Richard Lynch, S.J. on the community of Being

Abstract: This study considers the thought of Baroque Jesuit philosopher Richard Lynch regarding the community of being. Insofar as he extends the analogy of being to include not only real being but also beings of reason, some have suggested that Lynch embraces a supertranscendental conception of being. Such an account of being would ultimately construe being in terms of the "thinkable" or objectivity, rather than actual, extramental reality. The author argues that, despite his affirmation of the community of being, Lynch does not advance a supertranscendental metaphysics. The reason for this is the peculiar meaning he attributes to beings of reason, which, he thinks, are ultimately resolved in terms of real being. For Lynch, then, the community of being remains fixed to the structures of what is truly real.