After God, with Reason Alone (Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysic)

Product Description

Saikat Guha (1974 2008) wrote prolifically on many topics. Trained as a philosopher and physicist, Guha was interested in topics ranging from sexual ethics to Bell s Theorem to Anselm s ontological argument to Augustine s persecution of the Donatists though he was primarily a metaphysician. Guha studied at the University of Texas at Austin, Boise State University, the University of Washington at Seattle, and Syracuse University. He wrote more than one hundred papers from roughly 1997 2006, five of which are published here. Three of these papers reformulate some of Aquinas s key doctrines on God: his first, second, and third ways, and his account of how necessity of being entails absolute perfection. The fourth paper considers whether Ockham s razor requires the presumption of atheism. The fifth paper presents a logical model of the doctrine of the Trinity in order to prove that the doctrine can be understood without logical contradiction.

Review

It is my pleasure to recommend to you the nine volumes, thus far, of the Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics. . . . By focusing on both logic and metaphysical themes, the articles often shed new light on themes and figures that often escaped the notice of previous scholarship. . . . The volumes are a treasure trove in a field that is once again enjoying a renewed interest with academe. --Lloyd A. Newton, Benedictine College, Kansas, USA

The Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics is an extremely important network for the study of medieval philosophy. . . . Every paper represents a significant contribution based on absolutely original research that meets a very high standard. All the papers actually promote insightful analysis of medieval texts and thought-provoking discussion of philosophical topics. --Fabrizio Amerini, University of Parma, Italy

The study of medieval philosophy is now flourishing as never before, and these volumes showcase the very best of that work. Among the contributors to these volumes are many of the leading figures in the field, and the topics under investigation are fundamental to philosophy. --Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA

About the Author

Saikat Guha studied Philosophy, Physics, and Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Boise State University, the University of Washington at Seattle, and finally at Syracuse University, where he specialized in logic and ontology. After a long illness, Saikat died in 2008. Editor: Timothy Kearns studied Classics at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, and researches medieval philology at the Center for Medieval and Byzantine Studies at The Catholic University of America. His main interest is in philosophy and literature as ways of life. Series Editors: Gyula Klima is Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York, USA; Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Founding Member and Director of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics, and Editor of its Proceedings. Professor Klima s most recent book is John Buridan in OUP s Great Medieval Thinkers series. Alexander W. Hall is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Clayton State University, Georgia, USA; Assistant Director of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics, and Managing Editor of its Proceedings. Hall s recent scholarship includes Natural Theology in the Middle Ages in the Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology (OUP, 2012).