Academic Work
Below, you will find the various academic articles which I have written and, where possible, links to the actual articles. Some periodicals permit this, whereas others do not. However, even where the file is available, I do welcome you to consider donating to the periodical in question. Good academic work is often done on a shoe-string budget. If we can spend money on frivolities (which I will not name, for fear of giving away my own opinions…!), hopefully we can also throw a few pence into the coffers of institutions attempting to do good work!
“Ius Gentium as Publicly Articulated Moral Science,” Nova et Vetera, English Edition 21, no. 3 (Summer 2023): 1043–1058.
Article in Nova et Vetera.
An essay obliquely in response to Barrett Turner’s recent discussion of the “law of nations” in the pages of The Thomist. I propose to consider the ius gentium as being a particular state of “moral science” (discursive and certain knowledge), namely inasmuch as moral science can be publicly articulated amid rational agents, even those who are not fully philosophical in methods or rigor. In this way, we have a clearer articulation of the epistemological status of the “law of nations” in contrast to the natural law and human law.
Patricia Kelly, Ressourcement Theology: A Review Essay. NOVA ET VETERA 21, NO. 1 (2023): 353–373
Article in Nova et Vetera.
A review essay of a recent volume of translated essays related to the “nouvelle théologie” debates in the 1940s. In it, I summarize the structure of the volume and voice several concerns regarding certain aspects of it.
Emmanuel Doronzo: A Forgotten Giant of American Thomistic Theology. The Science of Sacred Theology (Arouca Press, 2022)
Introduction to The Science of Sacred Theology.
Brief overview of the life and work of Fr. Emmanuel Doronzo, O.M.I., professor of dogmatic (especially dogmatic) theology during the first half of the 20th century, in Italy, Canada, and America.
Cajetan, Twentieth-Century Thomism, and Eastern Christian Theology: A Review Essay. LOGOS: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 62 (2022): 245–252.
Article in Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies.
Review Article of Hieromonk Gregory Hrynkiw, Cajetan on Sacred Doctrine (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2020).
“Ecclesia, magistra conscientiae: Catholic Teaching and the Formation of Conscience.” Benedict Ashley, The Dialogue Between Tradition and History: Essays on the Formation of Catholic Moral Theology (Broomall, PA: National Catholic Bioethics Center, 2022), 203–222.
Article in The Dialogue Between Tradition and History.
General essay on the role of Church authority in the formation of conscience, written from the perspective of the writings and thought of Fr. Benedict Ashley, OP included in a volume published by the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Humani Generis and the Nature of Theology: A Stereoscopic View from Rome and Toulouse. Saint Anselm Journal 16, no. 2 (2021): 1-35.
Article in Saint Anselm Journal.
Among the various topics treated by Pope Pius XII in Humani generis, there is numbered the issue of the so-called “New Theology,” best know from its French origins as the “Nouvelle théologie.” This name was first given by Pietro Parente to the French Dominicans Marie-Dominique Chenu and Louis Charlier, though it then soon became quickly known through a general attribution made by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange in his (in)famous Angelicum article, “La Nouvelle théologie où va-t-elle?” This article, triggered by remarks concerning dogmatic development expressed by Henri Bouillard, SJ at the end of his Conversion et grâce chez Saint Thomas d’Aquin, is the best-known conservative-Dominican response to the budding French movement of ressourcement theological reflection. However, the full context of the debate from the late 1940s requires a consideration of the complete retinue of articles written by Garrigou-Lagrange, as well as the separate (though equally concerned) articles written by the Toulouse Dominicans Michel Labourdette, Marie-Joseph Nicolas, and Raymond-Léopold Bruckberger. The present article lays out the basic narrative of this encounter, along with the view of theology offered by the Dominicans writing both in Angelicum and the Revue thomiste in response to the Jesuits involved in the two series Théologie and Sources Chrétiennes.
