In the spring of 1987, Fr. Osmund Lewry, OP, asked me to undertake the task of editing the commentary on the Ethica nova and vetus attributed to Robert Kilwardby. Fr. Lewry was unable to continue his work because of the serious illness which eventually led to his premature death. In my correspondence with him, I learned much about courage and resolution, and would like to include here an excerpt from a letter to me, dated March 14, 1987: “I am comforted that you see my destiny as the ‘island of the blessed’, because at 57 I am experiencing a happiness beyond anything I knew when I was a teacher, researcher, writer, supervisor; now I am simply a lover of life and brotherhood, ready to go to the Lord in his time.” The philosophical lessons of the Ethics of Aristotle and the contributions of the medieval interpreters seemed to have had a profound impact on the attitude of Fr. Lewry during his final days. I am very pleased to have been able to complete this work despite the many teaching, research and administrative demands in the intervening years. Fr. Lewry deemed the work edited in this volume an important contribution to the reception of Aristotle’s Ethics in the 13th century, and an authentic contribution of Robert Kilwardby. I am honored that he chose me to edit the commentary of his medieval confrère.
I would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies for their encouragement and support not only during my visits there, but also during my time as a student there. I would particularly like to express my gratitude to James K. McConica, CSB, former President of the Institute, and former Professors Armand Maurer, CSB, James Reilly and Virginia Brown. My colleagues, Andre Goddu of Stonehill College, Stephen Brown of Boston College, Richard Velkley of Tulane University and Tobias Hoffmann of the Catholic University of America, and Andreas Speer of the Thomas-Institut in Cologne have made many helpful suggestions not only for this work, but also concerning a wide range of philosophical and historical questions. I am also grateful for the gracious hospitality of the Philosophy Departments of the Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena and the University of Erfurt, Germany, and the Thomas-Institut of the University of Cologne during my stays there. I am also grateful to the librarians at Cambridge University and the Czech State library, who have provided me with photographic images and microfilm of the manuscripts of Kilwardby’s work.
I am thankful also for the financial support of the National Endowment of the Humanities, the Fulbright Commission, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the Mediaeval Moral Teaching Fund of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto), the International Office of the University of Erfurt, and Stonehill College, without whose assistance I could not have completed this edition.
Robert Kilwardby defines happiness as living and acting well. I hope that by completing this edition I have acted in a manner that he would recognize as fulfilling those conditions.
N. Easton, MA, October 6, 2021