Knowledge and the Transcendent: An Inquiry into the Mind's Relationship to God

332 Pages·2009·1.05 MB·English

by  Paul MacDonald

Knowledge and
the transcendent

Knowledge and
the transcendent
an Inquiry into the Mind’s
relationship to god
Paul a. Macdonald Jr.
The catholic University of america Press
washington, d.c.
copyright © 2009
The catholic University of america Press
all rights reserved
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
american national standards for Information science—Permanence of Paper
for Printed library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
∞
LIbrAry of CoNgreSS CA tALogINg-IN-PubLICA tIoN DA tA
Macdonald, Paul a.
Knowledge and the transcendent : an inquiry into the mind’s relationship
to god / Paul a. Macdonald, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISbN 978-0-8132-1577-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Thomas, aquinas, saint, 1225?–1274. 2. Philosophical theology.
3. Knowledge, Theory of (religion) 4. Philosophy of mind. 5. transcen-
dence of god. 6. transcendence (Philosophy) I. title.
b765.t54M215 2009
212'.6—dc22 2008038127
For my parents, Paul and Jan Macdonald

contents
acknowledgments ix
Introduction: diagnosing the Problem xi
PArt I. PItfALLS IN MoDerN ePISteMoL ogy
1 skepticism and subjectivism in Modern Thought 3
2 challenging Modern skepticism and subjectivism 43
PArt II. the CoNtrIbutIoN of thoMIStIC ePISteMoL ogy
3 direct realism and aquinas’s account of cognition 81
4 having god in View: direct realism and the Beatific Vision 135
5 realist epistemologies of reason and Faith 172
PArt III. APPLICAtIoNS IN thoMIStIC ePISteMoL ogy
6 rehabilitating objectivity in the Knowledge of god 231
7 In defense of a realist Interpretation of Theology 264
Bibliography 291
Index 301

acknowledgments
thIS book is the product of much effort and thought, along with a fer-
vent desire to bring to completion a project whose roots extend as far
back as my undergraduate years when I first began my study of philosophy
and theology, and began reflecting on the very idea of knowledge of god:
how it is possible and what it looks like (or should look like) from within
a distinctly western, even more specifically christian (and as it turns out,
catholic) worldview.
of course, I could not have developed this project and eventually pro-
duced a book without the help and guidance of key contributors to my own
intellectual and professional development. First, I owe thanks to my disser-
tation committee: my main advisor, Jamie Ferreira, and co-advisors, gene
rogers and chuck Mathewes, who provided sure, steady direction while al-
lowing me the intellectual freedom to bring a classical christian perspective
on knowledge of god into contact with contemporary perspectives in epis-
temology and the philosophy of mind. while the dissertation is but a distant
ancestor of the current book, its presence within the book (and hence the
presence of those who guided me in writing it) remains.
I am also deeply grateful to the catholic University of america Press and
the editorial staff at the press: director david Mcgonagle, for overseeing the
review process, acquisitions editor Jim Kruggel, for serving as both an advi-
sor and advocate during the review process, and managing editor Theresa
walker, for overseeing the editorial process and bringing it to completion.
My thanks as well to the editors of the following journals: Peter Byrne, for
allowing me to include material from “a realist epistemology of Faith” and
ix