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Human Works, Absent Words

Law, Man, and God in Some Classical Philosophers

Christopher Berry Gray

What is said can be understood only when seen in the context of what is not said. Many ancient and medieval philosophers use this dynamic of presence and absence. Plato always recognizes that his expressions are energized by being set before other people. Aristotle’s dialectic between different sorts of public activity does the same. Anselm sees his writing as a test case for what it says. Bonaventure approximates his distance from trinity by finding its images at large. Aquinas makes legal norms approach the flexibility of facts. Ockham’s solution to holding goods without owning them impresses English jural doctrine. Las Casas’ refusal to fix first nations’ identity in deviant past activities hints at how to rectify contacts with first peoples today. This book shows how each author amplifies meaning in the distance between what he puts into his work and what he leaves unsaid.

University Press of America

Pages: 132 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-0-7618-5920-8 • Hardback • November 2013 • $78.00 • (£60.00)

978-0-7618-5921-5 • eBook • November 2013 • $74.00 • (£57.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Law / General, Philosophy / Religious, Philosophy / Social, Philosophy / Hermeneutics

Human Works, Absent Words

Law, Man, and God in Some Classical Philosophers

Hardback

eBook

Summary

What is said can be understood only when seen in the context of what is not said. Many ancient and medieval philosophers use this dynamic of presence and absence. Plato always recognizes that his expressions are energized by being set before other people. Aristotle’s dialectic between different sorts of public activity does the same. Anselm sees his writing as a test case for what it says. Bonaventure approximates his distance from trinity by finding its images at large. Aquinas makes legal norms approach the flexibility of facts. Ockham’s solution to holding goods without owning them impresses English jural doctrine. Las Casas’ refusal to fix first nations’ identity in deviant past activities hints at how to rectify contacts with first peoples today. This book shows how each author amplifies meaning in the distance between what he puts into his work and what he leaves unsaid.

Details

University Press of America

Pages: 132 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-0-7618-5920-8 • Hardback • November 2013 • $78.00 • (£60.00)

978-0-7618-5921-5 • eBook • November 2013 • $74.00 • (£57.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Law / General, Philosophy / Religious, Philosophy / Social, Philosophy / Hermeneutics

Author

Christopher Berry Gray has taught philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal since 1967. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1941 and received his BA in 1963 from St. Bonaventure University. Gray earned his MA in 1965 and his PhD in 1970, both from The Catholic University of America. He received his BCL in 1978 and his LLB in 1979, both from McGill University Law School. In addition to articles, chapters, and other books on philosophy and law, he has also published The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia and The Methodology of Maurice Hauriou: Legal, Sociological, Philosophical.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
1 Phaedo’s Trivia
2 Paideia, Schole, Paidia: Then and Now
3 Finality’s Flameout
4 External Goods and Contemplation in Aristotle
5 Aristotle’s Text on Justice
6 Freedom and Necessity in St. Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo
7 Bonaventure’s Proof of Trinity
8 Civil Obligation in Bonaventure and 20th Century Anarchists
9 Specification of Norm in the Jurisprudences of Aquinas, Austin and Kelsen
10 Ockham on Trusts
11 Las Casas’ Medieval Ideology

Human Works, Absent Words

Law, Man, and God in Some Classical Philosophers

Christopher Berry Gray

Human Works, Absent Words

Law, Man, and God in Some Classical Philosophers

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