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Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Detail from Valle Romita Polyptych by Gentile da Fabriano Born Thomas Aquinas [] About 1225 Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily [] 7 March 1274 Fossanova, Papal States Priest, Philosopher, Theologian Order of Saint Benedict University of Naples Federico II Scholasticism, Thomism Metaphysics, Logic, Theology, Mind, Epistemology, Ethics, Politics Summa Theologica Summa contra Gentiles
Died
Occupation Education
Genres Subjects
Landulf of Aquino
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (28 January 1225 7 March 1274), also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian[][] Dominican priest, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the "Doctor Angelicus", "Doctor Communis", and "Doctor Universalis".[1] He is frequently referred to as Tomas because "Aquinas" is the demonym of Aquino, his home town, rather than a surname. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory. The works for which he is best known are the Summa Theologica and the Summa contra Gentiles. Thomas is held in the Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology. The study of his works, according to papal and magisterial documents, is a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons,
Thomas Aquinas as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (Catholic philosophy, theology, history, liturgy, and canon law).[2] One of the 35 Doctors of the Church, he is considered the Church's greatest theologian and philosopher. Pope Benedict XV declared: "This (Dominican) Order ... acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools."[3]
Biography
Dominican (12251244)
Thomas was born in Roccasecca, in the Aquino county of the Kingdom of Sicily (present-day Lazio region, Italy), circa January 28, 1225. According to some authors, he was born in the castle of his father, Landulf of Aquino. Thomas's father didnt belong to the most powerful branch of the family and simply held the title miles, while Thomas's mother, Dame Theodora, belonged to the Rossi branch of the Neapolitan Caracciolo family.[4] Landulf's brother Sinibald was abbot of the original Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino. While the rest of the family's sons pursued military careers,[5] the family intended for Thomas to follow his uncle into the abbacy;[6] this would have been a normal career path for a younger son of southern Italian nobility.[7] At the age of five, Thomas began his early education at Monte Cassino but after the military conflict that broke out between the Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilled into the abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had Thomas enrolled at the studium generale (university) recently established by Frederick in Naples.[8] It was here that Thomas was probably introduced to Aristotle, Averroes and Maimonides, all of whom would influence his theological philosophy.[9] It was also during his study at Naples that Thomas came under the influence of John of St. Julian, a Dominican preacher in Naples, who was part of the active effort by the Dominican order to recruit devout followers.[10] There his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was Petrus de Ibernia.[11] At age nineteen, Thomas resolved to join the Dominican Order. Thomas's change of heart did not please his family, who had expected him to become a Benedictine monk and perhaps the abbot of the powerful Montecassino Abbey near his family's domains.[12] In an attempt to prevent Theodora's interference in Thomas's choice, the Dominicans arranged for Thomas to be removed to Rome, and from Rome, sent to Paris.[13] However, on his journey to Rome his brothers, per Theodora's instructions, seized him as he was drinking from a spring and took him back to his parents at the castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano.[13]
Thomas was held prisoner for two years in the family castles at Monte San Giovanni and Roccasecca in an attempt to prevent him from assuming the Dominican habit and to push him into renouncing his new aspiration.[9] Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomas's release, which had the effect of extending Thomas' detention.[14] Thomas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order.[9] Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a prostitute to seduce him. According to legend Thomas drove her away wielding a fire iron. That night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his determination to remain celibate.[15]
Thomas Aquinas
By 1244, seeing that all of her attempts to dissuade Thomas had failed, Theodora sought to save the family's dignity, arranging for Thomas to escape at night through his window. In her mind, a secret escape from detention was less damaging than an open surrender to the Dominicans. Thomas was sent first to Naples and then to Rome to meet Johannes von Wildeshausen, the Master General of the Dominican Order.[16]
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Condemnation of 1277
In 1277 Etienne Tempier, the same bishop of Paris who had issued the condemnation of 1270, issued another more extensive condemnation. One aim of this condemnation was to clarify that God's absolute power transcended any principles of logic that Aristotle or Averroes might place on it.[53] More specifically, it contained a list of 219 propositions that the bishop had determined to violate the omnipotence of God, and included in this list were twenty Thomistic propositions. Their inclusion badly damaged Thomas's reputation for many years.[54] In The Divine Comedy, Dante sees the glorified soul of Thomas in the Heaven of the Sun with the other great exemplars of religious wisdom.[55] Dante asserts that Thomas died by poisoning, on the order St. Thomas Aquinas Confounding Averroes. [56] of Charles of Anjou; Villani (ix. 218) cites this belief, and the Anonimo Fiorentino describes the crime and its motive. But the historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori reproduces the account made by one of Thomas's friends, and this version of the story gives no hint of foul play.[57] Thomas's theology had begun its rise to prestige. Two centuries later, in 1567, Pope Pius V proclaimed St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church and ranked his feast with those of the four great Latin fathers: Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and Gregory. However, in the same period the Council of Trent still turned to Duns Scotus before Thomas as a source of arguments in defence of the Church. Even though Duns Scotus was more consulted at the Council of Trent, Thomas had the honor of having his Summa theologiae placed on the altar alongside the Bible and the Decretals.[54][] In his encyclical of 4 August 1879, Pope Leo XIII stated that Thomas's theology was a definitive exposition of Catholic doctrine. Thus, he directed the clergy to take the teachings of Thomas as the basis of their theological positions. Leo XIII also decreed that all Catholic seminaries and universities must teach Thomas's doctrines, and where Thomas did not speak on a topic, the teachers were "urged to teach conclusions that were reconcilable with his thinking." In 1880, Saint Thomas Aquinas was declared patron of all Catholic educational establishments.
Canonization
Thomas Aquinas
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Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Lutheranism July 18, 1323, Avignon, France by Pope John XXII Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse, France 28 January (new), 7 March (old) The Summa theologiae, a model church, the Sun Academics; against storms; against lightning; apologists; Aquino, Italy; Belcastro, Italy; book sellers; Catholic academies, schools, and universities; chastity; Falerna, Italy; learning; pencil makers; philosophers; publishers; scholars; students; [58] theologians.
