Aquinas was a Catholic priest and disciple of the great scholastic Great Albert. He assisted in the reintroduction of the faristotelian philosophy in European thought and updated the tchristian eology next to fmedieval philosophy, having written about the conflicts between faith and reason existing in the period.
Aquino is the biggerrepresentative gives scholastic, thought developed at a time of expansion and great Catholic domination in Europe. There was, in the thirteenth century, an imminent necessityinformationinnewleadersreligious, which boosted the formation of Christian schools and universities for the formation of new priests for the Middle Ages. The oldest universities in the world date from this time. Aquinas graduated and taught in universities Christians of that period.
His main influences are, on the one hand, Plato and Saint Augustine (which can be considered a Neoplatonic) and, on the other hand, Albertogreat and Aristotle (which represents the dominant Greek philosophical thought during the scholastic).
Read too: The relationship between philosophy and Christianity for Justin the Martyr
Biography
Tommaso Aquinate (in Latin), or simply Thomas Aquinas, was born in the fief of Roccasecca, at Sicilia, in 1225. His initial studies were carried out by Benedictine monks (known for the extreme rigor with which they treat studies and intellectuals), having entered as a seminarian at the OrderFromDominicans, in 1244. Aquinas' life was dedicated to the study and teaching of Philosophy and Theology. The philosopher wrote, in all, more than 60 books.
In 1245, O philosophermovedto Paris, continuing his seminary studies with the celebrated priest and philosopher Alberto Magno. He then spent time in Cologne, Germany, between 1248 and 1252, then returned to Paris, where resumed his academic research, aiming to achieve the title of Doctor of Theology, a feat he achieved in 1259.
In between 1259 and 1274, Aquino taught in several French and Italian monasteries. Concurrent with his teaching activity, developedremarkableresearchphilosophical, which resulted in the writing of many books, between them Precedent Against the Gentiles, The Being and the Essence(a book that explains much of Aristotle's interpretation) and Summa Theology (Perhaps his great work, which has not been completed, but represents a brilliant part of Christian Scholastic Theology). Aquino was also one of those responsible for the reintroduction of Aristotelian philosophy in the European world, which for years was forgotten because of the Catholic ban on the writings of the pagan Greek philosopher.
The Thought of Thomas Aquinas
There was, above all in Paris, a disputefull among thirteenth-century intellectuals: on the one hand, the dialectic (Professors of Philosophy) defended the preponderance of philosophygreekpay for the explanations of the world; on the other, were the theologiansChristians, who sought to explain the world through the sacred scriptures. Aquino was in the middle of thisDispute of Issuesor, as they called it, Quaestio Disputata.
This clash summarizes the philosophical production of the oldest universities in their gestation times. Academics were dedicated to debating the primacy of one field or another. There were those who asserted the primacy of theology over pagan philosophy. Others asserted the primacy of philosophical thought. Aquino was one of those who defended a link between Greek pagan philosophy and Christian theology, seeking elements in Aristotle to establish this connection, forming the “Thomistic thought" it's the "Aristotelian Thomism”.
One of the greatest influences of Aristotle on Thomism is found in distinction in between essence and existence. For Aristotle, there was no formal origin connecting what exists in essence to an object. Aquino creates a connection movement, without losing the philosophical precept, stating that what exists in essence exists in some way, even ontologically.
For Here in the, The identity (fundamental principle of Aristotelian logic) was the fundamental link that, when connecting the existence and essence, showed the divine touch. THE divine perfection he was able to grasp and explain such an obscure and intriguing relationship.
Based on Aristotelian philosophy, Thomas Aquinas developed the Five Ways that Prove God's Existence, a kind of regressioncausal that, in all cases (in the five arguments), God is the beginning. The five ways are arranged like this:
Motor movement first: throughout the universe, there is movement. Aristotle proposes that for movement, there is a mover (engine), which gives propulsion and movement to the moved body. If we were to look for each mover of each movement, without conjecturing the existence of a first engine that was not moved by anyone, we would make a movement ad infinitum and we would not find the first cause. Therefore, it is necessary to think that there is a first cause (immobile engine) who put the first move in everything.
The uncaused cause, or the first efficient cause: starting from the same reflection that was developed in the first way, it is necessary to understand that everything was caused in the world, except for a first cause. this is the cause cousin and she had no previous event. It was a first moment when a first thing happened. That uncaused cause is God.
be necessary and possible beings: you concepts of necessity and possibility are at stake. There are possible beings, which may or may not exist. There are the necessary beings, which, regardless of the contingencies, exist. the beings contingents are generated, there are and are extinct (they cease to exist). They are in continual transformation. Although, there is a being that is. As it is, it always was and always will be. That is the necessary being and He is God.
degrees of perfection: based on Platonic philosophy, Aquino classifies different degrees of perfection existing among beings. There is a kind of hierarchy between the degrees of perfection that can classify beings between goodness and nobility, for example. For Thomas Aquinas, if there is this hierarchy, there must be a standard of excellence that serves for the correction of the most evolved beings. That standard is God.
supreme government: there is an organization of things and material beings. Bodies, even if unconsciously, are oriented towards an end. This ordination is a supreme government, ordained by God.
Also access: The historical conditions for the rise of Philosophy
Constructions
Tomás de Aquino produced a vast written work, totaling more than 60 books. Among the main ones are the Summa Theology and The Being and the Essence.
summatheology: written between 1265 and 1274, the period of maturity of Thomas Aquinas, the work deals with the existence of God, the nature of man and morality. It is in this writing that the Five Ways that Prove God's Existence.
The Being and the Essence: in this work, Aquino solves metaphysical questions based on Aristotelian philosophy. The thinker proposes that there are two distinct logical categories, being and essence. While the essence proposes to name things, pointing out “what is” each being, the being is the being itself.
Influences
Augustine and Plato: Thomas Aquinas was heavily influenced by the patristic Augustine of Hippo. Nevertheless, it takes elements of Greek philosophy into Christian theology that, for Augustine, were summarily taken from Platonic philosophy (hence the name neoplatonist given to Augustine). However, Thomas Aquinas goes further and gives Scholastica a more Aristotelian tone.
Aristotle: after long period prohibited by Index Librorum Prohibitorum, Aristotle began to be revisited by the scholastics, mainly influenced by Thomas Aquinas. The Aristotelian influence on the Thomist work begins with the teachings of Alberto Magno and goes back to the entire production of Aquinas.
Sentences
"No one tends to a certain thing by desire and study, if such thing is not previously known to him."
"For their sin, heretics deserve not only to be separated from the Church, by excommunication, but also from the world, by death."
"Humility is the first step to wisdom."
"God is one, simple, perfect, infinite, endowed with intelligence and will."
*Image credit: Lefteris Papaulakis | Shutterstock
by Francisco Porfirio
Philosophy teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/filosofia/tomas-aquino.htm
