Did Aquinas Justify the Transition from ‘Is’ To ‘Ought’? by Piotr Lichacz, O.P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 665 For scholars interested in some current philosophical speculation on the metaphysical possibility of resurrection, this volume will be a very helpful and important resource. It will also be a significant point of reference for those attempting to rethink anthropology, particularly for those interested in its relation to theology. The book’s essays are accessible for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in philosophy; graduate students in systematic or philosophical theology will also be able to benefit from it. In the ongoing reflection on how to conceive of resurrection, the current volume is not, and does not claim to be, the final word; but it is an important collection of notable voices that enable the conversation to move forward. BRYAN KROMHOLTZ, O.P. Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology Berkeley, California Did Aquinas Justify the Transition from ‘Is’ To ‘Ought’? By PIOTR LICHACZ, O.P. Warsaw: Instytut Tomistyczny, 2010. Pp. 332. $17.75 (paper). ISBN 98783 -905171-0-0. Despite its rather specific title, Fr. Lichacz’s work offers ample resources for a more general study of St. Thomas Aquinas’s ethical thought. Its primary contribution is the broad and detailed foundation from which we may begin such an investigation. Lichacz enables his readers to arrive at a deeper appreciation of his subject according to two thematic elements. First, there is the care and completeness with which he explicates Aquinas’s moral teaching itself. He presents the Angelic Doctor’s teaching on moral goodness and the nature of moral science according to a variety of distinctions that provide a comprehensive overview of the subject. Further, there is the manner in which this explication is preceded by a variety of introductory topics that equip us to appraise Thomas’s ethical thought according to a number of different perspectives. Over and above these elements that control the development of his argument, Lichacz relies on the contrasting approaches of David Hume and G. E. Moore to introduce and conclude the entire study. Thus we are able to consider broad historical objections to Aquinas’s moral teaching that have arisen since the Middle Ages. Allowing ourselves to consider one of these figures, say Hume, whose thought is arguably more familiar, we stand to gain a deeper appreciation of Lichacz’s insights. After a brief introduction, Lichacz presents a historical review ofthe problem’s origin: the viability of passing from a description of how things are to how they ought to be. Adverting to Hume’s objection that this involves a transition from matters of fact to relations of ideas, he grants that Hume does not necessarily BOOK REVIEWS 666 exclude the possibility of critiquing moral actions. He reminds us that Hume insists that we do so according to our natural sympathy which, when properly cultivated, will lead us to fitting appraisals (31). We may recall that one motive of Hume’s project was his suspicion that the rationalist appropriation of modern science was so overly determined as to obscure the intricacies of human behavior. That Hume so readily recognizes human sympathy as a moral force, however, indicates his belief that our appraisal of such matters has some basis, even if it cannot be determined a priori. The value of Lichacz’s study is that, once given furtherconsideration, Aquinas’s thought provides a viable account of what Hume recognizes but is unable to explain: a valid assessment of moral action that is based on more than vague intuitions. Lichacz’s first chapter surveys Aquinas’s general approach to cognition, approving its avoidance of two modern tendencies: “an absolutization of a mathematical way of thinking”and “awhimsical poeticization” (55). Offering the means to consider Aquinas’s achievement, he invites us to consider how we might further specify his argument. Thus, we may note that while it can be helpful to distinguish between the order of discovery and the order of explanation, it is also important to note how Aquinas requires us to adjust our manner of appraisal depending on the exigencies of our approach. Enumerating the seven liberal arts, this chapter emphasizes that we must respect the integrity of each; none can legitimately be reduced to another or to a single point of origin: a...