Frederick M. Lawrence

Beyond Language

Philosophy

“Part philosophy of language, part deep personal meditation, Beyond Language is a profound and sensitive exploration of the omnipresence and potency of words. Words define us personally and communally. Through words we encounter systems of law and worlds of artistic expression. Walker teaches us that only through words can we grasp what it is to be human and to seek to approach the infinite.”

Medieval Essays

Philosophy

“Back in the days before Vatican II, when Catholic students of philosophy were trying to understand manuals such as the ones written, say, by the Benedictine, Joseph Gredt, OSB, while their contemporaries at secular schools were excited by existentialism or phenomenology or analytic philosophy, they would turn to the works of Etienne Gilson. In my recollection, Gilson's luminous historical works helped them both to understand Aquinas and to situate his thought in relation to such modern philosophers as Descartes, Hume, and Kant intelligently and without distorting caricature. Turning to these Medieval Essays with a certain sentiment of nostalgia, then, I marveled to encounter the subtle scholarship, the wide-ranging erudition, and the detailed knowledge of the authors and texts in relation to issues that still burn today. Gilson's even-handed defense of the study of medieval philosophy is imbued with an understanding of the justice of the Renaissance and Enlightenment complaints against scholastic thought; but it takes the readers by the hand and leads them into an utterly refreshing appreciation of those old authors and texts that is rarely, if ever, matched in the depth of its gratitude to his masters and in its profound courtesy towards those with whom he disagrees. These essays take the readers back to school and offer the opportunity to experience the thrill of discovery even with regard to texts and issues with which they may have had a great familiarity.”