Alarcon, Introd. AF 2006

8/9/2019 Alarcon, Introd. AF 2006

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INTRODi r nON

o l

I l i o i n a v - X q u u i i i s M l i s

I S \ U L

o t X m u j n c l il i s o

I

h e [ ^ r e ^ c i i t - d a \ ^ l J l , i ^

( > r

l l l o n i l ^ l l s

\ i i i

l l i r c c

i r i

a r e a s .

[ h o i n i - l K n i > M l u l K > n v . U i c L i i r i v t U s u i i c

a i u l

i h c

C J I U I H :

. i i k l l i r i L i i n s n c

: I I K I I \ ^ I >

c i

. A i i u i r u i s

w u

i i i s i o r \ .

In H- 7 5 0 vc ar ' s

o l ' C X I N I C I I C O .

T h o m i s n i h a s l i x e d t h r o u i i h t i i i i h

a m i l o w p o i n t s in p a r a l l e l u i i h t h e m s l i t u i i o n s i l i a l g a \ e ii b i r l h ; t h e

u n i w T s i ) aiK l t h e C h u r c h . V e r y i n r h i c o l i a l f r o m i h c t i in o o f i is

o r i g i n s i ip t h r o u g f i i h c n t id 1 7" c e n t u r y , T h o i ^ i s m h U c r s u i i c r c d

i r o i ti t h e ( . i c c a d c n c c o f t h e u i i i v e r s i l i e s . a i u i

s o p h y w h i c h m a d e t h e u n i v e r s i i ) it> l i o i i i e . T h e r e f o l l o w e d a

s ] o \ \ p r o c e s s ( if f e c u p e r a l is M ) in e c c I c M a s t i c a i c i r c l e s t l i i r i o g t h e I s

c e n t t i r x . u h i c i i a e e i ui ii -y l a t e r c n l n i i n a t e d in r h o i n i M i i r e c e i x i n u

t h e o f f ic u i l s u p p o r t o f i h e H o l y S e e . T h e r e s u l t u iL ; e i i i j^ h a s is

on

l o r n i i n g C a d K i i i c s m t h e i h o u g h t o f S t . T h o i n a s w a s l o i l o u e d h > a

n o i a h l c p i x ' s i ig e a n d i n l i u c n e e o f C a t h o l i c i n t e l i e c i u a l s in i h e f i r s

l i a i f o f d i e 2 ( ) \ v r i i i i r \ , in t h i s \ \ a > . a n i n t e r e s t n i I h o n i a s A q u i i i a s

v \a s I r a i i s n i i t ie d t o t h e a c a d e m i c a r c i ia . w h e r e ' r h o n i i s i i i c a m e t o

e o n s i i t u t e o n e o f ( h e n i os i \ i : o r o u s p h i l o s o p h i c a l c u r r e n t s b e i v \ e e n


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ecclesiastical realm, the open crisis that the Church experienced

during the 6O s diluted the intellectual inspiration of Thom ism in

many Church institutions.

Now that nearly half a century has passed, we are seeing a

renewed interest in Thom as Aquinas. It will be sufficient to cite a

few recent examples:

In recent years, the number of publications related to

Thomism has increased notably, growing from around 300

to nearly 1000 annu aly .

New specialized journals have been founded, and continue

to appear, such as

Doctor Angelicus

in Germany,

e-aqulnas

in Spain,

Aquinate

in Brazil,

Tomismo essenziale

in Italy,

and

Jaarboek Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

in the

Netherlands.

New collections of books with a strong Thomistic influence

are appearing, such as

Pensamiento Medieval y Renacentista

in Pamplona,

Opere di S. Tommaso in italiano

in Bologna,

Opere di Cornelio Fabro

in Rome,

Radical Orthodoxy

in

London,

Doctor Humanitatis

in the Netherlands,

Saint

Thomas et les thomistes

in Paris, and

Thomas Aquinas in

Translation

in Washington.

Through the influence of the

Societa Internationale

Tomm aso d Aquino,

new Thomistic academic societies have

been recently founded in Germany, the Czech Republic,

Spain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania,

Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Argentina, Chile,

Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, the United

States, Uruguay, Venezuela, etc.

A number of vigorous new intellectual movem ents inspired

by Thomism have arisen, including, among others. Analytic

I. Cf. R. INGARDIA, Thomas Aquinas International Bibliography 1977-


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Thomism^, Radical Orthodoxy^, and the so-called New

Natural Law Theory'*.

