Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers

Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers
Author: Gloria Frost
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2022-08-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1009225413

In this innovative book, Gloria Frost reconstructs and analyses Aquinas's theories on efficient causation and causal powers, focusing specifically on natural causal powers and efficient causation in nature. Frost presents each element of Aquinas's theories one by one, comparing them with other theories, as well as examining the philosophical and interpretive ambiguities in Aquinas's thought and proposing fresh solutions to conceptual difficulties. Her discussion includes explanations of Aquinas's technical scholastic terminology in jargon-free prose, as well as background on medieval scientific views - including ordinary language explanations of the medieval physical theories which Aquinas assumed in formulating his views on causation and causal powers. The resulting volume is a rich exploration of a central philosophical topic in medieval philosophy and beyond, and will be valuable especially for scholars and advanced students working on Aquinas and on medieval natural philosophy.

Aristotle in Aquinas's Theology

Aristotle in Aquinas's Theology
Author: Gilles P. Emery
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2015-10-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191067490

Aristotle in Aquinas's Theology explores the role of Aristotelian concepts, principles, and themes in Thomas Aquinas's theology. Each chapter investigates the significance of Aquinas's theological reception of Aristotle in a central theological domain: the Trinity, the angels, soul and body, the Mosaic law, grace, charity, justice, contemplation and action, Christ, and the sacraments. In general, the essays focus on the Summa theologiae, but some range more widely in Aquinas's corpus. For some time, it has above all been the influence of Aristotle on Aquinas's philosophy that has been the centre of attention. Perhaps in reaction to philosophical neo-Thomism, or perhaps because this Aristotelian influence appears no longer necessary to demonstrate, the role of Aristotle in Aquinas's theology presently receives less theological attention than does Aquinas's use of other authorities (whether Scripture or particular Fathers), especially in domains outside of theological ethics. Indeed, in some theological circles the influence of Aristotle upon Aquinas's theology is no longer well understood. Readers will encounter here the great Aristotelian themes, such as act and potency, God as pure act, substance and accidents, power and generation, change and motion, fourfold causality, form and matter, hylomorphic anthropology, the structure of intellection, the relationship between knowledge and will, happiness and friendship, habits and virtues, contemplation and action, politics and justice, the best form of government, and private property and the common good. The ten essays in this book engage Aquinas's reception of Aristotle in his theology from a variety of points of view: historical, philosophical, and constructively theological.

The Theory of Evil in the Metaphysics of Aquinas

The Theory of Evil in the Metaphysics of Aquinas
Author: Mary Edwin DeCoursey
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2021-11-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3868382445

This work is a metaphysical investigation, a study of the nature of evil, the modes in which it finds expression, and its relation to cause, as revealed in the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas. Although the problem of evil is one of the most urgent and vital questions of our time and Thomistic philosophy indicates the most satisfactory answer, the apologetic possibilities of the subject have been subordinated to its metaphysical aspects. The most important is the treatment of goodness, for without the good, no study of evil is possible.

Aquinas on the Divine Ideas as Exemplar Causes

Aquinas on the Divine Ideas as Exemplar Causes
Author: Gregory T. Doolan
Publisher: CUA Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2008
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0813215234

Gregory T. Doolan provides here the first detailed consideration of the divine ideas as causal principles. He examines Thomas Aquinas's philosophical doctrine of the divine ideas and convincingly argues that it is an essential element of his metaphysics

Greek Philosophers as Theologians

Greek Philosophers as Theologians
Author: Adam Drozdek
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317124693

Concepts of God presented by Greek philosophers were significantly different from the image of the divine of popular religion and indicate a fairly sophisticated theological reflection from the very inception of Greek philosophy. This book presents a comprehensive history of theological thought of Greek philosophers from the Presocratics to the early Hellenistic period. Concentrating on views concerning the attributes of God and their impact on eschatological and ethical thought, Drozdek explains that theology was of paramount importance for all Greek philosophers even in the absence of purely theological or religious language.