THOMISM AND ARISTOTELIANISM A Study of the Commentary By Thomas Aquinas on the Nicomachean Ethics

by Harry V. Jaffa

He reveals a deep gulf separating the natural law theory from the moral philosophy of Aristotle. Includes Notes & an Index.

Genres: Philosophy

230 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 1979

About the author

A graduate of Yale University, Harry Victor Jaffa taught at Queens College, the City College of New York and at the University of Chicago before earning his doctorate in 1951 at the New School for Social Research in New York. A student of Leo Strauss, Jaffa taught at Ohio State University from 1951-64, and over the next 25 years was on the faculties of Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, Calif. He was the Henry Salvatori research professor of political philosophy from 1971-89, when he became professor emeritus and a distinguished fellow at the Claremont Institute.

Reviews

[Dave Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The University of Chicago reprint of Harry V. Jaffa's classic study "Thomism and Aristotelianism" is a timeless examination of the central political problem underlying the total crisis of modernity. Jaffa rightly points out that contemporary social science, following Weber, has thrown in its lot with the distinction between fact and value; it eschews the latter, unless of course the values in question are measurable to some extent. Such a social science is impotent when facing choices involving divergent systems of belief. Since there is no 'scientific' criteria for preferring one value system to another, no one ought to deny the validity of anyone else's opinion. Hence, in the words of Australian philosopher David Stove, "Anything goes."

It is in this context that Jaffa returns to the moral teaching of Aristotle, along with St. Thomas Aquinas's commentary on the "Nicomachean Ethics." Jaffa reminds us that Aristotle's moral and political teaching has informed the Roman Catholic doctrine of natural law, and has served as a bulwark against the many varieties of absolutism that have been the scourge of the past century.

Jaffa is an assiduous reader. His analysis of Thomas's commentary is both methodical and meticulous. He recognizes that Thomas's purpose is not solely philosophical. Thomas espoused the idea of reason informed by faith, an approach that would have been unknown to Aristotle. That said, Jaffa's treatment of Thomas's analysis is both respectful and profound. Concomitant with the initial publication in 1952, Jaffa presciently wrote, "The view that any opinion as to what is good is equally good...cannot supply a frame of reference within which differences can be reasonably composed."

This is a challenging book, for challenging times. Straussians are obviously conversant with Jaffa's teaching. Other readers would do well to acquaint themselves with this work of scholarship.

[Chris]

Bone dry.

I should not have bothered with this one. This is a book I believe Alasdair McIntyre raved about in one of his popular books. I impulse purchased this at the time of reading that... Turns out some stones are better left unturned.

The title intrigued me because I will never actually read Summa Theologica, and I naively thought (hoped) this 200 page philosophical work might be a shortcut to understand the basic 'how', and 'what ways' in which St. Thomas reconciled the Bible with the works of Aristotle.

Instead, it was so narrow/odd in scope & so anticlimactic at its conclusion that by the end I felt as if I had just read an unfunny, uninteresting, narrative-less version of Much Ado About Nothing.

Did not understand the author's direction here... Done with dense stuff like this for a while.
Sorry Harry.