Peter Coffey
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Peter Coffey (9 April 1876 – 7 January 1943) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and neo-scholastic philosopher.


Life

Coffey was educated at the Meath Diocesan Seminary in Navan, and St Patrick's College, Maynooth (Maynooth College). He studied for his doctorate at the University of Louvain, and attended the
University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...
. He was ordained in 1900. He was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Maynooth College from 1902 until his death. In his time, Coffey was considered one of the foremost Catholic intellectuals in Ireland. He authored a number of books, including manuals of Thomistic philosophy: *''The Inductive Sciences, an Inquiry into some of their Methods and Postulates'' (Dublin, 1910) *''The Science of Logic'', 2 vols. (London, 1912) *''Ontology: The Theory of Being'' (1912) *''Epistemology'', 2 vols. (London, 1917) His manuals were widely used in the education of Roman Catholic priests and theologians in the English-speaking world, up until roughly the 1960s, but have since been largely ignored. He was a contributor of articles on philosophical subjects to the ''Irish Ecclesiastical Record'', and to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''."Coffey, Reverend Peter", ''The Catholic Encyclopedia and Its Makers'', New York, the Encyclopedia Press, 1917, p. 32
/ref> The only book review that
Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...
ever published, in 1913, was a scathing review of Coffey's ''The Science of Logic''. By contrast, in 1917, his ''Epistemology'' was favourably reviewed by
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
. In his 1903 article ''The Hexahemeron and Science'', Coffey sought to find a middle ground in the conflict between natural sciences and the Catholic Church, seeing fault on both sides. Coffey advocated for a positive view of
trade unionism A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
. Some of Coffey's ideas on labour issues, however, incurred the displeasure of his superiors at Maynooth.


References


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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Peter 1876 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Irish male writers 19th-century Irish non-fiction writers 19th-century Irish philosophers 20th-century Irish male writers 20th-century Irish non-fiction writers 20th-century Irish philosophers 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Academics of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Burials at Maynooth College Cemetery Christian clergy from County Meath Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia Irish male non-fiction writers Irish Roman Catholic writers People from Enfield, County Meath Thomists University of Strasbourg alumni