Thomas Aquinas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP |
|
Religious, priest and
Doctor of the Church |
| Born |
28 January 1225[1]
Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily |
| Died |
7 March 1274[1]
Fossanova, Papal States |
|
Honored in
|
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Lutheranism |
| Canonized |
July 18, 1323, Avignon, Papal States, by Pope John XXII |
| Major shrine |
Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse, France |
| Feast |
28 January (7 March, until 1969) |
| Attributes |
The Summa theologiae, a model church, the sun on the chest of a Dominican friar |
| Patronage |
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; University of Sto. Tomas; Sto. Tomas, Batangas; theologians.[2] |
Thomas Aquinas,
OP (
//; 1225 – 7 March 1274), also
Thomas of Aquin or
Aquino, was an Italian
[3][4] Dominican friar and
priest and an immensely influential
philosopher and
theologian in the tradition of
scholasticism, within which he is also known as the "
Doctor Angelicus" and "
Doctor Communis".
[5] "Aquinas" is from the county of
Aquino, an area his family held land in until 1137. He was born in
Roccasecca, Italy.
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 opposition of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics,
natural law, metaphysics, and political theory. Unlike many currents in the Church of the time,
[6]
Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle — whom he
referred to as "the Philosopher" — and attempted to synthesize
Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.
[7] The works for which he is best known are the
Summa Theologica and the
Summa contra Gentiles.
His commentaries on Sacred Scripture and on Aristotle are an important
part of his body of work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his
eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church's liturgy.
[8]
Thomas is honored as a
saint by the
Catholic Church and is held to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both
natural reason and speculative
theology.
In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was
long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking
ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious
formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy,
Catholic theology, church history, liturgy,
canon law).
[9]
Also honored as a
Doctor of the Church, Thomas 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."
[10]
Biography
Early life (1225–1244)
Thomas was born in
Roccasecca, in the
Aquino county of the
Kingdom of Sicily (present-day
Lazio region, Italy),
c.1225.
According to some authors, he was born in the castle of his father,
Landulf of Aquino. Thomas's father did not belong to the most powerful
branch of the family and simply held the title
miles, while Thomas's mother, Theodora, belonged to the Rossi branch of the
Neapolitan Caracciolo family.
[11] Landulf's brother Sinibald was
abbot of the first
Benedictine monastery at
Monte Cassino. While the rest of the family's sons pursued military careers,
[12] the family intended for Thomas to follow his uncle into the abbacy;
[13] this would have been a normal career path for a younger son of southern Italian nobility.
[14]
At the age of five Thomas began his early education at Monte Cassino but after the military conflict 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.
[15] It was here that Thomas was probably introduced to
Aristotle,
Averroes and
Maimonides, all of whom would influence his theological philosophy.
[16]
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.
[17] There his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was
Petrus de Ibernia.
[18]
At the age of nineteen Thomas resolved to join the recently founded
Dominican Order. Thomas's change of heart did not please his family.
[19]
In an attempt to prevent Theodora's interference in Thomas's choice,
the Dominicans arranged to move Thomas to Rome, and from Rome, to Paris.
[20]
However, while on his journey to Rome, per Theodora's instructions, his
brothers seized him as he was drinking from a spring and took him back
to his parents at the castle of
Monte San Giovanni Campano.
[20]
Thomas was held prisoner for about one year 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.
[16] Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomas's release, which had the effect of extending Thomas's detention.
[21] Thomas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order.
[16]
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.
[22]
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.
[23]
Paris, Cologne, Albert Magnus, and first Paris regency (1245–1259)
In 1245 Thomas was sent to study at the Faculty of the Arts at the
University of Paris, where he most likely met Dominican scholar
Albertus Magnus,
[24] then the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James in Paris.
[25] When Albertus was sent by his superiors to teach at the new
studium generale at Cologne in 1248,
[24] Thomas followed him, declining
Pope Innocent IV's offer to appoint him abbot of Monte Cassino as a Dominican.
[13] Albertus then appointed the reluctant Thomas
magister studentium.
[14]
Because Thomas was quiet and didn't speak much, some of his fellow
students thought he was slow. But Albertus prophetically exclaimed: "You
call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a
bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world."
