Summary of Scholastic Principles

Legal maxims serve the lawyer and proverbs serve the rest of us; the principles of scholastic philosophy serve the student of Aristotle and St Thomas Aquinas in much the same way. Fr Bernard Weullner, a Jesuit teacher already known for his Dictionary of Scholastic Philosophy, gathers these principles into one compact guide. They are the household truths of the tradition: the starting points for argument, proof and criticism that the great masters return to again and again.

Weullner's case is simple and persuasive. Without a working grasp of these principles, Aristotle and Aquinas stay partly closed to us, and their conclusions are hard to weigh honestly. A clear, usable companion for anyone studying Thomist philosophy, whether in a seminary, a university course or alone with the Summa on the kitchen table.