This study refl ects on questions of a beginning and an end in the view of St. Thomas Aquinas and Dante Alighieri. Critical and comparative analysis will show: (1) in what ways the authors perceived the ultimate goals of humanity; and (2) what impact doing so had on their political outlooks. In both cases treatises came to life with two purposes: the declared (theoretical) purpose – discussion of how to organize a well-functioning state – and actual (practical) – resolution of the dispute between the regnum and the sacerdotium, that is, determination of which party deserves precedence. The heart of the matter lies in the differences between the two accounts, given how the two mediaeval thinkers arrived at completely different conclusions in addressing the same question.
John Locke’s natural law theory has frequently been conceived as a continuation of the Thomistic tradition and as sound basis for human rights as universally binding. This paper concludes that this is not the case. Unlike Aquinas’ metaphysical realism, Locke’s empiricism and nominalism make it impossible for us to know our human nature, our exclusively human goods, and telos—thereby undermining the sound foundations of the exceptionless moral precepts of natural law. Whereas Aquinas defines the good as that which is perfective and fulfilling of human nature, Locke identifies the good with pleasure, which leads to subjectivism. While both Aquinas and Locke argue that God is the origin and foundation of the binding force of natural law, Locke’s voluntarism is incompatible with the ruling nature of law. Consequently, unlike Aquinas, Locke’s theory lacks the metaphysical foundations for universal human rights.
The evidentialist objection against Christianity, which states that the Christian faith does not have sufficient evidence to justify belief, can be troubling for Christians, for they do not wish to say that their beliefs are founded upon mere human evidence, and yet, they also wish to affirm that “those who place their faith in this truth, for which human reason offers no experience, do not believe lightly, as those following unlearned fables” (SCG I.6). St. Thomas Aquinas offers a unique and compelling solution to the evidentialist objection—a solution that confirms the Christian belief that faith is a gift from God, but which also respects the proper place of human reason within the believing life of men. St. Thomas teaches that God provides both internal and external confirmation of what He reveals, although only the internal confirmation of the work of the Holy Spirit is necessary to justify Christian belief. Aquinas’s teaching concerning the role of divine confirmation of revealed truths provides at least one important key to understanding the delicate balance between faith and reason within the Christian life.
The central goals of this essay are three: (1) to situate St. Thomas’s moral psychology within his cosmology, with special emphasis on the notion of virtual quantity; (2) to illuminate and confirm that moral psychology through an examination of Achilles as Homer present him in the Iliad; (3) to suggest that if St. Thomas’s picture of the psychological landscape can be validated by reference to Homer, then so, too, might his metaphysical portraiture bear more credence than it is typically awarded. Particular attention will be given to Achilles’ anger and the psychological distinctions by which St. Thomas makes such anger and its attendant acts intelligible.
The aim of this paper is to present and confront Thomistic and Freudian theories of conscience despite the essential differences between these two concepts. According to St. Thomas Aquinas conscience is an act of practical reason that recognizes objective moral truth in a receptive way. On the contrary, Sigmund Freud states that conscience is a part of the superego which supervises and controls human behavior taking into consideration changeable ethical norms and values. This paper is an attempt to complete Aquinas’s classical doctrine of conscience with Freud’s contemporary yet controversial psychoanalytic theory of personality, especially in the matter of pathological feeling of guilt.
There are always new proposals concerning the application of new genetic technology. Some of them concern the genetic enhancement of man. There are four groups of such proposals, labeled as: better children, better performance, ageless bodies, and happy souls. The Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, which distinguishes between therapeutic and non-therapeutic genetic manipulation, does not reject non-therapeutic genetic manipulation (genetic enhancement is such manipulation), but it does prescribe some requirements for its moral acceptance. However, these requirements are general and not very useful for determining specific moral limits for genetic enhancement of man. There are neither ready standards nor criteria for establishing those limits. The role of philosophers (theologians) then, is to ascertain those limits. It is possible to do that on the basis of virtue ethics in its version elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas. His description of human perfection is of great help in establishing the morally acceptable limits of the genetic enhancement of man. Aquinas’s intuitions are confirmed by the observations of contemporary psychology.