[13]
Thomas taught in Cologne as an apprentice professor (
baccalaureus biblicus), instructing students on the books of the Old Testament and writing
Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram (
Literal Commentary on Isaiah),
Postilla super Ieremiam (
Commentary on Jeremiah) and
Postilla super Threnos (
Commentary on Lamentations).
[26]
Then in 1252 he returned to Paris to study for the master's degree in
theology. He lectured on the Bible as an apprentice professor, and upon
becoming a
baccalaureus Sententiarum (bachelor of the
Sentences)
[27] devoted his final three years of study to commenting on
Peter Lombard's
Sentences. In the first of his four theological syntheses, Thomas composed a massive commentary on the
Sentences entitled
Scriptum super libros Sententiarium (
Commentary on the Sentences). Aside from his masters writings, he wrote
De ente et essentia (
On Being and Essence) for his fellow Dominicans in Paris.
[13]
In the spring of 1256 Thomas was appointed regent master in theology
at Paris and one of his first works upon assuming this office was
Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem (
Against Those Who Assail the Worship of God and Religion), defending the
mendicant orders, which had come under attack by
William of Saint-Amour.
[28] During his tenure from 1256 to 1259, Thomas wrote numerous works, including:
Questiones disputatae de veritate (
Disputed Questions on Truth), a collection of twenty-nine disputed questions on aspects of faith and the human condition
[29] prepared for the public university debates he presided over on
Lent and
Advent;
[30] Quaestiones quodlibetales (
Quodlibetal Questions), a collection of his responses to questions posed to him by the academic audience;
[29] and both
Expositio super librum Boethii De trinitate (
Commentary on Boethius's De trinitate) and
Expositio super librum Boethii De hebdomadibus (
Commentary on Boethius's De hebdomadibus), commentaries on the works of 6th-century Roman philosopher
Boethius.
[31] By the end of his regency, Thomas was working on one of his most famous works,
Summa contra Gentiles.
[32]
Naples, Orvieto, Rome (1259–1268)
In 1259 Thomas completed his first regency at the
studium generale
and left Paris so that others in his order could gain this teaching
experience. He returned to Naples where he was appointed as general
preacher by the provincial chapter of 29 September 1260. In September
1261 he was called to
Orvieto as conventual lector responsible for the pastoral formation of the friars unable to attend a
studium generale. In Orvieto Thomas completed his
Summa contra Gentiles, wrote the
Catena aurea, (
The Golden Chain),
[33] and produced works for
Pope Urban IV such as the liturgy for the newly created
feast of Corpus Christi and the
Contra errores graecorum (
Against the Errors of the Greeks).
[32]
In February 1265 the newly elected
Pope Clement IV summoned Aquinas to Rome to serve as papal theologian. This same year he was ordered by the Dominican Chapter of Agnani
[34] to teach at the
studium conventuale at the Roman
convent of
Santa Sabina, founded some years before, in 1222.
[35] The
studium at
Santa Sabina now became an experiment for the Dominicans, the Order's first
studium provinciale, an intermediate school between the
studium conventuale and the
studium generale.
"Prior to this time the Roman Province had offered no specialized
education of any sort, no arts, no philosophy; only simple convent
schools, with their basic courses in theology for resident friars, were
functioning in Tuscany and the meridionale during the first several
decades of the order's life. But the new
studium at
Santa Sabina was to be a school for the province", a
studium provinciale.
[36] Tolomeo da Lucca, an associate and early biographer of Aquinas, tells us that at the
Santa Sabina studium Aquinas taught the full range of philosophical subjects, both moral and natural.
[37]
While at the
Santa Sabina studium provinciale Thomas began his most famous work the
Summa theologiae,
[33]
which he conceived of specifically as suited to beginning students:
"Because a doctor of catholic truth ought not only to teach the
proficient, but to him pertains also to instruct beginners. as the
Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 3: 1-2,
as to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat,
our proposed intention in this work is to convey those things that
pertain to the Christian religion, in a way that is fitting to the
instruction of beginners."
