Thomas Aquinas is the author of the following work. Thomas Aquinas main ideas
On January 28, the Catholic Church celebrates Remembrance Day Saint Thomas Aquinas(otherwise Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Aquinas). He is recognized as the most authoritative Catholic religious philosopher who combined Christian doctrine with the ideas Aristotle.
The main principle of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas is the harmony of faith and reason. He attempted to rationally prove the existence of God and dismiss objections to the truths of faith.
The teachings of Thomas Aquinas were recognized as "the only true philosophy of Catholicism." It has had a significant impact on the spiritual life of modern Western society.
Thomas Aquinas - patron saint of Roman Catholic schools, colleges, university s, academies, apologists, philosophers, theologians and booksellers.
Catholics pray to St. Thomas for the preservation of chastity, success in studies, and also with a request to keep during a storm and lightning.
Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Francisco de Zurbarana. 1631. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Saint Thomas Aquinas was born on January 25, 1225. Elementary education received at the monastery school, after which he entered the University of Naples. Thomas entered the Dominican Order at the age of 19. Then he was sent to Rome to be sent further to study in Cologne and Paris.
In 1252 Saint Thomas began to teach for the first time at the Dominican monastery of Saint-Jacques. Returning to Paris in 1269, the philosopher became an adviser to the King Louis IX.
Thomas Aquinas was supposed to take part in the General Council of Lyon, convened to unite the Greek and Roman churches, but fell ill on the way to Lyon. He died in a Cistercian abbey, not far from Rome. The relics of the saint are in the Dominican monastery in Toulouse.
Ideas and views of Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas is known for his philosophical writings, which formed the basis of Catholic teaching.
One of his main works are two extensive treatises in the genre of the sum, covering a wide range of topics - "The sum of theology" and "The sum against the pagans".
He structured all his writings in the form of questions and answers, which always represent the opinions of the objectors, and tried to show what is true in each approach.
Thomas Aquinas managed to combine ideas Blessed Augustine and the philosophy of Aristotle.
Without resorting to the teachings of the Church, the philosopher, on the basis of the arguments of reason and logic, deduced evidence for the existence of God.
The Temptation of Saint Thomas Aquinas by Diego Velazquez. Orihuela, Diocesan Museum. 1632. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Thomas Aquinas Belt
There is a legend that once during a meal in the monastery, Thomas Aquinas heard a voice saying to him: "Here, in the monastery, everyone is full, but in Italy My flock is starving." Thomas decided that it was time for him to leave the monastery.
Thomas's family opposed his decision to be a Dominican. His brothers even went to meanness to deprive Thomas of chastity. The saint began to pray, and he had a vision. The angel girded him with a belt as a symbol of the eternal chastity that God had given him. The belt is still kept in convent Shieri in Piedmont.
According to legend, the Lord asked Saint Thomas at the end of his life what reward he would like to receive for his labors. Thomas answered: “Only You, Lord!”
5 Proofs for the Existence of God by Thomas Aquinas
1. Proof through movement means that everything that moves was ever set in motion by something else, which in turn was set in motion by a third. It is God who turns out to be the root cause of all movement.
2. Proof through a producing cause This proof is similar to the first. Since nothing can produce itself, there is something that is the root cause of everything - this is God.
3. Proof through necessity- each thing has the possibility of both its potential and real being. If we assume that all things are in potentiality, then nothing would come into existence. There must be something that contributed to the transfer of the thing from the potential to the actual state. That something is God.
4. Proof from the degrees of being- people speak about the different degrees of perfection of an object only through comparisons with the most perfect. This means that there is the most beautiful, the noblest, the best - that is God.
5. Proof through target reason. In the world of rational and non-rational beings, the expediency of activity is observed, which means that there is a rational being who sets a goal for everything that exists in the world - we call this being God.
Cancer with the relics of Thomas Aquinas in the Toulouse Jacobite monastery. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Felipeh
As Thomas Aquinas said
Loving someone is the same as wishing that person well.
We must sincerely love others for their own good, not ours.
Knowledge is such a valuable thing that it is not shameful to get it from any source.
What you do not want to have tomorrow, discard today, and what you want to have tomorrow, get today.
Our duty is to hate the sin in the sinner, but to love the sinner himself because he is a man capable of good.
A happy man needs friends, not in order to benefit from them, for he himself succeeds, and not in order to admire them, for he possesses the perfect delights of a virtuous life, but, in fact, in order to do good deeds for these friends.
Thomas Aquinas - the largest medieval philosopher and theologian, who received the title of "angelic doctor", canonized on July 18, 1323 by John XXII and is considered the patron saint of Catholic universities, colleges and schools. Pope Leo XIII in the encyclical Aeterni Patris (August 4, 1879) declared him the most authoritative Catholic scholar.
Life path.
The life of Thomas is not distinguished by a wide variety of external events, it was only rich in wanderings (in which the life of the scientific community of that era and the life of a mendicant Dominian monk usually passed) - having been born in Italy, Thomas lived in Paris, Cologne, Rome and other cities of Italy. More decisive for the biography of Thomas is the intellectual climate of the era and the participation of Thomas in the worldview discussions of this time, the time of the collision of various traditions and the emergence of new ways of understanding the world. This era gave birth to Albert the Great, Bonaventure, Roger Bacon, Alexander Gaelic and other scientists who created the mental culture of mature scholasticism.