W szerokiej problematyce, którą podejmował w swych dziełach św. Tomasz z Akwinu odnaleźć można także odniesienia do muzyki, chociaż zagadnienie to nie zostało przez niego opracowane w sposób całościowy. Tomaszową koncepcję muzyki należy rozpatrywać w kontekście jego myśli teologicznej i estetycznej. Dlatego konieczne jest ukazanie najpierw koncepcji piękna, które Akwinata pojmuje jako drogę do spotkania z Bogiem. Na tle jego teorii estetyki, muzyka jawi się jako element cnoty religijności, który realizuje się w liturgii. Wyrazem tego są skomponowane przez św. Tomasza hymny ku czci Najświętszego Sakramentu, które do dnia dzisiejszego obecne są w praktyce liturgicznej Kościoła.
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St. Thomas Aquinas integrated into Christian thought the rigours of Aristotle’s philosophy. His aesthetics, although connected with his theology and ethics, has not always received sufficient attention. Certain passages of his Summa Theologiae are devoted to beauty. Aquinas defines beauty in Aristotelian terms as that which pleases solely in the contemplation of it and recognizes three prerequisites of beauty: perfection, appropriate proportion and clarity. His basic ideas, drawn from the classical world, are modified in the light of Christian theology and developments in metaphysics and optics during 13th century. Music is touched upon in his writings. He looks at the concrete applications of the conception of transcendental beauty in his theory of music. Author considers Thomas’s idea of music in the following ways: beauty as a way of meeting God; church music as a religious virtue; liturgical music; St. Thomas as a “cantor of the Eucharistic Christ”. Thomas considers objective value and goodness of music, addressing its physical nature and metaphysical properties, such as in the hymns of the office of Corpus Christi attributed to Thomas’s faith and theological wisdom.
The article begins with the statement that there is one aspect of St Thomas’s work that has not received due scrutiny as a literary form, one with solid dramatic qualities and structure: the Article. The Article is as Thomistic as the syllogism is Aristotelian. This particular mode of argument was evidently original with St. Thomas: he did not derive it from the work of any other writer, yet its inner movement is of the essence of dialectic, from the opening proposition to opposing objections, then “to the contrary” position as found in orthodoxy, and then the writer’s resolution, and so on. It is a variation on the classic sic-et-non, a reasonable, balanced to and fro of the sort beloved by disputants. No parallel or even parody of this Article is to be found in any known literature before or since the thirteenth century. The author aims to show that part of the sheer power of the Article resides in the fact that it has two levels of operation. The surface is composed of the dialectical to-and-fro adumbrated above. But under that surface lies a rhetorical structure constructed along the lines of the five divisions of the rhetorical logos as laid out by Cicero and Horace.
The article addresses the meaning and loss of meaning of life and death in the context of the modern world and classical philosophy, whose most prominent representative is Thomas Aquinas. There are also references to more contemporary thinkers and philosophers representing various cultural, political and – from certain points of view – also doctrinal backgrounds (G. K. Chesterton, Leszek Kołakowski) – which shows the relevance and significance of the problem. Therefore, referring predominantly to the teaching of Aquinas’ writings, especially the "Summa Theologiae", it is demon-strated that it is eschatology that alone can give the right meaning to life and death, which is currently marginalised in the universal mentality and is a consequence of radically materialistic and post-positivist view of the world (associated with the suc-cesses of exact sciences) hostile to Christianity (which fulfils the objectives of escha-tology most closely). The rejection of eschatology, and in consequence purposefulness which is a source and purpose of all human actions (the human ultimate goal is happi-ness, which St. Thomas – relying on Aristotle – equates with God) calls into question the very nature of man and – as viewed by the mentioned thinkers – may lead to the annihilation of humankind.