[38] While there he also wrote a variety of other works like his unfinished
Compendium Theologiae and
Responsio ad fr. Ioannem Vercellensem de articulis 108 sumptis ex opere Petri de Tarentasia (
Reply to Brother John of Vercelli Regarding 108 Articles Drawn from the Work of Peter of Tarentaise).
[31] In his position as head of the
studium Aquinas conducted a series of important disputations on the power of God, which he compiled into his
De potentia.
[39] Nicholas Brunacci [1240-1322] was among Aquinas's students at the
Santa Sabina studium provinciale and later at the Paris
studium generale. In November 1268 he was with Aquinas and his associate and secretary
Reginald of Piperno, as they left Viterbo on their way to Paris to begin the academic year.
[40] Another student of Aquinas's at the Santa Sabina
studium provinciale was
Blessed Tommasello da Perugia.
[41]
Aquinas remained at the
studium at
Santa Sabina from 1265 until he was called back to Paris in 1268 for a second teaching regency.
[39] With his departure for Paris in 1268 and the passage of time the pedagogical activities of the
studium provinciale at
Santa Sabina were divided between two campuses. A new
convent of the Order at the Church of
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
had a modest beginning in 1255 as a community for women converts, but
grew rapidly in size and importance after being given over to the
Dominicans friars in 1275.
[42] In 1288 the theology component of the provincial curriculum for the education of the friars was relocated from the
Santa Sabina studium provinciale to the
studium conventuale at
Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which was redesignated as a
studium particularis theologiae.
[43] This
studium was transformed in the 16th century into the College of Saint Thomas (
Latin:
Collegium Divi Thomæ). In the 20th century the college was relocated to the convent of
Saints Dominic and Sixtus and was transformed into the
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.
The quarrelsome second Paris regency (1269–1272)
In 1268 the Dominican Order assigned Thomas to be regent master at
the University of Paris for a second time, a position he held until the
spring of 1272. Part of the reason for this sudden reassignment appears
to have arisen from the rise of "
Averroism" or "radical
Aristotelianism" in the universities. In response to these perceived evils, Thomas wrote two works, one of them being
De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas (
On the Unity of Intellect, against the Averroists) in which he blasts Averroism as incompatible with Christian doctrine.
[44] During his second regency, he finished the second part of the
Summa and wrote
De virtutibus and
De aeternitate mundi,
[39] the latter of which dealt with controversial Averroist and Aristotelian
beginninglessness of the world.
[45] Disputes with some important Franciscans such as
Bonaventure and
John Peckham
conspired to make his second regency much more difficult and troubled
than the first. A year before Thomas re-assumed the regency at the
1266–67 Paris disputations, Franciscan master William of Baglione
accused Thomas of encouraging Averroists, calling him the "blind leader
of the blind". Thomas called these individuals the
murmurantes (
Grumblers).
[45] In reality, Thomas was deeply disturbed by the spread of Averroism and was angered when he discovered
Siger of Brabant teaching Averroistic interpretations of Aristotle to Parisian students.
[46] On 10 December 1270, the bishop of Paris,
Etienne Tempier,
issued an edict condemning thirteen Aristotlelian and Averroistic
propositions as heretical and excommunicating anyone who continued to
support them.
[47]
Many in the ecclesiastical community, the so-called Augustinians, were
fearful that this introduction of Aristotelianism and the more extreme
Averroism might somehow contaminate the purity of the Christian faith.
In what appears to be an attempt to counteract the growing fear of
Aristotelian thought, Thomas conducted a
series of disputations between
1270 and 1272:
De virtutibus in communi (
On Virtues in General),
De virtutibus cardinalibus (
On Cardinal Virtues),
De spe (
On Hope).
[48]
Final days and "straw" (1272–1274)
Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas, by Andrea di Bonaiuto.
In 1272 Thomas took leave from the University of Paris when the
Dominicans from his home province called upon him to establish a
studium generale
wherever he liked and staff it as he pleased. He chose to establish the
institution in Naples, and moved there to take his post as regent
master.
