Human Works, Absent Words Law, Man, and God in Some Classical Philosophers [Hardcover]

What is said can be understood only when seen in the context of what is not said. Many ancient and medieval philosophers use this dynamic of presence and absence. Gray shows how each author amplifies meaning in the distance between what he puts into his work and what he leaves unsaid.What is said can be understood only when seen in the context of what is not said. Many ancient and medieval philosophers use this dynamic of presence and absence. Plato always recognizes that his expressions are energized by being set before other people. Aristotles dialectic between different sorts of public activity does the same. Anselm sees his writing as a test case for what it says. Bonaventure approximates his distance from trinity by finding its images at large. Aquinas makes legal norms approach the flexibility of facts. Ockhams solution to holding goods without owning them impresses English jural doctrine. Las Casas refusal to fix first nations identity in deviant past activities hints at how to rectify contacts with first peoples today. This book shows how each author amplifies meaning in the distance between what he puts into his work and what he leaves unsaid.PrefaceAcknowledgements1 Phaedos Trivia2 Paideia, Schole, Paidia: Then and Now3 Finalitys Flameout4 External Goods and Contemplation in Aristotle5 Aristotles Text on Justice6 Freedom and Necessity in St. Anselms Cur Deus Homo7 Bonaventures Proof of Trinity8 Civil Obligation in Bonaventure and 20th Century Anarchists9 Specification of Norm in the Jurisprudences of Aquinas, Austin and Kelsen10 Ockham on Trusts11 Las Casas Medieval IdeologyChristopher Berry Gray has taught philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal since 1967. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1941 and received his BA in 1963 from St. Bonaventure University. Gray earned his MA in 1965 and his PhD in 1970, both from The Catholic University of America. He received his BCL in 1978 and his LLB in 1979, both from McGill University Law Schoolƒj