Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: thirteenth century; and, in the hands of Thomas Aquinas, became a definite system which might be described as Scholastic more properly than all previous attempts. It is to this system that neo-Scholasticism universally adheres. Section 2.—Neo-scholastic Philosophy The word neo-Scholastic has been opposed on many grounds. Some men, to whom Scholastic philosophy appears as a bugbear, have been unable to reconcile themselves to the idea that such a philosophy might be revived. Behind the peaceful professor, who discusses the theory of Matter and Form, they have seen the papal power restored, the Church of Rome dethroning sovereigns and imposing her will upon nations, funeral piles erected anew, heterodox thinkers burned at the stake. As we have already spoken in our Introduction, of the relation of Scholastic philosophy to the dogmas of the Church and of the political influence of the Thomistic revival, this form of opposition to neo-Scholasticism shall not detain us any longer. Other writers, believing that Scholastic philosophy is essentially a thing of the past, have asserted that the word neo- Scholasticism itself involves a contradiction. They have derided the idea of covering old theories with a new garb, of giving a modern form to antiquated doctrines. Their objection to the Thomistic revival would be perfectly well grounded, if the historical evolution of the world were such as many writers on philosophy seem to profess. But a critical study of £he various systems of thought which have appeared on our planet during the course of centuries will most likely render us distrustful in this respect. As pointed out by Mr. Woodbridge, " Aristotle reads so much like a modern that we can conceive his writing after Hegel with no great change in his system."25 Neo- Scholastic...