Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) was one of the most important philosophers and theologians of Early Modern Scholasticism. Although Suarez spent most of his academic career as a professor of theology, he is better known today for his Metaphysical Disputations (Salamanca, 1597). The present volume contains a facing-page English translation of Metaphysical Disputation I, which is introductory and devoted to the nature of metaphysics itself. In it, Suarez first specifies this science's object and nature (Sections 1 and 2) and then discusses its unity (Section 3), its end, utility and functions (Section 4), its status as the most perfect natural science and true wisdom (Section 5), and finally the thesis that it is the science most of all desired by means of a natural appetite (Section 6). Those interested in late scholastic conceptions of metaphysics and their influence on the better known metaphysical systems of the seventeenth century - e.g., Descartes's - will find the volume especially useful. The Latin text contained in this volume introduces a significant number of corrections to the text of the Vives edition, the one standardly used by scholars of Suarez, and thus more faithfully reproduces the text of the first edition. The volume also contains a lengthy introduction that provides a detailed survey of the disputation's principal claims and arguments.

About the Author
Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) was a Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, one of the leading figures of the School of Salamanca movement.

Shane Duarte is assistant professor of philosophy at University of Notre Dame.


Book Information
ISBN 9780813234021
Author Francisco Suarez
Format Hardback
Page Count 464
Imprint The Catholic University of America Press
Publisher The Catholic University of America Press
Weight(grams) 871g