"Jesuit Philosophy on the Eve of Modernity", edited by Cristiano Casalini

Series: Jesuit Studies, Volume: 20

Jesuit Philosophy on the Eve of Modernity, edited by Cristiano Casalini, is the first comprehensive volume to trace the origins and development of Jesuit philosophy during the first century of the Society of Jesus (1540–c.1640). Filling a gap in the history of philosophy, the volume seeks to identify and examine the limits of the “distinctiveness” of Jesuit philosophers during an age of dramatic turbulence in Western thought. The eighteen contributions by some of the leading specialists in various fields are divided into four sections, which guide the reader through cultural milieus, thematic issues, and intellectual biographies to show the impact of Jesuit philosophy on early modern thought.

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Cristiano Casalini, PhD (2004), is associate professor at Boston College. He holds the chair in Jesuit pedagogy and educational history. His publications include Aristotle in Coimbra. The Cursus conimbricensis and the Education at the College of Arts (Routledge, 2017), and – with Claude Pavur, S.J. – Jesuit Pedagogy, 1540–1616: A Reader (Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2016).

Introduction (Cristiano Casalini)

I. The Landscape

Philosophy in Jesuit Schools and Universities, Paul F. Grendler
Uniformitas et soliditas doctrinae: History, Topics, and Impact of Jesuit Censorship in Philosophy (1550–99), Christoph Sander

II. The Disciplines

Section 2.1: Knowledge

From Probability to the Sublime(s): Early Modern Jesuit Rhetoric; a Anti-philosophy or an Alternative Path to a Modern Idea of “Truth”?, Anne Régent-Susini
Jesuit Logic, E. Jennifer Ashworth
Jesuit Psychology and the Theory of Knowledge, Daniel Heider

Section 2.2: Nature and Theological Concerns

Early Jesuit Philosophers on the Nature of Space, Paul Richard Blum
“Accedit Theologicum argumentum”: Discussing Transubstantiation in Commenting, Aristotle; Commentarius Collegii Conimbricensis on Aristotle’s De generatione
Stefano Caroti

Section 2.3: Action

A Juridicized Language for the Salvation of Souls: Jesuit Ethical Thought, Christoph P. Haar
Political Thought, Erik De Bom

III. Authors

Section 3.1: The Roman College

Francisco de Toledo: Setting a Standard for Jesuit Philosophy, Anna Tropia
Benet Perera: the Epistemological Question at the Heart of Early Jesuit Philosophy, Marco Lamanna

Section 3.2: Madrid

Luis de Molina: The Metaphysics of Freedom, Alexander Aichele

Section 3.3: Coimbra

Pedro da Fonseca’s Unfinished Metaphysics: the First Systematic Jesuit Metaphysics before Suárez, António Manuel Martins
Manuel de Góis: the Coimbra Course and the Definition of an Early Jesuit Philosophy, Mário S. de Carvalho
Francisco Suárez: a “New” Thomistic Realism, Benjamin Hill

IV. Reverberations