According to the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, a world that has lost sight of beauty is a world riddled with skepticism, moral and aesthetic relativism, conflicting religious worldviews, and escalating ecological crises. In The Eclipse and Recovery of Beauty, John D. Dadosky uses Kierkegaard and Nietzsche’s negative aesthetics to outline the context of that loss, and presents an argument for reclaiming beauty as a metaphysical property of being.

Inspired by Bernard Lonergan’s philosophy of consciousness, Dadosky presents a philosophy of beauty that is grounded in contemporary Thomistic thought. Responding to Balthasar, he argues for a concept of beauty that can be experienced, understood, judged, created, contemplated, and even loved.

Deeply engaged with the work of Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Kant, among others, The Eclipse and Recovery of Beauty will be essential reading for those interested in contemporary philosophy and theology.

John D. Dadosky is an associate professor of philosophy and theology at Regis College at the University of Toronto.

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"John Dadosky has written a very good book on an overlooked, but important, topic… Using the tools of Lonergan’s generalized empirical method, Dadosky has made the case for the objectivity of aesthetic judgments and by extension for the recovery of beauty as a transcendental… The result is a beautifully written book that’s hints at much more to come from this author."

Studies in Religion

"Within the boundaries of the wider Lonergan project, Dadosky’s argument is nuanced, differentiated, and, so far as I can discern, beyond reproach…students of theological aesthetics in particular will profit from the expositions and arguments he offers therein. The Eclipse and Recovery of Beauty is harmonious, well-integrated, and very clear. That is, in the specific terms Dadosky designates, it is a beautiful piece of work."

Toronto Journal of Theology

"…Dadosky’s effort to work out a philosophy of beauty on the basis of Lonergan’s thought, to enter into dialogue with significant figures, and to re-establish the transcendental status of beauty in a contemporary context amounts to an original and momentous achievement."

American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly