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Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought

by Wisconsin Province of the (Author)
©1992 Monographs XXII, 578 Pages

Summary

This volume was inspired by Etienne Gilson's query, made in the early 1950s, as to why medieval authors spoke of God's being as infinite, a statement found neither in Judaeo-Christian scriptures nor in Greek philosophy. Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought deals with Hellenic and Hellenistic philosophers such at the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and Proclus, as well as with Eastern Church fathers such as Gregory of Nyssa and John Damascene. The book also draws on the works of Augustine and such medieval authors as Peter Lombard, Richard Fishacre, Bonaventure, and Aquinas. It concludes that infinity is predicated of God not only extrinsically, but also intrinsically: His very being is infinite - a predication resting on an Aristotelian theory of act/potency or on a Platonic version of participation.

Details

Pages
XXII, 578
Year
1992
ISBN (Hardcover)
9780820411781
Language
English
Keywords
Etienne Gilson Judaeo-Christian scriptures Greek philosophy Hellenistic philosophers Augustinus von Hippo
Published
New York, Bern, Frankfurt/M., Paris, 1992. XXII, 578 pp.

Biographical notes

Wisconsin Province of the (Author)

The Author: Leo Sweeney, S.J. is Research Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University in Chicago. He received his M.A. from St. Louis University and his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Dr. Sweeney is author of Metaphysics of Authentic Existentialism (1965), Infinity in the Presocratics (1972), and Authentic Metaphysics in an Age of Unreality (Peter Lang, 1988). He is also the author of numerous articles in scholarly journals, and is editor of Infinity (1981) and four other volumes.

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Title: Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought