Tomasz z Akwinu o życiu czynnym i kontemplacyjnym

• Authors: Płotka Magdalena

Title variants

EN

Thomas Aquinas on active and contemplative life

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Article focuses on the issue of active and contemplative life in medieval thought, especially in the concept of St. Thomas Aquinas. It consists of three parts. The first one presents briefly the basic philosophical problems (concerning issues like vita activa and vita contemplativa) which arose in the commentaries on X book of Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. Then it shows how Thomas Aquinas’s perception of Ethics as a integral whole sheds light on his solution of the dispute. The first part ends with Aquinas’s most important arguments in favor of vita contemplativa. In the second part it will be presented dispute regarding the purpose and nature of contemplation. Commentary tradition of X book takes dual understanding of contemplation into account: it is recognized either as a mystical union with God, or as the cognitive function of the intellect. Thomas developed concept of two kinds of happiness and it seems to be the answer to this problem. The third part of the article develops the issue of Thomas interpretation of Ethics by analyzing the meaning of vita activa (expressed in the formation of virtues) for contemplation.

Keywords

PL

życie kontemplacyjne; życie czynne; kontemplacja; Tomasz z Akwinu

EN

contemplative life; active life; contemplation; Thomas Aquinas

• Publisher: Naukowe Towarzystwo Tomistyczne
• Journal: Rocznik Tomistyczny
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 5
• Pages: 189-202

Dates

published

2016

Contributors

author

Płotka Magdalena

• Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, Wydział Filozofii Chrześcijańskiej