SPIRITS OF THE WORLD has a double significance for Karl Rahner's thought and his imposing aggiornamento of theology. First of all, this book represents Rahner's attempt to confront the medieval scholastic philosophy of Thomas Aquinas with the problems and questions of modern philosophy, especially as formulated by Immanuel Kant in his critical and transcendental philosophy...In the second place, SPIRIT IN THE WORLD is also important because the basic philosophical position developed here in dialogue with modern philosophy provides the unifying principle and presupposition of Rahner's whole theology. Rahner has not left the philosophical principles of this book in their formal and abstract oulines, but has developed and applied them in his many theological books and essays which can only be adequately understood when SPIRIT IN THE WORLD is understood.
