James V. Schall facts for kids

James Vincent Schall (January 20, 1928 – April 17, 2019) was an American Jesuit priest, a teacher, writer, and a deep thinker (philosopher). He was a professor of political philosophy at Georgetown University. This means he taught about how governments work and what makes a good society. He stopped teaching in December 2012. His last lecture was called "The Final Gladness." It was about learning throughout life.

About James V. Schall

Early Life and Education

James Vincent Schall was born in Pocahontas, Iowa. He went to public schools there. He finished high school in Knoxville, Iowa, in 1945.

After serving in the United States Army from 1946 to 1947, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1948. The Society of Jesus is a group of Catholic priests and brothers, also known as Jesuits. He then studied at Santa Clara University in California.

He earned a master's degree in Philosophy from Gonzaga University in 1955. In 1960, he earned a PhD in Political Theory from Georgetown University. A PhD is a very high academic degree. In 1963, he became a Roman Catholic priest. He also earned another master's degree in Sacred Theology in 1964.

Teaching and Career

From 1964 to 1977, Schall taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also taught at the University of San Francisco during some of those years.

He used many important thinkers in his lectures. These included Christian Scripture, Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, G. K. Chesterton, and Pope Benedict XVI.

From 1977 until his retirement, he was a professor at Georgetown University. Students at Georgetown honored him several times. They gave him the Edward B. Bunn, SJ, Award for Faculty Excellence in 1993, 2004, and 2010.

Retirement and Later Life

Schall retired from Georgetown in December 2012. He moved to a Jesuit retirement home in Los Gatos, California. Even in retirement, he kept writing books and articles. He also gave talks to small groups.

He also served on important groups. From 1977 to 1982, he was part of the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace in Rome. This group advises the Pope on issues of fairness and peace. He was also a member of the National Council of the Humanities. This group supports learning and research in the humanities.

His Writings and Ideas

James Schall was a very active writer. He wrote more than 30 books. He also helped edit 8 other books. By 2002, he had written hundreds of essays, book reviews, and columns. He wrote a monthly column called "Sense and Nonsense" for Crisis magazine.

He was an expert on the ideas of G. K. Chesterton. Chesterton was a famous English writer who became Catholic. Schall edited some of Chesterton's works and wrote his own essays about him.

Schall strongly supported Pope Benedict XVI's ideas about modern culture. He believed that our world sometimes rejects what is true and good. Schall taught that in Catholicism, faith and reason work together. He felt that society was sometimes "rejecting heavenly answers" and replacing them with human ideas. He believed this showed a problem with how people think about being human.

Schall faced several serious illnesses during his life. He lost sight in one eye. In 2010, he had surgery to remove a cancerous jawbone.

Selected Writings

Books by James V. Schall

• Reason, Revelation, and the Foundations of Political Philosophy (1967)
• Redeeming the Time (1968)
• Human Dignity and Human Numbers (1971)
• Play On: From Games to Celebrations (1971)
• The Sixth Paul (1977)
• Welcome, number 4,000,000,000! (1977)
• Christianity and Life (1981)
• Christianity and Politics (1981)
• Church, State, and Society in the Thought of John Paul II (1982)
• Liberation Theology (1982)
• The Politics of Heaven and Hell: Christian Themes from Classical, Medieval, and Modern Political Philosophy (1984)
• Unexpected Meditations Late in the XXth Century (1985)
• Another Sort of Learning (1988)
• Religion, Wealth, and Poverty (1990)
• What Is God Like?: Philosophers and 'Hereticks' on the Triune God (1992)
• Does Catholicism Still Exist? (1994)
• Idylls and Rambles: Lighter Christian Essays (1994)
• At the Limits of Political Philosophy (1996)
• Jacques Maritain: The Philosopher in Society (1997)
• Schall on Chesterton: Timely Essays on Timeless Paradoxes (2000)
• On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs (2001)
• Reason, Revelation, and Human Affairs: Selected Writings of James V. Schall (2001)
• Roman Catholic Political Philosophy (2006)
• Sum Total Of Human Happiness (2006)
• The Order of Things (2007)
• The Regensburg Lecture (2007)
• The Life of the Mind: On the Joys and Travails of Thinking (2008)
• The Mind That Is Catholic: Philosophical & Political Essays (2008)
• The Classical Moment: Selected Essays on Knowledge and Its Pleasures (2010)
• The Modern Age (2010)
• Reasonable Pleasures: The Strange Coherences of Catholicism (2013)

Pamphlets

• A Journey through Lent (1976)
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993)
• Ethics and Economics (1998)
• A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning (2000)

Books Edited by James V. Schall

• The Whole Truth about Man: John Paul II to University Students and Faculties. (1981)
• Sacred in All Its Forms: John Paul II on Human Life (1984)
• Essays on Christianity and Political Philosophy. with George Carey. (1984)
• Out of Justice, Peace. Pastorals of the German and French Bishops. (1984)
• G. K. Chesterton, Collected Works, Vol. IV, What's Wrong with the World, etc. (1986)
• Studies on Religion and Politics. with Jerome J. Hanus. (1986)
• On the Intelligibility of Political Philosophy: Essays of Charles N. R. McCoy. with John Schrems. (1989)
• G. K. Chesterton, Collected Works, Vol. XX, Christendom in Dublin, Irish Impressions, the New Jerusalem, etc. (2002)

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See also

In Spanish: James V. Schall para niños