The Thought of Thomas Aquinas

by Brian Davies

The works of Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest western philosophers as well as theologians of the Christian Church, are not only illuminating (for his questions as much as his answers) but surprisingly relevant to our concerns today. This book represents a long overdue modern comprehensive
presentation of the total thought of Aquinas. While traditional studies of Aquinas invariably deal with either his philosophy or his theology, Davies introduces the full range of Aquinas's thinking, relating it to writers earlier and later than Aquinas himself. The book will be of considerable
interest to professional theologians and philosophers, as well as to those with particular interest in medieval thinking. It is designed to be accessible to the general reader who has no specialist knowledge of medieval thought or professional training in philosophy or theology.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Theology, Christian, Catholic, Nonfiction

408 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Brian Davies is a Dominican friar and Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York. He has published extensively on the thought of St Thomas Aquinas.

Reviews

[Joel Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sure-footed and thorough guide through Aquinas. Not as sharp and concise as Bauerschmidt, but certainly more ample.

I'd like to suggest to the OUP that they might consult with Yale, whose books are far more elegant and whose fonts much more readable. The short and thick barbaric font Oxford uses suffers particularly with these print-on-demand paperbacks where it is sometimes wavy.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good systematic overview of the theology and philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. The author draws from history by providing valuable contrasts Augustine, Abelard, Lombard, Anselm, and others. The author also draws occasional examples from analytical Thomists, which will be particularly helpful to anyone with a background in formal mathematics or analytic philosophy.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a good overall education on the Angelic Doctor, as it combines biography and contributions of note, but for the serious scholar a more detailed book with more attention to the metaphysical terms and the historical perspective of Aquinas would probably be better.

[carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

imo this is *the* introduction to read to aquinas' work. i have found nothing like it before or since.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

good basic introduction to Aquinas

[Samuel Eastlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear introduction to Aquinas' thought. It's definitely an academically oriented book, but serves as a helpful springboard to what Aquinas thinks about God, humans, and specifically Christian beliefs. Davies makes clear that for Aquinas, talking/thinking about God is always beyond reason. A commonly held position is that Aquinas thought that some qualities of God were knowable by reason, and others were only knowable by faith. Yet for Aquinas all talk of God is mysterious in some sense, for to know something one must have its form in your mind, and we cannot know the form of God unless he reveals himself to us, and that won't happen until the beatific vision.

Therefore Aquinas is agnostic in the sense of accepting from the outset the mystery of reality, but holding that what that mystery is is God.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great almost-400 page to exposition to what is, properly named, the thought of Thomas Aquinas. It is an introduction to neither his philosophy nor his theology, but his overall thought from its start at our senses to its end in God (although it is not organized in this way). Davies does a good job of blending primary and secondary sources with additional explanations and emphases to make complicated topics consumable without oversimplifying too much.

There are books that better summarize or explain Aquinas's philosophy (epistemology, metaphysics, etc.), theology, law, and other areas of thought. But Davies presents an introduction to all of these and the more basic beliefs from which they arise.

My only complaints are with the natural constraints size and organizational choice. This book could really only be improved by adding a couple hundred pages to break some topics down more fully. Although I would organize the content in a more logical progression following the form of assumptions to ends or senses to God, there is at least a beneficial and intentional organizational principle at work already, so this is a minor complaint.

It is hard to imagine there being a better ~400 page introduction to The Thought of Thomas Aquinas than this.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought Brian did a great job explaining difficult thoughts of Aquinas. He helped make sense of misconceptions, and I think did a great Justice to Aquinas. Good read.