Thomas Aquinas profile

1. St.
Thomas
Aquinas

2. St. Thomas Aquinas
• Was born in Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily year 1225
• Youngest of 8 children to Count Landulph of Aquino and Countless
Theodora of Teano.
• Although his ancestor were royal descendants of Emperors
Frederick I and Henry VI, they were still regarded as lower
nobility.
• When he was born, a saintly hermit foretold a prophesy to his
mother that he would enter the Order of Friars Preachers, become
bright student, and attain exceptional holiness.
• As per the hermit, he entered the monastery at the age of 5.

3. St. Thomas Aquinas
• Aquinas secretly joined a Dominican Order in 1244 and receive
his habit.
• Continued his studies and became an ordained priest in 1250
while earning a doctoral degree in theology under the direction of
Saint Albert the Great.
• Died 7th day of March 1274 (aged 48-49) Fossanova, Papal States
• Canonized by Pope John XXII on July 18, 1323.
• Also known as Doctor Angelicus (the Angelic Doctor)

4. St. Thomas Aquinas
MAIN INTERESTS
• Metaphysics, Logic, Theology, Mind, Epistemology, Ethics,
Politics, Aristotelian theology.
Notable Ideas
• Natural law, Five proofs of God’s existence, Analogia entis,
Thomistic hylomorphism, Divine simplicity, Peripatetic axiom,
Principle of double effect, Homo unius libri, Infused
righteousness, Theological intellectualism, Quiddity, Just price,
Determinatio, Actus purus, Actus essendi, Thomistic sacramental
theology

5. St. Thomas
Aquinas
Works and
Philosophy

6. The works of Thomas Aquinas may be
conveniently divided into four groups
1. COMMENTARIES
2. Summae
3. Questions
4. Opuscula

7. The works of Thomas Aquinas may be conveniently
divided into four groups
COMMENTARIES
On the Logic, Physics, Metaphysics, and
Ethics of Aristotle
On the Scriptures;
On Dionysius the Areopagite;
On Boethius
On the Four Books of Sentences of
Peter Lombard

8. The works of Thomas Aquinas may be conveniently
divided into four groups
Summae
The Summa contra Gentiles
( A Summary Against the
Gentiles), founded
substantially on rational
demonstration
The Summa Theologica ( A
Summary of Theology),
begun in 1265, and
remaining incomplete
because of Thomas’ early
death

9. The works of Thomas Aquinas may be conveniently
divided into four groups
Questions
Quaestiones Disputatae (Disputed Questions): De Veritate (On
Truth), De Anima (On the Soul), De Potentia (On Power), De Malo
(On Evil), etc.;
Quaestiones Quodlibetales (Questions About Any Subject).

10. The works of Thomas Aquinas may be conveniently
divided into four groups
Opuscula
De Ente et Essentia (On being and Essence):
De Unitate Intellectus (On the Unity of the
Intellect), written against the Averroists:
De Regimine Principum (On the Rule of
Princes).

11. Influences
 St. Thomas was greatly influenced by Aristotle;
however, he was also significantly influenced by
Stoicism, Neoplatonism, Augustinism and Boethianism.
 He used a great deal of non-Christian philosophy in all
his writings, like the philosophy of the Arab philosopher,
Avicenna. However, his understanding of these
philosophies was influenced and guided by his personal
faith.
 His philosophy also reflects some of the thinking of the
Greek commentators on Aristotle

12. St. Thomas as
Commentator
and
Debater
St. Thomas was a great commentator
and debater during his time
1. He manifested calm serenity
and persuasive skill in speaking to
the protagonists or advocates of
another view in order to arrive at
mutual understanding.
2. He maintained the dialogical attitude in his
manner of carrying on an argument and in his
style in his writing.
3. His aim was philosophical understanding and
the promotion of intellectual harmony.

13. St. Thomas as
Commentator
and
Debater
5. He showed intellectual poise and deep respect for
the opinions of other.
4. He gave importance to mental rapport as a
prerequisite of any dialogue that hopes to arrive at
consensus.

14. St. Thomas as a Philosopher
1. He proposed firm, clear, logical and new
philosophical positions.
2. He considered new articles in his teachings, new
and clear way of stating his position and new reasons
for his determination of questions.
3. He manifested certain judgment that he did not
hesitate to teach and write new opinions.
4. His works manifest the traits of a master
- brevity, precision, clarity and depth.

15. General
Characteristics
of St. Thomas’
Philosophy
1. It is reworking of the speculative and practical
philosophies of his predecessors into a coherent
view of the subject which shows his intelligence
and religious commitment
2. There is a temperamental tendency to seek a
middle way on questions that have been given a
wide range of answers.
3. There is the spirit of compromise which is
balanced by the tendency toward innovation.
4. There is an explicit distinction between
philosophy and sacred doctrine or theology
5. Although his philosophy is Christian, he did not
ground his philosophical thinking on principles of
religious faith, he maintained the autonomy of
philosophy from theology

16. Theory of Knowledge
(Epistemology)
St. Thomas
Aquinas

17. Faith and
Rational
Knowledge
Faith and knowledge are both
intellectual acts and habits of
assent
Faith – midway between opinion and
scientific knowledge.
– it is more than opinion
because it involves a firm assent
to its object.
– it is less than knowledge,
because it lacks vision of the
object.
– the person is not sufficiently
moved by the object to accept it
as true, thus by an act of will, he
inclines himself to believe
Knowledge implies assent motivated
by a personal seeing of the object
without any direct influence from the
will.

18. Understanding
(Intellection) and
Reasoning
Intellection (understanding) –
one knows simply by seeing
(perception) what something
means
Reason – one moves
discursively (step-by-step) from
one item of knowledge to
another.

19. Speculative and
Practical
Knowledge
Practical knowledge – knowledge
for proper conduct or behavior; to
know how to act
Speculative knowledge –
(theoretical)
• knowledge for the sake of
knowledge.

20. The Nature of
Cognition
Two kinds of cognitive or
knowing faculties:
the senses and the intellect
All knowledge, that is rational
knowledge start from the
senses; there is nothing in the
intellect (mind) that did not
pass through the senses.
Knowledge is the possession of
the intentional form of the
object.
“Intentional form” – image or
copy or representation

21. The external senses perceive
the material qualities of the
object.
The internal or Common sense
forms the percept
 Percept is image of the object
while present in the senses
Imagination from the phantasm
Memory stores the phantasm
 Phantasm is the image of
the object stores in the
imagination and memory
Senses

22. Active intellect
performs
abstraction
The idea or intellectual
representation of the
object.
Passive intellect
forms the concept
Intellect

23. IDEOGENESIS
(Begging of Knowledge)
Sense
Intellect
Phantasm
Perception
Internal senses
Percept
External Senses
Active
Passive Conception Concept/ idea
Sensation
Abstraction Abstracted nature