The life path of Thomas was short-lived and his description easily fits in a few dozen lines. Thomas' father, Landulf, was Count of Aquinas; his family was related to the emperors Henry VI, the kings of Aragon, Castile and France. There is still debate about the year in which he was born, called from 1221 to 1227 (the most likely date is 1224-1225); it happened in the castle of Roccasecca near Aquino in the Kingdom of Neopolitan. At the age of five he was sent to the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. In 1239-1243 he studied at the University of Naples. There he became close with the Dominicans and decided to join the Dominican order. However, the family opposed his decision, and his brothers imprisoned Thomas in the fortress of San Giovanni, where he stayed for some time, according to some accounts, about two years. In captivity, Thomas had the opportunity to read a lot, in particular literature of a philosophical content. However, imprisonment could not change the decisions of Thomas and the parents had to come to terms with this.
Then Thomas studied for some time in Paris, and in 1244 or 1245, in Cologne, he became a student of Albert the Great, already at that time revered as one of the most prominent scientists of his time. Since 1252, he has been teaching in Paris, first as baccalaureus biblicus (that is, he conducts classes on the Bible), then baccalaureus sententiarius (teaches the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard), at the same time he writes his first works - "On Essence and Existence", "On principles of nature", "Commentary on the "Sentences"". In 1256 he becomes a master, for three years he has been debating "On Truth", and, possibly, begins work on the "Sum against the Gentiles". Then he wandered around the universities, wrote a lot, and from 1265 he began to create the "Sum of Theology". Towards the end of his life, ecstasies often happen to him, in one of which a great secret was revealed to him, in comparison with which everything he wrote seemed insignificant to him, and on December 6, 1273, he stops work on the unfinished Sum of Theology. He died in the monastery of Fossa Nuova (March 7, 1274), on the way to the Cathedral, which was to open in Lyon on May 1, 1274. His last work was a commentary on the "Song of Songs" recorded by the monks.
Proceedings.
During its pretty brief life Foma wrote more than sixty works (counting only works authentically belonging to him). Thomas wrote quickly and illegibly, he dictated many works to secretaries, and often could dictate to several scribes at the same time.
One of the first works of Thomas was "Comments on the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard" (Commentaria in Libros Sententiarum), based on lectures that Thomas gave at the university. The work of Peter of Lombard was a commented collection of reflections taken from the Fathers of the Church and devoted to various issues; in the time of Thomas the Maxims were the obligatory book studied in the theological faculties, and many scholars wrote their own commentaries on the Maxims. The Commentaries of Thomas contain many themes of his future writings; the composition of this work is a prototype of sums.
In the same period, a small but extremely important work was written "On Being and Essence", which is a kind of metaphysical foundation for the philosophy of Thomas.
In accordance with the traditions of that time, a significant part of the legacy of Thomas is Quaestiones disputatae ("Debatable Questions"), works devoted to individual topics such as truth, soul, evil, etc. The debatable questions are a reflection of the actual teaching practice that takes place at the university - an open discussions of difficult questions, when the audience expressed all sorts of arguments for and against and one of the bachelors accepted the arguments from the audience and gave answers to them. The secretary wrote down these arguments and answers. On another appointed day, the master summed up the arguments pro and contra, and gave his resolution (determinatio) of the question as a whole and of each of the arguments, also recorded by the secretary. Further, the dispute was published either in the resulting version (reportatio), or in the master's edition (ordinatio).
Twice a year for Advent and great post, special disputes were arranged, open to the general public, on any topic (de quolibet) raised by any participant in the dispute (a quolibet). These questions were answered impromptu by the bachelor and then by the master.
The structure of the dispute - the question submitted for discussion, the arguments of the opponents, the general solution of the issue and the resolution of the arguments, is also preserved in the "Sums", in a somewhat reduced form.
The sharp discussion that unfolded at that time regarding the reception of the Averroist interpretation of the Aristotelian heritage is devoted to the work "On the unity of the intellect, against the Averroists" (De unitate intellectus contra Averroistas). In this work, Thomas disputes the idea that only the highest part of the intellect is immortal, common to all people (and therefore there is no immortality of the soul), which exists among the Parisian Averroists, and also provides rational justification for the Christian belief in the resurrection of the flesh.
The most important works of Thomas are two "Sums" - "Summa against the Gentiles" (Summa veritate catholicae fidei contra gentiles), also called the "Sum of Philosophy", and "Summa theology" (Summa theologiae vel Summa theologica). The first work, written in Rome, in 1261-1264, was brought to life by the ongoing active intellectual exchange between Christian, Muslim and Jewish thinkers. In it, Thomas sought, proceeding from a philosophical (and therefore supra-confessional) position, to defend the Christian faith in the face of Muslims and Jews. This vast work is divided into four books: I. On God as such; II. About the creation by God of various regions of beings; III. About God as the goal of all beings; IV. About God as He is given in His Revelation.