The Philosophy of the Organism, Notes on the Function of Nutrition: Translation and Comments on an Article by Jacques Maritain. nova et Vetera 19.2 (2021)
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This article, a translation of a lecture given by Jacques Maritain as part of a natural philosophy course, is concerned with the ontological analysis of the nutritive functions of the soul. Although seemingly devoted to an obscure Aristotelian topic, it actually engages several important themes: the distinction between experimental science and natural philosophy; the issue of immanent activity's first degree of presentation; and the first analogate of the properly-proportional term "life." A translator's preface is included to provide context for the reader.
“A Note on Synderesis, Moral Science, and Knowledge of the Natural Law.” Lex naturalis 5 (2020).
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In this essay, I outline some basic but important distinctions that must be made between speculative knowledge, speculatively-practical knowledge, moral-scientific knowledge, and prudential knowledge within the overall Thomistic framework of moral judgments. The goal of the article is to provide a roadmap for evaluating the high-level distinctions needed for understanding the noetics in practico-moral reasoning, noting in particular how knowledge of the natural law is related to the truths grasped through what the ancients called “synderesis.”
“Wisdom be Attentive: The Noetic Structure of Sapiential Knowledge” Nova et Vetera (Fall 2020).
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In this essay, I lay out some important distinctions between sapientia and scientia in the Aristotelian and Thomistic noetic of the discursive knowledge. Developing certain (latent and open) insights in Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Jacques Maritain, Kieran Conley, Francisco Muñiz, and others, this essay argues for the central importance of understanding the difference in argumentative structure between forms of discursive “science” and those of discursive “wisdom.” This is something almost universally under-emphasized by Aristotelians. In the 20th century, a theological controversy involving Louis Charlier, M.-R. Gagnebet, and others could have been better negotiated had this topic been treated more honestly in the open. However, certain terminological strongholds about “theological conclusions” tended to stifle such discussion. In my essay, I introduce the issue at hand and attempt to set forth the implications of this distinction both for discursive theological knowledge, as well as for the various sapiential disciplines in philosophy.
(Translation with comments:) Benedict Merkelbach, “Where Should we place the Treatise on Conscience in Moral Theology?” Nova et Vetera (Summer 2020).
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This essay, by the great Dominican Moral Theologian Fr. Benedict-Henry Merkelbach, outlines the historical and systematic vicissitudes of the theological treatise on conscience from the 14th century to the early 20th century, with particular emphasis on how it fit into the overall scheme of moral theology following upon the debates over probabilism. It provides a unique (and quite detailed) schema for treating the topic of conscience in the context of the virtue of prudence. The translation is accompanied by an introduction by me.
“The Analogy of Res-ality,” Reality 1 (2020): 124-145
This is a brief response article to a work by Dr. Brian Kemple in the new journal Reality. In it, I merely lay out some basic points reflected in my 2017 ACPQ article, here applied to the insightful comments made by Kemple in his own essay in defense of a semiotic outlook in philosophical speculation. To purchase a copy of this issue, click here.
(Translation and comments:) Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange. “Remarks Concerning the Metaphysical Character of St. Thomas’s Moral Theology, in Particular as It Is Related to Prudence and Conscience.” Nova et Vetera 17, no. 1 (Winter, 2019): 245-270.
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An interesting article on the nature of the analysis done in Thomist moral theology in contrast to the legalistic-casuistic analysis popular in many ecclesiastical circles at the time of its original publication. The essay bears witness to the anti-casuistic attitude present in the Dominican Order prior to the more-well-known critiques leveled by Fr. Servais Pinckaers, O.P. This essay registers important comments on the nature of prudence and moral truth. It is accompanied by two appendices by me: “Concerning the Formal Object of Acquired Theology” and “On the Speculative, the Speculatively-Practical, and the Practically-Practical.”
“Thomism and the Formal Object of Logic.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 93, no. 3 (Summer 2019): 411-444.
