Abstract

The title of the book promises to provide the reader with “A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics.” However, what can be contemporary about a philosophy which was developed as a complement and a tool for thirteenth-century theology? The last century’s revival of Thomism was mainly an affair of text exegesis in the eyes of most interpreters of Aquinas, even if sometimes they added an epistemological basis to the metaphysical system developed by Aquinas himself. Clarke proposes, instead, a “creative appropriation of Thomistic metaphysics,” that is, a break with the traditional Thomistic attitude where philosophers of a significant stature presented themselves as mere historians of medieval thought. Hence, Clarke takes philosophical responsibility for the arguments he presents. He does not expect any leeway to be given to his arguments for this would amount to talking about philosophical attitudes and beliefs that are long gone from any serious philosophical mind. The result is what he labels “Thomistically inspired metaphysics,” which should be treated as a contemporary philosophical theory attempting to explain the origin and the structure of all individual beings.