Questions tagged [aquinas]
[St. Thomas Aquinas][1] (1225–1274), scholastic philosopher, Catholic theologian, and most famous commentator on Aristotle. [Thomism][2] is his school of thought. [1]: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas [2]: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14698b.htm
22
questions
5
votes
3
answers
11k
views
What do necessity and possibility mean in Aquinas' Third Way argument for the existence of God?
In his famous Summa Theologica, the Scholastic theologian Thomas Aquinas presents Five Ways to demonstrate the existence of God. Here is Aquinas' Third Way, the argument from contigency:
The third ...
4
votes
2
answers
639
views
Was Aquinas a foundationalist?
Foundationalism is, generally speaking, the belief that a group of undoubtable beliefs 'ground,' or 'justify' other beliefs.
As of late, foundationalism has fallen out of favor in many different ...
- 307
3
votes
2
answers
282
views
We know substances by means of their accidents?
Where does Aristotle or St. Thomas Aquinas say we know substances by means of their accidents?
For example: To know the substance of an apple, I first have to sense its quantity and qualities: shape, ...
- 7,817
13
votes
2
answers
12k
views
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
This question became a symbol for the silly and pointless sophistry of medieval scholastics. But as modern scholarship has shown scholastics was not such a thoughtless desert as some of its ...
- 42.5k
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What are the similarities and differences in the ways Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas define the "Analogy of Being"?
As is well known to us all, "Analogy of Being" is a very important term created by the Scholasticism of St. Thomas Aquinas. While this term cannot be found in Aristotle's original work, the similar ...
- 95
3
votes
1
answer
179
views
Are analogical middle terms sufficient for a valid demonstration?
William A. Wallace, O.P., in “Thomism and the Quantum Enigma,” The Thomist 61 (1997): 455–468, claims that
analogical middle terms are sufficient for a valid demonstration
and that this is
a ...
- 7,817
23
votes
13
answers
5k
views
If the universe has a beginning does that prove God exists?
It is curious to note that a eminent Physicist like Stephen Hawking thinks the universe has a beginning. This has some rather startling Religious implications
You can find the link here: http://www....
Neil Meyer
8
votes
5
answers
4k
views
What does Dawkins suggest is the main flaw in these three arguments from Aquinas?
Source: p 100-101, The God Delusion, By Richard Dawkins
1. The Unmoved Mover.
Nothing moves without a prior mover. This leads us to an infinite regress, from
which the only escape is God. ...
user8572
8
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is the agent intellect according to Avicenna and Aquinas?
Avicenna and Thomas Aquinas seem to generally interpret Aristotle in different ways, and I am trying to understand the differences. Specifically, what are the differences between Avicenna's view and ...
- 263
7
votes
2
answers
415
views
Did Thomas Aquinas state randomness as a prerequisite of free will?
I was told the other day that in one work on free will, Thomas Aquinas suggested that some randomness / non-determinism was a prerequisite for its existence. Does any one know where he expressed this ...
- 173
6
votes
2
answers
733
views
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, do "being" (ens) and "truth" (verum) differ?
In his Disputed Questions on Truth q. 1 a. 1 arg. 3, St. Thomas Aquinas presents an argument against "that the true (verum) is exactly the same as being (ens)":
3. Things which differ conceptually [...
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How can the soul be a form in Aristotle's metaphysics but continue to exist after the body's destruction?
Many authors, especially in introductory books, seem to characterize Aristotle's forms as some kind of structure or organizational feature of matter, which seems to be compatible with a reductionist ...
- 4,580
4
votes
3
answers
797
views
How do Thomists prove that: "Everything that exists must exist by something."?
One variation of principle of sufficient reason that Thomists use is:
Everything that exists must exist by something.
How do they prove such a statement? In particular, why can not something just ...
- 288
4
votes
4
answers
184
views
How does one cause impede the action of another cause?
How does Aristotle or a medieval scholastic commentator like St. Thomas Aquinas explain how one cause can impede the action of another cause? Or, conversely, how does the removal of an impeding cause ...
- 7,817
4
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Why must the first mover be unmovable?
In the first way of Aquinas it is proved that there exists an unmoved mover (or unchanged changer or even better, actualizer which was not actualized). It is often claimed that God is pure act without ...
- 288
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why is Being not a genus?
Aquinas wrote:
Being is not a genus, since it is not predicated univocally, but analogically
Genus is a term that is used in Aristotles Organon; as is predicate and I think univocal and analogy.
...
3
votes
3
answers
151
views
Does "ens materiale" = "ens sensible"? If so, why?
As far as I know, Aristotelianism and Thomism state that a material being is always potentially sensible. For example, there are microorganisms that we cannot see with the naked eye. But if we use a ...
- 7,817
3
votes
3
answers
638
views
Aquinas' Third Way: Why Argue For Only One Necessary Entity?
I came across this description of Aquinas' third way:
Third, he argues that if there were no eternal, necessary, and immortal being, if everything had a possibility of not being, of ceasing to be, ...
- 130
2
votes
1
answer
460
views
Do those who deny a univocal understanding of "God is good" conflate sense and connotation?
Several theologians following Aquinas have said that when we say things like "God is good" that this must mean something different to when we call other things good; this is called analogical use of ...
- 1,777
2
votes
1
answer
109
views
How did Suarez defend objectivity of human knowledge (cognition)?
It seems that Aquinas (and the first scholastics) founded objectivity of knowledge in the unity of intellect and the thing known. Namely, the intellect receives the form of the thing and literally ...
- 288
1
vote
3
answers
3k
views
Why must objects be moved by other objects in Aquinas' First Way argument for God?
In his famous Summa Theologica, the Scholastic theologian Thomas Aquinas presents Five Ways to demonstrate the existence of God. Here is Aquinas' First Way, the argument from motion:
The first and ...
1
vote
1
answer
279
views
How are “causal” loops avoided in Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics?
If we take Aquinas' first way, for example, the inference that a chain of movers exist, is readily made, but no defense for this assumption is given.
Usually the argument is interpreted so, that all ...
- 4,580