Seeking a Center by Otto Bird

  • "The work of reconciliation for which St. Thomas Aquinas is best know is that of accommodating and converting the philosophical wisdom of Aristotle to the supernatural wisdom of the Christian faith" (68).
  • "Our aim, indeed out very happiness, does not consist merely in learning about divine things. Beyond that, it consists in the actual experience of them" (69).
  • Two thinkers who have made sense of the problem of modern philosophy: Etienne Gilson and Mortimer Adler
  • distinction between history as understanding and philosophy as choosing (and debate about how true that is and how it should motivate these, pg 105)
  • "modern philosophy from Descartes on has been badly mistaken and should look for correction to ancient and medieval philosophy" (106).
  • Gilson, "The Intelligence in the Service of Christ the King"