The far reaching changes in man's social and personal life taking place in our lifetime underline the need for a sound ethical evaluation of our rights and duties and of human behaviour both on the individual level and in the political society. On many issues judgments of value vary widely and a consultation of the thought of Thomas Aquinas on the basic questions will be helpful, the more since he is not only one of the greatest philosophers but also succeeded (...) in integrating in his moral philosophy the wisdom of the ancients, in particular of Aristotle and the Stoa. This book presents Aquinas's thought on such central questions as man's happiness, how to determine the morality of our actions, the natural law and the main virtues, as well as on the common good, war, human labour, love and friendship. Throughout the book the intellectual character of this moral philosophy is pointed out and problems are set in a historical perspective. (shrink)

Metaphysics, formerly the queen of science, fell into oblivion under the onslaught of empiricism and positivism and its very possibllity came to be denied. Professor Elders traces the history of this process and shows how St. Thomas innovated in determining both the subject of metaphysics and the manner in which one enters this science, particularly in the framework of his Aristotle commentaries. The work then considers being and its properties, its divisions into being in act and being in potency, into (...) the act of being essence, and into substance and the accidents. Finally the causes of being are considered. The work also introduces and surveys the extensive literature of Thomas interpretation of the past 50 years. (shrink)

INTRODUCTION Philosophical theology is the systematic inquiry about God's existence and being. We find it in Aristotle's Metaphysics, in Cicero's De natura ...

The Physics is a most remarkable work, and profoundly influenced Medieval Philosophers. Thomas Aquinas wrote a detailed, impressive commentary. This essay studies in particular the composition of the Physics as Thomas saw it, his thorough study of Aristotle’s way of arguing and the important distinction he made between disputative arguments, which are only partially true, and arguments which determine the truth. Aristotle frequently uses proofs which are wrong when one considers the proper nature of bodies, but possible considering their common (...) nature. Thomas accepts proofs in the field of physics but discards those related to a certain mathematization of nature. Aristotle holds the unlimited possibility of movements becoming faster or slower, but according to Aquinas he is considering things in general : when we consider specific bodies there is a fastest movement. Thomas speaks of a way of reading a text which is according the intention of Aristotle, and proposes an understanding of particular texts based on the general doctrine of the Stagirite. Sometimes he goes beyond the text, as when defending the unity of time as dependent on the unity of the First Mover. The essay shows that in the commentary a coherent philosophy of nature shaping up. In some places Aquinas brings in God’s causality: nature is nothing else but the plan of divine art, placed within things. The study of nature shows that there is a first principle of the whole nature which is above everything, sc. God who gives being to things. (shrink)

Les écoles qui, dans un passé récent, avaient la haute main dans le domaine philosophique, ont désormais perdu du terrain et, face aux nombreux problèmes auxquels nous sommes confrontés, la pensée de saint Thomas jouit d'une grande actualité. Partout dans le monde, on peut voir un intérêt croissant pour l'étude de sa pensée. Toutefois, sur plusieurs points importants, les présentations qu'on fait de sa philosophie sont divergentes. En suivant au plus près les textes eux-mêmes, l'auteur de cet ouvrage se penche (...) sur plusieurs de ces questions en débat : les rapports avec le platonisme, l'entrée en métaphysique et l'organisation de celle-ci, la doctrine de l'être, l'importance des premiers principes, l'analogie, le fondement de la morale, vérité et liberté, l'unité de l'homme... Ecrites sur une trentaine d'années, ces études pourront aider à faire connaître les enseignements fondamentaux de celui qu'on appelle le Docteur commun. (shrink)

Inspired with Jude P. Dougherty’s works in which he stresses the overruling importance of the classical, humanistic education and the central place and role of religion in the Western culture, the author presents Christopher Dawson’s analysis of the Western civilization and his demonstration of the central role of Christianity in it. The author traces the premises on which was based Dawson’s opinion that modern Western man might be absorbed by his technical inventions, to the point of losing his soul.

[Philosophy of Nature of St. Thomas Aquinas:. Nature, the Universe, Man].

Apres avoir esquisse la reconstitution du processus de perte de sa position dominante de le part de la metaphysique au sein des disciplines philosophiques, le present ouvrage montre que la metaphysique de Thomas d'Aquin, solidement ancree dans l'experience et les lois de l'etre, echappe a ces critiques et temoigne de ce que l'on serait tente de nommer la metaphysique naturelle de l'esprit humain. L'auteur y etudie l'etant et ses proprietes, ainsi que les premiers principes; les divisions de l'etant - acte (...) et puissance, etre et essence, substance et accidents -, et ses causes. En situant son propos dans une perspective historique, il propose un recit passionnant de l'odyssee de la pensee philosophique, qui est aussi un plaidoyer argumente en faveur de l'actualite inchangee d'une metaphysique fondee sur la structure de l'etant. (shrink)

Ce livre montre la grandeur et l'actualité de l'Aquinate qui se fonde sur l'expérience de tous les jours et les premiers principes inébranlables du sens commun, alors que ses conclusions nous conduisent aux sommets de la théologie négative.