Michael Polanyi was one of the great figures of European intellectual life in the 20th century. A highly acclaimed physical chemist in the first period of his career who became a celebrated philosopher after World War II, Polanyi taught in Germany, England, and the United States and associated with many of the leading intellects of his time. His biography has remained unwritten partly because his many and scattered interests in a wide variety of fields, including six subfields of physical chemistry, epistemology, economics, patent law, social and political theory, aesthetics, and theology. This long-awaited volume will be the definitive resource on Polanyi and his work.

Michael Polanyi: Scientist and Philosopher

Biographies & Memoirs

Moleski, Martin X.

Scott, William Taussig

Professionals & Academics

Oxford University Press

In Personal Catholicism, Father Martin Moleski argues that Catholic doctrine rests on the foundation of personal knowledge. The first part of the book maintains that there is a very striking similarity in the epistemologies of John Henry Newman, a convert to Catholicism from the nineteenth century, and Michael Polanyi, a scientist-turned-philosopher from the twentieth. By mapping each man's work in turn, the author shows that both men recognized the same key features of the life of the mind, although they used different terminology to develop similar insights. Newman spoke of the illative sense, by which the mind guides itself in all concrete reasoning, while Polanyi focused on the tacit dimension of personal knowledge.
 The second part of the book explores some of the theological implications of the epistemology of personal knowledge. Because "all knowledge is tacit or rooted in tacit knowledge" (Polanyi), all of Catholicism, to the extent that it may be construed as a body of knowledge, is "tacit or rooted in tacit knowledge."
The book is intended to serve as a foundation for post-critical theology. Newman and Polanyi provide an antidote to the skepticism generated by empiricism, positivism, objectivism, and rationalism. The post-critical view offers relief from closed systems inspired by the Cartesian model of clear and distinct ideas, formal operations, propositional rigidity, and chains of argument. The ground which Newman and Polanyi have in common should prove a fruitful resource for doing systematic theology less systematically and for defending dogma non-dogmatically.
This book takes up issues relevant to epistemology, philosophy of science, natural theology, apologetics, and systematic theology. 
Martin X. Moleski, S.J., is associate professor of religious studies at Canisius College.
"Both Newman and Polanyi rank high among the pioneers in the history of the post-critical movement in epistemology. They pointed out the limitations of the methods that had become current since the time of Descartes and Spinoza. . . . The systems of these two authors are exceptionally useful for dealing with the major issues that trouble the theological climate today."―From the Foreword by Avery Dulles, S.J.
"This engaging and lucid study brings into dialogue two thinkers whose methods share much in common despite their different purposes. . . . A principal contribution of Moleski's study is its cultivation of the common ground that religion shares with science."―Theological Studies
 "An important and utterly engaging study. . . . Those familiar with Newman's Grammar of Assent and Polanyi's Personal Knowledge will appreciate the ways in which Moleski makes sometimes unexpected connections between the two thinkers, despite Polanyi's critical disposition toward Catholicism. Personal Catholicism is a most welcome contribution to today's rethinking of the relationship between faith and reason."―First Things
 "There is a wealth of material here that could be applied to issues of faith and reason, science and faith, faith and the nature of reality as they are raised in contemporary society. . . ."―The Gospel and Our Culture

Personal Catholicism: The Theological Epistemologies of John Henry Newman and Michael Polanyi

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

The Catholic University of America Press

The motto of the Society of Jesus is "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam," which translates as "To the Greater Glory of God." Jesuits are not dedicated to the idea of God in the abstract but to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Although the author worships Jesus as true God and true Man, and accepts Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus said that "everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (Jn 18:37). Christians have no monopoly on wisdom, justice, detachment, virtue, truth, beauty, goodness, or love. In the light of the truth revealed in and by Jesus, we can see where He has been at work in other ages and cultures to draw all to Himself. Judging Religion Justly: A Catholic Introduction to Religious Studies treats the Judeo-Christian tradition at length; Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen, and Islam are introduced in a rudimentary fashion, with just enough detail to give some sense of the history, culture, philosophy, and theology of these religions. Martin X. Moleski, SJ is a Jesuit priest and a Professor of Religious Studies and Theology at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. He completed his Ph.D. work at The Catholic University of America in 1991 and has taught Introduction to Religious Studies since 1988. His first book, Personal Catholicism, used the philosophies of John Henry Newman and Michael Polanyi to investigate how we know what we know about God. He co-authored Michael Polanyi: Scientist and Philosopher with William T. Scott, a professor of physics from University of Nevada at Reno.

Judging Religion Justly: A Catholic Introduction to Religious Studies

Religion & Spirituality

Cognella Academic Pub

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