Fortitude and Temperance
London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1955. First British edition. 12mo. (7 1/2 inches tall), original red cloth, original dust jacket. Minor offsetting to endpapers of nearly-fine book, gentle toning to the clean, unclipped dust jacket. An excellent copy. Item #727
"ONLY THE PRUDENT MAN CAN BE BRAVE. FORTITUDE WITHOUT PRUDENCE IS NOT FORTITUDE" First British edition of Josef Pieper's consideration of the Christian significance of the third and fourth Cardinal virtues, published a year after the first English translation. "Unlike those of other modern Thomists, Pieper's works are generally short, though not easy, in the sense of oversimplified. The great Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar said that Pieper wrote 'thick little books.' The matter seems easy, but it needs to be meditated on to reach Pieper's own depth" (Robert Royal, A Deeper Vision). Translated from the German by Daniel F. Coogan, these are "an excellent series of essays on the Christian conception of fortitude and temperance. Based upon Thomistic principles and applied to current problems, the essays realistically show the true worth and far-reaching significance of these two cardinal virtues. Modern errors are skillfully refuted and common misperceptions dispelled" (George McLean). Pieper explores the nature of Fortitude, defining it as the courage of conduct for modern man. He stresses the importance of self-moderation as the essential element of Temperance. First published in America by Pantheon in 1954. Royal. A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century. McLean. An Annotated Bibliography of Philosophy in Catholic Thought, 1900-1964, 195.
Price: $75.00