St. Thomas Aquinas: Philosophy, Theology, and Summa

Valuation of Ways

These passages are not original; Thomas organized and developed them. There are different reactions to these routes by commentator groups:

• Radicals: Exclude the possibility of new ways.
• Moderates: Support the possibility of new tracks.
• Thomists: Divided into "hard to validate separately" (think the demonstrative value comes from the set of all the evidence) and those who "prefer any route".
• Non-Thomists: Discard anthology, return to the argument of St. Anselm.
• Kant denies the value of things and proposes a practical way to justify rational faith.
• Atheists and agnostics reject the tract differently:
  • Atheism denies the existence of God.
  • Agnosticism denies the possibility of proving the existence of God for several reasons:
    • Skepticism about knowledge in general (Hume).
    • Restriction of knowledge to the realm of experience (Kant).
    • Religious attitude based on faith (Protestantism).

Contextualization: Summa Theologica and Other Works

In the Middle Ages, a "summary" was a treatise for universities outlining a particular field of knowledge. This compensated for the dispersion of knowledge that occurred in the teaching of the time, which was based on feedback and discussions. The Summa was for educational purposes, with the topics presented in a simple and clear manner. Thomas's work is divided into three parts:

1. God in itself and as the beginning of all things.
2. The order of intelligence and will of man.
3. Christ as God-man.

Each part is divided into issues, which are further divided into articles with a similar methodology:

1. Proposal of an issue.
2. Arguments for and against.
3. Provision of reasoned answers and solutions in harmony with it.

There are two perspectives on this: From a philosophical perspective, the issues raised in the "Summa" lack the uncertainty and drama of an existential question because their solution is ensured by faith. From a religious point of view, all manual additions and theology can lose the character of the history of Christian revelation.

Philosophy of St. Thomas: Meaning

The philosophy of St. Thomas is a synthesis of Plato, Aristotle, and Christianity. Christianity has its own truths, some overlapping with traditional philosophy, others interacting with general philosophy. St. Thomas attempts two things:

1. To show that there is no conflict between Christian and philosophical truths. He addresses the relationship between faith and reason, arguing there is no conflict because faith is a supernatural truth, beyond comprehension. When there is disagreement, the error is always on the side of reason. In the modern world, the conflict between faith and reason is no longer resolved as in the Middle Ages. The current approach is to keep the faith and avoid clashes with science, interpreting the Bible to be compatible with scientific results.
2. To emulate the truths of Christianity, taking Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy and adapting them to the Christian message. This is an innovation.

The philosophy of St. Thomas was initially misunderstood and condemned by the Church, but over time, it gained adherents and became the official philosophy of the Catholic Church.

Finally, the relationship between reason and faith has been criticized by many. Some consider it overloaded with philosophical religion, while others see it as overloaded with religious philosophy.

Historical Context

The philosophy of St. Thomas sums up the culture and spirit of the thirteenth century. His thinking exemplifies the worldview and life of medieval man. For St. Thomas, the world and man are the ultimate strength of knowledge and action. Several events affected St. Thomas's work:

• The establishment of universities (he studied at the University of Paris).
• The founding of orders like the Franciscans and Dominicans, who came into contact with the world.
• The use of Aristotle's work to reconcile it with Christianity.