ipl-logo

Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica Analysis

1880 Words8 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The philosophical influences in the life of St Thomas Aquinas

The Catholic faith tradition believes, as it has since the early Church, that God is the ultimate happiness of human beings. Resultingly, our purpose is to reach the beatific vision of God, seeing God as he truly is, which is the source of perfect happiness. Saint Thomas Aquinas was concerned with fitting this teaching of the Church into his sweeping theological and philosophical system of scholasticism. In his Summa Theologica, he defends the idea that vision of God is our sole and supreme end, or purpose, and he clarifies several objections and confusions about the belief. Additionally, Aquinas connects that belief with another one of his arguments in the Summa Theologica: our inability to know the “essence” of God by natural reason, instead …show more content…

Upon reading this somewhat puzzling assertion, I objected that if we are able to see the entirety of something then that is the same as to comprehend it. If, for example, I were able to see the entirety of a mechanical watch all at once, it seems that I would comprehend the mechanical watch. Investigating this objection, I unsurprisingly found another section of the Summa Theologica which addressed the issue …show more content…

Each part of his system goes on to support some further argument, as in the case above wherein his argument regarding knowing God’s existence by natural knowledge is a support for his premise 2. This interconnectedness and cohesion is present throughout Aquinas’ works and is, itself, a defense against objections since it makes any objection seem unlikely to penetrate Aquinas’ defenses. Resultingly, it seems reasonable to doubt that my objections to Aquinas’ argument are unmet. It may be that they are met and overcome in other section of the Summa Theologica or even in other works of Aquinas’, but it seems likely that they are addressed by Aquinas

Show More
Related
846 Words | 4 Pages

Tirzah Weisstein Weisstein 1 Mr. Blenner US History/Period 4 4 April 2016 Junior Research Project Topic: What role did women play on the home front during WW2? Throughout the duration of World War Two women played a substantial role in the victory of the US. They participated in many jobs that weren’t normally performed by women previously. Many of whom served in the Military, repairing war vehicles such as airplanes and trucks.

Read More
302 Words | 2 Pages

Aquinas differs from Paley by arguing that nothing happens by chance and that all things have means and ends. He also believed in a master powerful creator (God) that directed things to their natural end. While, Paley’s arguments did not include the bible or religion. Although, since Aquinas believed that things that don’t have minds can accomplish goals but only if it is controlled with something that does have a mind with intelligence and knowledge.

Read More
1065 Words | 5 Pages

In “Analects Book XIV” it reads: “The Master said: “In the old days, people studied to improve themselves. Now they study in order to impress others.” (p. 1342) Over time people have limited themselves just to fit into the role of what society deems as successful. We live in a world that places a higher value on what you own rather than who you are and what you know.

Read More
1082 Words | 5 Pages

Philosophy 224 Monday/Wednesday 10-11:15 WORD COUNT In a small village, deep in the South American jungle of Guyana, two men overlook a massacre of over 900 people. Of these 900 people, about 300 were children. The men stand in silence, but only for a moment, they are philosophers… HUME: “This is truly astonishing… There is no way that Jim Jones could have been a prophet…”

Read More
1168 Words | 5 Pages

As being a theist, I find Aquinas 's fifth argument significant because the universe is in a perfect order: the cycles of life and death, the seasons of the year, and the mysteries of the human body can 't be just simply explained by science. This order and balance is not unplanned or random. The world and everything in it has been created with a perfect plan by all knowing and all powerful "God". Despite of Aquinas 's fifth argument being one of the most prominent argument for the existence of God, there are some limitations to the fifth argument. The expected limitations especially from the atheists can be applied to this argument due to its nature in the fact that it’s inductive, meaning we can never be 100% certain of its correctness.

Read More
1654 Words | 7 Pages

Notre Dame ID: 902008117 In René Descartes ' Mediations on First Philosophy, Descartes abandons all previous notions or things that he holds to be true and attempts to reason through his beliefs to find the things that he can truly know without a doubt. In his first two meditations Descartes comes to the conclusion that all that he can truly know is that he exists, and that he is a thinking being. In his third meditation, Descartes concludes that he came to know his existence, and the fact that he is a thinking being, from his clear and distinct perception of these two facts. Descartes then argues that if his clear and distinct perception would turn out to be false, then his clear and distinct perception that he was a thinking being would not have been enough to make him certain of it (Blanchette).

