Joseph Bobik offers a translation of Aquinas's De Principiis Naturae (circa 1252) and De Mixtione Elementorum (1273) accompanied by a continuous commentary, followed by two essays: "Elements in the Composition of Physical Substances" and "The Elements in Aquinas and the Elements Today." The Principles of Nature introduces the reader to the basic Aristotelian principles such as matter and form, the four causes so fundamental to Aquinas's philosophy. On Mixture of the Elements examines the question of how the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) remain within the physical things composed...

This book does some philosophy of religion. It takes as its point of departure what Aquinas calls divine truth (veritas divina), i.e., the collection of truths revealed to man by God. And it tries to make as clear as possible what Aquinas says about some of these revealed truths. Then it agrees or disagrees with what he says, as needed, for reasons of various sorts, whether philosophical, theological, scientific, historical, etc. -- of whatever sort, just so long as they are relevant and cogent; to do these things as well as possible, if only in a small way -- pro nostro modulo, as Aquinas...

Jokes, Life after Death, and God has two main tasks: to try to understand exactly what a joke is, and to see whether there are any connections between jokes, on the one hand, and life after death and God, on the other hand. But it pursues other tasks as well, tasks of an ancillary sort.
This book devises a general and comprehensive, but brief, theory of jokes. The author begins with critiques of other writers views on the subject. 1) Ted Cohen thinks that such a theory is impossible. 2) Ronald Berk, on the other hand, provides just such a theory. And 3) John Morreall provides a...

In Aquinas on Being and Essence: A Translation and Interpretation, Joseph Bobik interprets the doctrines put forth by St. Thomas Aquinas in his treatise On Being and Essence. He foregrounds the meaning of the important distinction between first and second intentions, the differing uses of the term "matter," and the Thomistic conception of metaphysics.

I. THE MAN, CONRAD OF PRUSSIA Conrad of Prussia is not so much as mentioned in any of the usual sources. And even such notable mediaevalists as Mlle. Marie-Therese d'Alverny, Conservateur en-chef, and J. Reginald O'Donnell, C. S. B. , of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, Canada, have been unable to identify him. Nothing at all, therefore, is known about Conrad, if that is the author's name. For there is some doubt that it is. In the colophon of the Admont commentary on Aquinas' De Ente et Essentia,l we find a word, so completely erased that it is illegible, followed by...

1. THE MAN, CONRAD OF PRUSSIA Conrad of Prussia is not so much as mentioned in any of the usual sources. And even such notable mediaevalists as Mlle. Marie-Therese d'Alverny, Conservateur en-chef, and J. Reginald O'Donnell, C. S. B. , of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, Canada, have been unable to identify him. Nothing at all, therefore, is known about Conrad, if that is the author's name. For there is some doubt that it is. In the colophon of the Admont commentary on Aquinas' De Ente et Essentia,! we find a word, so completely erased that it is illegible, followed by...

"This book has but one aim: to present an intelligible interpretation of the doctrines put forth by St. Thomas Aquinas in his treatise On Being and Essence. It considers uses of the words 'being' and 'essence, ' it investigates the essence of natural substances, the immateriality of the human soul, and the existence and the essence of God." --Catholic Book Review