William C. Michael

Prelection In this lesson, we will be studying Psalm 1 from the Latin Vulgate. This psalm is one of the sacred songs of the Old Testament, traditionally attributed to King David. Psalm 1 serves as a prologue to the entire Book of Psalms and presents a profound meditation on the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous person is described as one who delights in God’s law and meditates upon it day and night, flourishing like a well-watered tree that bears fruit in its season. The wicked, by contrast, are like chaff blown away by the wind, unable … Continue

In this lesson, we will be studying Psalm 7 from the Latin Vulgate, a psalm traditionally attributed to David and presented here as a lament sung to the Lord on account of Chus the Benjaminite. This psalm is important because it joins personal distress to a strong appeal for divine justice: David asks God to save him from his persecutors, declares his innocence with respect to the charge against him, and calls upon the Lord to judge rightly between the wicked and the just. As we study this psalm, we see not only the language of prayer in time of … Continue

In this lesson, we will be studying Psalm 6 from the Latin Vulgate. This psalm is one of the sacred songs of the Old Testament, traditionally attributed to King David. David lived approximately one thousand years before Christ and was the greatest king of Israel. He was a warrior, a musician, and a prophet who wrote many of the psalms that the Church still prays today. In this work, which is the Book of Psalms, David expresses the deepest feelings of the human heart—sorrow, fear, hope, and trust in God. In this particular psalm, David is suffering greatly, both in … Continue

Return to St. Albert the Great, Logic Prelection Coming soon… Caput V. De divisione logicae, et quae sint partes ipsius, et de voce significante ad placitum, quid et qualiter significet. 1. Divisio autem logicae, ut quidam partium ipsius, ut dicunt Avicenna et Alfarabius, accipienda sunt ex intentione ipsius. Literal Translation:“Division however of-logic, as certain-(men) of-parts of-itself, as say Avicenna and Alfarabi, to-be-received are out-of intention of-itself.” Translation:The division of logic, however, and likewise the division of its parts, as Avicenna and Alfarabi say, must be taken from its intention. Explanation:Albert is here saying that the proper way to divide logic … Continue

Return to St. Albert the Great, Logic Prelection In this chapter, St. Albert the Great asks an important question: what exactly is the subject matter of logic? After showing in the previous chapters that logic is necessary for all philosophy, he now explains more precisely that logic is chiefly concerned with argumentation, the rational process by which the mind moves from what is known to what is unknown. Logic is not fundamentally about words as mere sounds, nor even about propositions considered in isolation, but about reasoning itself as the instrument of science. St. Albert carefully distinguishes logic from grammar, … Continue

Return to St. Albert the Great, Logic Prelection In this chapter, St. Albert the Great explains why logic is not merely helpful for philosophy, but absolutely necessary for every science and for the perfection of human understanding itself. Logic teaches the mind how to move from what is known to what is unknown, how to ask questions rightly, how to reason from proper principles, and how to judge whether conclusions are true or false. Without logic, a person may possess opinions or even certain truths, but he cannot fully understand why they are true, defend them against objections, or teach … Continue

Return to St. Albert the Great, Logic Prelection In this chapter, St. Albert the Great asks whether logic is truly a part of philosophy or only a method used by the other philosophical sciences. Some argued that philosophy has only three speculative parts—natural philosophy, mathematics, and metaphysics—and that logic, being the common instrument of all reasoning, stands outside philosophy. St. Albert answers that this dispute often arises from using the word “philosophy” in different senses: if philosophy means only the contemplation of realities outside the mind, logic is not counted among its parts; but if philosophy means the ordered pursuit … Continue

Source text CAPUT III. De Diffinitione vel Descriptione Generis Physici. Literal Translation:Chapter III. Concerning definition or description of physical genus. Translation:Chapter III. On the Definition or Description of Physical Genus Explanation:This is another chapter heading marking a shift in the argument. After discussing genus in its broader and philosophical senses, St. Albert now turns to the definition or description of physical genus, that is, genus as considered in natural philosophy. The pairing of diffinitio and descriptio suggests attention both to a strict account of what physical genus is and to a broader way of characterizing it for understanding. For students, … Continue

Source text CAPUT II. De Genere Philosophico, et Quomodo Assimilatur Aliis? Literal Translation:“Chapter II. Concerning philosophical genus, and how is-it made-similar to others?” Translation:Chapter II. On Philosophical Genus, and How It Is Compared to Other Things Explanation:This is a chapter title announcing the next stage of the discussion. After treating broader and analogical senses of genus, St. Albert now turns to genus in the philosophical sense and to the question of how it can be likened to other things. The title signals a more technical inquiry: not just what genus means in ordinary or extended usage, but how the philosophical … Continue