Charles De Koninck

About Charles De Koninck

Charles de Koninck (July 29, 1906 - February 13, 1965) was a philosopher and professor at the University of Laval, Canada. Schooled in Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, he labored to show the compability and complementarity of philosophical knowledge and scientific inquiry.

Biography of Charles de Koninck

Writings of Charles De Koninck

Ralph McInerny has been engaged for some years in the project of gathering and translating the works of Charles DeKoninck. Introducing the project, he says, "Some years ago I moved and my books got rearranged and I kept discovering old favorites and coming upon books I had never read but owned for years. One day I took down a book of DeKoninck's, and began to reread. Some hours later I sat back and said aloud, "Thank God I studied with this man.'"

The first volume of The Writings of Charles de Koninck is now in print, having been just published in 2008 (link opens in a new window). Read a review by Thomas Hibbs. The Second Volume in the series has also now been released in June 2009. Both volumes may be ordered at a discount from Amazon.

Articles by Charles De Koninck

These writings (or extracts from books) by Charles de Koninck are in text format, and are available here online:

The Hollow Universe
Sedeo - Ergo Sum - Reflections on Certitude
The Nature of Man and his Historical Being
Is the Word Life Meaningful?
Darwin's Dilemma
Extracts from Le Cosmos - On the World
Introduction to the Study of the Soul
"To Be" and "To be Good" - the distinction between simple existence and being good, and the importance of this distinction.
The Revolt Against Prudential Truth - The question concerning the nature of prudential truth may seem abstract, as Charles De Koninck himself points out, yet the modern view of truth underlies many political ideologies, such as communism and fascism.
Mercy and Cruelty - A comparison of Christianity and Marxism on this point
Common Good
Letter on the Common Good, to Sister Margaret Ann

De Koninck Wiki - Collaborative Work on the Archive

Charles de Koninck Wiki - This Wiki is presently password protected due to abuse.

Scanned texts of De Koninck

Many more scanned texts of DeKoninck are available at Scribd (PDF images, and therefore not searchable):

Charles de Koninck Archive - Papers of Charles De Koninck

Dissertations directed by De Koninck

The Formal Constituent of a Sin of Commission - A dissertation by James Maloney

Self-Love and Human Society - A dissertation by Sister Julia Marie O'Brien