The article is written reflection on the Thomas’s commentary to the first verse of Romans carried under the direction of the author by Fr. Pavel Habrovec, Fr. Marcin Kaznowski SDB, Marek Kostur, Beata Marek, Magdalena Marek, Agnieszka Piskozub-Piwosz, Fr. Rafał Wilkołek. The author used in the article all the written statements of the participants. The formal aspect of the analysis determined the four questions: 1. What is Revelation and how does it happen? 2. What is the relationship between God’s word and the written text? 3. What is the relationship of the text of Scripture to the person of Christ? 4. What is (therefore) the correct reading of the text?
PL
Artykuł stanowi pisemne opracowanie przemyśleń po dyskusji nad komentarzem Tomasza do pierwszego wersetu Listu do Rzymian, którą pod kierunkiem autora prowadzili: ks. Pavel Habrovec, ks. Marcin Kaznowski SDB, Marek Kostur, Beata Marek, Magdalena Marek, Agnieszka Piskozub-Piwosz, ks. Rafał Wilkołek. Autor wykorzystał w artykule wszystkie spisane wypowiedzi uczestników, starając się oddać raczej ostateczny owoc, konsensus w rozumieniu komentowanego fragmentu niż indywidualny wkład poszczególnych osób. Formalny aspekt analizy wyznaczały cztery pytania: 1. Czym jest Objawienie i jak się dokonuje? 2. Jaka jest relacja między słowem Boga a tekstem spisanym? 3. W jakim stosunku pozostaje tekst Pisma do osoby Chrystusa? 4. Jaka jest (wobec tego) poprawna lektura tekstu?
W niniejszym artykule autor stara się wskazać na kontekst i źródła wiedzy prawniczej posiadanej przez św. Tomasza z Akwinu. Nie ulega wątpliwości, iż Tomasz nie studiował prawa, lecz jest równocześnie pewne, że w swoich pracach powoływał źródła prawa rzymskiego i kanonicznego. Jak się wydaje, nie należy tych przypadków traktować jednostkowo, lecz raczej widzieć je w szerszej perspektywie. W przekonaniu autora wiedza Akwinaty na temat prawa stanowiła naturalną konsekwencję trzech niezależnych okoliczności. Po pierwsze, okres życia św. Tomasza przypadał na tzw. „wiek prawa”. Po drugie, był on członkiem zakonu dominikańskiego, w duchowości którego zawsze podkreślano konieczność studiów, które miały pomóc braciom w lepszym głoszeniu Słowa Bożego. Wreszcie, z początkami istnienia Zakonu Kaznodziejskiego łączyć należy zjawisko dużej liczby powołań wykształconych prawników i kanonistów rekrutujących się przede wszystkim z Uniwersytetu Bolońskiego. Wydaje się, iż wstępując do zakonu dzielili się oni swoją wiedzą ze współbraćmi. Także i w tym nieformalnym procesie nauczania prawa można poszukiwać źródeł prawniczej wiedzy Akwinaty.
EN
In this article author is attempting to show the context and the sources of the legal knowledge acquired by Saint Thomas Aquinas. It is certain that Thomas had not studied law, but it is obvious as well that he used the sources of Roman and Canon law frequently in his own studies. The author believes that the Aquinas’s knowledge of law is natural consequence of three circumstance. First of all, Saint Thomas’s life occurred in the so-called “epoch of the law”. Secondly, he was a member of the Dominican Order which always emphasised the need of study which help the friars to preach more accurately Word of God. Finally, in the times of Thomas Aquinas many friars entered the Order as a professional lawyers and canonists who by no means shared their knowledge of law with brothers.
