Reprints Series

The Cursus Philosophicus of John Poinsot

John Poinsot, O.P., also known as Joannes a Sancto Thoma (1589–1644) wrote two major works in his lifetime: the Cursus Theologicus, on which incomplete text he worked from 1635 until 1643, when he was requested to become counselor and Royal Confessor to King Philip IV of Spain.  While attending to this new duty, Poinsot is striken with fever and dies on 17 June 1644, a few weeks shy of his 55th birthday.  Poinsot’s other major work, the Cursus Philosophicus, was written between 1631–1635, and has the distinct advantage of being relatively complete.

Though more or less continually in print since his own life, the text received little attention until the late nineteenth century—being seen as merely one among many other such cursus penned during the later period of scholasticism.  However, in the Thomistic revival which captured the attention of Pope Leo XIII, among others, Ludovico Vives republished both of Poinsot’s Cursus in the 1880s.  The Cursus Philosophicus gained the attention of not only Jacques Maritain (who considered Poinsot second of his teachers only to St. Thomas himself) but also Beatus Reiser, O.S.B.  In the 1930s, Reiser published a more polished and critically-evaluated text of Poinsot’s Cursus Philosophicus with Marietti.  This edition was republished in 2008 by Olms Verlag.  Unfortunately, copies of the Marietti are both rare and often printed on acid-laden paper (that is, paper quick to deteriorate); and the Olms Verlag edition was prohibitively expensive for most individuals.

It is, therefore, the great joy of the Lyceum Institute to bring for the first time into an affordable copy the Reiser-edited edition of Poinsot’s Cursus Philosophicus.  Reiser’s edition was printed in three volumes; for ease of printing and cost-considerations, we have divided this into five (I-I, I-II, II-I, II-II, and III).

The first (I-I) contains the Prima Pars Artis Logicae, i.e., the formal logic.  The second (I-II) contains the Secunda Pars Artis Logicae, or material logic.  The third (II-I) contains the Philosophiae Naturalis Prima Pars, structured as a commentary on the eight books of Aristotle’s Physics (but containing much beyond the text of Aristotle alone), or on mobile being in general.  The fourth (II-II) contains the Philosophiae Naturalis Tertia Pars, a commentary on several of the minor works of Aristotle concerning corruptible mobile being.  The Philosophiae Naturalis Secunda Pars, concerning incorruptible mobile being, was never published, seemingly having been suppressed by Poinsot himself after the second condemnation of Galileo’s teaching.  The fifth and final volume (III) contains the Philosophiae Naturalis Quarta Pars, on ensouled mobile being, as well as the indices compiled by Reiser (including scriptural references, references to Aristotle and St. Thomas, persons, and topics).

The Cursus Theologicus of John Poinsot

The work of John Poinsot, also known as Joannes a Sancto Thoma (though as John Deely noted, his name has often been given in many other variations, across English, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, and Latin), has long been the victim of great neglect. His Cursus Philosophicus was critically-edited and published in the 1930s under the blessed endeavor of Beatus Reiser, O.S.B., and reprinted in 2008 by Olms Verlag. (Unfortunately, Olms Verlag has ceased this publication—an issue we hope to rectify in the near future.) Currently, his Cursus Theologicus is undergoing a similar critical evaluation and re-publication.

Though the facsimile reprint volumes here are taken from the non-critical and therefore somewhat unreliable Latin text Vives edition of the 1880s, they are presented in full and affordably. The far superior critical Solesmes edition has thus far reached only the fifth volume (in 2015) and sits outside the price-range of many.

However, in the meantime and in an effort to promote the study and understanding of Poinsot, these ten volumes (the tenth being the index to the whole series) are presented as-is, in a reasonably durable, reasonably affordable set. All the volumes are entirely in Latin. Note that only the first four volumes were completed in Poinsot’s lifetime. The rest were compiled and edited by followers of his posthumously after his sudden death in 1644, drawing from notes he had left behind.

The Disputationes Metaphysicae of Francisco Suárez

Francisco Suárez (5 January 1548–1617 September 25) became one of the most prominent figures in the Jesuit order and a leading philosopher and theologian of the late Scholastic period. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1564 and received his education in Salamanca, where he was deeply influenced by the Scholastic tradition, particularly the works of Thomas Aquinas. Suárez went on to teach theology at various prestigious institutions, including universities in Rome, Alcalá, Salamanca, and Coimbra.

His scholarly work, characterized by rigorous analysis and synthesis of Scholastic thought, culminated in his most famous work, the Disputationes Metaphysicae, published in 1597. This work comprehends all the most-prevalent discussions of metaphysics hi Suárez’s day, and exercised a significant influence on philosophical thought, influencing both Catholic and Protestant traditions. Suárez’s efforts in these metaphysical questions, especially his treatments of being, essence, causation, beings of reason, and relation marked him as a key transitional figure between medieval and modern philosophy.

The Institutio Oratoria of Quintilian

Too little do we today possess sufficient learning and practice in the art of rhetoric. Habituated as we are, instead, to speech constituted primarily of unthinking repetition of oft-stated phrases, true eloquence in any style has become unfamiliar. Retrieving the art of rhetoric—the ability to persuade—requires not only a re-discovery and re-habituation to the tools of language, however. It requires also a holistic and well-integrated education.

In his magisterial Institutio Oratoria, or Institutes of Oratory, Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (or simply Quintilian) provides us the guide to such an education. Here, he details all the foundations necessary for learning the orator’s art. Though many observations are situated to the time and place in which he wrote (this work being completed ~c.95AD), Quintilian’s text proves full of perennial insights. We have much to learn from him.

Quintilian was an educator and rhetorician born in 35 AD, whose sole surviving major work—this Institutio Oratoria—has endured with great influence over the millennia. Spanning twelve books, Quintilian takes up nearly every topic of rhetoric; from the manner of a youth’s education towards the development of eloquence, to the role of imitation and the history of great orators, to the parts of an oration, the knowledge necessary, and the best way to argue different kinds of legal cases.