The Philosophy Of Aquinas

This new and updated edition of Christopher Shields and Robert Pasnau's The Philosophy of Aquinas introduces the Aquinas' overarching explanatory framework in order to provide the necessary background to his philosophical investigations across a wide range of areas: rational theology, metaphysics, philosophy of human nature, philosophy of mind, and ethical and political theory. Although not intended to provide a comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of Aquinas' far-reaching writings, the volume presents a systematic introduction to the principal areas of his philosophy and attends no less to Aquinas' methods and argumentative strategies than to his ultimate conclusions. The authors have updated the second edition in light of recent scholarship on Aquinas, while streamlining and refining their presentation of the key elements of Aquinas' philosophy.

If Saint Thomas Aquinas was a great theologian, it is in no small part because he was a great philosopher. And he was a great philosopher because he was a great metaphysician. In the twentieth century, metaphysics was not much in vogue, among eithertheologians or even philosophers; but now it is making a comeback, and once the contours of Thomas's metaphysical vision are glimpsed, it looks like anything but a museum piece. It only needs some dusting off. Many are studying Thomas now for the answers that he might be able to give to current questions, but he is perhaps even more interesting for the questions that he can raise regarding current answers: about the physical world, about human life and knowledge, and (needless to say) about God. This book is aimed at helping those who are not experts in medieval thought to begin to enter into Thomas's philosophical point of view. Along the way, it brings out some aspects of his thought that are not often emphasised in the current literature, and it offers a reading of his teaching on the divine nature that goes rather against the drift of some prominent recent interpretations.

This book introduces Thomas Aquinas's own principal fascinations in philosophy: rational theology, metaphysics, human nature, philosophy of mind, and value theory. It offers an introduction to his overarching explanatory framework in a distinctive deployment of an approach familiar from Aristotle.

Beginning with a brief overview of Aquinas' life and philosophical career, the authors introduce his overarching explanatory framework in order to provide the necessary background to his philosophical investigations across a wide range of areas: rational theology, metaphysics, philosophy of human nature, philosophy of mind, and ethical and political theory.

This compact collection of philosophical texts from the Summa Theologica--on God, creation, the soul, human acts, moral good and evil, love, habits, virtue, and law--is presented newly translated in abridged form and cast in a modified version of the medieval quaestio. Included are only the most important objections and Aquinas’ replies; appeals to scriptural, theological, and philosophical authorities have been omitted. Unlike the ordering of the originals, questions and answers are here presented prior to objections and replies; the result is a sharp, rich, topically organized question-answer presentation of Aquinas' major philosophical arguments within a brief compass. A general Introduction, headnotes, a glossary, an index, and a select bibliography offer expert guidance to the work of this major philosopher.

In this final edition of his classic study of St. Thomas Aquinas, Etienne Gilson presents the sweeping range and organic unity of Thomistic philosophical thought. Gilson demonstrates that Aquinas drew from a wide spectrum of sources in the development of his thought—from Aristotle, to the Arabic and Jewish philosophers of his time, as well as from Christian writers. What results is an insightful introduction to the thought of Aquinas and the Scholastic philosophy of the Middles Ages. Praise for The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas “As the only English version of any edition of Le Thomisme, and therefore for years a kind of manual for North American students approaching Aquinas, the book deserves recirculation. With it appears the masterful ‘Catalogue of St. Thomas’ works’ prepared by the Rev. I. T. Eschmann to accompany Shook's translation and available nowhere else. . . . Its overview of principles and conclusions in the history of the texts has not been surpassed.”—The Philosophical Quarterly “[This volume presents] L. K. Shook's English translation of the final version of the late Etienne Gilson's (1884-1978) classic overview of the Christian philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. . . . Gibson was one of the pioneers, in the early part of [the twentieth] century, of medieval philosophy in general and the work of Aquinas in particular. He sought to restore the study of Aquinas’ texts an historical sensitivity, thus rescuing them from the near canonical status accorded in the well-intentioned but inhabiting late nineteenth-century palpal revival of Thomistic studies and preserved in the so-called ‘manual theology’ of the seminar curriculum. . . . The endnotes are an invaluable resource, as is the still unsurpassed catalogue of Aquinas’ works compiled by Eschmann and included as an invaluable appendix here.”—Theological Book Review

First Published in 1933. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Introduction 1 AquinasÆs philosophy in its historical setting Jan A. Aertsen 2 Aristotle and Aquinas Joseph Owens 3 Aquinas and Islamic and Jewish thinkers David B. Burrell 4 Metaphysics John F. Wippel 5 Philosophy of mind Norman Kretzmann 6 Theory of knowledge Scott MacDonald 7 Ethics Ralph McInerny 8 Law and politics Paul E. Sigmund 9 Theology and philosophy Mark D. Jordan 10 Biblical commentary and philosophy Eleonore Stump