Honored in
When the devil's advocate at his canonization process objected that there were no miracles, one of the cardinals answered, "Tot miraculis, quot articulis""there are as many miracles (in his life) as articles (in his Summa)," viz., thousands.[] Fifty years after the death of Thomas, on 18 July 1323, Pope John XXII, seated in Avignon, pronounced Thomas a saint.[59] In a monastery at Naples, near the cathedral of St. Januarius, a cell in which he supposedly lived is still shown to visitors. His remains were placed in the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse in 1369. Between 1789 and 1974, they were held in Basilique de Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. In 1974, they were returned to the Church of the Jacobins, where they have remained ever since. In the General Roman Calendar of 1962, in the Roman Catholic Church, Thomas was commemorated on 7 March, the day of death. However, in the General Roman Calendar of 1969, Thomas's memorial was transferred to 28 January, the date of the translation of his relics to Toulouse.[60] Saint Thomas Aquinas is honored with a feast day in the liturgical year of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on 28 January.
Philosophy
Part of a series on
Thomas was a theologian and a Scholastic philosopher.[61] However, he never considered himself a philosopher, and criticized philosophers, whom he saw as pagans, for always "falling short of the true and proper wisdom to be found in Christian revelation."[62] With this in mind, Thomas did have respect for Aristotle, so much so that in the Summa,
Thomas Aquinas he often cites Aristotle simply as "the Philosopher." Much of his work bears upon philosophical topics, and in this sense may be characterized as philosophical. Thomas's philosophical thought has exerted enormous influence on subsequent Christian theology, especially that of the Roman Catholic Church, extending to Western philosophy in general. Thomas stands as a vehicle and modifier of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism.
Commentaries on Aristotle
Thomas wrote several important commentaries on Aristotle's works, including On the Soul, Nicomachean Ethics and Metaphysics. His work is associated with William of Moerbeke's translations of Aristotle from Greek into Latin.
Epistemology
Thomas believed "that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act."[63] However, he believed that human beings have the natural capacity to know many things without special divine revelation, even though such revelation occurs from time to time, "especially in regard to such (truths) as pertain to faith."[] But this is the light that is given to man by God according to man's nature: "Now every form bestowed on created things by God has power for a determined act[uality], which it can bring about in proportion to its own proper endowment; and beyond which it is powerless, except by a superadded form, as water can only heat when heated by the fire. And thus the human understanding has a form, viz. intelligible light, which of itself is sufficient for knowing certain intelligible things, viz. those we can come to know through the senses."[]
Ethics
Thomas's ethics are based on the concept of "first principles of action."[64] In his Summa theologiae, he wrote: Virtue denotes a certain perfection of a power. Now a thing's perfection is considered chiefly in regard to its end. But the end of power is act. Wherefore power is said to be perfect, according as it is determinate to its act.[65] Thomas defined the four cardinal virtues as prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude. The cardinal virtues are natural and revealed in nature, and they are binding on everyone. There are, however, three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. These are somewhat supernatural and are distinct from other virtues in their object, namely, God: Now the object of the theological virtues is God Himself, Who is the last end of all, as surpassing the knowledge of our reason. On the other hand, the object of the intellectual and moral virtues is something comprehensible to human reason. Wherefore the theological virtues are specifically distinct from the moral and intellectual virtues.[66] Furthermore, Thomas distinguished four kinds of law: eternal, natural, human, and divine. Eternal law is the decree of God that governs all creation. Natural law is the human "participation" in the eternal law and is discovered by reason.[67] Natural law, of course, is based on "first principles": . . . this is the first precept of the law, that good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided. All other precepts of the natural law are based on this . . .[68] The desires to live and to procreate are counted by Thomas among those basic (natural) human values on which all human values are based. According to Thomas, all human tendencies are geared towards real human goods. In this case, the human nature in question is marriage, the total gift of oneself to another that ensures a family for children and a future for mankind.[69] To clarify for Christian believers, Thomas defined love as "to will the good of another."[] Human law is positive law: the natural law applied by governments to societies. Divine law is the specially revealed law in the scriptures. Thomas also greatly influenced Catholic understandings of mortal and venial sins.
Thomas Aquinas Thomas denied that human beings have any duty of charity to animals because they are not persons. Otherwise, it would be unlawful to use them for food. But this does not give humans the license to be cruel to them, for "cruel habits might carry over into our treatment of human beings."[70] Thomas contributed to economic thought as an aspect of ethics and justice. He dealt with the concept of a just price, normally its market price or a regulated price sufficient to cover seller costs of production. He argued it was immoral for sellers to raise their prices simply because buyers were in pressing need for a product.[71][72]
Intentionality
The pioneer of neurodynamics, cognitive neuroscientist Walter Freeman, considers the work of Thomas important in remodeling intentionality, the directedness of the mind toward what it is aware of.[73]
Psychology
Aquinas maintains that a human is a single material substance. He understands the soul as the form of the body, which makes a human being the composite of the two. Thus, only living, form-matter composites can truly be called human; dead bodies are human only analogously. One actually existing substance comes from body and soul. A human is a single material substance, but still should be understood as having an immaterial soul, which continues after bodily death. Ultimately, humans are animals; the animal genus is body; body is material substance. When embodied, a human person is an individual substance in the category rational animal.[74] The body belongs to the essence of a human being. In his Summa theologiae Aquinas clearly states his position on the nature of the soul; defining it as the first principle of life.[75] The soul is not corporeal, or a body; it is the act of a body. Because the intellect is incorporeal, it does not use the bodily organs, as the operation of anything follows the mode of its being.[76] The human soul is perfected in the body, but does not depend on the body, because part of its nature is spiritual. In this way, the soul differs from other forms, which are only found in matter, and thus depend on matter. The soul, as form of the body, does not depend on matter in this way. The soul is not matter, not even incorporeal or spiritual matter. If it were, it would not be able to understand universals, which are immaterial. A receiver receives things according to the receivers own nature, so in order for soul (receiver) to understand (receive) universals, it must have the same nature as universals. Yet, any substance that understands universals may not be a matter-form composite. So, humans have rational souls which are abstract forms independent of the body. But a human being is one existing, single material substance which comes from body and soul: that is what Thomas means when he writes that something one in nature can be formed from an intellectual substance and a body, and a thing one in nature does not result from two permanent entities unless one has the character of substantial form and the other of matter.[77] The soul is a "substantial form"; it is a part of a substance, but it is not a substance by itself. Nevertheless, the soul exists separately from the body, and continues, after death, in many of the capacities we think of as human. Substantial form is what makes a thing a member of the species to which it belongs, and substantial form is also the structure or configuration that provides the object with the abilities that make the object what it is. For humans, those abilities are those of the rational animal. These distinctions can be better understood in the light of Aquinas understanding of matter and form, a hylomorphic ("matter/form") theory derived from Aristotle. In any given substance, matter and form are necessarily united, and each is a necessary aspect of that substance. However, they are conceptually separable. Matter represents what is changeable about the substance what is potentially something else. For example, bronze matter is potentially a statue, or also potentially a cymbal. Matter must be understood as the matter of something. In contrast, form is what determines some particular chunk of matter to be a specific substance and no other. When Aquinas says that the human body is only partly composed of matter, he means the material body is only potentially a human being. The soul is what actualizes that potential into an existing human being. Consequently, the fact that a human body is live
Thomas Aquinas human tissue entails that a human soul is wholly present in each part of the human.
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Theology
Thomas viewed theology, or the sacred doctrine, as a science,[46] the raw material data of which consists of written scripture and the tradition of the Catholic Church. These sources of data were produced by the self-revelation of God to individuals and groups of people throughout history. Faith and reason, while distinct but related, are the two primary tools for processing the data of theology. Thomas believed both were necessary or, rather, that the confluence of both was necessary for one to obtain true knowledge of God. Thomas blended Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine by suggesting that rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, were valid ways to understand truths pertaining to God. According to Thomas, God reveals himself through nature, so to study nature is to study God. The ultimate goals of theology, in Thomas's mind, are to use reason to grasp the truth about God and to experience salvation through that truth.
Revelation
Thomas believed that truth is known through reason (natural revelation) and faith (supernatural revelation). Supernatural revelation has its origin in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is made available through the teaching of the prophets, summed up in Holy Scripture, and transmitted by the Magisterium, the sum of which is called "Tradition". Natural revelation is the truth available to all people through their human nature and powers of reason. For example, he felt this applied to rational ways to know the existence of God. Though one may deduce the existence of God and his Attributes (Unity, Truth, Goodness, Power, Knowledge) through reason, certain specifics may be known only through the special revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The major theological components of Christianity, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are revealed in the teachings of the Church and the Scriptures and may not otherwise be deduced. Faith and reason complement rather than contradict each other, each giving different views of the same Truth.
Creation
As a Catholic, Thomas believed that God is the "maker of heaven and earth, of all that is visible and invisible." Like Aristotle, Thomas posited that life could form from non-living material or plant life, a theory of ongoing abiogenesis known as spontaneous generation: Since the generation of one thing is the corruption of another, it was not incompatible with the first formation of things, that from the corruption of the less perfect the more perfect should be generated. Hence animals generated from the corruption of inanimate things, or of plants, may have been generated then.[78] Additionally, Thomas considered Empedocles' theory that various mutated species emerged at the dawn of Creation. Thomas reasoned that these species were generated through mutations in animal sperm, and argued that they were not unintended by nature; rather, such species were simply not intended for perpetual existence. That discussion is found in his commentary on Aristotle's Physics:
Thomas Aquinas The same thing is true of those substances which Empedocles said were produced at the beginning of the world, such as the ox-progeny, i.e., half ox and half man. For if such things were not able to arrive at some end and final state of nature so that they would be preserved in existence, this was not because nature did not intend this [a final state], but because they were not capable of being preserved. For they were not generated according to nature, but by the corruption of some natural principle, as it now also happens that some monstrous offspring are generated because of the corruption of seed.[79]
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Just war
Augustine of Hippo agreed strongly with the conventional wisdom of his time, that Christians should be pacifists philosophically, but that they should use defense as a means of preserving peace in the long run. For example, he routinely argued that pacifism did not prevent the defence of innocents. In essence, the pursuit of peace might require fighting to preserve it in the long-term.[80] Such a war must not be preemptive, but defensive, to restore peace.[81] Thomas Aquinas, centuries later, used the authority of Augustine's arguments in an attempt to define the conditions under which a war could be just.[82] He laid these out in his historic work, Summa Theologica: First, war must occur for a good and just purpose rather than the pursuit of wealth or power. Second, just war must be waged by a properly instituted authority such as the state. Third, peace must be a central motive even in the midst of violence.[83] The School of Salamanca The School of Salamanca expanded Aquinas' understanding of natural law and just war. Given that war is one of the worst evils suffered by mankind, the adherents of the School reasoned that it ought to be resorted to only when it was necessary to prevent an even greater evil. A diplomatic agreement is preferable, even for the more powerful party, before a war is started. Examples of "just war" are:[citation needed] In self-defense, as long as there is a reasonable possibility of success. If failure is a foregone conclusion, then it is just a wasteful spilling of blood. Preventive war against a tyrant who is about to attack. War to punish a guilty enemy. A war is not legitimate or illegitimate simply based on its original motivation: it must comply with a series of additional requirements:[citation needed] The response must be commensurate to the evil; more violence than is strictly necessary would be unjust. Governing authorities declare war, but their decision is not sufficient cause to begin a war. If the people oppose a war, then it is illegitimate. The people have a right to depose a government that is waging, or is about to wage, an unjust war. Once war has begun, there remain moral limits to action. For example, one may not attack innocents or kill hostages. The belligerents must exhaust all options for dialogue and negotiation before undertaking a war; war is only legitimate as a last resort. Under this doctrine, expansionist wars, wars of pillage, wars to convert infidels or pagans, and wars for glory are all inherently unjust.
