Peter Thomas Geach (born 1919) is one of the foremost contemporary British philosophers. His areas of interest are the history of philosophy, philosophical logic, the theory of identity, and the philosophy of religion. 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The history of philosophy tracks the multitudinous theories which aim at some kind of understanding, knowledge or wisdom on fundamental matters as diverse as reality, knowledge, meaning, value, being and truth. ... Philosophical logic is the study of the more specifically philosophical aspects of logic: the term contrasts with mathematical logic. ... In philosophy, it is important to distinguish between two senses of identity, qualitative identity and numerical identity. ... Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine). ...

His early work includes the classic texts Mental Acts, and Reference and Generality, which defends an essentially modern conception of reference against medieval theories of supposition. In general, a reference is something that refers or points to something else, or acts as a connection or a link between two things. ...

His Catholic perspective is integral to his philosophy. He is credited with founding the school of Analytical Thomism, whose aim is to present the thought of St Thomas Aquinas in the style of modern philosophy by clearing away the trappings and obscurities of traditional Thomism. He defends the Thomistic position that human beings are essentially rational animals, each one miraculously created. He dismisses Darwinistic attempts to regard reason as inessential to our humanity, as "mere sophistry, laughable, or pitiable." He repudiates any capacity for language in animals as mere "association of manual signs with things or performances." Analytical Thomism is a movement whose aim is to present the thought of Thomas Aquinas in the style of modern analytic philosophy by clearing away the trappings and obscurities of traditional Thomism. ... St Thomas Aquinas Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – March 7, 1274) was an Italian Catholic philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition. ... Thomism is the philosophical school that followed in the legacy of St. ... Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth should be determined by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... Charles Darwin in 1854, five years prior to the publication of The Origin of Species Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809–19 April 1882) was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame as originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection. ...

Geach dismisses both pragmatic and epistemic conceptions of truth, commending a version of the correspondence theory proposed by Aquinas. He argues that there is one reality rooted in God himself, who is the ultimate Truthmaker. God is Truth. This page has been protected from editing to deal with vandalism. ... The correspondence theory of truth is the theory that something is rendered true by the existence of a fact with corresponding elements and a similar structure. ... The term God (capitalized in English language as a proper noun) is often used to refer to a Supreme Being. ...

He was recently awarded the order Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by the Holy See for his philosophical work.

His wife, Elizabeth Anscombe, was also a philosopher of great reputation. Like Geach, she was a convert to Roman Catholicism. Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (March 18, 1919 – January 5, 2001) (known as Elizabeth Anscombe, published as G. E. M. Anscombe) was a British philosopher and theologian and a pupil of Ludwig Wittgenstein (See also: Analytic philosophy, Wittgensteinian). ...

Publications

• Geach, P. Truth and Hope University of Notre Dame Press, 2001 ISBN 0-268-04215-2