GREDT, JOSEPH AUGUST. - Benedictine philosopher, b. at Luxembourg on 30 July 1863, d. at Rome on 29 Jan. 1940. Already a priest, he was a disciple, in Rome, of Satolli and Lepidi (1886-88), and subsequently entered the Benedictine abbey of Seckau (Styria, Austria). In 1896 he was called to the College of S. Anselmo in Rome as professor of philosophy, and held this post until 1939, teaching and defending pure Thomism.
In the revival of Thomistic studies prompted by Leo XIII, while many confined themselves to Aristotle, St. Thomas, and Cajetan, G. had the merit of being the first to make use of the work of later commentators, above all that of Giovanni di s. Tommaso.
Principal works: Elementa philosophiae aristotelico-thomisticae (2 vols., 1st ed., Rome 1899-1901; 7th ed., Freiburg 1937); De cognitione sensuum externorum (1st ed., Rome 1913; 2nd ed., ibid. 1924); Unsere Aussenwelt (Innsbruck 1921); Die aristotelisch-thomistische Philosophie (2 vols., Freiburg 1935).