Thomas Aquinas
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Nature of God
Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists," of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature namely, by effects."[84] Thomas believed that the existence of God can be proven. In the Summa theologiae, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways). 1. Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since, as Thomas believed, there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God. 2. Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God. 3. Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist. 4. Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative which is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God -->note Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself. 5. Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God --> Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas' view the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well.[85] Concerning the nature of God, Thomas felt the best approach, commonly called the via negativa, is to consider what God is not. This led him to propose five statements about the divine qualities: 1. God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form.[86] 2. God is perfect, lacking nothing. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality.[87] Thomas defined God as the Ipse Actus Essendi [88] subsistens, subsisting act of being.[89] 3. God is infinite. That is, God is not finite in the ways that created beings are physically, intellectually, and emotionally limited. This infinity is to be distinguished from infinity of size and infinity of number.[90] 4. God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character.[91] 5. God is one, without diversification within God's self. The unity of God is such that God's essence is the same as God's existence. In Thomas's words, "in itself the proposition 'God exists' is necessarily true, for in it subject and predicate are the same."[92] In this approach, he is following, among others, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.[93] Following St. Augustine of Hippo, Thomas defines sin as "a word, deed, or desire, contrary to the eternal law."[94] It is important to note the analogous nature of law in Thomas's legal philosophy. Natural law is an instance or instantiation of eternal law. Because natural law is that which human beings determine according to their own nature (as rational beings), disobeying reason is disobeying natural law and eternal law. Thus eternal law is logically prior to reception of either "natural law" (that determined by reason) or "divine law" (that found in the Old and New Testaments). In other words, God's will extends to both reason and revelation. Sin is abrogating either one's own reason, on the one hand, or revelation on the other, and is synonymous with "evil" (privation of good, or privatio boni[95]). Thomas, like all Scholastics, generally argued that the findings of reason and data of revelation cannot conflict, so both are a guide to God's will for human beings.
Thomas Aquinas
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Thomas Aquinas
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Treatment of heretics
Thomas Aquinas belonged to the Dominican Order (formally Ordo Praedicatorum, the Order of Preachers) who began as an order dedicated to the conversion of the Albigensians and other heterodox factions, at first by peaceful means; later the Albigensians were dealt with by means of the Albigensian Crusade. In the Summa theologiae, he wrote: With regard to heretics two points must be observed: one, on their own side; the other, on the side of the Church. On their own side there is the sin, whereby they deserve not only to be separated from the Church by excommunication, but also to be severed from the world by death. For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul, than to forge money, which supports temporal life. Wherefore if forgers of money and other evil-doers are forthwith condemned to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death. On the part of the Church, however, there is mercy which looks to the conversion of the wanderer, wherefore she condemns not at once, but "after the first and second admonition," as the Apostle directs: after that, if he is yet stubborn, the Church no longer hoping for his conversion, looks to the salvation of others, by excommunicating him and separating him from the Church, and furthermore delivers him to the secular tribunal to be exterminated thereby from the world by death.(Summa, IIII, Q.11, art.3. [106]) Heresy was a capital offense against the secular law of most European countries of the 13th century, which had a limited prison capacity. Simple theft, forgery, fraud, and other such crimes were also capital offenses; Thomas' point seems to be that the gravity of this offense, which touches not only the material goods but also the spiritual goods of others, is at least the same as forgery. Thomas's suggestion specifically demands that heretics be handed to a "secular tribunal" rather than magisterial authority. That Thomas specifically says that heretics "deserve... death" is related to his theology, according to which all sinners have no intrinsic right to life ("For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"[107]). Nevertheless, his point is clear: heretics should be executed by the state. He elaborates on his opinion regarding heresy in the next article, when he says: In God's tribunal, those who return are always received, because God is a searcher of hearts, and knows those who return in sincerity. But the Church cannot imitate God in this, for she presumes that those who relapse after being once received, are not sincere in their return; hence she does not debar them from the way of salvation, but neither does she protect them from the sentence of death. (Summa, op. cit., art.4. [108])
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Modern influence
Many modern ethicists both within and outside the Catholic Church (notably Philippa Foot and Alasdair MacIntyre) have recently commented on the possible use of Thomas's virtue ethics as a way of avoiding utilitarianism or Kantian "sense of duty" (called deontology). Through the work of twentieth century philosophers such as Elizabeth Anscombe (especially in her book Intention), Thomas's principle of double effect specifically and his theory of intentional activity generally have been influential. In recent years, the cognitive neuroscientist Walter Freeman proposes that Thomism is the philosophical system explaining cognition that is most compatible with neurodynamics, in a 2008 article in the journal Mind and Matter
Thomas Aquinas entitled "Nonlinear Brain Dynamics and Intention According to Aquinas." Thomas's aesthetic theories, especially the concept of claritas, deeply influenced the literary practice of modernist writer James Joyce, who used to extol Thomas as being second only to Aristotle among Western philosophers. Joyce refers to Aquinas' doctrines in Elementa philosophiae ad mentem D. Thomae Aquinatis doctoris angelici (1898) of Girolamo Maria Mancini, professor of theology at the Collegium Divi Thomae de Urbe.[113] For example, Mancini's Elementa is referred to in Joyce's early masterpiece Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man[114] The influence of Thomas's aesthetics also can be found in the works of the Italian semiotician Umberto Eco, who wrote an essay on aesthetic ideas in Thomas (published in 1956 and republished in 1988 in a revised edition).
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Criticism
Bertrand Russell criticized Aquinas' philosophy on the ground that He does not, like the Platonic Socrates, set out to follow wherever the argument may lead. He is not engaged in an inquiry, the result of which it is impossible to know in advance. Before he begins to philosophize, he already knows the truth; it is declared in the Catholic faith. If he can find apparently rational arguments for some parts of the faith, so much the better; if he cannot, he need only fall back on revelation. The finding of arguments for a conclusion given in advance is not philosophy, but special pleading. I cannot, therefore, feel that he deserves to be put on a level with the best philosophers either of Greece or of modern times.[115] This critique is illustrated on the following examples: According to Russell, Aquinas advocates the indissolubility of marriage "on the ground that the father is useful in the education of the children, (a) because he is more rational than the mother, (b) because, being stronger, he is better able to inflict physical punishment."[] Even though modern approaches to education do not support these views, "no follower of Saint Thomas would, on that account, cease to believe in lifelong monogamy, because the real grounds of belief are not those which are alleged."[] It may be countered that the treatment of matrimony in the Summa Theologica is in the Supplements volume, which was not written by Aquinas.[116] Moreover, as noted above,[117] Aquinas's introduction of arguments and concepts from the pagan Aristotle and Muslim Averroes was not uncontroversial within the Catholic church. Aquinas' views of God as first cause, cf. quinque viae, "depend upon the supposed impossibility of a series having no first term. Every mathematician knows that there is no such impossibility; the series of negative integers ending with minus one is an instance to the contrary."[] Moreover, according to Russell, statements regarding God's essence and existence that are reached within the Aristotelian logic are based on "some kind of syntactical confusion, without which much of the argumentation about God would lose its plausibility."[]
Claims of levitation
For centuries, there have been recurring claims that Thomas had the ability to levitate. For example, G. K. Chesterton wrote that, "His experiences included well-attested cases of levitation in ecstasy; and the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, comforting him with the welcome news that he would never be a Bishop."[118]
Sources
Footnotes
[1] See Pius XI, Studiorum Ducem 11 (29 June 1923), AAS, XV ("non modo Angelicum, sed etiam Communem seu Universalem Ecclesiae Doctorem"). The title Doctor Communis dates to the fourteenth century; the title Doctor Angelicus dates to the fifteenth century, see Walz, Xenia Thomistica, III, p. 164 n. 4. Tolomeo da Lucca writes in Historia Ecclesiastica (1317): This man is supreme among modern teachers of philosophy and theology, and indeed in every subject. And such is the common view and opinion, so that nowadays in the University of Paris they call him the Doctor Communis because of the outstanding clarity of his teaching. Historia Eccles. xxiii, c. 9. [2] Code of Canon Law, Can. 252, 3 (http:/ / www. vatican. va/ archive/ ENG1104/ __PW. HTM)
Thomas Aquinas
[3] Benedict XV Encyclical Fausto appetente die (http:/ / www. vatican. va/ holy_father/ benedict_xv/ encyclicals/ documents/ hf_ben-xv_enc_29061921_fausto-appetente-die_en. html) 29 June 1921, AAS 13 (1921), 332; Pius XI Encyclical Studiorum Ducem 11, 29 June 1923, AAS 15 (1923), cf. AAS 17 (1925) 574; Paul VI, 7 March 1964 AAS 56 (1964), 302 (Bouscaren, vol. VI, pp. 78688). [4] Jean-Pierre Torrell, Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person And His Work, CUA press, 2005, p. 3. Google Book (http:/ / books. google. it/ books?id=1KUS-cBJmqoC& pg=PA3& lpg=PA3& dq=thomas+ aquinas+ neapolitan+ rossi& source=bl& ots=rjnI8obBC_& sig=pein7EBD6Mjb6jYxSLcKscX8ARY& sa=X& ei=Ke8uUPezE8vV4QSztYCIBw& ved=0CA4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage& q=thomas aquinas neapolitan rossi& f=false) [5] Hampden, The Life, p. 14. [6] Stump, Aquinas, p. 3. [7] Schaff, Philip (1953). Thomas Aquinas, pp. 422423. [8] Davies, Aquinas: An Introduction, pp. 12 [9] Davies, Aquinas: An Introduction, p. 2 [10] Hampden, The Life, pp. 2122. [11] Grabmann, Martin. Virgil Michel, trans. Thomas Aquinas: His Personality and Thought. (Kessinger Publishing, 2006), pp. 2. [12] Collison, Diane, and Kathryn Plant. Fifty Major Philosophers. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2006. [13] Hampden, The Life, p. 23. [14] Hampden, The Life, p. 24. [15] Hampden, The Life, p. 25. [16] Hampden, The Life, pp. 2728. [17] Healy, Theologian, p. 2. [18] Hampden, The Life, p. 33. [19] Stump, Aquinas, p. xvi. [20] Davies, The Thought, p. 5. [22] Stump, Aquinas, p. 4. [23] Davies, Aquinas: An Introduction, pp. 34. [24] Stump, Aquinas, p. xvii. [25] Davies, Aquinas: An Introduction, p. 4. [26] Healy, Theologian, p. 4. [27] Fr. Thome de Aquino iniungimus in remissionem peccatorum quod teneat studium Rome, et volumus quod fratribus qui stant secum ad studendum provideatur in necessariis vestimentis a conventibus de quorum predicatione traxerunt originem. Si autem illi studentes inventi fuerint negligentes in studio, damus potestatem fr. Thome quod ad conventus suos possit eos remittere (Acta Capitulorum Provincialium, Provinciae Romanae Ordinis Praedicatorum, 1265, n. 12)http:/ / www. corpusthomisticum. org/ a65. html [28] Compendium Historiae Ordinis Praedicatorum, A.M. Walz, Herder 1930, 214: "Conventus S. Sabinae de Urbe prae ceteris gloriam singularem ex praesentia fundatoris ordinis et primitivorum fratrum necnon ex residentia Romana magistrorum generalium, si de ea sermo esse potest, habet. In documentis quidem eius nonnisi anno 1222 nomen fit, ait certe iam antea nostris concreditus est. Florebant ibi etiam studia sacra." http:/ / www. archive. org/ stream/ MN5081ucmf_3/ MN5081ucmf_3_djvu. txt Accessed 4-9-2011." [29] Marian Michle Mulchahey, "First the bow is bent in study": Dominican education before 1350, 1998, p. 278-279. http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=bK9axCYcbFIC& pg=PA279#v=onepage& q& f=false Accessed 6-30-2011 [30] "Tenuit studium Rome, quasi totam Philosophiam, sive Moralem, sive Naturalem exposuit." Ptolomaei Lucensis historia ecclesiastica nova, xxii, c. 24, in In Gregorovius' History of the City of Rome In the Middle Ages, Vol V, part II, 617, note 2. http:/ / www. third-millennium-library. com/ PDF/ Authors/ Gregorovius/ history-of-rome-city_5_2. pdf Accessed 6-5-2011. [31] Summa theologiae, I, 1, prooemium:"Quia Catholicae veritatis doctor non solum provectos debet instruere, sed ad eum pertinet etiam incipientes erudire, secundum illud apostoli I ad Corinth. III, tanquam parvulis in Christo, lac vobis potum dedi, non escam; propositum nostrae intentionis in hoc opere est, ea quae ad Christianam religionem pertinent, eo modo tradere, secundum quod congruit ad eruditionem incipientium." [32] Davies, Aquinas: An Introduction, p. 5. [33] http:/ / aquinatis. blogspot. com/ 2008/ 05/ vida-de-santo-toms-de-aquino. html Accessed June 22, 2011: "A mediados de noviembre abandon Santo Toms la ciudad de Viterbo en compaa de fray Reginaldo de Piperno y su discpulo fray Nicols Brunacci." http:/ / www. brunacci. it/ s--tommaso. html Accessed June 22, 2011. Accessed June 22, 2011: "Per l'acutezza del suo ingegno, dopo aver studiato nella sua provincia, ebbe l'alto onore di accompagnare S. Tommaso a Parigi nel novembre del 1268. Rimase in quello studio fino al 1272 e di l pass a Colonia sotto la disciplina di Alberto Magno." [34] http:/ / www. santiebeati. it/ dettaglio/ 92060 Accessed June 29, 2011 [35] Compendium Historiae Ordinis Praedicatorum, A.M. Walz, Herder 1930, 214: Romanus conventus S. Mariae supra Minervam anno 1255 ex conditionibus parvis crevit. Tunc enim paenitentibus feminis in communi regulariter ibi 1252/53 viventibus ad S. Pancratium migratis fratres Praedicatores domum illam relictam a Summo Pontifice habendam petierunt et impetranint. Qua demum feliciter obtenda capellam hospitio circa annum 1255 adiecerunt. Huc evangelizandi causa fratres e conventu S. Sabinae descendebant. http:/ / www. archive. org/ stream/ MN5081ucmf_3/ MN5081ucmf_3_djvu. txt Accessed 5-17-2011 [36] Marian Michle Mulchahey, "First the bow is bent in study": Dominican education before 1350, 1998, p. 323. http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=bK9axCYcbFIC& pg=PA323 Accessed 5-26-2011
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[37] Stump, Aquinas, pp. 1011. [38] Stump, Aquinas, p. 11. [39] Aquinas, Reader, pp. 911. [40] McInerney, Against the Averroists, p. 10. [41] Aquinas, Reader, p. 11. [42] http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=iuDhWSLoah8C& pg=PA162& lpg=PA162& dq=%22bene+ scripsisti%22#v=onepage& q=%22bene%20scripsisti%22& f=false Accessed October 13, 2012 [43] Catholic Encyclopedia (http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ cathen/ 14663b. htm) [44] Davies, The Thought, p. 9. [46] McInerny, Ralph and John O'Callaghan, " Saint Thomas Aquinas (http:/ / plato. stanford. edu/ entries/ aquinas/ )", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) [47] Healy, Theologian, p. 7. [48] Nichols, Discovering Aquinas, p. 18. [49] Hampden, The Life, p. 46. [50] Healy, Theologian, p. 8. [51] Aquinas, Reader, p. 12. [52] Hampden, The Life, p. 47. [54] Kung, Christian Thinkers (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=DoelY_m7Ry4C& pg=PA112& dq=Hans+ Kung+ + Great+ Christian+ Thinkers+ + "at+ first+ regarded+ as+ heresy"& hl=en& ei=isH_TZT8AtO10AH845XgCA& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q& f=false), pp. 112114. [57] "Aquinas, Thomas", Encyclopdia Britannica (1911), pg. 250 (http:/ / en. wikisource. org/ w/ index. php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ ScanSet_TIFF_demo& vol=02& page=EB2A264). [58] http:/ / saints. sqpn. com/ saint-thomas-aquinas/ [59] Hampden, The Life, p. 54. [60] Liturgy of the Hours Volume III, Proper of Saints, 28 January. [61] Some would not describe Thomas as a philosopher. See, e.g., Mark D. Jordan, "Philosophy in a Summa of Theology", in Rewritten Theology: Aquinas after his Readers (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006) pp. 154170. (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=TS3XmU5mTrgC& pg=PA154& dq=Mark+ D. + Jordan,+ "Philosophy+ in+ a+ Summa+ of+ Theology",+ in+ Rewritten+ Theology:+ Aquinas+ after+ his+ Readers& cd=1#v=onepage& q& f=false) [64] Geisler, p. 727. [71] Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. Of Cheating, Which Is Committed in Buying and Selling. Translated by The Fathers of the English Dominican Province (http:/ / www. saylor. org/ site/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2012/ 06/ ECON301-2. 1. 