Abstract

The first three essays consider Thomas's philosophy in relation to its historical setting. The opening essay, by Jan Aertsen, provides a clear and concise statement of matters pertaining to Thomas's career in the medieval university, such as the purpose and structure of a scholastic disputation and the Averroist controversy. The second essay is authored by Joseph Owens and deals with the relationship between Aristotle's thought and Thomas's. The emphasis is on the differences in the metaphysics of Aristotle, the pagan Greek, and Thomas, the medieval Christian. Not surprisingly, the real distinction and the metaphysics of creation are dominant topics. In early sections of the essay the author seems to give away much more to historicism than would make most Thomists comfortable, but this is qualified considerably at the end. David Burrell considers Thomas's thought in relation to Islamic and Jewish predecessors. More specifically, he outlines how Thomas received the impetus for his metaphysical distinction between existing and essence from Avicenna and then compares Thomas's teaching on creation, the divine names, and particular providence with that of Maimonides.