The second sum, Summa theologica (1266-1273), is considered the central work of Thomas Aquinas. However, it is distinguished by less intellectual tension and sharpness of the research spirit, characteristic of the "Controversial Questions" and "Sum against the Gentiles". In this book, Thomas tries to systematize the results of his works and present them in a fairly accessible form, primarily for students of theology. "The Sum of Theology" consists of three parts (the second being divided into two): pars prima, pars prima secundae, pars secunda secundae and pars tertia, each part is divided into questions, in turn subdivided into chapters - articles (according to the most common tradition of quoting parts are indicated by Roman numerals - I, I-II, II-II, III, Arabic - question and chapter, counter-arguments are marked with the word "ad"). The first part is devoted to establishing the purpose, subject and method of research (question 1), reasoning about the essence of God (2-26), His trinity (27-43) and Providence (44-109). In particular, questions 75-102 consider the nature of man as a unity of soul and body, his abilities related to intellect and desire. The second part deals with issues of ethics and anthropology, and the third is dedicated to Christ and includes three treatises: on the incarnation of Christ, His deeds and passions, on communion and on eternal life. The third part was not completed, Thomas stopped at the ninetieth question of the treatise on penance. The work was completed by Reginald of Piperno, secretary and friend of Thomas, on the basis of manuscripts and extracts from other works. The complete Summa Theologia contains 38 treatises, 612 questions, subdivided into 3,120 chapters, in which about 10,000 arguments are discussed.
Thomas also has commentaries on Scripture and various philosophical works, especially the works of Aristotle, as well as Boethius, Plato, Damascene, Pseudo-Dionysius, letters, works devoted to the contradictions of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in matters of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, the primacy of the Pope, etc. Many beautiful and poetic works have been written Thomas for worship.
The origins of Thomistic philosophy.
Thomas lived in a turbulent intellectual time, at the crossroads of various philosophical traditions, not only European, but also Muslim and Jewish. The Aristotelian roots of his philosophy are striking, but to consider him exclusively an Aristotelian, while opposing Thomism to Platonism in the Augustinian version, would be very superficial, and due to the ambiguity of his Aristotelianism - after all, Thomas also repelled from the powerful Greek tradition of interpreting Aristotle (Alexander of Aphrodisias, Simplicius , Themistius), from Arabic commentators, and from the early Christian interpretation of Aristotle, as developed by Boethius, as well as from the practice of translations existing in the time of Thomas and the school interpretation of Aristotelian philosophy. At the same time, his use of the Aristotelian heritage was exceptionally creative, and above all because Thomas had to solve problems far beyond the scope of Aristotelian problems, and in this case he was interested in Aristotelianism as an effective method of intellectual search, as well as a living system that stores in themselves the possibility of revealing completely unexpected (from the point of view of traditional commentary work) conclusions. The writings of Thomas are strongly influenced by Platonic ideas, primarily Pseudo-Dionysius and Augustine, as well as non-Christian versions of Platonicism, such as the anonymous Arabic "Book of Causes", which has as its source the "Fundamentals of Theology" by Proclus.
In the article we will talk about the biography of Thomas Aquinas. This is the most famous philosopher and theologian, to whom the world owes important knowledge. We will take a detailed look at life path and achievements of this great man.
First meeting
Considering the biography of Thomas Aquinas, let's start with a cursory acquaintance with him. This is an outstanding scientist who is a theologian and philosopher. Moreover, he is canonized catholic church. He is the largest systematizer of orthodox scholasticism and a teacher of the church. It differs in that it was first found binding threads between the philosophy of Aristotle and the Christian faith.
Life
The biography of Thomas Aquinas begins with his birth around January 25, 1225. The boy was born near Naples in the Roccasecca castle. He became the seventh son of the famous and wealthy Count Landolph. Thomas' mother was called Theodora, she was a rich and enviable Neapolitan bride. It is known that the boy's father dreamed that he would become an abbot in a monastery located near the family castle.
When the boy was 5 years old, he was sent to where he stayed for 4 years. In 1239 he entered the University of Naples, from which he successfully graduated in 1243. During training, the young man became very close to the Dominicans and even decided to become a member of their order. But the whole family resolutely opposed this, and the brothers imprisoned Thomas in the fortress of San Giovanni.
freedom
We continue the brief biography of Thomas Aquinas with the fact that he gained freedom only in 1245. At the same time, against the will of the whole family, he became a monk. There teacher and mentor young man was Albert the Great himself. In the period from 1248 to 1250, Thomas studied at the University of Cologne, to which he followed in the footsteps of his mentor. In 1252 he returned to the Dominican University. After 4 years, he was appointed teacher of theology due to the opportunity for Dominicans to offer their candidacies. Foma began to teach in
First works
It was here, at liberty, that the young man wrote his first works, namely “On Existence and Essence”, “Commentary on the “Sentences””, “On the Principles of Nature”. Then an incredible twist of fate happens: Pope Urban IV summons him to Rome. Thomas devotes the next 10 years of his life to teaching in Italy, namely in Rome and Anagni.
At the same time, the theologian writes a large philosophical and theological work. Most of the time in Italy, the man spent as a theological adviser to the papal curia.
In 1269, the researcher returns to Paris in order to start a fight against the Arab interpreters of the works of Aristotle and to purify his teachings. By the way, the very sharp treatise of the hero of our article, “On the unity of the intellect against the Averroists”, was written just in 1272. He dealt directly with the works of Aristotle and their misinterpretation.
We continue the brief biography of Thomas Aquinas by the fact that in the same year he was recalled to Italy to create a Dominican school in Naples. Unfortunately, due to poor health, the man had to stop teaching and leave writing for a while. But he was not destined to return to his works. So, in 1274 short biography and the work of the philosopher Thomas Aquinas are interrupted, as he dies on the way to Lyon. At that time he was in the monastery of Fossanova. The life of an outstanding theologian ended on the road.
Biography of Thomas Aquinas by G. K. Chesterton
In this book, the author resorts to fiction in order to better illustrate the life of the hero of our article. He combines journalistic and confessional genres in order to better convey the atmosphere. Literally speaking, Gilbert Keith simply transformed the genre of biography in its classical sense. Despite the use of artistic techniques, it completely retains its authenticity. historical facts, and on the basis of some data even denies the incorrect information or interpretations that arose from the legends about Aquinas.
Influence
How was the opinion of the hero of our article formed? The biography and philosophy of Thomas Aquinas are inextricably linked with the above-mentioned Aristotle. The point is that this great person had a significant impact on the creative rethinking of Thomas. At the same time, the thoughts of Arabic and Greek commentators, Neoplatonists can be traced in the works: Cicero, Augustine, Avicenna, Maimonides, etc.
Proceedings
The biography, theology and philosophy of Thomas Aquinas would not be possible without his two major works, namely the treatises Sum against the Gentiles and Summa Theology. He also commented on the treatises of Aristotle, Pseudo-Dionysius, Boethius, P. Lombard. It is known that the theologian expressed his opinion about some books of the Bible and the anonymous book “On Causes”. He was interested in alchemy, liturgical verses, and the religious writings of other authors.
In many ways, all these opinions were based on his teaching activities, since at that time the reading of religious books and debates about them were invariably accompanied by comments.
Ideas
The biography and teachings of Thomas Aquinas are very closely intertwined, as he succumbed to the influence of his environment. Let's take a look at his key ideas. Firstly, it must be said that he clearly separated philosophy and theology, believing that reason dominates in the first, and revelation in the second. Thomas believed that philosophy is in strict submission to theology, which he put much higher.
Note that Aristotle singled out 4 main stages of cognition of truth, namely, experience, art, knowledge and wisdom. For Aquinas, wisdom became an independent value, which was knowledge about God. At the same time, he singled out three types of it: at the level of grace, theology and metaphysics.
It was Thomas who proposed the idea that the human mind cannot comprehend wisdom completely, since some truths are simple and understandable (the existence of God), and some are not (trinity, resurrection). Aquinas put forward the idea that natural and theological knowledge cannot be in conflict, since they are harmonious and complement each other. If by wisdom he understood the desire to understand God, then by science he meant the ways of this understanding.
Being
We have briefly reviewed the biography and philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, but some of his ideas require detailed consideration. By being, Thomas understood the most intimate, which is hidden in the depths of the soul of every living being. He emphasized that the existence of a thing is much more important than its essence. This proceeded from the fact that the essence is not an act of creation, in contrast to existence.
Aquinas understood the world as a collection of various existences that depend on God. Only in it does he see the unity of essence and existence as identical concepts. At the same time, the theologian proposed to consider two forms of life: accidental, or dependent, and selfish - unconditional.
At the same time, only God himself was true being, and everything else had only his illusion. Thomas did not deny the existence of angels and other creatures and believed that the closer they are to God in the hierarchy, the more freedom they have.
Form and matter
The researcher saw the essence of being in forms and matter. He considered the latter in the same way as Aristotle, that is, as a passive element necessary for the manifestation of the individuality of other objects. Complexity human being lay in its duality. If spiritual creatures could live in one of the forms (random and unconditional), then people must have existed in matter and form.
Thomas believed that the form itself cannot be significant, since it acquires some meaning only when it reflects the spiritual essence of its wearer. perfect form meant something like God.
Evidence for the Existence of God
First proof of existence higher power Aquinas is built on the fact of movement. This means that everything in the world is moving, and everything that is moved has some kind of force that makes it do it. But at the same time, the original force cannot be driven by anything, which means that it exists by itself.
The second proof is based on the fact that everything in the world has its own reason, which means there is some connection. At the same time, they are all based on the root cause, which is called God, because from it comes the very existence.
The third proof is based on the fact that there are things in the world in which there is a need, and there are those in which it is not. Everything is created and destroyed, but if the process had ended there, then there would have been nothing for a long time. But since something exists, it means that there is something necessary, from which the necessity of everything else follows.
The fourth proof is based on the degree of being. The fact is that there are things good, better, bad, neutral, etc. All of them are equal to a certain ideal, that is, to the highest degree of something. This means that there is something great, which is the cause and the first degree of everything that exists.
The final piece of evidence concerns the target cause. Thomas noticed that unthinking living beings, such as animals, move towards what is best for them. So, they act in the same way and choose the best ways of development for themselves. But unthinking beings, having no cognitive faculty, can only move intentionally if they are guided by something that thinks, that is, God.
Ethics
We finish consideration of the biography of Thomas Aquinas, his ideas and works, but we will stop on ethics to which he paid enough attention. In his views, Thomas relied on the principle of the freedom of the human will, good teaching. According to Aquinas, evil is just not such a perfect good, which happens intentionally in order to go through all the stages of perfection.
The main goal in the ethical views of Thomas concerns the fact that the goal of all human aspirations is the highest good, which consists in mental activity and in the knowledge of the truth, and therefore of God himself. Aquinas believed that people do good and do the right thing, not because they are taught that way, but because in the heart of every person there is an unspoken secret law that must be followed.
Summing up the article, let's say that the biography of Thomas Aquinas is very rich and diverse. He had to go against the will of his father and not justify his hopes in order to follow the dictates of his heart. This great man made a huge contribution to the development of theology and philosophy, giving the world incredible and profound ideas about God and existence.
Topic: "Thomas Aquinas: the doctrine of man."
Introduction……………………………………………………………………..3 page
1. Biography of Thomas Aquinas……………………………………….…..4 p.
2. Historical and philosophical origins...…………………………..………..….6 p.
3. Ideas of Thomas Aquinas……………………………………..……….......7 pp.
4. Works of Thomas Aquinas……………………………………………......8 pp.
5. The doctrine of man…………………………………………………………..9 p.
Conclusion………………………………………………………………… 11 p.
List of used literature………………………………………...12 p.
INTRODUCTION
Within its control work I will try to briefly talk about one of the greatest scholastic philosophers of the Western European Middle Ages - Thomas Aquinas, about some of the specific provisions of the theocentric worldview developed by him and about its significance in philosophy.
The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas did not immediately receive universal recognition among the scholastic currents of the Middle Ages. Thomas Aquinas had opponents in the Dominican order, among some members of the clergy, the Latin Averroists. However, despite the initial attacks, from the XIV century. Thomas becomes the highest authority of the church, which has recognized his doctrine as its official philosophy.
BIOGRAPHY OF THOMAS AQUINA
Thomas Aquinas (otherwise Thomas Aquinas or Thomas Aquinas, lat. Thomas Aquinas) is the most prominent and influential scholastic philosopher of the Western European Middle Ages. Thomas was born in Italy. Born at the end of 1225. or early 1226 at the castle of Rocolleca, near Aquino, in the kingdom of Naples. Thomas' father, Count Landolf, was a prominent Italian feudal lord in Aquino. Mother, Theodora came from a wealthy Neapolitan family. In the 5th year of his life, Thomas is assigned to study at the Benedictine monastery in Monte Cassino, where he spends about 9 years, passing through a classical school, from which he takes out excellent knowledge Latin. In 1239 he returned to his native home, taking off his monastic cassock. In the autumn of the same year, he went to Naples, where he studied at the university under the guidance of mentors Martin and Peter of Ireland. In 1244, Thomas decides to join the Dominican order, refusing the post of abbot of Monte Cassino, which caused a strong protest from the family. Having taken monastic vows, he spent several months in a monastery in Naples. Here it was decided to send him to the University of Paris, which at that time was the center of Catholic thought. On the way to Paris, he was captured by a group of horsemen - his brothers and was returned to his father's castle and here, for preventive purposes, he was imprisoned in a tower. where he stayed for over a year. In the future, the family, without neglecting any means, tries to force the son to abandon the decision. But seeing that he was not inclined, she reconciled herself and in 1245 he went to Paris. During his stay at the University of Paris (1245-1248) he listened to the lectures of his teacher Albert Bolstedt, later called Albert the Great, who had a great influence on him. Together with Albert Foma, he also spent the 4th year at Kelm University, during his classes, Foma did not show much activity, rarely took part in disputes, for which his colleagues nicknamed him the Dumb Bull. In 1252 he returns to the University of Paris, where he successively passes all the steps necessary to obtain a master's degree in theology and a licentiate, after which he teaches theology in Paris until 1259. A number of his theological works, commentaries on Holy Scripture, he begins work on the "Philosophical Sum". In 1259 Pope Urban IV summoned him to Rome, where he stayed until 1268. The appearance of Thomas at the papal court was not accidental. The Roman curia saw in him a man who was to perform an important work for the church, namely, to give an interpretation of Aristotelianism in the spirit of Catholicism. Here, Thomas completes the "Philosophical Sum" (1259-1269), begun in Paris, writes works, and also begins work on the main work of his life - "The Theological Sum". In the autumn of 1269 at the direction of the Roman Curia, Thomas goes to Paris, wages a fierce struggle against the Latin Averroists and their leader Siger of Brabant, as well as a controversy against conservative Catholic theologians who still wished to adhere only to the principles of Augustinism. In this dispute, he took his own position, speaking out against both those and other Augustians, he reproached for conservatism and rejection of new ideas. The philosophical views of the Averroists undermined the foundations of the Christian Catholic faith, the defense of which became the main meaning of Aquinas' life. In 1272 Thomas was returned to Italy. He taught theology in Naples, where he continued his work on the Theological Sum, which he completed in 1273. Thomas is the author of a number of other works, as well as commentaries on the writings of Aristotle and other philosophers. After 2 years, Aquinas leaves Naples to take part in the council convened by Pope Gregory X, which took place in Lyon. During the trip, he falls seriously ill and dies on March 7, 1274. in the Bernardine monastery in Fossanuov. After his death, he was given the title "angelic doctor". In 1323, during the pontificate of Pope John XXII, Thomas was canonized, and in 1567. recognized as the fifth "teacher of the church".
2. HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ORIGINS
The greatest influence on the philosophy of Thomas had Aristotle, largely creatively rethought by him; also noticeable is the influence of the Neoplatonists, the Greek commentators Aristotle, Cicero, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm of Canterbury, John of Damascus, Avicenna, Averroes, Gebirol and Maimonides and many other thinkers.
3. THE IDEAS OF THOMAS AQUINA
The system of Thomas Aquinas is based on the idea of the fundamental agreement of two truths - based on revelation and deduced by the human mind: to some truths received from revelation (for example, the divine trinity, resurrection in the flesh, etc.) human mind unable to come by their own means, but these truths, though superior to reason, do not contradict it. Theology proceeds from the truths given in revelation and uses philosophical means for their explication; philosophy moves from rational comprehension of the given in sensory experience to the justification of the supersensible, for example. the existence of God, His unity, etc. (Comm. to "On the Trinity" Boethius, II 3).
