Review of Dr. StÖckl's Philosophy [pp. 329-341]

Review of Dr. Stockl's Philosophy.
REVIEW OF DR. STOCKL'S PHILOSOPHY.*
WVE have already called attention
to the necessity of providing sound
philosophical text-books and manuals
in the vernacular tongues, particularly the English, with which we are
specially concerned. We have also
expressed our conviction that the
only philosophy which has any claim
or fitness to be adopted in our places
of education is the scholastic philosophy. Those who are capable of
studying this philosophy in the more
extensive and elaborate works of our
great Catholic authors, have all they
need for prosecuting their studies to
any degree they please. More
elementary treatises and compendiums in the Latin language are also
at hand for those who can make use
of them with facility. But those who
cannot do so need to have books in
their own language, and made level
to their mental capacity and actual
knowledge. And even those who
are able to study in Latin text-books
may derive great assistance from a
good manual written in their own
vernacular, for many reasons which
are obvious, especially if they are not
perfect in their knowledge of Latin.
Besides this, there are many persons
whose education is already completed, who would derive great pleasure and profit from a book of this
kind. The English and American
educated world is so unfamiliar with]
the ancient philosophy of the Catholic schools, that there is need of an
interpreter who can make it intelligible, and domesticate it in our vernacular scientific literature. Num
* Lelzrbuc, der Philoso hie. Von Dr. Albert
8t6ckl, ord. Professor der Philosophie an der
Akademie Minster. Mainz: F. Kirchheim.
i869.
bers of educated persons, and even
clergymen, who are converts and
have received a Protestant collegiate
education, or, if old Catholics, have
not been thoroughly taught philosophy according to the scholastic
method, have derived their information
on the subject mostly from the miscellaneous philosophical literature of
England and America, and perhaps,
also, of France and Germany. In
this miscellaneous literature there is
much that is valuable, and even of
great value, the product of highly
gifted and cultivated minds imbued
with sound and elevated principles,
containing a vast amount of truth
and conclusive argument. There is
wanting, however, the scientific precision, definiteness and fixedness of
terminology, and completeness, which
are found only in the masters and
disciples of the scholastic method.
Protestants, and to a great extent
Catholics also, have been at sea in
philosophy ever since the unfortunate epoch of the Lutheran schism.
The evil began in that fresh outbreak
of paganism, miscalled renaissance,- a
revolt against the science and the
civilization founded by the Holy See,
the hierarchy, and the monastic orders, the only truly Christian science
and civilization; a retrograde movement of the most fatal sort under the
name of progression. The vain and
frivolous scholars of that period
broughlt St. Thomas and the schlolastic theology and philosophy into contempt among the crowd of their followers. They affected to be Platonists, because the philosophy of Plato
was at that time something strange
al)d novel, and afforded them the
chance of displaying their knowledge
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