91�����

What does an obscure, medieval polymath have to say to the modern world about the soul? As it happens, quite a bit. In his new book , Dr. Brett Smith, a tutor at 91����� Aquinas College, New England, expounds the rich anthropology of this undeservedly neglected figure.

�When I matriculated at The Catholic University of America, I was planning to write my dissertation about Aquinas,� says Dr. Smith. �But the impression I got from studying Aquinas more carefully was that dissertations about his works are mostly about the secondary literature surrounding Aquinas.� That was a letdown to the budding scholar. �I came to graduate school to read medieval theologians, not doctoral students from five years ago,� he says.

Traipsing further afield into the hinterlands of medieval philosophy, Dr. Smith eventually encountered Robert Grosseteste, whose sheer breadth of learning gave him pause. �He wrote about nearly every current topic of his day: scientific works, philosophical commentaries, theology, and vernacular literature,� Dr. Smith observes. �He was also the only man of his day that we know of who was both a serious theologian and a competent translator of Greek into Latin. If I studied Grosseteste, I would always have something interesting to learn � and I haven�t been disappointed.�

Among the lessons Dr. Smith learned from Grosseteste was a bit of wordplay about the soul. �Grosseteste never wrote a treatise on the soul as such, but he often used this phrase, �aspectus and affectus,� to talk about the cognitive and appetitive powers of the soul,� explains Dr. Smith. Aspectus is a Latin word meaning �vision,� heavy with the connotations of intellectual vision, while affectus means �passion.� Grosseteste�s use of this rhyme thus handily captures the soul�s twofold abilities to know (aspectus) and to love (affectus). �Previous scholars observed that this wordplay was probably an original contribution to the tradition, but nobody could quite verify that claim. When I found out about that, it was obvious that someone needed to write a book about it.�

At just over 400 pages, however, provides far more than the genealogy of a curious phrase. �Because Grosseteste used �aspectus and affectus� all over the place, tracing the wordplay throughout his thought demands an overview of many different topics in his theology and philosophy,� says Dr. Smith. �The net effect is that this book updates the study of Grosseteste�s thought in multiple areas, including his epistemology and psychology.�

Such an updated exposition is timely. �The last time someone published a monograph on Grosseteste�s thought was around 2004,� Dr. Smith notes. �Anyone interested in writing about him, therefore, will find much of the most up-to-date information in my book.