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)

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 ...

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)

Thomas Aquinas and His Predecessors takes us on a voyage through the history of philosophical thought as present in the works of Thomas Aquinas. It is a synthetic presentation of the works and thought of the great predecessors of Aquinas, as he kne.

Apologetisch overzicht van de wijsgerige en theologisch inzichten van de middeleeuwse filosoof (1224-1274).

In his encyclopedic dictionary, Battista Mondin proposes to explain the meaning of the more important philosophical and theological concepts occurring in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact, his explanations often become short treatises so that the book is almost the equivalent of a summary, in alphabetical order, of the main themes of Aquinas's philosophy and theology. Mondin provides the historical background of the doctrinal content expressed by certain terms. The book has a total of five hundred thirty-eight entries, (...) most of which concern doctrinal terms. Some entries are about important philosophers quoted by Aquinas, for example, Aristotle, Averroes, Avicenna, Avicebron, Boethius, Dionysius, and Maimonides; others are entries such as Aeterni Patris, Augustinianism, analogia fidei, axiology; and modern terms such as contraception, ecology, ecumenism, euthanasia, reincarnation, sport. The texts are written by a specialist who has a very good knowledge of the theological and philosophical works of Aquinas. The wording of the articles is precise, succinct, and clear, and the explanations provided are generally reliable and complete. To those who read Italian, Mondin's book will be a valuable instrument: it will help them to find rapidly the essential points of Aquinas's views on a great number of theological and philosophical subjects. One can only marvel at the degree of completeness attained by the author.--Leo Elders, Kerkrade, Netherlands. (shrink)

In her comprehensive study the author examines the different explanations of the object of metaphysics according to Aristotle, namely metaphysics as the general science of being, as the science of the highest being, the science of the principles, or as an aporetical knowledge. Stevens divides the subject matter into five chapters: the notion of science; the different sciences, in particular that of being; analogy; the senses of being; and the properties of being.

The aim of the translator is to make his readers experience the freshness and novelty of the Greek text which, he believes, was not written for specialists, but for generally educated people... who are willing to think hard. Sachs sets out on a difficult task because the Metaphysics abound in plainly contradictory statements. According to Sachs, the main obstacle to the understanding of the Metaphysics is the fact that it has come to us via the Latin translations and versions influenced (...) by them. For this reason he avoids the use of certain traditional terms such as substance, actuality, sensation, principle, induction, and so forth, replacing them by terms such as thinghood, being-at-work, perception, source, and example. (shrink)

According to Professor Polin, in our era of constitutional crisis a study on the basic concepts of constitutionalism is welcome. By constitutionalism are meant arrangements such as separation of powers, checks and balances, the rule of law, and so forth, by which a country is reasonably governed for the good of the people.