2-1st. pdf) Retrieved June 19, 2012 [72] Barry Gordon (1987). "Aquinas, St Thomas (12251274)," v. 1, p. 100 [78] Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (http:/ / dhspriory. org/ thomas/ summa/ FP/ FP072. html#FPQ72OUTP1), On the Work of the Sixth Day, Reply to Objection 5, Fathers of the English Dominican Province [79] Saint Thomas Aquinas, Physica (http:/ / dhspriory. org/ thomas/ Physics2. htm#14), Book 2, Lecture 14, Fathers of the English Dominican Province [80] St. Augustine of Hippo (http:/ / www. crusades-encyclopedia. com/ augustineofhippo. html), Crusades-Encyclopedia [81] Saint Augustine and the Theory of Just War (http:/ / www. jknirp. com/ mattox. htm) [82] The Just War (http:/ / www. catholiceducation. org/ articles/ politics/ pg0029. html) [84] http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 1002. htm#article1 [85] Summa of Theology I, q.2, The Five Ways Philosophers Have Proven God's Existence [86] Kreeft, pp. 7477. [87] Kreeft, pp. 8687. [88] http:/ / aquinasactusessendi. blogspot. com [89] See Actus Essendi. See also Online Resources: Actus Essendi Electronic Journal (http:/ / aquinasactusessendi. blogspot. com). [90] Kreeft, pp. 9799. [91] Kreeft, p. 105. [92] Kreeft, pp. 111112. [93] Jewish Encyclopedia (http:/ / www. jewishencyclopedia. com/ view. jsp?artid=1678& letter=A), Aquinas, Thomas [95] Summa, III, Q.75, art.1. (http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 2075. htm#article1) "For evil is the absence of the good, which is natural and due to a thing." [96] http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 1031. htm#article3 [99] Aquinas, pp. 228229. [101] Aquinas, pp. 231239. [102] Aquinas, pp. 241, 245249. Emphasis is the author's. [103] http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 4002. htm#article4 [105] Kreeft, p. 383. [106] http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 3011. htm#article3
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[108] http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 3011. htm#article4 [113] The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Vol V, Year 32, No. 378, June, 1899, p. 570, http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=fpYvAAAAYAAJ& pg=PA570#v=onepage& q& f=false Accessed 3-7-2013 [114] A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, Wordsworth 1992 edition, Introduction and Notes by Jacqueline Belanger, 2001, p. 136, note 309: "Synopsis Philosophiae ad mentem D. Thomae This appears to be a reference to Elementa Philosophiae ad mentem D. Thomae Aquinatis, a selection of Thomas Aquinas's writings edited and published by G. M. Mancini in 1898. (G)" http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=C_rPXanc_HAC& pg=PA221#v=onepage& q& f=false Accessed 3-6-2013 [115] A History of Western Philosophy, Ch. 34, St. Thomas Aquinas, Allen & Unwin, London; Simon & Schuster, New York 1946, 484-. [116] http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ summa/ 5. htm [117] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Thomas_Aquinas#Condemnation_of_1277 [118] G. K. Chesterton wrote an Essay on St. Thomas Aquinas (http:/ / chesterton. org/ gkc/ theologian/ aquinas. htm) which appeared in The Spectator 27 Feb. 1932.
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References
This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Seeburg, Reinhold (1914). "Thomas Aquinas" (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc11.t.vii.html). In Jackson, Samuel Macauley. New SchaffHerzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge XI (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. pp.422427. This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thomas Aquinas" (http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/APO_ARN/AQUINAS_THOMAS_Thomas_of_AQUIN_. html). Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Aquinas, Thomas; Mary T. Clark (2000). An Aquinas Reader: Selections from the Writings of Thomas Aquinas. Fordham University Press. ISBN0-8232-2029-X. Aquinas, Thomas (2002). Aquinas's Shorter Summa. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press. ISBN1-928832-43-1. Davies, Brian (2004). Aquinas: An Introduction. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN0-8264-7095-5. Davies, Brian (1993). The Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-826753-3. Russell, Bertrand (1967), A History of Western Philosophy, Simon & Schuster, ISBN0671201581 Geisler, Norman, ed. (1999). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic Gordon, Barry (1987 [2009]). "Aquinas, St Thomas," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 1. Hampden, Renn Dickson (1848). "The Life of Thomas Aquinas: A Dissertation of the Scholastic Philosophy of the Middle Ages". Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. London: John J. Griffin & Co. Healy, Nicholas M. (2003). Thomas Aquinas: Theologian of the Christian Life. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN0-7546-1472-7. Kreeft, Peter (1990). Summa of the Summa. Ignatius Press. ISBN0-89870-300-X. Kung, Hans (1994). Great Christian Thinkers. New York: Continuum Books. ISBN0-8264-0848-6. McInerny, Ralph M. (1993). Aquinas Against the Averroists: On There Being Only One Intellect. Purdue University Press. ISBN1-55753-029-7. Nichols, Aidan (2003). Discovering Aquinas: An Introduction to His Life, Work, and Influence. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN0-8028-0514-0. Schaff, Philip (1953). "Thomas Aquinas". The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 126 (3190). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. pp.422423. Bibcode: 1930Natur.126..951G (http://adsabs. harvard.edu/abs/1930Natur.126..951G). doi: 10.1038/126951c0 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/126951c0). Stump, Eleonore (2003). Aquinas. Routledge. ISBN0-415-02960-0.
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Further reading
Copleston, Frederick (1991). Aquinas: An Introduction to the Life and Work of the Great Medieval Thinker. Penguin Books. ISBN0-14-013674-6. Faitanin, Paulo (2008). A Sabedoria do Amor: iniciao filosofia de Santo Toms de Aquino. Instituto Aquinate. ISSN 1982-8845 (http://www.worldcat.org/issn/1982-8845). Faitanin, Paulo (2008). O Ofcio do Sbio: o modo de estudar e ensinar segundo Santo Toms de Aquino. Instituto Aquinate. ISSN 1982-8845 (http://www.worldcat.org/issn/1982-8845). Paterson, Craig & Matthew S. Pugh (eds.), Analytical Thomism: Traditions in Dialogue. Ashgate, 2006. Introduction to Thomism (http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=4762& edition_id=6976) Schmitz, Kenneth (2007). St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/audiobook.cfm?id=3813) (audiobook). Narrated by Charlton Heston. Ashland, OR; Boulder, CO: Knowledge Products; Blackstone Audiobooks; NetLibrary. ISBN0-7861-6932-X. OCLC 78235338 (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/78235338). Strathern, Paul (1998). Thomas Aquinas in 90 Minutes. Chicago: I.R. Dee. 90 p. ISBN 1-56663-194-7 Torrell, Jean-Pierre (2005). Saint Thomas Aquinas. (Rev. ed. ed.). Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN978-0-8132-1423-8. OCLC 456104266 (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/456104266). Wallace, William A. (1970). "Thomas Aquinas, Saint" (http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/ Saint_Thomas_Aquinas.aspx#1). In Gillispie, Charles. Dictionary of Scientific Biography 1. New York: Scribner & American Council of Learned Societies. pp.196200. ISBN978-0-684-10114-9. Weisheipl, James (1974). Friar Thomas D'Aquino: his life, thought, and work ([1st ed.] ed.). Garden City N.Y.: Doubleday. ISBN978-0-385-01299-7.
External links
Biographies
St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.bartleby.com/210/3/071.html) ( pdf (http://www.u.arizona.edu/~aversa/ aquinas.pdf)) biography from Fr. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints (http://www.bartleby.com/210/) "St. Thomas Aquinas". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14663b.htm) article by Daniel Kennedy in Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), at NewAdvent.org St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www2.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/thomas.htm) biography by Jacques Maritain St. Thomas Aquinas (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100331.txt) biography by G. K. Chesterton protected by copyright outside Australia Vita D. Thomae Aquinatis (http://www.dspt.edu/197810316143459540/blank/browse.asp?a=383& BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=55892) a pictorial life of Aquinas from a manuscript by Otto van Veen (1610)
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On his thought
Actus Essendi: An Electronic Journal on Aquinas' Doctrine of the Act of Being (http://aquinasactusessendi. blogspot.com). Brown, Paterson. "Infinite Causal Regression" (http://www.metalog.org/files/tpb/inf.r.html), Philosophical Review, 1966. Brown, Paterson. "St. Thomas' Doctrine of Necessary Being" (http://www.metalog.org/files/tpb/nec.b.html), Philosophical Review, 1964. Instituto Teolgico So Toms de Aquino (http://ittanoticias.arautos.org/) (Portuguese) On the legend of St. Albert's automaton (http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/staamp3.htm) Aquinas on Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Life (http://www.unav.es/cryf/extraterrestriallife.html) Poetry of St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/christian/st_thomas/ ) Biography and ideas (http://lgxserver.uniba.it/lei/filosofi/autori/tommaso-scheda.htm) at SWIF/University of Bari/Italy (Italian) Aquinas's Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas-moral-political/) Thomas Aquinas (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11187897) at Find A Grave Thomistic Philosophy (http://www.aquinasonline.com/index.html) Inspired by the enduring thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas Article on Thomism (http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/thomism.htm) by the Jacques Maritain Center of Notre Dame University Thomistica.net (http://thomistica.net/) news and newsletter devoted to the academic study of Aquinas Aquinas the Scholar (http://www2.nd.edu/Departments//Maritain/etext/walsh-q.htm) from The Thirteenth, the Greatest of Centuries, ch. XVII. by James Joseph Walsh A discussion of Aquinas on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time series (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/ inourtime/inourtime_20090917.shtml) 2009
By Thomas
Works by or about Thomas Aquinas (http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n78-95790) in libraries (WorldCat catalog) Complete works of St. Thomas Aquinas (http://www.josephkenny.joyeurs.com/CDtexts/index2.htm) in (Latin) and (English) side by side Corpus Thomisticum (http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/) his complete works in (Latin) De Rationibus Fidei/Reasons for the Faith against Muslim Objections... (http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ ja/images/stories/7_SFM August 2010.pdf) Documenta Catholica Omnia (http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/ 20_50_1225-1274-_Thomas_Aquinas,_Sanctus.html) his complete works in PDF files, in (Latin), (Italian), (English), (German), (Spanish), (French), (Portuguese) Summa contra Gentiles (http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/gc.htm) Summa Theologica (http://www.newadvent.org/summa) The Principles of Nature (http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/aquinas/Nature.html) On Being and Essence (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/aquinas-esse.html) (De Ente et Essentia) Catena Aurea (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.titlepage.html) (partial) Works by Thomas Aquinas (http://www.gutenberg.org/author/Aquinas+Thomas+Saint) at Project Gutenberg Bibliotheca Thomistica IntraText (http://www.intratext.com/bti/): texts, concordances and frequency lists An Aquinas Bibliography (http://www.domcentral.org/library/thombibl.htm)
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St Thomas' Multilanguage Opera Omnia (http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/ 20_50_1225-1274-_Thomas_Aquinas,_Sanctus.html) Thomas Aquinas in English (http://www.home.duq.edu/~bonin/thomasbibliography.html) De Magistro (http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/loughlin/ATP/De_Magistro/De_Magistro_11_1.html) (On the teacher q. 11, a.1 of de Veritate) Writings of Thomas Aquinas in Article Form at PhilosophersAnswer.com (http://philosophersanswer.com/ index.php?option=com_googlesearch&n=30&Itemid=4&domains=philosophersanswer.com&q=thomas+ aquinas&sitesearch=philosophersanswer.com&sa=Search&client=pub-3824745031597636&forid=1& ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1& cof=GALT:008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:000000;LBGC:336699;ALC:ffff00;LC:0000FF;T:FFFFFF hl=en) Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries (http://hos.ou.edu/ galleries//03Medieval/Aquinas/) High resolution images of works by Thomas Aquinas in .jpg and .tiff format.
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License
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