Scholastic realism is a type of moderate realism. As such, it falls between platonism and nominalism on the issue of universals. Universals, strictly speaking, only exist in minds, but they are founded on real relations of similarity in the world. Scholastic realism goes beyond moderate realism and affirms that universals also exist transcendently; but instead of having a separated existence, transcendent universals exist in God's mind. This work argues that moderate realism is implied by the correct analysis of predication and persons, and that Scholastic realism, in particular, is implied by the correct analysis of knowledge, truth, and right action.

The aim of this work is to respond to the following question: how did Charles S. Peirce find unity for his pragmatist philosophy through the formulation of Scholastic Realism? The author proposes the said doctrine to be a reading guide, leading us through the different stages of Peirce's work as a philosopher. By understanding his realist doctrine, we can see why he believed it was a viable theory for understanding the problem of Universals. This book demonstrates why, in Peirce's mind, such a problem has pervaded the history of philosophy. The author's line of argument reveals that Scholastic Realism is crucial to the understanding of his philosophy, which is a new approach in Peirce scholarship. It provides a useful framework for asking questions about reality in the same way that Peirce himself did. As a result, the author shows that Peirce's realism addresses different yet related philosophical problems, leading Peirce to brand the final version of his philosophy as «Scientific Metaphysics». The conclusion offers an interpretation of the Scholastic Realism principle as a solution to Peirce's concerns - a useful idea to achieve a better theory of reality in his struggle to realize metaphysics a posteriori. Peirce's doctrine is presented alongside some of its uses, especially in the fields of abstraction theory, and also in the fundamental principles of mathematics. This work should advance our comprehension of the problems related to Peirce's philosophy as well as shedding light on pragmatism and its origins as well as the battle between realism and nominalism.

Scholastic Metaphysics provides an overview of Scholastic approaches to causation, substance, essence, modality, identity, persistence, teleology, and other issues in fundamental metaphysics. The book interacts heavily with the literature on these issues in contemporary analytic metaphysics, so as to facilitate the analytic reader's understanding of Scholastic ideas and the Scholastic reader's understanding of contemporary analytic philosophy. The Aristotelian theory of actuality and potentiality provides the organizing theme, and the crucial dependence of Scholastic metaphysics on this theory is demonstrated. The book is written from a Thomistic point of view, but Scotist and Suarezian positions are treated as well where they diverge from the Thomistic position.

This textbook is organized as possible: Introduction Chapter 1. What Is Philosophy? Part I. The Historical Rise of Philosophy Chapter 2. The First Beginnings of Philosophy Chapter 3. The Problem of Change and Permanence Chapter 4. The Age of the Sophists Chapter 5. Socrates Chapter 6. Plato Chapter 7. Aristotle Part II. The Meaning of Man Chapter 8. The Nature of Man Chapter 9. The Nature of Knowing Chapter 10. The Kinds of Knowing Chapter 11. The Truth Of Knowing Chapter 12. The Nature of Desire Chapter 13. Freedom And Liberty Chapter 14. Liberty and Love Chapter 15. The Soul Of Man Chapter 16. Human Personality Part III. The Making of Man Chapter 17. In Search of Happiness Chapter 18. The Road to Happiness Chapter 19. The Life of Virtue Chapter 20. The Virtues of the Individual Person Chapter 21. Justice, The Social Virtue Chapter 22. Social Philosophy Part IV. The Universe Of Man Chapter 23. The World of Bodies Chapter 24. The Realm of Nature Part V. The Universe Of Being Chapter 25. In Quest of Being Chapter 26. Transcendentals of Being Chapter 27. The Divisions of Being Chapter 28. Uncreated Being Conclusion Chapter 29. The Perennial Philosophy Reading List Suggested Topics

This book introduces readers to Thomistic philosophy through selected topics such as being, God, teleology, truth, persons and knowledge, ethics, and universals. John Peterson discusses metaphysics and the essence-existence distinction and presents what he believes is Aquinas’ strongest theistic proof. He offers a new defense Aquinas’ idea of natural ends based on the distinction between immanent and transient change. Unveiling the complexity of Aquinas’ account of truth, Peterson shows the hierarchical levels of truth in the thought of St. Thomas. The book explains why Aquinas would reject Cartesian dualism as well as both materialism and epiphenomenalism on the body-mind issue. Defending the basis of Aquinas’ natural-law ethics, Introduction to Thomistic Philosophy reveals the role of universalizability and the relation of right and good in his ethics.

This short book is a work of one of the 20th century's greatest philosophers and historians of philosophy, Etienne Gilson. The book's title, taken from the first chapter, may sound esoteric but it reflects a common-sense outlook on the world, applied in a methodical way. That approach, known as realism, consists in emphasizing the fact that what is real precedes our concepts about it. In contrast to realism stands idealism, which refers to the philosophical outlook that begins with ideas and tries to move from them to things. Gilson shows how the common-sense notion of realism, though denied by many thinkers, is indispensible for a correct understanding of things--of what is and how we know what is. He shows the flaws of idealism and he critiques efforts to introduce elements of idealism into realist philosophy (immediate realism). At the same time, the author criticizes failures of certain realist philosophers--including Aristotle--to be consistent in their own principles and to begin from sound starting points. To these problems, Gilson traces medieval philosophy's failure in the realm of science, which led early modern scientific thinkers of the 17th century unnecessarily to reject even the best of medieval scholastic philosophy. He concludes with The Realist Beginner's Handbook, a summary of key points for thinking clearly about reality and about the knowledge of it.

How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is “really” like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the reader on a grand tour of more than a hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction to the main themes of the philosophy of science. Examples and asides engage the beginning student, a glossary of terms explains key concepts, and suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter. Like no other text in this field, Theory and Reality combines a survey of recent history of the philosophy of science with current key debates that any beginning scholar or critical reader can follow. The second edition is thoroughly updated and expanded by the author with a new chapter on truth, simplicity, and models in science.