MANSER, GALLUS. - Philosopher and Dominican theologian, b. at Bruelissau in Switzerland, 15 July 1866, d. at Fribourg, 20 Feb. 1950. Ordained priest in 1897, he entered the Dominican Order at Venlo in Holland. In 1899 at Fribourg in Switzerland he was assigned the chair of logic, ontology and history of philosophy, which he held for 43 years. For four consecutive years he was elected rector of the University (1914-18).
His scientific output is not very extensive. Besides some minor monographs and many articles (most of them concerning the history of Scholastic philosophy, published in journals, particularly in the _Diogenes Thoma_ of Fribourg), his masterpiece must be noted: _Das Wesen des Thomismus_ (Fribourg 1932; 3rd ed. ibid. 1949), in which he seeks to demonstrate how the fundamental unifying principle of the Thomistic system is the distinction of being into act and potency. He denied the validity of a sixth way to prove the existence of God, proceeding from the natural desire for happiness, and the primacy of the principle of identity, reserving it for the principle of contradiction. The man of the school spent his last years publishing two works on natural law according to Thomistic philosophy.