WORKS OF THOMAS AQUINA
The writings of Thomas Aquinas include two extensive treatises covering a wide range of topics - "The Sum of Theology" and "The Sum Against the Gentiles" ("The Sum of Philosophy"), discussions on theological and philosophical problems(“Debatable questions” and “Questions on various topics”), detailed comments on several books of the Bible, on 12 treatises of Aristotle, on the “Sentences” of Peter Lombard, on the treatises of Boethius, Pseudo-Dionysius and on the anonymous “Book of Causes”, as well as a number of short essays on philosophical and religious topics and poetic texts for worship." Debating Questions "and" Commentaries "were largely the fruit of his teaching activities, which included, according to the tradition of that time, disputes and reading authoritative texts, accompanied by comments.
5. THE DOCTRINE OF MAN
As the first cause, God creates numerous kinds and types of things, endowed with varying degrees of perfection, required for the completeness of the universe, which has a hierarchical structure. Special place in creation is occupied by man, who contains two worlds - the material and the spiritual, which is the unity of the material body and the soul as a form of the body. The material component of man is constitutive and non-eliminable: it is matter that is the “principle of individuation” of representatives of one species (including man). Although the soul is not subject to destruction when the body is destroyed, due to the fact that it is simple and can exist separately from the body, due to the implementation of a special activity independent of the functioning of the material organ, it is not recognized by Thomas as an independent entity; for its perfection, union with the body is required, in which Thomas sees an argument in favor of the dogma of resurrection in the flesh (On the Soul, 14). Man differs from the animal world in the presence of the ability to know and, on the basis of this, the ability to make a free conscious choice: it is the intellect and free (from any external necessity) will that are the basis for performing truly human actions (as opposed to actions that are characteristic of both man and and animal) belonging to the sphere of the ethical. In the relationship between the two highest human abilities - the intellect and the will, the advantage belongs to the intellect (a situation that caused controversy between the Thomists and the Scotists), since the will necessarily follows the intellect, representing for it this or that being as good; however, when an action is performed in specific circumstances and with the help of certain means, volitional effort comes to the fore (On Evil, 6). Along with a person's own efforts, the performance of good actions also requires divine grace, which does not eliminate the originality of human nature, but improves it. Also, the divine control of the world and the foresight of all (including individual and random) events does not exclude freedom of choice: God, as the highest cause, allows independent actions of secondary causes, including those entailing negative moral consequences, since God is able to turn to good evil created by independent agents.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion of the test work, I consider it necessary to draw a conclusion that would set out the main views of F. Aquinas.
From the difference in forms, which are the likeness of God in things, Thomas derives a system of order in the material world. The forms of things, regardless of the degree of their perfection, are involved in the creator, due to which they occupy a certain place in the universal hierarchy of being. This applies to all areas of the material world and society.
It is necessary that some are engaged in agriculture, others are shepherds, and still others are builders. For the divine harmony of the social world, it is also necessary that there be people engaged in spiritual work and working physically. Each person performs a certain function in the life of society, and everyone creates a certain good.
Differences in the functions performed by people are the result not of the social division of labor, but of the purposeful activity of God. Social and class inequality is not a consequence of antagonistic production relations, but a reflection of the hierarchy of forms in things. All this essentially served Aquinas to justify the feudal social ladder.
The teachings of Thomas enjoyed great influence in the Middle Ages, the Roman Church officially recognized him. This teaching was revived in the 20th century under the name of neo-Thomism, one of the most significant trends in Western Catholic philosophy.
Recognized as the most authoritative Catholic religious philosopher, who connected the Christian doctrine (in particular, the ideas of St. Augustine) with the philosophy of Aristotle. Formulated five proofs of the existence of God. Recognizing the relative independence of natural being and human reason, he argued that nature ends in grace, reason - in faith, philosophical knowledge and natural theology, based on the analogy of beings, in supernatural revelation.
short biography
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Illness forced him to stop teaching and writing towards the end of 1273. At the beginning of 1274 he died in the monastery of Fossanova on his way to the church cathedral in Lyon.
Proceedings
The writings of Thomas Aquinas include:
- two extensive treatises in the genre of the sum, covering a wide range of topics - "The sum of theology" and "The sum against the pagans" ("The sum of philosophy")
- discussions on theological and philosophical problems (“Discussion questions” and “Questions on various topics”)
- comments on:
- several books of the bible
- 12 treatises of Aristotle
- "Sentences" by Peter Lombard
- treatises of Boethius,
- treatises of Pseudo-Dionysius
- anonymous "Book of Causes"
- a series of short essays on philosophical and religious topics
- several treatises on alchemy
- verse texts for worship, for example, the work "Ethics"
"Disputing Questions" and "Comments" were largely the fruit of his teaching activities, which included, according to the tradition of that time, disputes and reading authoritative texts, accompanied by comments.
Historical and philosophical origins
The greatest influence on the philosophy of Thomas was Aristotle, largely creatively rethought by him; also noticeable is the influence of Neoplatonists, Greek and Arabic commentators Aristotle, Cicero, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm of Canterbury, John of Damascus, Avicenna, Averroes, Gebirol and Maimonides and many other thinkers.
Ideas of Thomas Aquinas
Theology and philosophy. Steps of Truth
Aquinas distinguished between the fields of philosophy and theology: the subject of the former is the "truths of reason" and the latter the "truths of revelation". Philosophy is in the service of theology and is as inferior to it in importance as the limited human mind is inferior to divine wisdom. Theology is a sacred doctrine and science based on the knowledge possessed by God and those who are blessed. Communion to divine knowledge is achieved through revelations.
