Brother Azarias

Preface. THE aim of the present Essay is to embody in a united whole the laws and principles of literature in its most general relations. It is now sixteen years since the Essay was first presented to the public. In the kind reception then accorded the book by critics of nearly every shade of opinion, the Author has found encouragement to prepare this new edition. It runs upon the same lines of thought as the old edition. Parts have been revised, parts developed, and parts re-written, in the hope that the work will be found every way less unworthy of the subject. There is one remark of an esteemed Reviewer upon which the Author would dwell. The late Dr. Orestes A. Brownson wrote, among many other complimentary things, upon the first appearance of the book: "We have been struck with the depth and justness of the Author's philosophical principles, which could, as we understand them, be borrowed from no school of philosophy generally accepted by Catholics or by non-catholics" (Brownson's Review, Oct., 1874, p. 561). Every earnest thinker must begin by breaking through the shackles of schools and systems. Philosophy is above schools and systems. None knew better than the great Brownson that he who commits himself to any school of thought -- any exclusive System -- thereby so narrows the horizon of his intellectual vision, that he no longer sees things in themselves, but merely certain imperfect aspects of things. The primary and self evident truths of our reason, from which start all philosophy and all knowledge, are not of this school or that; they simply are. Every teacher of literature, be the literature home or foreign, will perceive the benefit of placing his pupils upon this elevated vantage ground from which to survey the various great authors and take their relative bearings.

Preface. THE aim of the present Essay is to embody in a united whole the laws and principles of literature in its most general relations. It is now sixteen years since the Essay was first presented to the public. In the kind reception then accorded the book by critics of nearly every shade of opinion, the Author has found encouragement to prepare this new edition. It runs upon the same lines of thought as the old edition. Parts have been revised, parts developed, and parts re-written, in the hope that the work will be found every way less unworthy of the subject. There is one remark of an esteemed Reviewer upon which the Author would dwell. The late Dr. Orestes A. Brownson wrote, among many other complimentary things, upon the first appearance of the book: "We have been struck with the depth and justness of the Author's philosophical principles, which could, as we understand them, be borrowed from no school of philosophy generally accepted by Catholics or by non-catholics" (Brownson's Review, Oct., 1874, p. 561). Every earnest thinker must begin by breaking through the shackles of schools and systems. Philosophy is above schools and systems. None knew better than the great Brownson that he who commits himself to any school of thought -- any exclusive System -- thereby so narrows the horizon of his intellectual vision, that he no longer sees things in themselves, but merely certain imperfect aspects of things. The primary and self evident truths of our reason, from which start all philosophy and all knowledge, are not of this school or that; they simply are. Every teacher of literature, be the literature home or foreign, will perceive the benefit of placing his pupils upon this elevated vantage ground from which to survey the various great authors and take their relative bearings.

Excerpt: In it, moreover, every conclusion of philosophy is tested by the fuller search-light from above, that it may be cleared of misunderstanding and mistake and made truth indeed. Hence, while in a certain sense it may be truly said that "the Church is not a School of Philosophy," there is a sense in which it may be said that she is the School of Philosophy. All truth fits into the sublime truth, which is her special concern, and is illumined and fortified by it. She welcomes truth of any kind, no matter by whom discovered or enunciated, because every truth will in some way be useful to mankind. She warns against pernicious errors. She condemns the folly that would make reason self-sacrificing and would ignore or refuse the higher light; and good sense condemns this as well as she. She never meant to condemn Aristotle, but the unworthy use made of him by trifiers. Now the great philosopher and the Angel of the Schools are linked inseparably in the esteem of mankind, and the Church blesses their union, and finds in the philosophy of religion thence resulting the best answer to the many questions which the rationalism of our age is so anxiously asking. In conclusion, it is well to remark that their union is due to the University of Paris. This blending of the human and the Divine lights, for the solution of the great world-problems, is the natural function and the bounden duty of universities, is implied in their profession to seek after and impart the universality of knowledge. This demands the union and harmony of science, philosophy and religion. The omission of either from a university mutilates the totality and spoils the harmony of truth and lowers the institution beneath the real university level, In the future, as in the past, the true university must be a sanctuary of truth, a rampart against the incursions of error, a beacon-light in the journey of mankind.

Excerpt: In it, moreover, every conclusion of philosophy is tested by the fuller search-light from above, that it may be cleared of misunderstanding and mistake and made truth indeed. Hence, while in a certain sense it may be truly said that "the Church is not a School of Philosophy," there is a sense in which it may be said that she is the School of Philosophy. All truth fits into the sublime truth, which is her special concern, and is illumined and fortified by it. She welcomes truth of any kind, no matter by whom discovered or enunciated, because every truth will in some way be useful to mankind. She warns against pernicious errors. She condemns the folly that would make reason self-sacrificing and would ignore or refuse the higher light; and good sense condemns this as well as she. She never meant to condemn Aristotle, but the unworthy use made of him by trifiers. Now the great philosopher and the Angel of the Schools are linked inseparably in the esteem of mankind, and the Church blesses their union, and finds in the philosophy of religion thence resulting the best answer to the many questions which the rationalism of our age is so anxiously asking. In conclusion, it is well to remark that their union is due to the University of Paris. This blending of the human and the Divine lights, for the solution of the great world-problems, is the natural function and the bounden duty of universities, is implied in their profession to seek after and impart the universality of knowledge. This demands the union and harmony of science, philosophy and religion. The omission of either from a university mutilates the totality and spoils the harmony of truth and lowers the institution beneath the real university level, In the future, as in the past, the true university must be a sanctuary of truth, a rampart against the incursions of error, a beacon-light in the journey of mankind.

Preface 4 Attitude of the Church towards Philosophy. 7 The Church and her Apologists. 14 Aristotle and his Influence. 20 Aristotle in the West. 26 Aristotle in the East. 34 Aristotle Among the Arabs. 40 Aristotle and the Church. 56 Aristotle in the University. 72 Limitations of Thought. 81 The Spirit in which the Schoolmen Worked 91 Aristotle and the Schoolmen in Metaphysics and Psychology. 104 Aristotle and the Church in Morals. 118 Conclusion. 135 Appendix. 142