[39] He took his time at Naples to work on the third part of the
Summa
while giving lectures on various religious topics. On 6 December 1273
at the Dominican convent of Naples in the Chapel of Saint Nicholas after
Matins Thomas lingered and was seen by the
sacristan
Domenic of Caserta to be levitating in prayer with tears before an icon
of the crucified Christ. Christ said to Thomas, "You have written well
of me, Thomas. What reward would you have for your labor?" Thomas
responded, "Nothing but you, Lord."
[49][50]
After this exchange something happened, but Thomas never spoke of it or
wrote it down. Because of what he saw, he abandoned his routine and
refused to dictate to his
socius Reginald of Piperno.
When Reginald begged him to get back to work, Thomas replied:
"Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to
me"
[51] (
mihi videtur ut palea).
[52]
What exactly triggered Thomas's change in behavior is believed by
Catholics to have been some kind of supernatural experience of God.
[53] After taking to his bed, he did recover some strength.
[54]
In 1054 the [East-West Schism|Great Schism] had occurred between the Latin church following the Pope (later known as the
Roman Catholic Church) in the West, and the other four patriarchates in the East (known as the
Orthodox Church). Looking to find a way to reunite the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church,
Pope Gregory X convened the
Second Council of Lyon to be held on 1 May 1274 and summoned Thomas to attend.
[55] At the meeting, Thomas's work for Pope Urban IV concerning the Greeks,
Contra errores graecorum, was to be presented.
[56] On his way to the Council, riding on a donkey along the
Appian Way,
[55] he struck his head on the branch of a fallen tree and became seriously ill again. He was then quickly escorted to
Monte Cassino to convalesce.
[54] After resting for a while, he set out again, but stopped at the
Cistercian Fossanova Abbey after again falling ill.
[57]
The monks nursed him for several days, and as he received his last
rites he prayed: "I receive Thee, ransom of my soul. For love of Thee
have I studied and kept vigil, toiled, preached and taught...."
[58] He died on 7 March 1274
[57] while giving commentary on the
Song of Songs.
[59]
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."
[60]
Condemnation of 1277
In 1277
Étienne 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.
[61]
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.
[62]
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.
[63] Dante asserts that Thomas died by poisoning, on the order of
Charles of Anjou;
[64] 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.
[65]
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.
[62][66]
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
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.
[66] Fifty years after the death of Thomas, on 18 July 1323,
Pope John XXII, seated in
Avignon, pronounced Thomas a
saint.
[67]
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 on 28 January 1369. Between 1789 and 1974, they were held in the
Basilique de Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. In 1974, they were returned to the Church of the Jacobins, where they have remained ever since.
When he was canonized, his feast day was inserted in the
General Roman Calendar for celebration on 7 March, the day of his death. Since this date commonly falls within
Lent, the
1969 revision of the calendar moved his
memorial to 28 January, the date of the translation of his relics to Toulouse.
[68][69]
Thomas is honored with a
feast day in the
liturgical year of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on 28 January.
Philosophy
Thomas was a theologian and a
Scholastic philosopher.
[70]
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."
[71] With this in mind, Thomas did have respect for Aristotle, so much so that in the
Summa,
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
Catholic Church, extending to Western philosophy in general. Thomas
stands as a vehicle and modifier of
Aristotelianism and
Neoplatonism.
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."
[72] 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."
[73]
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."
[73]
Ethics
Thomas's ethics are based on the concept of "first principles of action."
[74] 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.[75]
Aquinas emphasized that "Synderesis is said to be the law of our
mind, because it is a habit containing the precepts of the natural law,
which are the first principles of human actions."
[76][77]
According to Aquinas "…all acts of virtue are prescribed by the
natural law: since each one's reason naturally dictates to him to act
virtuously. But if we speak of virtuous acts, considered in themselves,
i.e., in their proper species, thus not all virtuous acts are prescribed
by the natural law: for many things are done virtuously, to which
nature does not incline at first; but which, through the inquiry of
reason, have been found by men to be conductive to well living."
Therefore, we must determine if we are speaking of virtuous acts as
under the aspect of virtuous or as an act in its species.
[78]
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.[79]
Thomas Aquinas wrote "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal
sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal
things.".
Furthermore, Thomas distinguished four kinds of law: eternal,
natural, human, and
divine.