Theology can borrow something from the philosophical disciplines, but not because it feels the need for it, but only for the sake of greater intelligibility of the positions it teaches.
Aristotle distinguished four successive levels of truth: experience (empeiria), art (techne), knowledge (episteme) and wisdom (sophia).
In Thomas Aquinas, wisdom becomes independent of other levels, the highest knowledge about God. It is based on divine revelations.
Aquinas identified three hierarchically subordinate types of wisdom, each of which is endowed with its own "light of truth":
- wisdom of grace.
- theological wisdom is the wisdom of faith using reason.
- metaphysical wisdom - the wisdom of the mind, comprehending the essence of being.
Some truths of Revelation are accessible to the understanding of the human mind: for example, that God exists, that God is one. Others - it is impossible to understand: for example, the divine trinity, resurrection in the flesh.
Based on this, Thomas Aquinas deduces the need to distinguish between supernatural theology, based on the truths of Revelation, which man is not able to understand on his own, and rational theology, based on the "natural light of reason" (knowing the truth by the power of human intellect).
Thomas Aquinas put forward the principle: the truths of science and the truths of faith cannot contradict each other; there is harmony between them. Wisdom is the striving to comprehend God, while science is the means that contributes to this.
About being
The act of being, being an act of acts and the perfection of perfections, resides within every "existing" as its innermost depth, as its true reality.
For every thing, the existence is incomparably more important than its essence. A single thing exists not due to its essence, because the essence does not imply (implies) existence in any way, but due to participation in the act of creation, that is, the will of God.
The world is a collection of substances dependent for their existence on God. Only in God are essence and existence inseparable and identical.
Thomas Aquinas distinguished between two types of existence:
- existence is self-essential or unconditional.
- existence is contingent or dependent.
Only God is authentic, true being. Everything else that exists in the world has an untrue existence (even the angels, who stand at the highest level in the hierarchy of all creations). The higher the “creations” stand, on the steps of the hierarchy, the more autonomy and independence they possess.
God does not create entities in order to force them to exist later, but existing subjects (foundations) that exist in accordance with their individual nature (essence).
About matter and form
The essence of everything corporeal lies in the unity of form and matter. Thomas Aquinas, like Aristotle, considered matter as a passive substratum, the basis of individuation. And it is only thanks to the form that a thing is a thing of a certain kind and kind.
Aquinas distinguished on the one hand the substantial (through it the substance as such is affirmed in its being) and accidental (random) forms; and on the other hand - material (has its own being only in matter) and subsistent (has its own being and is active without any matter) forms. All spiritual beings are complex substantive forms. Purely spiritual - angels - have essence and existence. There is a double complexity in man: not only essence and existence, but also matter and form are distinguished in him.
Thomas Aquinas considered the principle of individuation: the form is not the only cause of a thing (otherwise all individuals of the same species would be indistinguishable), so the conclusion was made that in spiritual beings forms are individualized through themselves (because each of them is a separate species); in corporeal beings, individualization occurs not through their essence, but through their own materiality, quantitatively limited in a separate individual.
In this way, the "thing" takes on a certain form, reflecting spiritual uniqueness in limited materiality.
The perfection of form was seen as the greatest likeness of God himself.
About man and his soul
The individuality of a person is the personal unity of the soul and body.
The soul is the life-giving force of the human organism; it is immaterial and self-existent; it is a substance that acquires its fullness only in unity with the body, thanks to it, corporality acquires significance - becoming a person. In the unity of the soul and body, thoughts, feelings and goal-settings are born. The human soul is immortal.
Thomas Aquinas believed that the power of understanding of the soul (that is, the degree of knowledge of God by it) determines the beauty of the human body.
The ultimate goal of human life is the achievement of bliss, acquired in the contemplation of God in the afterlife.
According to his position, man is an intermediate being between creatures (animals) and angels. Among bodily creatures, he is the highest being, he is distinguished by a rational soul and free will. By virtue of the latter, a person is responsible for his actions. And the root of his freedom is reason.
A person differs from the animal world by the presence of the ability to know and, on the basis of this, the ability to make a free conscious choice: it is the intellect and free (from any external necessity) will that are the basis for performing truly human actions (as opposed to actions characteristic of both a person and and animal) belonging to the sphere of the ethical. In the relationship between the two highest human abilities - the intellect and the will, the advantage belongs to the intellect (a situation that caused controversy between the Thomists and the Scotists), since the will necessarily follows the intellect, representing for it this or that being as good; however, when an action is performed in specific circumstances and with the help of certain means, volitional effort comes to the fore (On Evil, 6). Along with a person's own efforts, the performance of good actions also requires divine grace, which does not eliminate the originality of human nature, but improves it. Also, the divine control of the world and the foresight of all (including individual and random) events does not exclude freedom of choice: God, as the highest cause, allows independent actions of secondary causes, including those entailing negative moral consequences, since God is able to turn to good evil created by independent agents.
About knowledge
Thomas Aquinas believed that universals (that is, concepts of things) exist in three ways:
Thomas Aquinas himself took a position of moderate realism, dating back to Aristotelian hylomorphism, abandoning extreme realist positions based on Platonism in its Augustinian version.
Following Aristotle, Aquinas distinguishes between passive and active intellect.
