Overview

Gaven Kerr provides the first book-length study of St. Thomas Aquinas's much neglected proof for the existence of God in De Ente et Essentia Chapter 4. He offers a contemporary presentation, interpretation, and defense of this proof, beginning with an account of the metaphysical principles used by Aquinas and then describing how they are employed within the proof to establish the existence of God. Along the way, Kerr engages contemporary authors who have addressed Aquinas's or similar reasoning. The proof developed in the De Ente is, on Kerr's reading, independent of many of the other proofs in Aquinas's corpus and resistant to the traditional classificatory schemes of proofs of God. By applying a historical and hermeneutical awareness of the philosophical issues presented by Aquinas's thought and evaluating such philosophical issues with analytical precision, Kerr is able to move through the proof and evaluate what Aquinas is saying, and whether what he is saying is true.By means of an analysis of one of Aquinas's earliest proofs, Kerr highlights a foundational argument that is present throughout the much more commonly studied Thomistic writings, and brings it to bear within the context of analytical philosophy, showing its relevance to the contemporary reader.

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Aquinas's De Ente et Essentia was an early work of Aquinas. But it contains a line of thought that characterizes Aquinas's thinking as a whole. Gaven Kerr has mastered this line of thought and presents it in an extremely clear and judicious way. His book is one that anyone interested in Aquinas or in arguments for the belief that God exists should certainly read. Brian Davies, author of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae: A Guide and Commentary In this superb study of an early lapidary 'proof' where Thomas Aquinas argues that only what is being can bestow it on others, Gaven Kerr employs a delightfully uncomplicated style to show the central role this spare assertion plays in Aquinas' metaphysics of creation. Elucidating his unique treatment of esse and essentia allows Kerr to contrast Aquinas with contemporary and classical alternatives as he faces formidable critics by offering free creation as the key to a tour de force as theological as it is metaphysical. David Burrell, C.S.C., Hesburgh Professor emeritus, University of Notre Dame This is a really interesting book, thought provoking and refreshing in its strict philosophical approach to Aquinas's ontology in De Ente et Essentia and for the defense of his ideas about being and God to a contemporary public of professionals schooled in analytical philosophy. R.A. te Velde, Assistant Professor, Department of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology What Kerr primarily adds to the wealth of literature already available on this subject is a lucidity of argument within the framework of contemporary philosophical analysis. In the end, he presents a superbly comprehensive and clear account of this powerful piece of philosophical theology, which, at the very least, should leave no room for misunderstanding by either believers or critics. P. A. Streveler, CHOICE

Aquinas's De Ente et Essentia was an early work of Aquinas. But it contains a line of thought that characterizes Aquinas's thinking as a whole. Gaven Kerr has mastered this line of thought and presents it in an extremely clear and judicious way. His book is one that anyone interested in Aquinas or in arguments for the belief that God exists should certainly read. --Brian Davies, author of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae: A Guide and Commentary In this superb study of an early lapidary 'proof' where Thomas Aquinas argues that only what is being can bestow it on others, Gaven Kerr employs a delightfully uncomplicated style to show the central role this spare assertion plays in Aquinas' metaphysics of creation. Elucidating his unique treatment of esse and essentia allows Kerr to contrast Aquinas with contemporary and classical alternatives as he faces formidable critics by offering free creation as the key to a tour de force as theological as it is metaphysical. --David Burrell, C.S.C., Hesburgh Professor emeritus, University of Notre Dame This is a really interesting book, thought provoking and refreshing in its strict philosophical approach to Aquinas's ontology in De Ente et Essentia and for the defense of his ideas about being and God to a contemporary public of professionals schooled in analytical philosophy. --R.A. te Velde, Assistant Professor, Department of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology

reading this book is highly recommended to anyone interested in Aquinas's metaphysics, in his philosophical thought broadly conceived, and also in his theological views. * Maria S Vaccarezza, Philosophical Quarterly * What Kerr primarily adds to the wealth of literature already available on this subject is a lucidity of argument within the framework of contemporary philosophical analysis. In the end, he presents a superbly comprehensive and clear account of this powerful piece of philosophical theology, which, at the very least, should leave no room for misunderstanding by either believers or critics. * P. A. Streveler, CHOICE * This is a really interesting book, thought provoking and refreshing in its strict philosophical approach to Aquinas's ontology in De Ente et Essentia and for the defense of his ideas about being and God to a contemporary public of professionals schooled in analytical philosophy. * R.A. te Velde, Assistant Professor, Department of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology * In this superb study of an early lapidary 'proof' where Thomas Aquinas argues that only what is being can bestow it on others, Gaven Kerr employs a delightfully uncomplicated style to show the central role this spare assertion plays in Aquinas' metaphysics of creation. Elucidating his unique treatment of esse and essentia allows Kerr to contrast Aquinas with contemporary and classical alternatives as he faces formidable critics by offering free creation as the key to a tour de force as theological as it is metaphysical. * David Burrell, C.S.C., Hesburgh Professor emeritus, University of Notre Dame * Aquinas's De Ente et Essentia was an early work of Aquinas. But it contains a line of thought that characterizes Aquinas's thinking as a whole. Gaven Kerr has mastered this line of thought and presents it in an extremely clear and judicious way. His book is one that anyone interested in Aquinas or in arguments for the belief that God exists should certainly read. * Brian Davies, author of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae: A Guide and Commentary * Gaven Kerr's book offers a vista on Thomas's thought on a range of metaphysical questions ... Most of all, however, it stands as a De Ente et Essentia for our own times: a defence and exploration of 'being' and 'essence' as the primary metaphysical categories, and a consideration about what that suggests when it comes to thinking about God. * Andrew Davison, Times Literary Supplement *

Author Information

Gaven Kerr is a husband and father of two, and a lay member of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). His work has always been on philosophy generally, notably metaphysics and epistemology, and he specializes in the thought of St.Thomas Aquinas and the general medieval background to his thought. The main goal of his work is to establish the contemporary significance of Aquinas.

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