St. Thomas Aquinas: Philosophy on Reality, Faith, and Ethics

**Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas**

**Reality and God**

Aquinas affirms that God is the creator of the universe and, therefore, is necessary, whereas created beings are contingent. In contingent beings, there is a distinction between essence and existence, as their essence does not imply their existence, but God's does. Essence is the power of being, and existence is the act of being. In turn, Aquinas provides a hierarchical organization according to the potential of their essence and likeness to God. The God of St. Thomas is a creator God who knows and loves his creatures. Aquinas argues that reason is the demonstration of the existence of God. In turn, he defends that God is a necessary being. He distinguishes two types of demonstration: *a priori*, in which knowing the cause, we can infer the effect, and *a posteriori*, in which the effect can be given to show the cause. Thus, dumping San Anselmo's proof of preferring *a priori*, because we know the effect (creation) and seek its cause (God), arguing for the existence of God. Finally, there are five proofs of the truth of God, called the five ways, which are part of the experience through the principle of causality and causation, concluding that God generates the infinite. These five pathways argue that God is the unmoved mover, uncaused cause, necessary being, perfect being, and the orderer of the universe. In turn, to define God, Aquinas applies the way of denial, which denies any imperfections of God, and of eminence, which claims the most of all the good things of God.

**Reason, Faith, Knowledge, and Man**

St. Thomas distinguishes two different sources of knowledge: reason and faith. Reason is known from the data of the senses to know the basis of divine revelation, both being independent. In turn, there are truths of faith that exceed the capacity of reason and are studied by theology, and the truths of reason are understood by humans and are demonstrable. In addition, there are some truths that God wanted to reveal, denominating preambles of faith. Moreover, St. Thomas relates that part of sense perception serves to understand universal concepts. For this, the intellect understands the concepts of the universal and necessary, the patient understanding these concepts apply to the concrete. For his part, man is the substantial union of body and soul. In turn, there are three different souls: *vegetative*, enabling development; *sensitive*, enabling the feelings invested by the senses; and *rational*, making thought possible, with the latter that must prevail. Similarly, the Thomistic theory of knowledge understands knowledge as a process of abstraction, which forms the dematerialized soul registered in this area.

**Ethics and Society**

The ethics of St. Thomas is teleological, stating that with the development of our soul, we get perfect happiness. This is given through the contemplation of God. In man, Aquinas asserts the existence of natural law, the way God has imposed on men the eternal law, respecting their freedom. Natural law has a major precept: the duty to develop the human essence, doing good and avoiding evil. From this derive various duties: to preserve life, to bear and raise children, and to respect social justice and seek truth. Thus, Aquinas draws a parallel between theoretical reason and practical reason. On the other hand, the rational faculty can only develop in a positive law society exercised primarily by the king. This should be an extension of natural law. Thus, the political order must be subordinated to the moral order, and this, to the divine order. At the same time, justice is the union between morality and law. Finally, for St. Thomas, the best forms of government are monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.