The scientific status of logic is ambiguous within a broadly Aristotelian framework. As is well known, the Stoic position is frequently contrasted with that of the the classic Peripatetic outlook on these matters. For the former, logic is a unique division of philosophy (i.e., rational philosophy), whereas for the latter, logic plays a merely instrumental role. is article explores how several Dominican thinkers articulated an outlook concerning logic that granted it a robust scientific status while maintaining a generally Peripatietic philosophical outlook. Clarity in these matters required the passing of several centuries. is article presents a set of historical vignettes showing the development of an increasingly clearer definition of the nature of the subject of logic, tracing the topic in Aristotle, Avicenna, Aquinas, Hervaeus Natalis, and Antoine Goudin.
This essay is a 35-page reduction of my dissertation, which I do not plan to publish in full. It was awarded 2nd place in the annual American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly “Rising Scholar Contest” for 2018.
“Revisiting Maritain’s Moral Philosophy Adequately Considered,” Nova et Vetera 16, no. 2 (Spring, 2018): 489-510.
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In several important essays, Jacques Maritain discussed a position which was shared, ultimately, by a number of other Thomists in his era (including, but not limited to, Charles Cardinal Journet, Yves R. Simon, and even Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange), namely that Moral Philosophy cannot exist without some open subordination to theology (and not mere negative regulation thereby). In the language of Aristotelian logic, this involves a subalternation by way of principles, though not by way of scientific subject. (On this point, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, preferred to speak solely of “subordination.”) This essay lays out the basic outlines of Maritain’s position and argues on its behalf. In the future, I hope to write a complement to it in order to round out some of the obvious difficulties involved.
“Maritain and the Metaphysics of Sexual Differentiation.” The Things that Matter: Essays on the Later Work of Jacques Maritain, edited by Heidi Giebel, 150-167. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America, 2018.
This essay discusses and expands on an argument originally presented by Jacques Maritain in his essay, “Let Us Make for Him a Helpmate Like to Himself.” In this text, Martain, basing himself on the Thomistic metaphysics of the spiritual human soul, argues that the human sex differentiation ultimately constitutes a profound difference at the level of the very formality of the human person. His argument, buttressed robustly by elements of metaphysics characteristic of the Thomist position concerning the human person, represents what I believe to be the best-founded and strongest argument for the profound complementarity of the sexes, without, however, falling into the error of subdividing the specific nature of the human person thereby. My presentation develops and clarifies his work, ties it to insights voiced by several others, and notes (mostly in passing) certain points of critique regarding the metaphysics that he deploys in making his argument.
The original version of the text was awarded the graduate student “best paper” award at the 2016 American Maritain Association Conference.
“Intelligence and Morality: Translation and Comments on an Article by Fr. Ambroise Gardeil, O.P.,” Nova et Vetera 16, no. 2 (Spring, 2018): 643-664.
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In this essay, Fr. Ambroise Gardeil discusses the intellectual character of moral reasoning, against those who would reduce morality either to mere natural or temperamental spontaneity, or to a mere form of obedience. Fr. Gardeil is quite aware of the supernatural demands of Christian morality. This text is concerned, one might say, with the basic preambles needed for articulating the basic epistemological structure of practical reasoning—a kind of inspiration for further work. Grace then will be grafted on to this outlook—and Fr. Gardeil does that marvelously in other works!
Publication takes a little time, so this was an older translation of mine. It is a bit literalistic, so do bear in mind that I have matured as a translator! Nonetheless, Fr. Gardeil’s thought is so excellent, that I hope he makes up for my own semi-clunky shortcomings! The text includes an introduction by me.
“Beyond Non-Being: Thomistic Metaphysics on Second Intentions, Ens morale, and Ens artificiale,” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 91, no. 3 (July, 2017): 353-379.
