesis of the book is that modern thinkers - even those who follow St. Thomas - do not respond well to the modern critique because they do not advert to the Thomistic teaching (developed from Aristotle) that the way to know God is to analyze the beings that we experience and its causes (instead of beginning with the inner workings of the mind and go from there to the existence and attributes of God).

The book is broken down into four parts (and 8 chapters). The first part (Part I: chapter 1) lay out these modern criticisms or objections, while the second part (Part II: chapters 2, and 3) present the wisdom of Aristotle and St. Thomas without relation to the modern critique (i.e. in their historical context). The third part (Part III: chapters 4,5, and 6) attempts to see how some modern Thomists responded to this critique with the thought of Thomas. The deficiencies in these authors - Gilson, Maritain, and Rahner - leave space for the last part (Part IV: chapters 7 and 8) where Fr. White offers his own solution or his own way of discovery by focusing on the Aristotelian center of Thomas’ thought (though he already begins to offer this solution in Part III).

Through defending Thomas against these modern objections, Fr. White covers many metaphysical topics with precision and depth (e.g., the real distinction, analogy, whether one must prove the object of metaphysics, what it means to call Thomas' natural theology a negative theology, the nature of wisdom, how natural theology relates to man's natural desire for God, and others), making this book a real metaphysical treasure trove. This book is worth reading by all philosophers and theologians who are concerned with the natural capacities of man for knowledge of God and how man can know Him by reason.

I highly recommend this difficult but rewarding book.

[Daniel Arter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning is a bit dense, but the end is worth reading.

[David Haines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is my review of Thomas Joseph White's book "Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology" (http://philosopherdhaines.blogspot.ca...). Due to the amount of ground covered by White I had to restrain my comments to a summary of what he covers in the book, and a note concerning the relative worth of this book. Check it out. I absolutely loved this book!!!

This book makes #1 on my list of best books read this year. (Don't ask me what #2 is, I just started making this list with this book!) :D

[Matt Pitts · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last two chapters were really good, but the middle was exceptionally detailed and difficult for me to follow. Glad I made it to the end!

3.5 stars (3 for most of it, but up to 3.5 because of the last two chapters)

[Zachary Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, third and final chapters worthy of a higher rating, but the middle chapters were exceedingly technical and tedious, and largely concerned with questions I wasn’t asking.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly the most profitable book I have read this year. White constructively critiques the attempts of various 20th century Thomists (in particular Gilson, Maritain and Rahner) to formulate a way of approaching the question of the existence of God. After evaluating their various strengths and weaknesses White proceeds to outline a way of discovery or progression toward's the conclusion of the existence of God based on a integral reading of Aquinas' texts. His goal is to show that, properly read, Aquinas's natural theology avoids the pitfalls of so called "ontotheology" alleged by Kant and Heidegger. White is not attempting to provide an in-depth defence of the five ways as such but to show how our knowledge of God comes from a process which begins with the beings of our experience and unfolds from within via a causal analysis towards a transcendent source of being. A most helpful overview - I look forward to reading more by this author.

[Josh Tinkham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas White is always a must read. How does a fantastic job of nuancing the differences in various thinkers. As well the section of Thomas’s natural theology is most edifying.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout the history of Thomism, Thomists have argued amongst each other - and this argumentation can be good as a means of sharpening our understanding of the truth. In the modern era, this divide is seen especially between the Neo-Thomists (e.g, Garrigou-Lagrange), the Existential Thomists (e.g, Gilson), and the Aristotelian Thomists (e.g, Ashley).

In his phenomenal work, "The Way Toward Wisdom", Fr. Benedict Ashley gives a presentation of an Aristotelian Thomistic view of metaphysics. However, when outlining different schools of thought within Thomism, he makes the explicit point that these schools are not irreconcilable. That is, a reconciliation can be achieved. However, for Thomists, a reconciliation cannot be superficial (which would be insulting on some level to every school of thought). The point is that these Thomists are all convinced by reasoning that they are correct. Therefore, any sort of reconciliation must come from a synthesis of their views. However, such a synthesis must take place in an organic (rather than an artificial) way. It must respect the principles and concerns of each school while also reconciling the contradictions. Such a synthesis will necessarily contradict each of the schools at some point, but the goal of such a synthesis will be to arrive at truth. I contend that the difference is a difference of emphasis rather than necessarily an utter difference of opinion.

In Fr. Thomas Joseph White's work, I believe a way to this reconciliation is found especially in Thomas's use of analogy. White identifies important strains of thought in Thomas and how he arrived at those thoughts. He also discusses why Thomas's methodology makes him immune from the criticisms of Kant and Heidegger. He then explores how different 20th century Thomists appropriated Thomas's thought each emphasizing different forms of analogy to the detriment of the others. Finally, White offers a synthesis of these forms (necessarily, as I stated before, contradicting them at various points) by weaving together their uses of analogy with an Aristotelian framework and in so doing preserving the main concerns of each of the major thinkers discussed while also grounding this in a solid methodology.

This book is definitely a must-read for any and all Thomists and any philosophers interested in natural theology.

[Cody Edds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic treatment on Natural Theology in light of Kantian and Heideggerian critiques of it. White's chapters and arguments are very well organized. I highly suggest that before you read this you study Kant and his view of Natural Theology. I read this along with Diogenes Allen's Philosophy for Understanding Theology, and it helped greatly in this regard. Secondly, I would highly suggest reading An Elementary Christian Metaphysics before this. White's assessment and critique of Étienne Gilson is fascinating in light of Owens' dependence and appreciation of him. Although written from a Catholic perspective, I had hoped for a more rigorous interaction with Reformation theology besides the occasional mention of Luther; and although an advanced treatment of Natual Theology Post-Kantian, I had hoped for a more general handling of Natural Theology before getting into the Post-Kantian facet. This would have helped better organize and prepare for the more focused treatment of the book. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this work for those studying Natural Theology in light of Van Til given his similarities to Kant's critiques of it.