In this paper, I shall briefly outline some of the negative influences within the Christian tradition that have some bearing on the moral status of animals. These are principally that animals have no mind or reason, no immortal soul, sentiency, or moral status. These influences have given rise to notions of “instrumentalism” and “humanism” within the Catholic tradition that have eclipsed the moral status of animals. However, countervailing forces are at work weakening the grip of Thomism, and issuing in a general moral sensitivity to animals, as witnessed by the Catholic Catechism, the statements of Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. Most especially Pope Francis’ insistence that humans should “protect” not only creation, but also individual creatures is probably the most progressive papal statement on animals to date.
The presented concept of intellect shows the size and innovation of St. Thomas Aquinas. As opposed to Aristotle, St. Thomas explains the nature of intellect more precisely. Aristotle used only one concept in describing form and matter. However, this was not enough to show the existence of intellect a
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in ST II-II, q.2, a.7., that the first man could get know about Incarnation of Christ in future. The way of knowing of that is experience of marriage, witch is described by St. Poul as „great mystery”, „concerning Christ and the church” (Eph 5). In Thomas’s Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians we can read, that this link between husband-wife relation and Christchurchrelation was known for the first man by supernatural knowledge. Before Summa Thomas wrote that the first man could have unclear knowledge about Incarnation: if man strays, God will want repair it, because it is result of his mercy (Commentary on the Sentences Book) or providence (De Veritate). In ST this clear knowledge is only about this aspect of Incarnation mystery, with is linked with Consummatio gratiae; the first man didn’t know about passion and death of Christ, because he couldn’t know about his own sin in future: their reason. Consumaatio gratiae means the full unite man with God in the end of the world and it’s coresponding with sexual intercourse in marriage. This motive for the Incarnation is not linked with men’s sin. It is in opposition to the view from ST III, q.1, a.3, corp., where St. Thomas wrote that if man had not sinned, the God would not have become incarnate, because everywhere in Sacred Scripture the sin of the first man isassigned as the reason for the Incarnation.
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in ST II-II, q.2, a.7., that the first man could get know about Incarnation of Christ in future. The way of knowing of that is experience of marriage, witch is described by St. Poul as „great mystery”, „concerning Christ and the church” (Eph 5). In Thomas’s Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians we can read, that this link between husband-wife relation and Christchurchrelation was known for the first man by supernatural knowledge. Before Summa Thomas wrote that the first man could have unclear knowledge about Incarnation: if man strays, God will want repair it, because it is result of his mercy (Commentary on the Sentences Book) or providence (De Veritate). In ST this clear knowledge is only about this aspect of Incarnation mystery, with is linked with Consummatio gratiae; the first man didn’t know about passion and death of Christ, because he couldn’t know about his own sin in future: their reason. Consumaatio gratiae means the full unite man with God in the end of the world and it’s coresponding with sexual intercourse in marriage. This motive for the Incarnation is not linked with men’s sin. It is in opposition to the view from ST III, q.1, a.3, corp., where St. Thomas wrote that if man had not sinned, the God would not have become incarnate, because everywhere in Sacred Scripture the sin of the first man is assigned as the reason for the Incarnation.
The article undertakes the problem of truth in sensible cognition according to St. Thomas Aquinas. Performed analysis partake into the wide-ranging discussion on the nature of turth, thus the authoress starts with characterizing two main streams of interpreting truth, which came about during the ancient and medieval centuries. Against the background she outlined the novum of St. Thomas. Then, on the ground of "Summa theologiae" (Q. 16, a. 2) and "Quaestiones disputatae de veritate" (Q. 1) she reconstructs Aquinas' approach to the truth of intellect and sense, and shows how truth and false are realized by the extarnal and internal senses. The carried out consideretions reveal that according to Aquinas sensible cognition and the truth of sensible apprehensions are understood analogically. In their primary sense, cognition and truth refer to intellectual acts and their results. In the sensible preception, however, truth is realizes in the optimum of its importance as the ontic adequacy between sensible faculty and reality. Its justification the truth of senses finds in the existence of objects which are appropriate to the individual sensible faculties of cognition.
