Romano Guardini

Frederick D. Wilhelmsen

Richard John Neuhaus

This expanded edition of Guardini's classic work includes the original text of The End of the Modern World, as well as the entirety of its explicit sequel, Power and Responsibility, in which Guardini analyzes modern man's conception of himself in the world and examines nature and use of power. The principle of individual responsibility weaves both works into a seamless, comprehensive, and compelling moral statement.

The End of the Modern World

The Metaphysics of Love

An Introduction to Thomistic Epistemology

Man's Knowledge of Reality

Each chapter in Christianity and Political Philosophy addresses a philosophical problem generated by history. Frederick D. Wilhelmsen discusses the limits of natural law; Cicero and the politics of the public orthodoxy; the problem of political power and the forces of darkness; Sir John Fortescue and the English tradition; Donoso Cortes and the meaning of political power; the natural law tradition and the American political experience; Eric Voegelin and the Christian tradition; and Jaffa, the School of Strauss, and the Christian tradition. Wilhelmsen is convinced that mainstream philosophy's suppression of the Christian experience, or its reduction of Christianity to myths, deprives both Christianity and philosophy. He argues that Christianity opened up an entirely new range of philosophical questions and speculation that today are part and parcel of the intellectual tradition of the West. Wilhelmsen remains relevant because political philosophy in America today is following the historic cycle of political philosophy's importance: as things get worse for the nation because it is internally riven by ideological and spiritual conflicts, there is a greater need for the political philosopher to raise and explore profound questions and reassert forgotten truths about man and society, the soul and God, and good and evil, as well as the ground of political order. This is the latest book in Transaction's esteemed Library of Conservative Thought series.

Christianity and Political Philosophy

First published in 1962, The Metaphysics of Love is both a concise study of Thomas Aquinas's existential metaphysics and a demonstration of the enduring influence of Thomism on Western thought. Penned by distinguished Thomist scholar Frederick Wilhelmsen, this book explores the ontology of the human person, placing it in dialogue with philosophers ranging from Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas to Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger. Wilhelmsen ultimately narrows his discussion to an examination of human love, particularly in regard to the relationship between love of self (eros) and love of others (agape). For Wilhelmsen, many of the problems societies face are an extenuation of the struggle between eros and agape. While recognizing that certain cultures will manifest these two tendencies differently, Wilhelmsen posits that a truly healthy society will acknowledge the importance of both. Even in this relatively brief work, Frederick Wilhelmsen shows himself to be a lucid metaphysician and convincing teacher. Maintaining a lyrical style alongside a whole host of philosophical and theological voices, The Metaphysics of Love is a standout contribution to the vast Thomistic tradition.

This "festschrift" brings together authors from various countries who are specialists in different disciplines within the humanities and who share a common vision of human life. These essays in philosophical speculation, political theory, literary criticism, and historical analysis are rooted in the western cultural heritage and Christian religious tradition. Major figures examined include Aristotle, Aquinas, Thomas More, John of the Cross, Donoso Cortes, and the Spanish Carlists. The interdisciplinary and cosmopolitan nature of this "festschrift" reflects the approach and style of the man honored, Dr. Frederick D. Wilhelmsen. A special feature of the volume is a selection of critical studies of Professor Wilhelmsen's own work.

Studies in Honor of Frederick D. Wilhelmsen

Saints, Sovereigns, and Scholars

Frederick D. Wilhelmsen's Being and Knowing, rooted in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, rests on two basic assertions: first, metaphysics is the science of being in its first and ultimate act, existence (the act by which all things manifest themselves); second, that existence is known not through observing objects, but in affirming through judgments that these objects are subjects of existence. The chapters of this book explore these Thomistic doctrines. Some explain St. Thomas Aquinas's philosophy of being. Others probe his epistemology. The complexity and density of Aquinas's theory of judgment (that truth is realized in the judgment of man), emphasized throughout most of the book, point not only to a deeper understanding of the nature of metaphysics, but they open doors to the clarification of philosophical issues germane to contemporary thought. This work addresses a number of metaphysical philosophical paradoxes. Wilhelmsen's exploration of them demonstrates why he was the preeminent American scholar of the Thomistic tradition. This volume is part of Transaction's series, the Library of Conservative Thought.

Frederick D. Wilhelmsen

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