Anthony Kenny, in ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ, ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐: ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ; p. 76:
"The secular reaction to the canonization of St. Thomas’ philosophy was summed up by Bertrand Russell in his ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ. ‘There was little of the true philosophical spirit in Aquinas: he could not, like Socrates, follow an argument wherever it might lead, since he knew the truth in advance, all declared in the Catholic faith. The finding of arguments for a conclusion given in advance is not philosophy but special pleading.’
It is not in fact a serious charge against a philosopher to say that he is looking for good reasons for what he already believes in. Descartes, sitting beside his fire, wearing his dressing gown, sought reasons for judging that that was what he was doing, and took a long time to find them. Russell himself spent much energy seeking proofs of what he already believed: ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ข ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข takes hundreds of pages to prove that 1 and 1 make 2.
We judge a philosopher by whether his reasonings are sound or unsound, not by where he first lighted on his premisses or how he first came to believe his conclusions."
"The secular reaction to the canonization of St. Thomas’ philosophy was summed up by Bertrand Russell in his ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ. ‘There was little of the true philosophical spirit in Aquinas: he could not, like Socrates, follow an argument wherever it might lead, since he knew the truth in advance, all declared in the Catholic faith. The finding of arguments for a conclusion given in advance is not philosophy but special pleading.’
It is not in fact a serious charge against a philosopher to say that he is looking for good reasons for what he already believes in. Descartes, sitting beside his fire, wearing his dressing gown, sought reasons for judging that that was what he was doing, and took a long time to find them. Russell himself spent much energy seeking proofs of what he already believed: ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ข ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข takes hundreds of pages to prove that 1 and 1 make 2.
We judge a philosopher by whether his reasonings are sound or unsound, not by where he first lighted on his premisses or how he first came to believe his conclusions."
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