Eternal law
is the decree of God that governs all creation. It is, "That Law which
is the Supreme Reason cannot be understood to be otherwise than
unchangeable and eternal."
[80] Natural law is the human "participation" in the
eternal law and is discovered by
reason.
[81] Natural law 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 . . .[82]
Whether the natural law contains several precepts, or one only is
explained by Aquinas", All the inclinations of any parts whatsoever of
human nature, e.g., of the concupiscible and irascible parts, in so far
as they are ruled by reason, belong to the natural law, and are reduced
to one first precept, as stated above: so that the precepts of the
natural law are many in themselves, but are based on one common
foundation."
[83]
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.
[84] To clarify for Christian believers, Thomas defined love as "to will the good of another."
[85]
Concerning the Human Law, Aquinas concludes, "...that just as, in the
speculative reason, from naturally known indemonstrable principles, we
draw the conclusions of the various sciences, the knowledge of which is
not imparted to us by nature, but acquired by the efforts of reason, so
too it is from the precepts of the natural law, as from general and
indemonstrable principles, that the human reason needs to proceed to the
more particular determination of certain matters. These particular
determinations, devised by human reason, are called human laws, provided
the other essential conditions of law be observed...." Human law is
positive law: the natural law applied by governments to societies.
[86]
Natural and human law is not adequate alone. The need for human
behavior to be directed made it necessary to have Divine law. Divine law
is the specially revealed law in the
scriptures.
Aquinas quotes, "The Apostle says (Hebrews 7.12): The priesthood being
translated, it is necessary that a translation also be made of the law.
But the priesthood is twofold, as stated in the same passage, viz, the
levitical priesthood, and the priesthood of Christ. Therefore the Divine
law is twofold, namely, the Old Law and the New Law."
[87]
Thomas also greatly influenced Catholic understandings of
mortal and
venial sins.
Thomas Aquinas, refers to animals as dumb and that the natural order
has declared animals for mans use. 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."
[88][89]
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.
[90][91]
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."
[92] 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."
[93]
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."
[94]
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 receiver's 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 that 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."
[95]
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's 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 human tissue entails that a human soul is wholly present in each
part of the human.
Theology
17th century sculpture of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas viewed
theology, or the
sacred doctrine, as a science,
[53] 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.
[96]
Preserving Nature within Grace
Revealed knowledge does not negate the truth and the completeness of
human science as human, it further establishes them. First, it grants
that the same things can be treated from two different perspectives with
out one canceling the other; thus there can be two sciences of God.
Second, it provides the basis for the two sciences: one functions
through the power of the light of natural reason, the other through the
light of divine revelation. Moreover, they can, at least to some extent,
keep out of each other's way because they differ 'according to genus.'
Sacred doctrine is a fundamentally different kind of thing from the
theology which is a part of philosophy (ST I. 1.1 ad 2).
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.[97]
Additionally Thomas considered
Empedocles's 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:
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.[98]
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.
[99] Such a war must not be preemptive, but defensive, to restore peace.
[100]
Clearly, some special characteristics sets apart "war" from "schism",
"brawling", and "sedition." While it would be contradictory to speak of
a "just schism", a "just brawling" or a "just sedition" (the three
terms denote sin and sin only) "war" alone permits sub classification
into good and bad kinds. Curiously, however, Aquinas does not work up a
terminological contrast between "just" and "unjust" war.
[101]
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.
[102] 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.[103]
The School of Salamanca
The
School of Salamanca expanded Aquinas's 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.
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."
[104]
Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the
Summa theologiae and more extensively in the
Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the
quinque viae (Five Ways).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 that
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.
- 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's view the
source of all our knowledge comes from God as well.[105]
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:
- God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form.[106]
- God is perfect, lacking nothing. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality.[107] Thomas defined God as the ‘Ipse Actus Essendi subsistens,’ subsisting act of being.[108]
- 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.[109]
- God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character.[110]
- 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."[111]
Following
St. Augustine of Hippo, Thomas defines
sin as "a word, deed, or desire, contrary to the
eternal law."
[112]
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[113]).
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.
Nature of the Trinity
Thomas argued that God, while perfectly united, also is perfectly described by
Three Interrelated Persons.