In addition, some of the most significant landm arks in the

application of information technologies within the

Humanities have been related to Thomism, such as the

monumental database Index Thomisticus^ a pioneering

project in its field.

We are witnessing, in fact, a new stage of vigor within a great

current of philosophy, which has remained alive and influential

over its seven centuries of history.

In this special issue of Anuario Filosoficowe wish to contribute

to the body of knowledge about contemporary Thom ism.Therefore,

we have adopted a wider perspective than that which is typical in

this kind of publication. Normally, a jou rnal' will present the

current state of a school of thought, by means of articles which

discuss the main lines of research or the interpretations which are

the most novel or most influential. But the current state of a school

of philosophy cannot be limited to these central questions, but also

must include, among other aspects, the activities and mission of the

most representative institutions, critical editions of texts, and in

recent years the application of information techno logies. This

was the perspective adopted for the congress

A Panorama of

Current Research on Thomas Aquinas held at the University of

2 . See e.g. B. SMITH (ed.), An alytical Tho mism , The Monist 80/4 (1997),

pp. 485 -62 3; C. PATERSON; M. S. PUGH (eds.). Analytical Thomism: Traditions

in Dialogue Ashgate, Aldershot-Burlington, 2006.

3. See e.g. A. PABST; O . T . V E N A R D ,

Radical Orthodoxy. Pour une

revolution theologique.

Ad Solem, Geneve, 2004, 159 pp.

4. See e.g. S. D AV IS, D oing What Comes Naturally: Recent Work on

Thomas Aquinas and the New Natural Law Theory , Religion 31 (2001), pp.

407-433; S. F. PARSONS, Co ncem ing Natural Law : The Turn in American

Aquinas Scholarship , in F. K E R R (ed.).

Contemplating Aquinas: On the

Varieties of Interpretation SCM Press, London,2 003, pp. 163-184.


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Navarra from April 25 through 27 of 20 05. W e include here the

English texts of the principal papers presented at the congress (with

one exception that we will mention later).

The first two articles discuss the most widely influential

Thomistic institutions.Fr. Abelardo Lobato OP, President Emeritus

of the Pontiflcal Roman Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas writes

about the past and present of this institution. Dr. Enrique Martfnez,

General Secretary of the International Society of Thomas Aquinas,

describes its character and history.

The following contributions deal with the current stage of

Thomistic research in four large topical areas: two historical and

two sistematic. Dr. David Berger, Director of the German journal

Doctor Angelicus

describes the interpretations which Thomism

has received throughout its history. Dr. Enrique Alarcon, editor of

the Corpus Thomisticum presents the principal advances in

historical research concem ing T hom as A quinas. Dr. Angel Luis

Gonzalez, Chair in Metaphysics at the University of Navarra,

provides an overview of the diverse contemporary interpretations

of St. T ho m as s M etaphysics. Einally, Er. Leo J. Elders

s v d

highlights the principal aspects of Thomistic ethics and discusses

its contemporary relevance.

The third group of contributions have to do with the linguistic

analysis and the critical editions of the Thomistic corpus. During

the aforementioned congress, Fr. Roberto Busa SJ provided a

lively description of the history and objectives of the

Index

Thomisticus. Due to the lack of a corresponding written text, and

with the express permission of Dr. Luigi Dadda, we have included

in its place an article signed by Dadda and other notable Italian

researchers concerning the scientific legacy of Fr. Busa.

Continuing in this third group of contributions. Dr. John Boyle,

of the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota), editor of the

Lectura Romana

the latest major unpublished work attributed to

St. Thomas, presents the history of this text along with the


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We wish to express our special gratitude for their assistance to

Mr. Erik Norvelle, who was in charge of the English translations,

and to Ms. Marfa Jesus Nicolay, who formatted the texts. In

addition, we are profoundly grateful to those institutions which

collaborated in the organization of the congress itself the

Fundacion Tomas de Aquino, the Instituto Sto. Tomas of the

Fundacion Balmesiana, the Societa CAEL and the Department of

Philosophy of the University of Navarra.

Enrique Alarcon

Associate Editor

Departamento de Filosofia

Universidad de Navarra

E - 31080 Pamplona Spain)

[email protected]


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Alarcon, Introd. AF 2006