perspectives contemporary constructive argumentation

books:

1 review
St. Thomas Aquinas

University of Notre Dame Press, 1992

Spared me buying more of Aquinas's stuff
Great philosophy, I'm sure, but personally, I like mine a little more practical and applicable to life. I found this painful to wade through with little to show for my efforts.

The Four Cardinal Virtues

11 reviews
Josef Pieper

University of Notre Dame Press, 1966

Don't let your enemies define you.
Simply brilliant reading. Living naturally is what the crux of this book is all about. The book delves into ethics, civics, justice, philosophy, psychology, and I think it is a healthy tool for understanding classical literature: Shakespeare, for example, and the inner psychology of his characters as this moral plain, that Pieper describes, is so much closer to his than most of what we hear ...

After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Second Edition

25 reviews
Alasdair Mac Intyre

University of Notre Dame Press, 1984

a moral thriller
I read this book conflicted. On the one hand the book contained sentences, frequent sentences, of such numbing bodilessness as "For beside rights and utility, among the central moral fictions of the age we have to place the peculiarly managerial fiction embodied in the claim to possess systematic effectiveness in controlling certain aspects of social reality." On the other hand the book was so ...

Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary (ND Ward Phillips Lectures)

1 review
N. Katherine Hayles

University of Notre Dame Press, 2008

Electronic Literature--Outstanding
This is an excellent book by well-qualified scholars of an on-trend subject. It is an essential book for all University teachers of writing classes and introductory literature classes. It is highly recommended for all literature professsors--undergraduate and graduate, because it is important to know the context in which our students are reading and writing.

Idea Of A University: Philosophy (Notre Dame Series in the Great Books)

2 reviews
John Henry Newman

University of Notre Dame Press, 1990

Simply Amazing
If you are looking for a book that will change your life .. This is the one!!!!! What is real education? What is perfection? Blows the theories of education to pieces.. Defines what makes a human ... a Human!!... A must read!

Treatise On Happiness (ND Series in Great Books)

3 reviews
St. Thomas Aquinas

University of Notre Dame Press, 1991

A Jewel of Philosophy
Aquinas' "Treatise on Happiness", comprising the first 21 questions of the "Summa Theologicae", is one of the greatest pieces of philosophy. The essence of the questions is the notion that happiness must be found in "a vision of the divine essence", namely, God. While I am an atheist, I do find Aquinas' arguments intriguing. The object of happiness, he argues, is to no longer have desires, i.e., ...

Whose Justice? Which Rationality?

5 reviews
Alasdair C. MacIntyre

University of Notre Dame Press, 1989

A major work of contemporary philosophy
This is a review of _Whose Justice? Which Rationality?_ by Alasdair MacIntyre. This is a very challenging book to read, but also one that will deepen your thinking about the world, whether you agree with it or not. We largely take it for granted that (1) people disagree significantly about a wide range of issues related to ethics, and that (2) people do not agree about enough standards of ...

A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic

3 reviews
Stanley Hauerwas

University of Notre Dame Press, 1981

Incredibly provocative
This was the first book of Prof. Hauerwas's that I read, and it remains my favorite. It's been over a year since I read it, so many of the details of it are fuzzy in my mind. Nonetheless, I do remember being particularly struck by his statements about marriage, abortion, and the role of the church. Not to mention a lengthy first chapter almost entirely devoted to looking at how "scripture" ...

Theology for Pilgrims
Nicholas Lash

University of Notre Dame Press, 2008

"Nicholas Lash has a very good claim to being the most influential British theologian of his generation." -- The Tablet "If God is a stranger in our house, then it is quite certain that our house is not our home, for we are made to be at home with God. That we are not yet at home is not, in itself, occasion for surprise. For we are travellers, pilgrim people. . . ." --from "Among Strangers and Friends: Thinking of God in Our Current ...

After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Third Edition

3 reviews
Alasdair MacIntyre

University of Notre Dame Press, 2007

Nietzsche or Aristotle? the question is the same 20 years later.
I am rather flabbergasted that the only review on this page thus far is one comparing Alisdair MacIntyre to radical islamists. That is rather disconcerting as the author's roots, as others have already noted, come from the 1960-70's British Labour movement and from a very deep, very thought-out Marxism in the context Marxism demands to be judged on, namely, not only as a socio-economic theory, ...

Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying (The Ethics of Everyday Life)

9 reviews

University of Notre Dame Press, 1999

The wisdom of the ages...or throwbacks to an earlier time?
Some reviewers seem insistent that Amy and Leon Kass are stuck in a cultural and intellectual backwater, still insisting on ideas and values that are badly out of date. Others say that Leon and Amy Kass have written the best answer to modern misunderstandings and mistakes concerning marriage and sexual relationships. They are accused of trying to force their narrow, archaic views of the sexual ...

The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics

9 reviews
W. Norris Clarke, Norris Clarke

University of Notre Dame Press, 2001

Best introduction of Thomism
This is the best inroductory text on Thomas's thought I have seen. Fr Clarke does a fine job of relaying difficult metaphysical concepts in an easy to understand manner without compromising their meaning. In this book, Thomistic thought is effectively applied to modern philosophical and scientific issues. Ch 8 on the nature of identity through time via substance is especially good, as is ...

A Promised Land, A Perilous Journey: Theological Perspectives on Migration

University of Notre Dame Press, 2008

A Christian theological interpretation of the border reality is a neglected area of immigration study. The foremost contribution of A Promised Land, A Perilous Journey is its focus on the theological dimension of migration, beginning with the humanity of the immigrant, a child of God and a bearer of his image. The nineteen authors in this collection recognize that one characteristic of globalization is the movement not only of goods ...

Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God

6 reviews
Thomas Aquinas

University of Notre Dame Press, 1991

Reader's Notes
Depending on the reader's preparation, "Summa Contra Gentiles: God" is either completely impenetrable or one of the easier philosophical works to understand. While it is ideal for the reader to have read Aristotle, particularly his "Physics" and "Metaphysics", less - even much less - will do. What is minimally necessary is an understanding of the vocabulary. Thomas used a number of terms that he ...

Corpus Mysticum: The Eucharist and the Church in the Middle Ages (ND Faith in Reason)
Henri de Lubac

University of Notre Dame Press, 2007

A great figure of 20th century Catholic theology, Henri Cardinal de Lubac SJ is renowned for his attention to the doctrine of the Church and its life within the contemporary world. In this book, de Lubac opens an initial exploration of the ways in which the Church has been understood Eucharistically, and gives new expression to that mystery in which the Church is believed to consist. As one whose generous and fervent spirit contributed ...

Fulfillment in Christ: A Summary of Christian Moral Principles

2 reviews
Germain Grisez, Russell Shaw

University of Notre Dame Press, 1993

God wants our true happiness
It's about a dozen years since I read Dr. Germain Grisez and Russel Shaw's class on fundamental moral theology. God wants our true happiness, the flourishing of the human community. Through the use of right reason, we can understand the moral law which will lead to this integral human fulfillment. Christ has given us His Church to guide us, and He protects His Church from error in Faith and ...

Faith And Violence: Theology

3 reviews
Thomas Merton

University of Notre Dame Press, 1984

An essential testament by a 20th century prophetic voice
"Faith and Violence: Christian Teaching and Christian Practice" is an excellent collection of essays by Thomas Merton. The essays in this book reflect a turbulent era: the late 1960s (Merton's preface is dated 1967). Merton has a progressive, open-minded Christian vision. He writes about nonviolence, the Vietnam War, the Black Power movement, and "Death-of-God" theology. Interesting specific ...

We Belong to the Land: The Story of a Palestinian Israeli Who Lives for Peace and Reconciliation (Erma Konya ...

10 reviews
Elias Chacour, Mary E. Jensen

University of Notre Dame Press, 2001

If you want to see the Truth for what it really is.
If all people thought and lived like Abuna Chacour war would not exsist. A true follower of Jesus Christ, Abuna truly walks the walk and talks the talk. How can anyone Not read these books and how can anyone having read them not believed every word as gospel? American Christians especially supporters of Zionism need to wake up and realize what they are really supporting. How silly to think that ...

Modern Physics and Ancient Faith

30 reviews
Stephen M Barr

University of Notre Dame Press, 2006

Modern Physics Affirms Ancient Faith.
For several centuries now a debate has raged between materialists and theists over the question of the existence of God. For a time it was widely suspected among the educated public that modern science had finally disproven the existence of God and that faith was unwarranted. In recent times, this debate has come to a head yet again, with many notable scientists publishing books making the case ...

The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation

3 reviews
Chaim Perelman, Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca

University of Notre Dame Press, 1969

Not just plain math!
This book is a masterpiece in the subject of argumentation. Since Descartes the rethorical argumentation got a bad conotation, as a disguise to fold the truth. But, as Perelman brightly teachs, not all structures of the reality can be describe just by the formal (mathematical) logics. In fact, some "truths" can only be discovered by using argumentation, such as political or moral ...

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