Wisdom, Law, and Virtue - (Moral Philosophy and Moral Theology) by Lawrence Dewan (Hardcover)

About the Book

The focus of this book is morals-how human beings should live their lives. For Dewan (and Thomas Aquinas) moralsis the journey of the rational creature toward God.While philosophical considerations are central here, Christian revelation and its truth constitute an enveloping context. These essays treat the history of philosophy as a development that proceeds by deepening appreciation of basic questions rather than the constant replacement of one worldview by another. Thus, the author finds forebears in Plato and Aristotle, in Augustine and Boethius, and especially in Aquinas. Written over a period of more than thirty years, the essays collected here treat both perennial issues in philosophy and such current questions as suicide as a weapon of war, the death penalty, and lying. Above all, they present the wisdom, the sapiential vision, that makes morals possible.

Book Synopsis

The focus of this book is morals--how human beings should live their lives. For Dewan (and Thomas Aquinas) "morals" is "the journey of the rational creature toward God."

While philosophical considerations are central here, Christian revelation and its truth constitute an enveloping context. These essays treat the history of philosophy as a development that proceeds by deepening appreciation of basic questions rather than the constant replacement of one worldview by another. Thus, the author finds forebears in Plato and Aristotle, in Augustine and Boethius, and especially in Aquinas.

Written over a period of more than thirty years, the essays collected here treat both perennial issues in philosophy and such current questions as suicide as a weapon of war, the death penalty, and lying. Above all, they present the wisdom, the sapiential vision, that makes morals possible.

Review Quotes

A solid and handsome production.-- "--The Thomist"

Although coming together piecemeal, this is one of the most coherent and profound books on ethics published in recent history. In his unassuming way, Fr. Dewan has given us Thomas Aquinas speaking in, and to, our day.-----Kevin L. Flannery, S.J., Pontifical Gregorian University

In an ordered set of essays Lawrence Dewan brings Thomistic metaphysical and theological depth to many ethical questions inadequately treated by current ethicians such as non-Catholics Lyotard, Catholic dissenters such as Porter, and Catholics such as Maritain, Dewart, Punzo, Finnis, Gallagher, Bradley and (I must admit) myself, as well as, deepening our understanding of spirituality, contemplation, and prayer and the unity of the virtues.-----Benedict M. Ashley O.P., St. Louis University

Many Thomists rightly regard Lawrence Dewan as the best living interpreter of Thomas's philosophy and theology of practical reason. Several of these essays are already classics. What a boon to have twenty-seven collected together!-----Russell Hittinger, University of Tulsa

This book is a treasure trove of incisive and penetrating reason. Written by an acknowledged grand master of Thomistic philosophy, Fr. Lawrence Dewan, OP, this collection manifests the author's jeweler's eye for the ordering principles of being, nature, and human action, and for the judiciously framed distinction. These essays-- "St. Thomas, Our Moral Lights, and the Natural Order" especially comes to mind--grapple with crucial questions regarding St. Thomas's moral philosophy and theology. They should be read favorably fifty years from now, and are destined to augment the normative literature of recrudescent Thomistic renewal.-----Steven Long, Ave Maria University

This collection is rich and various, but it is also a coherent whole, one that vividly conveys to the reader a sense of both the depth and the breadth, as well as the permanent interest of Thomistic ethical thinking.-----Kevin White, Catholic University of America

This collection is thick with learning and wisdom. To read Dewan is to watch a master Thomist at work, and those who submit themselves to an apprenticeship with him by reading this book will have their effort repaid a hundredfold.-----Mark F. Johnson, Marquette University

About the Author

LAWRENCE DEWAN, O.P., is Professor of Medieval Philosophy and Metaphysicsat the Dominican University College in Ottawa and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 2006 he received the Maritain Medal for Scholarly Excellence, conferred by the American Maritain Association.