Person, Being and History

During a distinguished career as thinker and educator at universities across North America, philosopher Kenneth L. Schmitz has striven to recover metaphysical realism in a world that has, after Kant, turned to the subject. Schmitz has done so through precisely the window of the subjectivity, particularity, and concern for history which marks philosophy after Kant. Although primarily associated with his native University of Toronto, where he was known as "the Educator," Schmitz also taught at Loyola Marymount, Marquette, the Catholic University of America, and the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. His teaching focused upon the singularity of the human person founded upon the notion of being that generates the history of philosophy. He was eminently generous in his appreciation of the philosophers about whom he lectured. He taught philosophy, richly grounded in the history of philosophy as a gold mine rather than as a minefield. Anchored in his spirit, the various essays in this volume by colleagues and former students of Schmitz examine his thought and the subjects of his teaching. In addition to an overall exposition of his own thought, the collection treats themes such as gift, faith and reason, culture and dialogue, modernity and post-modernity, and themes in the work of various thinkers, including Aristotle, Anselm, Aquinas, Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Max Scheler, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Special attention is given to G. W. F. Hegel whose philosophy Schmitz was particularly adept at teaching. He turned many a budding scholar into a life-long student of Hegel's work. Several of the essays begin with a special tribute to the honoree. The volume concludes with a bibliography of Schmitz's many works. Michael Baur is associate professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of law at Fordham University. He is the editor of numerous works including The Emergence of German Idealism. Robert E. Wood is professor and former chair of philosophy at the University of Dallas. He is the longtime editor of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, and author of three books and numerous articles. Contributors: Thomas Anderson, Jennifer Bates, Michael Baur, John Burbidge, Thomas Busch, James Crooks, Daniel O. Dahlstrom, John Deely, Martin Donougho, Jude P. Dougherty, Louis Dupre, James Kow, Jay Lampert, John C. McCarthy, +Ralph McInerny, John Russon, Daniel E. Shannon, and Robert E. Wood PRAISE FOR THE BOOK "The editors of this book have done a great service in drawing attention to the notable excellences of Schmitz's work, excellences both systematic and historical. Perhaps this will provide some impetus to make available more of his essays, surely worthy to be communicated to as wide an audience as possible." -The Thomist "In his work, Kenneth Schmitz seeks to unify the disparate and, argumentatively, to seek the common ground on a diverse gathering of opinions. Not that he is blind to difference or so tolerant that criticism is suspended. Rather, his principal convictions enable him to favor the principle of charity in interpretation and respect in critical assessment. That these qualities have been communicated to his former students and colleagues is apparent in these essays. This collection brings the facets of Schmitz's philosophical thought into a fruitful exchange, and introduces the lifework of an incredibly gifted and original thinker."--Thomas R. Flynn, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy, Emory University