The Commentary of Conrad of Prussia on the De Ente et Essentia of St. Thomas Aquinas by Joseph Bobik (review)

174 BOOK REVIEWS of a licit war of aggression (proper authorization, right intention, just cause), and the conduct of war, one cannot help thinking that our contemporary international situation is more than a little removed from the civilization Molina knew. It is in connection with slavery that Molina's thought has been most controversial. In responding to his critics, Father Costello treats the matter delicately: " Molina's approach to the question of the morality of the slave trade was first of all to review facts carefully as far as he could know them," and then outline the norms by which slaves might be legally acquired, denouncing at the same time the illegal slave traffic. (p. 198) The concluding chapter, on Molina's philosophy of law, is little more than a survey of what could make another entire book if handled in detail. For throughout the five volumes, Molina is concerned to state clearly and develop in great detail the Thomistic definition and division of law. Father Costello contents himself with a consideration of three elements of Molina's jurisprudence: the definition and divisions of law, the relation between natural law and Jus gentium, and positive civil law in relation to economic problems such as taxation. In his conclusion the author finds Molina's political philosophy realistic (considering man in the concrete within contingent historical conditions), personal (placing the free individual in the center of his concerns), and democratic (consistently opposing all usurpations of authority). These are the fruits of Father Costello's exploration of the stream of Jesuit political thought as it flowed into the larger river of scholastic political thought in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. Illinois State University Normal, Illinois JOHN A. GuEGUEN The Commentary of Conrad of Prussia on the De Ente et Essentia of St. Thomas Aquinas. Introduction and Comments by JoSEPH BOBIK. Transcription of the Manuscript by James A. Corbett and Joseph Bobik. The Hague: Martinus Nijhofl', 1974. The De Ente et Essentia was one of St. Thomas's first and shortest works, and yet it has been very popular in Thomistic circles ever since his death. At least nine commentaries on it were written up to the end of the 16th century, and in modern times it has been edited many times and translated into several languages. If St. Thomas were alive today he would no doubt be astonished at the attention given to this brief and occasional treatise. Its popularity is understandable, however, for apart from his commentary BOOK REVIEWS 175 on Aristotle's Metaphysics it is his only purely philosophical treatment of the notions of being and essence and other related metaphysical terms. The De Ente et Essentia reveals the young St. Thomas calmly and surely laying the foundations of his metaphysics, which he developed and deepened later on in his theological writings. In the book under review Professors Bobik and Corbett have published and analyzed the first known commentary on the De Ente et Essentia. The manuscript of the commentary was transcribed by Corbett and Bobik, and the Introduction and Comments were made by Bobik. The commentary is extant in only one manuscript, dating from the mid-14th century. It was written before St. Thomas' canonization in 1323, since it refers to him as Brother Thomas. Martin Grabmann, who discovered the manuscript in the monastery library of Admont, Austria, attributed it to Conrad of Prussia. He noted, however, that the name of the author was erased in the manuscript; only ' de Prusya " remains. A partial erasure of the name " Conradi" preceding ' de Prusya " in another treatise in the same codex suggests that the erased name of the author of the commentary was also "Conradi." But on the evidence presented, nothing certain can be said about the name of the author. Even if his name was Conrad of Prussia nothing further is known about him. The commentary consists of a Prooemium and sixteen lectiones or lectures , each of which is divided in the medieval manner into two parts: a division and summary of Aquinas' text, and a commentary on it. After presenting the Latin text of the author, Professor Bobik comments on it at length (pp. 92-162) . His "one...