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Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) From the Complete American Edition
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53 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1274
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About the author
Thomas Aquinas
2,533 books1,096 followersPhilosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican friar and theologian of Italy and the most influential thinker of the medieval period, combined doctrine of Aristotle and elements of Neoplatonism, a system that Plotinus and his successors developed and based on that of Plato, within a context of Christian thought; his works include the
Summa contra gentiles
(1259-1264) and the
Summa theologiae
or theologica (1266-1273).
Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.
People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."
Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.
Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.
People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."
Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 16, 2022
Thomas Aquinas will demonstrate in this volume to his reader that anger lessens the individual’s true being and takes them away from knowing the good and that the evil that comes from anger is created by the individual and should be avoided since human essence is that of being rational (‘man is a rational animal’) and that God is good and evil is only a privation of the Good since God’s existence is his essence.
Aquinas demonstrates that reason is the gateway to understanding not faith and that Grace (unearned favor from God) is necessary to fulfil our ultimate purpose and it is our reason that proceeds faith and supports our faith. Martin Luther obviously rejects Aquinas and will dislike and ignore the scholastics because he wants his feelings through faith to determine his eternal status and he’ll even throw a cat at the wall in order to destroy the devil and the evil that it brings. Aquinas will say we have free will and freely choose the evil albeit for the wrong reasons (‘man is a rational animal with reason’). Thomas Aquinas cites Augustine as an authority frequently (Luther was an Augustinian Monk) but usually puts Augustine on the side of the objection which gets refuted by his conclusion.
Aquinas will state that God is justice and therefore any act requested by God is morally justified even the killing of 10000 babies as the Israelites slaughter the Ammonites. I know now where Aquinas stands on Plato’s Euthyphro dilemma, and he takes the silly side.
Aquinas will say slavery is fine since God in Exodus 21 permits it and allows for the beating of the slave as long as they don’t die within two or three days since it is their God given property therefore that makes biblical slavery justified.
Overall Aquinas appeals to reason, logic and analytical thinking within this volume. He errs on not realizing that the sum of the parts is equal to or less than the whole is only true for finite things, he believes that a thing can not be a cause of itself since that would be an infinite regress unless that thing is called God, he believes the first act was consciously made and we must owe gratitude to that creator, he believes God is justice and that his existence is his essence therefore He is omni-potent and so on, he will think a proof by contradiction shows existence.
Aquinas says that we cognize our awe from the universe through our reason not from our intuition, feelings or faith (as Nietzsche and Luther do). Even with some obviously wrong premises, Aquinas reaches conclusions that have nothing to do with theology (anger is for suckers and is a waste of time, e.g.).
Aquinas did more to open up the way for science than any other medieval thinker and that crack allowed for a renaissance even though Luther appeals first to faith and tries to undo the trouble the scholastics wrought by returning thought back to the basics and Augustine. Without the renaissance there never would have been the radical enlightenment (see the book, Radical Enlightenment by Jonathan Israel on the true nature of the Enlightenment).
Aquinas said that the devil must exist otherwise Jesus never would have responded that a house cannot stand divided against itself when questioned by the Pharisees whether it was with the aid of the prince of the devils he cast out demons. That surprised me because Spinoza said Jesus only meant that when he assumed the premises of the Pharisees that there would be a contradiction and Jesus did not necessarily mean that he accepted their premises. Aquinas made the logical error that a contradiction means the premise must be true. Spinoza did not.
Aquinas thinks the truth is out there and is discoverable within us as individuals at least through analogy. Luther wrongly makes truth independent of the individual and makes faith (‘things hoped for unseen’) the absolute.
Aquinas is guaranteed to expand one’s horizon and is a fun read. Even the non-religious can get immense value through his complex reasoning in support of reason as a guide for living as a rational animal.
Aquinas demonstrates that reason is the gateway to understanding not faith and that Grace (unearned favor from God) is necessary to fulfil our ultimate purpose and it is our reason that proceeds faith and supports our faith. Martin Luther obviously rejects Aquinas and will dislike and ignore the scholastics because he wants his feelings through faith to determine his eternal status and he’ll even throw a cat at the wall in order to destroy the devil and the evil that it brings. Aquinas will say we have free will and freely choose the evil albeit for the wrong reasons (‘man is a rational animal with reason’). Thomas Aquinas cites Augustine as an authority frequently (Luther was an Augustinian Monk) but usually puts Augustine on the side of the objection which gets refuted by his conclusion.
Aquinas will state that God is justice and therefore any act requested by God is morally justified even the killing of 10000 babies as the Israelites slaughter the Ammonites. I know now where Aquinas stands on Plato’s Euthyphro dilemma, and he takes the silly side.
Aquinas will say slavery is fine since God in Exodus 21 permits it and allows for the beating of the slave as long as they don’t die within two or three days since it is their God given property therefore that makes biblical slavery justified.
