The injustice of taxation—of taxation per se, not merely of this or that particu-lar tax policy o... more The injustice of taxation—of taxation per se, not merely of this or that particu-lar tax policy or of especially high levels of taxation—is a familiar theme ofpopular libertarian rhetoric. Curiously, it is less evident in the more sophisti-cated statements of libertarianism emanating from libertarian political philosophers and economists, who tend to base their arguments on appeals to more abstruse con-siderations of utility maximization, rights theory, and the like. To be sure, a critique of current tax policies, perhaps even of most taxation as such, may often follow from some of those more fundamental considerations; but even so, the connection often has the appearance of an afterthought, something to be passed over quickly on the way to treating more pressing matters. One simply does not find many libertarian intellectuals—certainly not many libertarian academics—insisting that the institution of taxation that sustains the Leviathan state they oppose is clearly and fundamentally...
Traditional morality is rejected today as commonly as it was once taken for granted. And if the s... more Traditional morality is rejected today as commonly as it was once taken for granted. And if the specific content of that morality, especially where it touches on matters of sexuality, is widely regarded with contempt, the meta-ethical notion that one ought to respect a moral code precisely because it is traditional gets even worse treatment: It is held to be beneath contempt. Modern educated people take it to be a sign of their modernity and education that they refuse to accept the legitimacy of any institution or code of behavior, however widespread, ancient, and venerable, which has not been rationally justified. Traditional morality stands doubly damned in their eyes: It is not rationally justifiable, and its adherents fail even to attempt to justify it so. The traditional moralist, they take it, is a slave not merely to the “conventional wisdom ” but to the conventional wisdom of people long dead. He is in the grip of irrationality, superstition, and ignorance; worst of all, he ...
This is an excellent collection of papers treating a wide range of medieval thinkers and topics i... more This is an excellent collection of papers treating a wide range of medieval thinkers and topics in metaphysics. Rega Wood’s essay discusses the various positions entertained by Scotus on the question of what the proper subject matter of metaphysics is, and argues that he ultimately settled on the view that metaphysics is concerned with that entity which is ontologically prior to all other entities. Brian Francis Conolly discusses Dietrich von Freiberg’s defense of the doctrine of the unity of substantial form, especially against the theological objection that the doctrine cannot account for the numerical identity of the living and dead body of Christ. Martin Tweedale’s paper is concerned with Avicenna’s treatment of the distinction between types and tokens as he had found it in Alexander of Aphrodisias, and his attempt to steer a middle way between monism and idealism. Jack Zupko’s piece is a study of Buridan’s earlier and later thinking about universal cognition. Susan Brower-Toland discusses the debate between Ockham and his successors over whether God could know more than he does, and the role played in this debate by different theories about the objects of propositional attitudes. Terence Parsons’ “The Power of Medieval Logic” provides a not unfavorable comparison of its subject to the modern predicate calculus, and offers a taste of themes Parsons explores in detail in his new book Articulating Medieval Logic. E. Jennifer Ashworth’s paper compares the views of Aquinas, Scotus, and Walter Burley on analogy, metaphor, and equivocation. In what follows, I will focus my comments on the papers by Gyula Klima and by the editors of the volume, Charles Bolyard and Rondo Keele. Its title notwithstanding, Klima’s essay “Aquinas vs. Buridan on Essence and Existence” actually considers three objections to Aquinas’s intellectus essentiae argument for the real distinction between essence and existence: the critique developed by Anthony Kenny in his book Aquinas on Being, Buridan’s objection, and a novel objection Klima attributes to a student. Klima argues that all of these objections can be answered.
In his book ‘Is a Good God Logically Possible?’, James Sterba argues that the existence of much o... more In his book ‘Is a Good God Logically Possible?’, James Sterba argues that the existence of much of the evil to be found in the world is logically incompatible with the existence of God. I defend the Thomistic view that when one properly understands the nature of God and of his relationship to the world, this so-called logical problem of evil does not arise. While Sterba has responded to the version of the Thomistic position presented by Brian Davies, I argue that his response fails.
Graham Oppy has criticized several Thomistic versions of the cosmological argument in a series of... more Graham Oppy has criticized several Thomistic versions of the cosmological argument in a series of publications over the years, most recently in a Religious Studies article responding to my book Five Proofs of the Existence of God. Here I reply to his criticisms, arguing that while Oppy raises important issues, a besetting weakness of his approach is a failure adequately to grapple with the metaphysical underpinnings of the arguments.
Abstract Hayek's attack on the ideal of social justice, though long ignored by political the... more Abstract Hayek's attack on the ideal of social justice, though long ignored by political theorists, has recently been the subject of a number of largely unsympathetic studies (those of Lukes and Johnston being the most recent) in which his critique is dismissed as at best ...
The injustice of taxation—of taxation per se, not merely of this or that particu-lar tax policy o... more The injustice of taxation—of taxation per se, not merely of this or that particu-lar tax policy or of especially high levels of taxation—is a familiar theme ofpopular libertarian rhetoric. Curiously, it is less evident in the more sophisti-cated statements of libertarianism emanating from libertarian political philosophers and economists, who tend to base their arguments on appeals to more abstruse con-siderations of utility maximization, rights theory, and the like. To be sure, a critique of current tax policies, perhaps even of most taxation as such, may often follow from some of those more fundamental considerations; but even so, the connection often has the appearance of an afterthought, something to be passed over quickly on the way to treating more pressing matters. One simply does not find many libertarian intellectuals—certainly not many libertarian academics—insisting that the institution of taxation that sustains the Leviathan state they oppose is clearly and fundamentally...
Traditional morality is rejected today as commonly as it was once taken for granted. And if the s... more Traditional morality is rejected today as commonly as it was once taken for granted. And if the specific content of that morality, especially where it touches on matters of sexuality, is widely regarded with contempt, the meta-ethical notion that one ought to respect a moral code precisely because it is traditional gets even worse treatment: It is held to be beneath contempt. Modern educated people take it to be a sign of their modernity and education that they refuse to accept the legitimacy of any institution or code of behavior, however widespread, ancient, and venerable, which has not been rationally justified. Traditional morality stands doubly damned in their eyes: It is not rationally justifiable, and its adherents fail even to attempt to justify it so. The traditional moralist, they take it, is a slave not merely to the “conventional wisdom ” but to the conventional wisdom of people long dead. He is in the grip of irrationality, superstition, and ignorance; worst of all, he ...
This is an excellent collection of papers treating a wide range of medieval thinkers and topics i... more This is an excellent collection of papers treating a wide range of medieval thinkers and topics in metaphysics. Rega Wood’s essay discusses the various positions entertained by Scotus on the question of what the proper subject matter of metaphysics is, and argues that he ultimately settled on the view that metaphysics is concerned with that entity which is ontologically prior to all other entities. Brian Francis Conolly discusses Dietrich von Freiberg’s defense of the doctrine of the unity of substantial form, especially against the theological objection that the doctrine cannot account for the numerical identity of the living and dead body of Christ. Martin Tweedale’s paper is concerned with Avicenna’s treatment of the distinction between types and tokens as he had found it in Alexander of Aphrodisias, and his attempt to steer a middle way between monism and idealism. Jack Zupko’s piece is a study of Buridan’s earlier and later thinking about universal cognition. Susan Brower-Toland discusses the debate between Ockham and his successors over whether God could know more than he does, and the role played in this debate by different theories about the objects of propositional attitudes. Terence Parsons’ “The Power of Medieval Logic” provides a not unfavorable comparison of its subject to the modern predicate calculus, and offers a taste of themes Parsons explores in detail in his new book Articulating Medieval Logic. E. Jennifer Ashworth’s paper compares the views of Aquinas, Scotus, and Walter Burley on analogy, metaphor, and equivocation. In what follows, I will focus my comments on the papers by Gyula Klima and by the editors of the volume, Charles Bolyard and Rondo Keele. Its title notwithstanding, Klima’s essay “Aquinas vs. Buridan on Essence and Existence” actually considers three objections to Aquinas’s intellectus essentiae argument for the real distinction between essence and existence: the critique developed by Anthony Kenny in his book Aquinas on Being, Buridan’s objection, and a novel objection Klima attributes to a student. Klima argues that all of these objections can be answered.
In his book ‘Is a Good God Logically Possible?’, James Sterba argues that the existence of much o... more In his book ‘Is a Good God Logically Possible?’, James Sterba argues that the existence of much of the evil to be found in the world is logically incompatible with the existence of God. I defend the Thomistic view that when one properly understands the nature of God and of his relationship to the world, this so-called logical problem of evil does not arise. While Sterba has responded to the version of the Thomistic position presented by Brian Davies, I argue that his response fails.
Graham Oppy has criticized several Thomistic versions of the cosmological argument in a series of... more Graham Oppy has criticized several Thomistic versions of the cosmological argument in a series of publications over the years, most recently in a Religious Studies article responding to my book Five Proofs of the Existence of God. Here I reply to his criticisms, arguing that while Oppy raises important issues, a besetting weakness of his approach is a failure adequately to grapple with the metaphysical underpinnings of the arguments.
Abstract Hayek's attack on the ideal of social justice, though long ignored by political the... more Abstract Hayek's attack on the ideal of social justice, though long ignored by political theorists, has recently been the subject of a number of largely unsympathetic studies (those of Lukes and Johnston being the most recent) in which his critique is dismissed as at best ...
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Papers by Edward Feser