Words of Wisdom

A Philosophical Dictionary for the Perennial Tradition

John W. Carlson

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780268108304, 9780268031091
• eBook ISBN: 9780268076931
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: History & Theory of Philosophy

Like their predecessors throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have emphasized the importance of philosophy in the Catholic intellectual tradition. In his encyclical Fides et ratio (1998), John Paul II called on philosophers "to have the courage to recover, in the flow of an enduringly valid philosophical tradition, the range of authentic wisdom and truth." Where the late pope spoke of an "enduringly valid tradition," Jacques Maritain and other Thomists often have referred to the "perennial tradition" or to "perennial philosophy." Words of Wisdom responds to John Paul's call for the development of this tradition with a much-needed dictionary of terms.

As a resource for students in colleges, universities, and seminaries, as well as for teachers of the perennial tradition and interested general readers, Words of Wisdom occupies a unique place. It offers precise, yet clear and understandable accounts of well over a thousand key philosophical terms, richly cross-referenced. It also explains significant terms from other philosophical movements with which Thomism (and the Catholic intellectual tradition more generally) has engaged—either through debate or through judicious and creative incorporation. Moreover, it identifies a number of theological and doctrinal expressions to which perennial philosophy has contributed. Finally, it provides a comprehensive bibliography of works by Aquinas in English, expositions and discussions of perennial themes, and representative examples from the writings of all philosophers and theologians mentioned in dictionary entries.

A

ab, esse (Latin phrase): See esse-ab.

abduction (n.): Form of inference identified by Charles S. Peirce (1839–1914) and held by some to constitute a third type of reasoning between deduction and induction. Such reasoning involves the following type of schema: “F is a fact that at present is surprising. If general theory T should be true, F would be explainable by means of it. Therefore, there is (to this extent) reason to accept T.” [Although abduction has been studied primarily in relation to the natural sciences ₍₂₎, Peirce also suggested that teleological ₍₂₎ arguments for God’s existence, such as the fifth of Aquinas’s Five Ways, are best understood as involving this form of inference—rather than, as held by Thomists, being rooted in genuine insight into final causes adequate to support a demonstration.] (Compare dialectical ₍₃₎, as well as illative sense.) Also: “abductive” (adj.), “abductively” (adv.).

abnormal (adj.): (1) In the modern natural sciences, a phenomenon that deviates from a statistical norm. <Abnormal behaviors such as excessive hand-washing, as studied in psychology.> (Ant: normal ₍₁₎.) (2) For some writers in the perennial tradition, a human act that goes against a natural ₍₃₎ tendency or end and thus, to the extent it is freely chosen, is morally bad. <Politically free people voting to become ruled by a dictator as abnormal.> (Ant: normal ₍₃₎.) Also: “abnormalcy” or “abnormality” (n.), “abnormally” (adv.).

abortion (n.): The forced expulsion of a fetus from the mother’s uterus, especially in cases where the death of the fetus is the object ₍₃₎ of the act, or the subjective end ₍₂₎ of the act, and is willed as such. (According to traditional usage—which sometimes generates confusion—abortions can be “direct” or “indirect.” The former term applies to cases in which the death of the fetus is willed either as a means or as an end; the latter term applies to cases involving, for example, the removal of a life-threatening cancerous uterus, where the death of the fetus is a foreseen consequence but is neither the object of the act nor part of the agent’s intention (see praeter intentionem).) As a willed human act, abortion is to be distinguished from the natural ₍₁₎ event of miscarriage, even though the latter is sometimes termed “spontaneous abortion.”

absolute (adj.): Free from potentiality, limitation, dependency, or qualification; unconditioned. <One’s absolute duty in a concrete situation. God’s existence as absolute.> Also: “absoluteness” (n.).