These three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are constituted by
their relations within the essence of God. Thomas wrote that the term
"Trinity" "does not mean the relations themselves of the Persons, but
rather the number of persons related to each other; and hence it is that
the word in itself does not express regard to another."
[114]
The Father generates the Son (or the Word) by the relation of
self-awareness. This eternal generation then produces an eternal Spirit
"who enjoys the divine nature as the Love of God, the Love of the Father
for the Word."
This Trinity exists independently from the world. It transcends the
created world, but the Trinity also decided to give grace to human
beings. This takes place through the
Incarnation of the Word in the person of
Jesus Christ and through the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit within those who have experienced
salvation by God; according to Aidan Nichols.
[115]
Prima causa – first cause
Thomas's five proofs for the existence of God take some of Aristotle's assertions concerning principles of being. For God as
prima causa (first cause) comes from Aristotle's concept of the
unmoved mover and asserts that God is the ultimate cause of all things.
[116]
Nature of Jesus Christ
In the
Summa Theologica Thomas begins his discussion of Jesus Christ by recounting the biblical story of
Adam and Eve and by describing the negative effects of
original sin.
The purpose of Christ's Incarnation was to restore human nature by
removing "the contamination of sin", which humans cannot do by
themselves. "Divine Wisdom judged it fitting that God should become man,
so that thus one and the same person would be able both to restore man
and to offer satisfaction."
[117] Thomas argued in favor of the
satisfaction view of atonement; that is, that
Jesus Christ died "to satisfy for the whole human race, which was sentenced to die on account of sin."
[118]
Thomas argued against several specific contemporary and historical
theologians who held differing views about Christ. In response to
Photinus, Thomas stated that Jesus was truly divine and not simply a human being. Against
Nestorius,
who suggested that Son of God was merely conjoined to the man Christ,
Thomas argued that the fullness of God was an integral part of Christ's
existence. However, countering
Apollinaris' views, Thomas held that Christ had a truly human (rational)
soul, as well. This produced a duality of natures in Christ. Thomas argued against
Eutyches
that this duality persisted after the Incarnation. Thomas stated that
these two natures existed simultaneously yet distinguishably in one real
human body, unlike the teachings of
Manichaeus and
Valentinus.
[119]
In short "Christ had a
real body of the same nature of ours, a
true rational soul, and, together with these,
perfect Deity." Thus, there is both unity (in his one
hypostasis) and composition (in his two natures, human and Divine) in Christ.
[120]
I answer that, The Person or hypostasis of Christ may be viewed in
two ways. First as it is in itself, and thus it is altogether simple,
even as the Nature of the Word. Secondly, in the aspect of person or
hypostasis to which it belongs to subsist in a nature; and thus the
Person of Christ subsists in two natures. Hence though there is one
subsisting being in Him, yet there are different aspects of subsistence,
and hence He is said to be a composite person, insomuch as one being
subsists in two.[121]
Echoing
Athanasius of Alexandria, he said that "The only begotten Son of God...assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."
[122]
Goal of human life
Thomas identified the goal of human existence as union and eternal fellowship with God. This goal is achieved through the
beatific vision,
in which a person experiences perfect, unending happiness by seeing the
essence of God. The vision occurs after death as a gift from God to
those who in life experienced salvation and redemption through Christ.
The goal of union with God has implications for the individual's life on earth. Thomas stated that an individual's
will must be ordered toward right things, such as charity, peace, and
holiness.
He saw this orientation as also the way to happiness. Indeed, Thomas
ordered his treatment of the moral life around the idea of happiness.
The relationship between will and goal is antecedent in nature "because
rectitude of the will consists in being duly ordered to the last end
[that is, the beatific vision]." Those who truly seek to understand and
see God will necessarily love what God loves. Such love requires
morality and bears fruit in everyday human choices.
[123]
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 that 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, II–II, Q.11, art.3.)
Heresy was a capital offense against the secular law of most European
countries of the 13th century, which had a limited prison capacity.
