Working from a realist Thomistic epistemology, Ashley asserts that we must begin our search for wisdom in the natural sciences; only then, he believes, can we ensure that our claims about immaterial and invisible things are rooted in reliable experience of the material. Any attempt to share wisdom, he insists, must derive from a context that is both interdisciplinary and intercultural.Ashley offers an ambitious analysis and synthesis of major historical contributions to the unification of knowledge, including non-Western traditions. Beginning with the question "Metaphysics: Nonsense or Wisdom?" Ashley moves from a critical examination of the foundations of modern science to quantum physics and the Big Bang; from Aristotle's theory of being and change, through Aquinas's five ways, to a critical analysis of modern and postmodern thought. Ashley is able to interweave the approaches of the great philosophers by demonstrating their contributions to philosophical thought in a concrete, specific manner. In the process, he accounts for a contemporary culture overwhelmed by the fragmentation of data and thirsting for an utterly transcendent yet personal God."This is an impressive, well-researched book, of great value. It offers the wider philosophical community a point of entrance, by a proponent of a certain type of Thomism, into a domain that all philosophers think they already understand. The result is the creation of a 'big picture' of human knowledge." -- Mark Johnson, Marquette UniversityFr. Benedict Ashley, O.P. (ordained 1948) was the leading proponent of River Forest or Aristotelian-Thomism.Fr. Ashley coins the word "Metascience" as a modern synonymn of "metaphysics" in the Aristotelian sense.John Deely's reviewL. Purcell's review (full-text below)"The River Forest School and the Philosophy of Nature Today" by Benedict Ashley, O.P.See this excerpt on how the natural sciences are epistemologically first.full-text of L. Purcell's review:Pp. xxi, 618 , Notre Dame IN , University of Notre Dame Press , 2006 , $75.00 .Although Benedict Ashley's work is written as an introduction to metaphysics, it proves to be the most profound contemporary defense of ‘River Forest’ or Aristotelian Thomism yet to be produced. Those who would like to decide for themselves whether this form of Thomism deserves to be praised or buried need look no further. While this might have been an achievement sufficient for a life time's contemplation on these matters, Ashley has additionally provided a uniquely relevant perspective in metaphysics, which is sensitive to the contemporary problems of multiculturalism and pluralism. The aim of the work is precisely to resuscitate metaphysics in order to provide a framework for the fragmentation of knowledge that plagues contemporary higher education, in order that meaningful interdisciplinary dialogue might begin. To accomplish this

zlib/no-category/Ashley, Benedict, O.P. [Ashley, Benedict, O.P.]/The Way towards Wisdom: An Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Introduction to Metaphysics (partial)_14465352.epub

The Way toward Wisdom: An Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Introduction to Metaphysics (ND Thomistic Studies)

Way Toward Wisdom, The: An Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Introduction to Metaphysics (Thomistic Studies)

Ashley O.P., Benedict M.

Benedict M. Ashley O.P.

Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3), Notre Dame, Ind, 2006

Thomistic studies, Notre Dame, Indiana :, 2006

United States, United States of America

1st, First Edition, US, 2009

1 edition, July 10, 2006

3, 20060731

Once thought to be the task of metaphysics, the synthesis of knowledge has been discounted by many philosophers today. Benedict Ashley, a leading Thomistic scholar, argues that it remains a valid and intellectually fruitful pursuit by situating metaphysics as an endeavor that must cross disciplinary and cultural boundaries.
Working from a realist Thomistic epistemology, Ashley asserts that we must begin our search for wisdom in the natural sciences; only then, he believes, can we ensure that our claims about immaterial and invisible things are rooted in reliable experience of the material. Any attempt to share wisdom, he insists, must derive from a context that is both interdisciplinary and intercultural.
Ashley offers an ambitious analysis and synthesis of major historical contributions to the unification of knowledge, including non-Western traditions. Beginning with the question "Metaphysics: Nonsense or Wisdom?" Ashley moves from a critical examination of the foundations of modern science to quantum physics and the Big Bang; from Aristotle's theory of being and change, through Aquinas's five ways, to a critical analysis of modern and postmodern thought. Ashley is able to interweave the approaches of the great philosophers by demonstrating their contributions to philosophical thought in a concrete, specific manner. In the process, he accounts for a contemporary culture overwhelmed by the fragmentation of data and thirsting for an utterly transcendent yet personal God. The capstone of a remarkable career, The Way Toward Wisdom will be welcomed by students in philosophy and theology.

The problem of the unification of knowledge -- The historical varieties of "metaphysics" in Western culture -- Natural science is epistemologically first -- The culminating foundational theorem of natural science -- The existence and essence of metascience -- Unity, plurality, and efficient causality -- Unity and plurality in other sciences -- Truth and formal causality -- Truth in the special sciences -- Goodness and final causality -- Finality in the special sciences -- The absolute or nature -- The one creating first cause

2021-05-22