PL
Artykuł podejmuje problem prawdy w poznaniu zmysłowym w interpretacji św. Tomasza z Akwinu. Przeprowadzane analizy wpisują się w szeroką dyskusję nad naturą prawdy, dlatego autorka rozpoczyna od przedstawienia dwóch głównych nurtów interpretacji prawdy, które pojawiły się w Starożytności i w wiekach średnich. W odróżnieniu od tradycyjnych opracowań zarysowuje novum myśli św. Tomasza. Następnie, na podstawie "Sumy teologicznej" (Q. 16, a. 2) i "Quaestiones disputatae de veritate" (Q. 1) rekonstruuje Tomaszowe stanowisko wobec prawdy rozumu i zmysłów oraz ukazuje, w jaki sposób zmysły wewnętrzne określają prawdę i fałsz. Przeprowadzone refleksje prowadzą do wniosku, że w ujęciu św. Tomasza z Akwinu poznanie zmysłowe i prawda poznania zmysłowego rozumiane są analogicznie. W pierwotnym znaczeniu poznanie i prawda odnoszą się do aktów intelektualnych i ich rezultatów. Jednak w przypadku percepcji zmysłowej prawda pojmowana jest jako ontyczna zgodność domeny zmysłowej z rzeczywistością. Prawda zmysłowa znajduje swoje usprawiedliwienie w istnieniu przedmiotów, które odpowiadają indywidualnym zmysłowym zdolnościom poznawczym.
The article presents the issue of punishment in St. Thomas Aquinas’ doctrine. In particular, it analysis the propriety of capital punishment. The author presents the link between punishment’s functions, rules of stating and executing with the common wealth. The acceptance of capital punishment is the consequence of rational attitude towards bonum commune and is a derivative of acceptance of organic state concept. The originality of Aquinas’ ideas in the subject of humanization of criminal law provides Thomas Aquinas with permanent place in the hall of fame of creators and propagators of the modern concept of the criminal law.
PL
Artykuł przedstawia problematykę kary w doktrynie św. Tomasza z Akwinu. W szczególności analizuje celowość kary śmierci. Autor stawia tezę o ścisłej korelacji funkcji kary, zasad jej orzekania i wykonania z koncepcją dobra wspólnego. Dopuszczalność kary śmierci stanowi konsekwencję racjonalnego ujęcia bonum commune oraz jest pochodną przyjęcia organicznej koncepcji państwa. Oryginalność rozważań Akwinaty w przedmiocie humanitaryzacji prawa karnego zapewnia mu trwałe miejsce w panteonie twórców i krzewicieli nowożytnych koncepcji szeroko rozumianego prawa karnego.
This paper deals with the problem of God’s action in nature. It is argued that the divine action is always non-interventional, which means that God never violates the laws of nature. He creates the evolving universe, keeps it in existence and continously influences its history using these laws, and not breaking them. At first, the character of the laws of nature will be discussed – both in scientific and theological perspective. Later, the creative presence of God in the universe will be described. Special attention will be paid to St. Thomas Aquinas argument concerning the distinction between the first cause (which should be identified with God) and the secondary cause (which should be identified with all the physical causes explored by science). Finally, some advantages of the non-intervetnional model of the divine action in nature will be indicated.
PL
Artykuł poświęcony jest problematyce działania Boga w świecie przyrody. Zaprezentowano w nim argumenty przemawiające za modelem nieinterwencjonistycznym, w którym zakłada się, że Bóg konsekwentnie respektuje porządek przyczyn i skutków wynikający z praw przyrody, i zamierzone przez siebie efekty uzyskuje bez naruszania tego porządku. Historia ewoluującego wszechświata, którą badają nauki empiryczne, jest w perspektywie teologicznej historią działania Boga, który stwarza świat i podtrzymuje go w istnieniu za pośrednictwem praw przyrody powodujących stopniowy rozwój wszechświata i ewolucję życia. W kolejnych częściach artykułu podjęta została problematyka praw przyrody, stwórczej obecności Boga w przyrodzie oraz działania Stwórcy dokonującego się za pośrednictwem przyczyn wtórnych (argument św. Tomasza). W zakończeniu wskazano na zalety modelu nieinterwencjonistycznego.
