Concepts of Nature

R. J. Snell is professor of philosophy at Eastern University and executive director of the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good.Steven F. McGuire is assistant professor of political science at Eastern University and a research director at the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good.

With this collection, philosopher R. J. Snell and political scientist Steven McGuire (both Eastern Univ.) investigate the differing conceptions of nature found in the Western philosophical tradition as a means of determining whether human nature can still serve as an effective standard for moral and political discourse. From its beginnings in classical philosophy to the Enlightenment, Western thought has been preoccupied with the idea of nature and its relation to human action. Though there is some reference to the medieval Christian contribution, most of the essays concentrate on the profound conflict between the ancients and the moderns on this issue. Because this was a central theme in the writings of Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin, two masters of 20th-century political theory, it is not surprising that several essays reflect their influence. The collection also includes essays on some unfamiliar voices: there is a study of Louis Dupré’s treatment of modernity, an analysis of the idea of progress in H. G. Wells’s fiction, and an examination of secularism and the God question in the philosophy of Bernard Lonergan. This collection will provide more questions than answers, but the contributors should be applauded for asking the right questions. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionR. J. Snell and Steven F. McGuire1.Voegelin’s Analysis of Human Nature in AristotleBarry CooperResponse by Thomas W. Smith2.Nature, Human Nature, and Human Dignity in Light of the Primary Experience of the CosmosGlenn HughesResponse by Melissa Moschella3.Natural Rights and History: Hugo Grotius’ Modern Translation of AristotleJeremy Seth GeddertResponse by Jesse Covington4.Categories and Causes: Physics and Politics for Aristotle and for UsJames R. Stoner, Jr.Response by Christopher O. Tollefsen5.Rousseau on Nature, Freedom and the Moral LifeSusan Meld ShellResponse by Geoffrey M. Vaughan6.Nature, History and the Problem of Progress in H.G. WellsCharles T. RubinResponse by Amy Gilbert Richards7.Nature in Louis Dupré’s Model of ModernityStephen M Fields, SJResponse by Anna Bonta Moreland8.From Pure Nature to Concrete Subject: The Question of God in the Secular AgeRandall S. RosenbergResponse by Gregory R. Beabout