In Thomistic metaphysics, the domain of ens rationis pertains to a hazy region of “non-real” being, laying outside of the proper scientific subject of meta- physics. In addition to negations and privations, a very important domain of entia rationis pertains to that of relationes rationis, especially such relationes as play a role in human reasoning. Logic, studying these “non-real” relations, thus focuses on a unique, if hazy, realm of “non-being.” While this particular type of ens rationis receives the lion’s share of attention among Thomists, there is evidence that similar reflection should be given to two additional domains of experience, namely that of “moral being” and “artificial being” (i.e., the being of artifacts). is paper lays out the general metaphysical concerns pertaining to each of these domains, providing an outline of topics pertinent to a Thomistic discussion of the intentional existence involved in logic, moral realities, and artifacts.
Of all my work, this text might be the one dearest to my heart. In light of it, I some day hope to write a text on metaphysics that takes up the basic viewpoint elaborated in here. Though I have updated my thought on this or that technical detail related to this topic, I think that this insight is very important. May John N. Deely (eternal memory) be praised for first enabling me to see this important point!
“Not Our Loudest but Our Stillest Hours: A Dialogue Between Friedrich Nietzsche and the Monastic Spirit,” Downside Review (No. 456, July 2011): 36-53.
Get article from Downside Review.
This was my first published piece. Thus, it bears witness to all the weaknesses of early work. It’s first version predates my reading of The Degrees of Knowledge by Jacques Maritain, a moment which changed my entire intellectual landscape. I wrote this after taking a philosophical anthropology course in seminary when I was a Roman Catholic Benedictine monk in simple vows. (As a matter of seminary formation, I disagree with the approach of the course for which this was written. Such is the state of such things in so much of the Church, though…) The professor, Dr. George Leiner (now an emeritus professor), though hailing from a very different philosophical background than I, was a very good man to me, supporting me morally during the days after I departed from the monastery. May his retirement be long and filled with peace. Be merciful if you ever read this juvenile work of mine!
Academic Book Reviews
Natural Law Today: The Present State of the Perennial Philosophy. Edited by Christopher Wolfe and Steven Brust. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018. Lex Naturalis 4 (2019): 93-98.
Stanley Vodraska. Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Families. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2014. Lex Naturalis 3 (Spring, 2018): 137-141.
Robert P. George. Conscience and Its Enemies. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2016. Lex Naturalis 2 (Jan., 2017).
Daniel D Novotný. Ens rationis from Suárez to Caramuel: A Study in Scholasticism of the Baroque Era. New York: Fordham University Press, 2013. The Review of Metaphysics (Sept., 2016): 145-147.
Aryeh Kosman. The Activity of Being: An Essay on Aristotle’s Ontology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014. The Review of Metaphysics (Summer, 2016): 817-819.
John Deely. Tractatus de signis: The Semiotic of John Poinsot. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 2013. The Review of Metaphysics (2015): 381-383.
Work Pending Publication
(Translation) Jacques Maritain, “The Philosophy of the Organism: Notes on the Function of Nutrition,” Nova et Vetera (2020).
This is a brief text by Maritain, drawn from a natural philosophy course that he taught early in his career. It makes some important points about the nature of nutritive activity, hinting at the importance of articulating these changes as a first instance of immanent activity. It also testifies to certain important points in what might be called, more broadly, the “philosophy of science.” I have attached a very brief introduction, merely in order to make clear why the text is still of relevance.
(Translation) Charles Journet, “Palamisme et Thomisme, À propos d’un livre récent.” Revue Thomiste 60 (1960): 429-52.
Until the official date for this publication is set, I will note place the journal here, though I see no reason why it should be held up. The text is a wonderful and irenic overview of the points of connection and disagreement between the thought of St. Gregory Palamas and St. Thomas Aquinas by then-Msgr. Charles Journet. It was written after the publication of John Meyendorff’s well-known study of Palamas. It is very fair and balanced. Even sixty years later, it presents as good an account as any for someone trying to wrap his or her head around what separates the great Orthodox “Doctor” from the Thomist school. (Also, in his lovely spirit of conciliation—without being facile, however—Journet manages to emphasize the many points of agreement between these “parties.”) My students, all very pro-Palamite, found this text to be quite refreshing.