The Irish contribution to European scholastic thought
James McEvoy & Michael Dunne, editors
'By any standards this is a very handsome publication, something which is to be seen in the originality of the topic chosen, the impressive range of scholarship that is brought to bear on the treatment of individual subjects, and finally, the professional manner in which the book has been edited by Michael Dunne and the late James McEvoy. This publication bears all the hallmarks of the meticulous attention to detail that we have come to associate with the work of both of these distinguished academics … this book celebrates the hundred-years contribution of Scholastic Philosophy to the academic life of Queen’s University, Belfast in 2009 … it also includes a record of the contribution to academic life at home and abroad of the Department of Scholastic Philosophy … I commend the book – and in particular those excellent essays by eminent scholars of the calibre of Ruairi O hUiginn, Alessandro M. Apollonio, Gavin Jennings and Eamonn Gaines which I can do no more than simply acknowledge with gratitude in the course of this short review. I have no doubt that this is a publication that will stand the test of time … I am conscious of the importance of the theme to those with even a passing interest in the Irish contribution to the history of philosophy. There is also its value for those seeking to trace the contours of medieval and renaissance history. Finally, there are few who would be in any doubt as to its importance to those who, through the lens of cultural analysis, seek to trace the development of a European identity. It contains 320 pages of carefully researched material from no less than sixteen scholars … it is good value', Eoin G. Cassidy, Yearbook of the Irish Philosophical Society (2010).
‘A useful survey of Irish scholasticism, beginning with Scottus Erugina and stretching to the twentieth century … provides a useful cross section of general scholastic history and [is] an indispensable starting point for anyone seeking to orient themselves in this area of Insular intellectual history', Alan Fimister, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History (July 2010).
'These essays on both major and minor figures exhibit impressive scholarly and hermeneutical expertise and constitute an important contribution to Irish (and European) intellectual historiography. It is difficult to imagine that any deserving individual Irish-born contributor to the history of Scholasticism has been omitted or given short shrift', Thomas Duddy, NUIG, The Journal of Church History (March 2011).
