The Sheed and Ward Anthology of Catholic Philosophy (review)

In a foreword to a volume honoring the British philosophers Peter Geach and Elizabeth Anscombe (Moral Truth and Moral Tradition [1994]), Cardinal Daly of Armagh, himself a philosopher, writes, "They have demonstrated that there is a Catholic way of philosophizing, which is still wholly philosophical, at once totally faithful to the laws of reason and the norms of philosophy and to the rigorous demands of logic, and also uncompromisingly loyal to divine Revelation and the teaching of the Catholic Church. They have shown that one can be intellectually as well as spiritually happy, indeed proud, though never arrogant, about one's Catholic faith, while still commanding respect from one's peers in terms of their own philosophy and language and logic."

The honrands well deserved the tribute, but it sets a high standard, and bypasses the prior question of what it means to be "a Catholic philosopher." On one reading this suggests two attributes; on another, a single nature. Geach and Anscombe sometimes wrote on issues of no direct relevance to religion but often addressed matters of Catholic faith and morals, and they never knowingly wrote at odds with orthodoxy. That places them far toward one end of a spectrum, the terminus of which would be close to dogmatic theology itself. Running in the other direction would take one to points where philosophy and faith make no connection.

The selections in the present volume, which include pieces by Geach and by Anscombe, are spread across the range. Occasionally they also reach out beyond Catholicism (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides), and beyond philosophy (mostly to scripture, theology, and spirituality). There are eighty-two readings ranging from a cluster of biblical passages to a useful survey of contemporary Catholic philosophy in the United States; authors from God to Arthur Madican of Boston College, respectively.

For the most part the selections are well-chosen, but the quality and relevance vary as one approaches the present. It is useful for the classroom purposes for which the book is designed to have short extracts from the likes of Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Origen, Augustine, Boethius, Bonaventure, Aquinas, Eckhart, Scotus, Ockham, Suarez, Gassendi, Descartes, Malebranche, Newman, Kleutgen, Blondel, Scheler, Maréchal, Maritain, Gilson, Marcel, Stein, Rahner, Lonergan, Popes Leo XIII and John Paul II, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Charles Taylor.

On the other hand some inclusions are hardly merited by quality, and others seem out of place.Alfred Tarski was a great mathematical logician famed among analytical philosophers for his semantic theory of truth. This is important both in conception and in technical implementation, but the selection of a fragment whose significance is unclear is further strained by the identification of Tarski as a Catholic philosopher. The motivation for him and his brother in 1920's Poland to convert (from Judaism) and change their name was practical, and he was almost certainly an atheist. None of Tarski's writings show any interest in Catholic thought.

The editors pose and very briefly discuss the question, "what is Catholic philosophy?" but come to no clear conclusion. Since this is again a live issue, and one critical to the task of selecting examples, it would have been wise to address the matter more extensively and to include selections exploring it. It would also have been useful to provide a guide to further reading. As it is, we have a useful source for reference, teaching, and occasional dipping into.