absolute (n.): Point of origin of being, knowledge, or action. <Objects of sense as absolutes in the genesis of knowledge about nature. God as the Absolute in the order of existence.>

absolutely (adv.): (1) (Corresponding to Latin simpliciter, for “simply.”) Taken in itself or in its essential formal character. <Animality taken absolutely—i.e., just as an essence or general type of living being, apart from a consideration of particular animal species (canine, feline, etc.)> (2) Holding or applying in an absolute manner. <According to traditional moral teaching, certain negative precepts hold absolutely.>

absolutism (n.): In ethics, the view that at least some moral principles (or rules, precepts, etc.) are absolute—i.e., that they hold without exception. (Note: On this account, the perennial moral philosophy as well as the Catholic magisterium can be regarded as holding a form of absolutism. But the matter is complex, as can be seen from this dictionary’s discussion of the parallel issue of exceptionless moral rules.) (Compare universalism.) Also: “absolutist” (adj. or n.).

abstract (adj.): (1) Of or pertaining to an essence ₍₁₎—i.e., to a nature or type of substance, quality, relation, etc.—considered apart from existing subjects that instantiate or share that essence. <The abstract nature of humanness, redness, being greater than, etc.> (2) Characteristic of disciplines that take as their subject matters formal entities of a high degree or order of abstraction. <Abstract mathematics or metaphysics.> (Ant: concrete.) Also: “abstractly” (adv.), “abstractness” (n.).

abstract (v.): (1) To consider a particular feature or characteristic apart from others to be found in the individual in question. <To abstract the color of a rose from its size, shape, etc.> (Compare prescind.) (2) To engage in the “first” act of human intellect; that is, to develop an intelligible species ₍₂₎. <To abstract the essence of rose insofar as it is knowable.> (See apprehension or intellection (simple).) Also: “abstractable” (adj.).

abstraction (n.): (1) The act or process by which one abstracts (in either sense). (2) A concept of, or verbal formula expressing, an essence ₍₂₎—or, less strictly, any matter of generality. (3) The condition of intellectual knowledge that involves the objective ₍₂₎ presence of what is known. This condition involves two aspects, the terminology for which has varied among Thomistic commentators. However, the following accounts are typical: a) “Total abstraction” (Latin abstractio totalis), or “extensive abstraction,” or “abstraction of a whole,” is that aspect according to which the object of knowledge does not include features that individuate it in actual existence ₍₁₎ (e.g., humanness apart from its particular features in Mary, Peter, and John); and b) “Formal abstraction” (Latin abstractio formalis), or “intensive abstraction,” or “typological abstraction,” is that aspect according to which the object of knowledge does not include features that are only contingently related to it as an essence (e.g., triangularity apart from its being divisible into equilateral, isosceles, and scalene). (Regarding sense (3), see degrees or orders of abstraction.)

abundance, sometimes superabundance (n.): Condition of fullness, sufficiency, or plenitude in the possession of a quality or perfection. (Strictly, the term “superabundance” is used only of God.) (Ant: poverty ₍₂₎.) Also: “abundant” (adj.), “abundantly” (adv.).

accident (n., from Latin accidit, for “it happens to”): (1) A reality that exists as an attribute, characteristic, feature, or property of another or others (e.g., the color or shape of a rose), rather than one that exercises existence on its own (e.g., the rose itself). Following remarks by Aristotle—although he himself did not use the term “accident”—Scholastics typically divided such features into nine categories: quantity, quality, relation, place, time, posture, state, action, and passion. (Accidents are sometimes divided into “proper” and “common.” The former derive from a particular nature ₍₂₎. <The power of free choice, which flows from rationality, as a proper accident in human persons.> The latter do not derive from a specific nature, but are shared among beings of diverse types. <The color red as a common accident found in roses, apples, tomatoes, etc.>) (Contrast substance.) (2) An event or occurrence that is a result of chance and, if it involves a human act, one that is not foreseeable by the agent(s).

accidental (adj.): (1) Of or pertaining to an accident ₍₁₎, rather than a substa...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• John Paul II—FIDES ET RATIO
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• A-Z Entries
• Bibliography
• List of Entries
• About the Author