On Not Taking the World for Granted: E. L. Mascall on The Five Ways

• Authors: Haggerty William
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Considered one of the leading proponents of natural theology in the 20th century, E. L. Mascall (1905–1993) taught philosophy and theology at King’s College London for most of his career. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he insisted that classical theism, embodied in the writings of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, could be successfully revived for a modern audience. Known for his vigorous defense of neo-Thomism, Mascall offered an unusual interpretation of The Five Ways. While modern scholastics typically read the proofs as syllogistic exercises, Mascall maintained that God’s existence could not be deduced from premises, but must be grasped by means of a unique type of “metaphysical intuition” which he called “contuition.” In my paper, I will re-examine his position, explore his reasons for adopting it, and finally raise several questions concerning its significance for the history of neo-Thomism.

Keywords

EN

The Five Ways; Mascall; Aquinas; neo-Thomism; contuition; natural theology; Locke; British empiricism; scholasticism; theistic proofs; ontologism; ratio; intellectus

• Publisher: International Étienne Gilson Society
• Journal: Studia Gilsoniana
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 277-303

Dates

published

2019-06-30

Contributors

author

Haggerty William

• Gannon University, Erie, Pa., USA

References

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Identifiers

ISSN

2577-0314

ISSN

2300-0066

DOI

10.26385/SG.080213