Book Review: Catholic Essays by Stanley Jaki

Catholic Essays by Fr. Stanley L. Jaki

The essays in this collection were written in the 1980s, often responding to other essays or popular articles of the time. Two are lectures given on certain occasions--a paper given at a conference and a commencement address. The whole group deals with all sorts of topics, from science and Galileo to sexual ethics to business and even one on G. K. Chesterton. Jaki is a theologian and scientist by training, lending some balanced insight into the variety of issues. I had a professor who once said, "Eternal problems are always contemporary." Even though Jaki responds to his contemporaries, we still has some basic misunderstandings about, e.g., Galileo and the Church. Interestingly, Jaki predicts that the Catholic Church would reconcile with Galileo (St. John Paul II made an apology in 1992), though people on both sides of the argument refuse to stick their heads out of the trenches they've dug for themselves. 

I found a lot of value here. Like many books written for a then-contemporary audience, some references to other people or events may be obscure by now (I am old enough to remember most of them). Still, it is worth reading at least once. Jaki shows the breadth of Catholic interests in the breadth of topics he covers and uses the wisdom that has universal application.

Recommended, mildly if you are not Catholic.

SAMPLE QUOTE:

On God and multiverses: "For only God is beyond the universe. For if the word universe means anything, it excludes the possibility of another universe, let alone of other universes. If universes are in interaction with one another, they form only one universe. If they are not in interaction, they are mutually unknowable. There is indeed an elementary though devastating profundity in Newman's remark that only one thought is greater than the Universe, the thought of its Maker." [p. 18]

Book Review: Means to Message by Stanley Jaki

Means to Message: A Treatise on Truth by Stanley Jaki

Any claim to truth must be made through some medium or means that communicates that truth to others. Typically, that is accomplished with words, especially in books, so words need to be used carefully. In a topic as broad as philosophy (which seeks out a wise and deep understanding of all things), many paths can be followed to a destination as all encompassing as the truth. Those paths need to be linked to the object sought or the whole activity is just a word-game. A lot of modern philosophers and scientists have tried to mix their methods with very questionable results. In the medieval period, philosophy and science were closely intertwined. In our modern day, science has been highly mathematicized and philosophy has been marginalized. The two topics still cross over but without deliberate understanding of that crossover.

Stanley Jaki has doctorates in theology and physics and has studied the history of science in depth. Here, he works through various topics, starting with objects, and looks for a more grounded and integrated understanding of truth. Jaki explores how a lot of modern thinkers (both philosophers and scientists) have slipped here and there, leading to greater and greater errors in our knowledge of things.

The book is a little difficult to read. Jaki is so well read that he can reference the famous (like Kant or Einstein) and less famous with ease and brevity. Sometimes his brevity is a drawback if the reader isn't well read in the history of science and philosophy. I liked the book and found it valuable but had occasional rough periods.

Slightly recommended--you need a good grounding in the history of ideas to get the most out of this book.