Monday, July 20, 2009

Kant, the last Scholastic?

Justo Gonzalez on Albertus Magnus:
Philosophy operates on the basis of autonomous principles, which can be known apart from revelation, and seeks to discover truth by a strictly rational method. A true philosopher does not seek to prove what the mind cannot understand, even if the question at hand is a doctrine of faith. * * *

On the question of the eternity of the world, for instance, Albert frankly confesses that as a philosopher he cannot prove creation out of nothing. At best he can offer arguments of probability. But as a theologian he knows that the world was made out of nothing, and is not eternal. What we have here is a case in which reason cannot attain truth, for the object of inquiry is beyond human reason.
Not much of a step from that to the antinomies. Kant's novelty would seem to be his replacement of "theology" by "practical reason."

No comments:

Post a Comment