From his autobiography, we can learn
the following about him: "Josef Pieper: An Anthology Edited
by Josef Pieper, as a result of his long career as one of the most widely
read popular specialist in Saint Thomas of Aquin of the twentieth century, Josef Pieper
anthologized all his works. Obviously his selection is restricted to the
best and most representative passages, arranged "in an order that
gives sense to the whole and aids in the understanding of each excerpt.
Pieper's reputation rests on his remarkable ability to restate traditional
wisdom in terms of contemporary problems. He is a philosopher who writes
in the language of common sense, presenting involved issues in a clear,
lucid and simple manner."
In Defense of Philosophy
Classical Wisdom Stands Up to Modern Challenges
"This book is an engagement between a great modern
philosopher defending classical philosophy against an army of challengers
to the very notion of philosophy as classically conceived. It is written
very much in the spirit of the "scholastic disputations" in the
medieval universities, which produced the great Summas: a mutual search
for truth, a philosophical laboratory, a careful winnowing of each objection.
Such objectivity is lamentably rare in contemporary philosophy. In order
to combat modern misunderstandings of challenges to the classical concept
of philosophy, Pieper shows us the unique and uniquely valuable thing philosophy
is as conceived by his masters: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine,
and above all, Aquinas. Along this path he scatters gems of insight, such
as: art and religion as Philosophy's defenders; the relationship between
philosophy and science; philosophy as "seeing and saying"; and
philosophy as rooted in meditation and loving contemplation. Pieper emphasizes
that philosophy is something all human beings do, and should be the better
for doing. "