Thomas Aquinas denied innate ideas and concepts, and before the beginning of knowledge he considered the intellect similar to tabula rasa (lat. “blank slate”). However, “general schemes” are innate in people, which begin to operate at the moment of collision with sensory material.
- passive intellect - the intellect into which the sensually perceived image falls.
- active intellect - abstraction from feelings, generalization; the emergence of the concept.
Cognition begins with sensory experience under the action of external objects. Objects are perceived by a person not as a whole, but in part. When entering the soul of the knower, the knowable loses its materiality and can enter it only as a “species”. The “view” of an object is its cognizable image. The thing exists simultaneously outside of us in all its being and inside us as an image.
Truth is "the correspondence of the intellect and the thing." That is, the concepts formed by the human intellect are true to the extent that they correspond to their concepts that preceded in the intellect of God.
Initial cognitive images are created at the level of external senses. Inner feelings process initial images.
Inner Feelings:
- the general feeling is the main function, the purpose of which is to bring together all sensations.
- passive memory is a repository of impressions and images created by a common feeling.
- active memory - retrieval of stored images and views.
- intellect is the highest sensible faculty.
Cognition takes its necessary source in sensibility. But the higher the spirituality, the higher the degree of knowledge.
Angelic knowledge - speculative-intuitive knowledge, not mediated by sensory experience; carried out with the help of inherent concepts.
Human cognition is the enrichment of the soul with the substantial forms of cognizable objects.
Three mental-cognitive operations:
- creation of a concept and retention of attention on its content (contemplation).
- judgment (positive, negative, existential) or comparison of concepts;
- inference - the linking of judgments with each other.
For a number of centuries, the philosophy of Thomas did not play a significant role in the philosophical dialogue, developing within a narrow confessional framework, but with late XIX century, the teachings of Thomas again begin to arouse wide interest and stimulate actual philosophical research; a series of philosophical directions who actively use the philosophy of Thomas, known by the common name "neo-Thomism".
Editions
At present, there are numerous editions of the writings of Thomas Aquinas, in the original and translations into various languages; Complete collections of works were repeatedly published: "Piana" in 16 vols. (according to the decree of Pius V), Rome, 1570; Parma edition in 25 vols. 1852-1873, reprint. in New York, 1948-1950; Opera Omnia Vives, (in 34 volumes) Paris, 1871-82; "Leonina" (according to the decree of Leo XIII), Rome, since 1882 (since 1987 - republication of previous volumes); Marietti edition, Turin; edition of R. Bus (Thomae Aquinatis Opera omnia; ut sunt in indice thomistico, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 1980), also released on CD.
Literature
- Bandurovsky KV Problems of Ethics in Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theology // Questions of Philosophy. - 1997. - No. 9. - S. 156-162.
- Bandurovsky K. V. The concept of "contingent" and the problem of free will in Thomas Aquinas // Historical and Philosophical Yearbook "99. - M., 2001.
- Bandurovsky K. V. Criticism of monopsychism by Thomas Aquinas // Bulletin of the RKhGI. - 2001. - No. 4.
- Bandurovsky KV Immortality of the soul in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. M.: RGGU, 2011. - 328 p. - 500 copies, ISBN 978-5-7281-1231-0
- Borgosh J. Thomas Aquinas. - M., 1966. (2nd ed.: M., 1975).
- Boroday T. Yu. The question of the eternity of the world and an attempt to solve it by Thomas Aquinas // Intellectual traditions of antiquity and the Middle Ages (Research and translations). - M.: Krug, 2010. - S.107-121.
- Bronzov A. Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas in relation to their doctrine of morality. - St. Petersburg. 1884.
- Gaidenko V.P., Smirnov G.A. Western European Science in the Middle Ages. - M.: Nauka, 1989.
- Gertykh V. Freedom and moral law in Thomas Aquinas // Questions of Philosophy. - 1994. - No. 1.
- Gretsky S. V. Problems of anthropology in philosophical systems Ibn Sina and Thomas Aquinas. - Dushanbe, 1990.
- Dzikevich E. A. Philosophical and aesthetic views of Thomas Aquinas. - M., 1986.
- Gilson E. Philosopher and Theology. - M., 1995.
- History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia. - Minsk: Interpressservice; Book House. 2002.
- Lupandin IV Aristotelian cosmology and Thomas Aquinas // Questions of the history of natural science and technology. - 1989. - No. 2. - S.64-73.
- Lyashenko V.P. Philosophy. - M., 2007.
- Maritain J. Philosopher in the world. - M., 1994.
- Spirkin A. G. Philosophy. - M. 2004.
- Strathern P. Thomas Aquinas in 90 minutes - M., Astrel, 2005.
- E. Gilson's works on cultural studies and the history of thought. Reference collection. Issue I. - M., 1987.
- Svezhavsky S. St. Thomas, read again // Symbol. No. 33. July 1995. - Paris, 1995.
- Modern foreign research on medieval philosophy. Collection of surveys and abstracts. - M., 1979.
- Chesterton G. St. Thomas Aquinas / Chesterton G. Eternal Man. - M., 1991.
Links
| Thomas Aquinas at Wikiquote | |
| in Wikisource | |
| Thomas Aquinas at Wikimedia Commons |
- Corpus Thomisticum: S. Thomae de Aquino Opera Omnia - The Complete Works of Thomas Aquinas (lat.)
- Thomas Aquinas, Sanctus - Latin texts and European translations