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

The objection addressed the validity of the argument which had the premise 1, nothing is the efficient cause of itself except God and premise 2, a chain of causes cannot be infinite. The argument thus concludes there must be a first cause. This conclusion agrees with my thesis that Saint Thomas Aquinas’s argument formulated in the second way leads to a valid argument, which concludes that there must be a first cause and that God

Read More
1210 Words | 5 Pages

Thus, when human function is done well, it is in accordance with virtue and best human life is achieved. In addition, it can be inferred that since Aristotle’s definition of happiness is to be virtuous, performing rational activity well can lead to happiness. In addition, Aristotle states, “if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete” (1098a18). This means that eventually there will be one virtue that is inclusive of all virtue and that displays an end, and this virtue will be in line with the self-sufficient and inclusive concept of happiness as the chief good. If this inclusive virtue and good is achieved, ultimate happiness will be achieved as well.

Read More
1797 Words | 8 Pages

In this essay, I will set out to prove that Thomas Aquinas’ First Cause Argument does not show that God exists and the conclusion that God exists does not follow from the premises of the first cause argument. I do think that the conclusion is valid and could be sound/or has the potential to be, but the premises fail to provide the basis upon which to reach such a conclusion. Hence, I will be raising some objections to the premises and will try to disprove any counter-arguments that could be raised in its defense. This would be done by examining Aquinas’ First Cause Argument and trying to disprove it whilst countering arguments in its defense.

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

In his Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus discusses pleasure and desire and the human need to seek out pleasure. Epicurus explores the different kinds of desire and how they affect happiness. Happiness is the main goal. And happiness, is the maximization of pleasure. According to Epicurus there are three categories of desire that lead to pleasure.

Read More
1438 Words | 6 Pages

In chapter three of Aquinas for Armchair Theologians by Timothy Renick, Aquinas’s philosophy on evil in the world and the free will of humans is heavily discussed. Renick describes a very complex topic and transforms it into something the average person can read and understand. Aquinas answers the questions of whether evil exists, did God create evil, why does evil exist, and if evil exists, who or what removes it. He also answers the questions of whether humans have the free will to make decisions or has God predetermined every decision and its outcome according to his plan. While I found this article somewhat easy to follow, I can understand how some of Aquinas’s arguments can lead to debate or confusion on the nature of God, evil, and free will.

Read More
1411 Words | 6 Pages

Thomas Aquinas is the second critique of Anselm’s position. Take note that Aquinas assumed that the existence of God is obvious. He supported cosmological argument to prove that God exists. The cosmological argument uses the physical things that exist in the universe to demonstrate God’s existence. In his criticism of Anselm’s argument, Aquinas disagrees with the use of the word “God” and argues only some who hear the word “God” understands what it means (Himma, 4).

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

St. Anselm and Descartes are known for presenting the first ontological arguments on the existence of God. The word ontological is a compound word derived from ‘ont’ which means exists or being and ‘–ology’ which means the study of. Even though Anselm and Descartes’ arguments differ slightly, they both stem from the same reasoning. Unlike the other two arguments on God’s existence (teleological and cosmological), the ontological argument does not seek to use any empirical evidence but rather concentrates on pure reason. The rationale behind this school of thought

Read More
1784 Words | 8 Pages

The objection against premise three states: “There can be an infinite series of numbers; why can’t there be an infinite series of past causes (PowerPoint 384)?” Thomas Aquinas is a famous philosopher who is well known for his theological writings. Here, Aquinas steps in to defend this premise saying that “if there were an infinite regress of causes, we could not have gotten to the present moment because we would have had to go through an infinite series to get here, and it is impossible to go through an infinite series (PowerPoint, 384).” William Lane Craig then comes in and discusses the claim of premise three and Aquinas’ defence and states that, “the idea of an actual infinite number of anything leads to contradictions. Both Thomas Aquinas and William Lane Craig’s defence claims help show that premise three is true, proving that the first half of the first cause argument is a sound

Read More
1345 Words | 6 Pages

“The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. The great secret of the spiritual life, the life of the Beloved Sons and daughters of God, is that everything we live, be it gladness or sadness, joy or pain, health or illness, can all be part of the journey toward the full realization of our humanity” Henri

Read More

More about Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica Analysis

Open Document