Fernand Van Steenberghen

Chanoine Fernand Emmanuel Joseph Van Steenberghen (born February 13, 1904 in Sint-Joost-ten-Node near Brussels, Belgium, † April 16, 1993 in Jette ) was a Catholic historian of philosophy with various research interests in medieval philosophy and theology, especially the 13th century Century. He is also known as the author of on the one hand Thomistic and on the other hand phenomenological textbooks on epistemology and ontology , as well as several much-cited statements, for example for his criticism of the term “ Christian Philosophy ”.

Life

Van Steenberghen received his doctorate in philosophy in Leuven in 1923 , then studied theology there and was ordained a priest in 1926. In 1931 he presented a monograph and edition on Siger von Brabant ("Siger de Brabant d'après ses oeuvres inédites"), in 1938 another volume on Siger and in 1942 the second volume of the aforementioned work appeared. With this work he was awarded the degree of Maître-Agrégé de l'École Saint-Thomas d'Aquin in 1931 , since then he has taught history of philosophy in Leuven at the Institut supérieur de philosophie de l'Université catholique de Louvain . He was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts of Belgium . In 1974 he retired. On November 9, 1972, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Salzburg .

Works (selection)

• Epistémologie , Löwen 1945 / 4th A. 1966 (English translation as Epistemology , New York 1970).
• Ontologie , Löwen 1946 / 4th A. 1966 (German translation as Ontology . Benziger, Einsiedeln 1953; English translation as Ontology , New York 1970).
• Aristote en occident , Löwen 1946 (English translation as Aristotle in the West , Löwen 1954)
• The Philosophical Movement in the Thirteenth Century , Edinburgh 1955.
• The Philosophical Movement in the Thirteenth Century , 1955.
• Dieu caché , Löwen 1961. (English translation as Hidden God , St Louis 1966).
• La philosophie au XIIIe siècle , Leuven / Paris 1966.
• Thomas Aquinas and Radical Aristotelianism , Washington, DC 1980.
• Philosophy fondamentale , Québec 1989.

literature

• Léon Elders: Le Problème de l'existence de Dieu dans les Steenberghen , in: Divus Thomas 86 (1983), pp. 171-187.
• Régnier Pirard: Homage to M. le professeur F. Van Steenberghen , in: Revue Philosophique de Louvain 72 (1974), pp. 435-438.
• Antonio Tognolo: L'epistemologia di F. Van Steenberghen , in: Carlo Giacon (ed.): Posizione e criterio del discorsofilosofico, Bologna 1967, pp. 79-97.