Abstract

Van Steenberghen is famous for his work on medieval philosophy and the thirteenth century in particular. Yet many of his readers may not be so well acquainted with his own philosophical views. For them, this second edition of Études philosophiques will be most illuminating, since it covers the range of his metaphysical interests. It also includes five additional essays not present in the previous 1985 edition: 1) "The choice of a master"; 2) "Ontology's excellence"; 3) "Reflections on the principle of causality"; 4) "Basic theses of philosophical anthropology"; and 5) "Evil." Other chapters have been revised and completed. For instance, there is now a study of the cosmological proof of the existence of God in the chapter on the creator of the universe.