According to Parmenides, the only acceptable way of philosophy as true cognition is research of being. The philosophical tradition had taken this track. St. Thomas Aquinas had very little information about Parmenidean ontology, but shared his focus on being as the object of knowledge. However, they had a different understanding of being. Philosopher of Elea claimed that everything is one monistic being. Therefore, every act of cognition has the same object – being. There is only being. Non-being is nothing. It doesn’t exist, so it isn’t cognizable. Moreover, the knowledge of being and being itself are the same. As a consequence, Parmenides described entity in identification to the mind and recognized the essence of being as truth. Therefore, his ontology is called “a veridical conception of being”. According to Aquinas, being is pluralistic. There are many types of entities, minds and truths. The core of every being is act of existence. The truth is property of singular beings or judgements. Thomas metaphysics is existential. The truth, that is here identified with adequation of thing and intellect, and cognoscibility of beings, is interpreted as the consequence of existence. Being, truth and cognoscibility are different things. In comparison with Parmenides, Thomas seems to be more faithful to the “way of being”. He characterizes being as existing and avoids a specific paradox that is inability to define the truth in a classical way, assuming her identity with the entity.
Każdy człowiek z natury pragnie poznać siebie i swoje otoczenie. Zdaje sobie przy tym sprawę z tego, że otaczający go świat nie został stworzony przez niego, człowieka, lecz przez Boga. W myśli średniowiecznej uznano, że wiara jest najlepszym sposobem na poznanie Boga. Wystarczy przypomnieć koncepcję Pseudo-Dionizego Areopagity o niepoznawalności Boga na naturalnej drodze poznania umysłowego. Kluczowym problemem artykułu jest pytanie, czy Bóg jest do tego stopnia nieadekwatny jako przedmiot naturalnego poznania, że konieczne jest poznanie nadprzyrodzone w celu osiągnięcia wiedzy o Bogu? Odpowiedź leży w filozofii św. Tomasza z Akwinu, a dokładniej w jego ujęciu relacji między wiarą a poznaniem. Dodatkowo, artykuł dowodzi, że historycznie wcześniejsze od ujęcia Akwinaty propozycje rozwiązania tego problemu (opracowane przede wszystkim w ramach średniowiecznej filozofii neoplatońskiej) okazały się nietrafne i niewystarczające. W filozofii Tomasza dopiero wypracowana przez niego (za filozofią Arystotelesa) oryginalna filozofia bytu (zwłaszcza tezy z De ente et essentia) zapewnia właściwe ujęcie zarazem relacji między wiarą a rozumem oraz naturalnego poznania Boga przez człowieka. Autor artykułu pokazuje - za Akwinatą - że naturalne poznanie Boga realizuje się przede wszystkim w poznaniu skutków Jego działań.
EN
Every man naturally desires to cognize himself and his world. He realizes at the same time that the world around him was not created by him, man, but by God. In medieval thought it was the faith, that is the best way to cognize God. Let us remind the concept of Pseudo- Dionysius the Areopagite on the unknowability of God in the natural way. Thus, the key problem of the article is the question of whether God is so inadequate as a matter of natural knowledge, that it is necessary to cognize him supernaturally. The answer lies in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and more specifically in his view on the relationship between faith and cognition. In addition, the article argues that historically earlier shots of proposals of solution of this problem (developed primarily in the context of neo-medieval philosophy) proved to be inaccurate and inadequate. Thomas worked out (as a addition to the Aristotelian framework) the original philosophy of being (especially the thesis of De ente et essentia), which provided appropriate recognition the relationship between faith and reason and the natural knowledge of God by man. The author shows - following Aquinas - that the natural knowledge of God is realized above all in the knowledge of the results of his actions (causes). This proves the inalienability of metaphysics in natural theology.
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