Kings and emperors, even those at war with the papacy, listed heresy
first among the crimes against the state. Kings claimed power from God
according to the Christian faith. Often enough, especially in that age
of papal claims to universal worldly power, the rulers power was
tangibly and visibly legitimated directly through coronation by the
pope. Heresy directly undercut kingly power.
[citation needed]
Simple theft, forgery, fraud, and other such crimes were also capital
offenses; Thomas's 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"
[124]).
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.)
The afterlife and resurrection
A grasp of Aquinas' psychology is essential for understanding his
beliefs around the afterlife and resurrection. Thomas, following Church
doctrine, accepts that the soul continues to exist after the death of
the body. Because he accepts that the soul is the form of the body, then
he also must believe that the human being, like all material things, is
form-matter composite. Substantial form (the human soul) configures
prime matter (the physical body) and is the form by which a material
composite belongs to that species it does; in the case of human beings,
that species is rational animal.
[125]
So, a human being is a matter-form composite that is organized to be a
rational animal. Matter cannot exist without being configured by form,
but form can exist without matter—which allows for the separation of
soul from body. Aquinas says that the soul shares in the material and
spiritual worlds, and so has some features of matter and other,
immaterial, features (such as access to universals). The human soul is
different from other material and spiritual things; it is created by
God, but also only comes into existence in the material body.
Human beings are material, but the human person can survive the death
of the body through continued existence of the soul, which persists.
The human soul straddles the spiritual and material worlds, and is both a
configured subsistent form as well as a configurer of matter into that
of a living, bodily human.
[126]
Because it is spiritual, the human soul does not depend on matter and
may exist separately. Because the human being is a soul-matter
composite, the body has a part in what it is to be human. Perfected
human nature consists in the human dual nature, embodied and
intellecting.
Resurrection appears to require dualism, which Thomas rejects. Yet,
Aquinas believes the soul persists after the death and corruption of the
body, and is capable of existence, separated from the body between the
time of death and the resurrection. Aquinas believes in a different sort
of dualism, one guided by Christian scripture. Aquinas knows that human
beings are essentially physical, but that that physicality has a spirit
capable of returning to God after life.
[127] For Aquinas, the rewards and punishment of the afterlife are not
only
spiritual. Because of this, resurrection is an important part of his
philosophy on the soul. The human is fulfilled and complete in the body,
so the hereafter must take place with souls enmattered in resurrected
bodies. In addition to spiritual reward, humans can expect to enjoy
material and physical blessings. Because Aquinas's soul requires a body
for its actions, during the afterlife, the soul will also be punished or
rewarded in corporeal existence.
Aquinas states clearly his stance on resurrection, and uses it to
back up his philosophy of justice; that is, the promise of resurrection
compensates Christians who suffered in this world through a heavenly
union with the divine. He says, "If there is no resurrection of the
dead, it follows that there is no good for human beings other than in
this life."
[128]
Resurrection provides the impetus for people on earth to give up
pleasures in this life. Thomas believes the human who has prepared for
the afterlife both morally and intellectually will be rewarded more
greatly; however, all reward is through the grace of God. Aquinas
insists beatitude will be conferred according to merit, and will render
the person better able to conceive the divine. Aquinas accordingly
believes punishment is directly related to earthly, living preparation
and activity as well. Aquinas's account of the soul focuses on
epistemology and metaphysics, and because of this he believes it gives a
clear account of the immaterial nature of the soul. Aquinas
conservatively guards Christian doctrine, and thus maintains physical
and spiritual reward and punishment after death. By accepting the
essentiality of both body and soul, he allows for a heaven and hell
described in scripture and church dogma.
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 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's 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.
[129] For example, Mancini's
Elementa is referred to in Joyce's early masterpiece
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
[130]
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).
Criticism of Aquinas as philosopher
Bertrand Russell criticized Aquinas's 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.[131]
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."
[132]
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."
[132] It may be countered that the treatment of matrimony in the
Summa Theologica is in the Supplements volume, which was not written by Aquinas.
[133] Moreover, as noted above,
[134]
Aquinas's introduction of arguments and concepts from the pagan
Aristotle and Muslim Averroes was controversial within the Catholic
Church of his day.
Aquinas's 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."
[132]
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."
[132]