Overall Aquinas appeals to reason, logic and analytical thinking within this volume. He errs on not realizing that the sum of the parts is equal to or less than the whole is only true for finite things, he believes that a thing can not be a cause of itself since that would be an infinite regress unless that thing is called God, he believes the first act was consciously made and we must owe gratitude to that creator, he believes God is justice and that his existence is his essence therefore He is omni-potent and so on, he will think a proof by contradiction shows existence.
Aquinas says that we cognize our awe from the universe through our reason not from our intuition, feelings or faith (as Nietzsche and Luther do). Even with some obviously wrong premises, Aquinas reaches conclusions that have nothing to do with theology (anger is for suckers and is a waste of time, e.g.).
Aquinas did more to open up the way for science than any other medieval thinker and that crack allowed for a renaissance even though Luther appeals first to faith and tries to undo the trouble the scholastics wrought by returning thought back to the basics and Augustine. Without the renaissance there never would have been the radical enlightenment (see the book, Radical Enlightenment by Jonathan Israel on the true nature of the Enlightenment).
Aquinas said that the devil must exist otherwise Jesus never would have responded that a house cannot stand divided against itself when questioned by the Pharisees whether it was with the aid of the prince of the devils he cast out demons. That surprised me because Spinoza said Jesus only meant that when he assumed the premises of the Pharisees that there would be a contradiction and Jesus did not necessarily mean that he accepted their premises. Aquinas made the logical error that a contradiction means the premise must be true. Spinoza did not.
Aquinas thinks the truth is out there and is discoverable within us as individuals at least through analogy. Luther wrongly makes truth independent of the individual and makes faith (‘things hoped for unseen’) the absolute.
Aquinas is guaranteed to expand one’s horizon and is a fun read. Even the non-religious can get immense value through his complex reasoning in support of reason as a guide for living as a rational animal.
Read
October 22, 2012I must first confess that I have not read the whole book and what I read (about 700 pages) I had to read quickly since that was part of the task and I had not much time allocated to Aquinas. So there is not much I can say that will add to any discussion. I think it is interesting how Aquinas is able to combine Aristotelian philosophy with much of his contemporary Augustinian theology. Aquinas does of course challenge much too and at times one must probably put Aquinas and Augustine in opposition to each other, yet, having said that, Aquinas is often very clever (although it might not always be conscious of course) how Augustine is weaved in to the reintroduction of Aristotle.
July 14, 2021
Best Taken In Small Doses
I read it cover to cover. Not my recommended approach. Aquinas is brilliant, the reading is dense, and some of the theological arguments are an angels and pins dance-off. As a Catholic and a voracious reader, I was exposed to Aquinas in college and wanted to revisit. A lot here, and a good teacher will help guide you. As a book, it’s a good value here on Amazon.
I read it cover to cover. Not my recommended approach. Aquinas is brilliant, the reading is dense, and some of the theological arguments are an angels and pins dance-off. As a Catholic and a voracious reader, I was exposed to Aquinas in college and wanted to revisit. A lot here, and a good teacher will help guide you. As a book, it’s a good value here on Amazon.
May 16, 2018
I just read 40 pages; namely, the section "On Happiness." Aquinas goes through each of the things that mankind tend to think of as causing happiness, and debunks them. He looks at the arguments for and against wealth, honors, fame/glory, power, bodily good, and pleasure as initiators of happiness, and always comes to the conclusion that no, they do not. He concludes that "final and perfect happiness can consist in nothing else than the vision of the Divine Essence." "A certain participation of happiness can be had in this life: but perfect and true happiness cannot be had in this life...for since happiness is a 'perfect and sufficient good,' it excludes every evil, and fulfills every desire. But in this life every evil cannot be excluded."
September 23, 2022
Whereas the first half of the first part (Pars Prima) of Thomas's ST covers the doctrine of God and other such topics (e.g., angels), and as such it is the portion of the ST most familiar with Protestants (esp. given the recent resurgence of classical theism in the face of detractors, Barthian and otherwise), this second half of the first part (Pars Prima Secundae) covers such topics as man's last end, virtue and vice, law and grace as well as the passions, one begins to understand why Thomas is considered the Doctor of the Catholic Church. My personal favorite part was his discussion of the passions.
June 17, 2021
If I was going to choose a book to illustrate each of the logical fallacies I think I would select this one to exemplify circular logic. When you assume your conclusion to arrive at your conclusion that renders your entire argument invalid. Furthermore, It renders any and all subsequent arguments based on that argument invalid too. Aquinas seems to have been completely oblivious to that very concept.
August 7, 2021
The Angelic Doctor Delivers
I can't say I agree with everything in this book. In fact I think certain of it assumptions are profoundly flawed. But it is worthwhile to expose yourself to the workings of such a brilliant mind. And there is much to learn in this book.
I can't say I agree with everything in this book. In fact I think certain of it assumptions are profoundly flawed. But it is worthwhile to expose yourself to the workings of such a brilliant mind. And there is much to learn in this book.
February 24, 2025
The method of Aristotle applied to the dramaturgy of Human sociality will yield the story of the scriptures, the christian religion
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews