Vernon J. Bourke was a Canadian-born American professor, author, and Thomist philosopher. His area of expertise was ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

, and especially the moral philosophy of St. Augustine

St. Augustine

-People:* Augustine of Hippo or Augustine of Hippo , father of the Latin church* Augustine of Canterbury , first Archbishop of Canterbury* Augustine Webster, an English Catholic martyr.-Places:*St. Augustine, Florida, United States...

 and St. Thomas Aquinas.

Family Life

Bourke married in 1948. He and his wife Janet (d. December 1997), were parents of two daughters and a son, grandparents to eight, and great-grandparents to two.

Bourke was a practicing Roman Catholic.

Academic Career

After obtaining a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Bourke went on to teach at Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...

 in Missouri from 1931 to 1975. During the 1930s he became the University's first hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 coach.
Bourke was the President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association

American Catholic Philosophical Association

The American Catholic Philosophical Association is an organization of Catholic philosophers established in 1926 to promote the advancement of philosophy as an intellectual discipline consonant with Catholic tradition...

 in 1948 and an honorary member of the Order of St. Augustine. He was a member of the Natural Law Board at the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 and belonged to the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity.

Published Works

Bourke authored, co-authored, and edited numerous books and articles, including the following:

• Aquinas's Search for Wisdom
• Augustine’s Quest for Wisdom: Life and Philosophy of the Bishop of Hippo
• Augustine’s View of Reality
• Ethics in Crisis
• Ethics: A Textbook in Moral Philosophy
• History of Ethics (2 vols.)
• Joy in St. Augustine
• St. Thomas and the Greek Moralists
• Thomistic bibliography (2 vols.)
• Will in Western Thought: A Historico-Critical Survey
• Wisdom of Augustine

Links

• http://www.librarything.com/author/bourkevernonj
• http://www.axiospress.com/books/History%20of%20EthicsVolume%202/Excerpts.html
• http://www.parable.com/parable/item.The-City-of-God-Saint-Augustine-of-Hippo.0385029101.htm
• http://philpapers.org/s/Vernon%20J.%20Bourke