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197-582: Although unfinished , it is "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature". It remains Aquinas's "most perfect work, the fruit of his mature years, in which the thought of his whole life is condensed". Throughout the Summa , Aquinas cites Christian , Muslim , Hebrew , and Pagan sources, including, but not limited to: Christian Sacred Scripture , Aristotle , Augustine of Hippo , Avicenna , Averroes , Al-Ghazali , Boethius , John of Damascus , Paul

394-412: A Lesser Festival on 28 January. The Catholic Church honours Thomas Aquinas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of

591-445: A Maliki judge, the book also discusses the opinion of other schools, including liberal and conservative ones. Other than this surviving text, bibliographical information shows he wrote a summary of Al-Ghazali's On Legal Theory of Muslim Jurisprudence ( Al-Mustasfa ) and tracts on sacrifices and land tax. In his philosophical writings, Averroes attempted to return to Aristotelianism , which according to him had been distorted by

788-680: A saint . A monastery at Naples, Italy, near Naples Cathedral , shows a cell in which he supposedly lived. His remains were translated from Fossanova to the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse , France, on 28 January 1369. Between 1789 and 1974, they were held in the Basilica of Saint-Sernin . In 1974, they were returned to the Church of the Jacobins, where they have remained ever since. When he

985-407: A "written law". In this sense, as sacramental grace, the new law justifies. It contains an ordering of external and internal conduct and so regarded is, as a matter of course, identical with both the old law and the law of nature. The consilia show how one may attain the end "better and more expediently" by full renunciation of worldly goods. Since man is sinner and creature, he needs grace to reach

1182-554: A bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world". Thomas taught in Cologne as an apprentice professor ( baccalaureus biblicus ), instructing students on the books of the Old Testament and writing Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram ( Literal Commentary on Isaiah ), Postilla super Ieremiam ( Commentary on Jeremiah ), and Postilla super Threnos ( Commentary on Lamentations ). In 1252, he returned to Paris to study for

1379-499: A careful reading of the Quran implied only the "form" of the universe was created in time but that its existence has been eternal. Averroes further criticized the mutakallimin for using their interpretations of scripture to answer questions that should have been left to philosophers. Averroes states his political philosophy in his commentary of Plato's Republic . He combines his ideas with Plato's and with Islamic tradition; he considers

1576-401: A collection of his responses to questions de quodlibet posed to him by the academic audience; and both Expositio super librum Boethii De trinitate ( Commentary on Boethius's De trinitate ) and Expositio super librum Boethii De hebdomadibus ( Commentary on Boethius's De hebdomadibus ), commentaries on the works of 6th-century Roman philosopher Boethius . By the end of his regency, Thomas

1773-422: A conclusion given in advance is not philosophy, but special pleading . I cannot, therefore, feel that he deserves to be put on a level with the best philosophers either of Greece or of modern times. This criticism is illustrated with the following example: according to Russell, Thomas advocates the indissolubility of marriage "on the ground that the father is useful in the education of the children, (a) because he

1970-417: A condemnation against 15 doctrines—many of which were Aristotelian or Averroist—that he said were in conflict with the doctrines of the church. In 1277, at the request of Pope John XXI , Tempier issued another condemnation, this time targeting 219 theses drawn from many sources, mainly the teachings of Aristotle and Averroes. Averroes received a mixed reception from other Catholic thinkers; Thomas Aquinas ,

2167-403: A cross onto the wall—and fell into a mystical ecstasy; two angels appeared to him as he slept and said, "Behold, we gird thee by the command of God with the girdle of chastity, which henceforth will never be imperilled. What human strength can not obtain, is now bestowed upon thee as a celestial gift." From then onwards, Thomas was given the grace of perfect chastity by Christ, a girdle he wore till

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2364-890: A culminating chapter on Thomas, in which Adams calls Thomas an "artist" and constructs an extensive analogy between the design of Thomas's "Church Intellectual" and that of the gothic cathedrals of that period. Erwin Panofsky later would echo these views in Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism (1951). Thomas's aesthetic theories, especially the concept of claritas , deeply influenced the literary practice of modernist writer James Joyce , who used to extol Thomas as being second only to Aristotle among Western philosophers. Joyce refers to Thomas's doctrines in Elementa philosophiae ad mentem D. Thomae Aquinatis doctoris angelici (1898) of Girolamo Maria Mancini, professor of theology at

2561-645: A cultural decline that resulted in the loss of nearly all of the intellectual legacy of the Classical Greek scholars, including Aristotle. Averroes's commentaries, which were translated into Latin and entered western Europe in the thirteenth century, provided an expert account of Aristotle's legacy and made them available again. The influence of his commentaries led to Averroes being referred to simply as "The Commentator" rather than by name in Latin Christian writings. He has been sometimes described as

2758-418: A designer was behind the creation and that is God. Averroes's two arguments are teleological in nature and not cosmological like the arguments of Aristotle and most contemporaneous Muslim kalam theologians. Averroes upholds the doctrine of divine unity ( tawhid ) and argues that God has seven divine attributes : knowledge, life, power, will, hearing, vision and speech. He devotes the most attention to

2955-469: A distinction between "demonstrations" of sacred doctrines and the "persuasiveness" of those doctrines. The former is akin to something like "certainty", whereas the latter is more probabilistic in nature. In other words, Thomas thought Christian doctrines were "fitting" to reason (i.e. reasonable), even though they cannot be demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt. In fact, the Summa Theologica

3152-572: A doctor of catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but to him pertains also to instruct beginners. As the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 3: 1–2, as to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat, our proposed intention in this work is to convey those things that pertain to the Christian religion, in a way that is fitting to the instruction of beginners. It was while teaching at

3349-448: A fatwa that philosophy is allowed for Muslims and is probably an obligation, at least among those who have the talent for it. Averroes also distinguishes between three modes of discourse: the rhetorical (based on persuasion) accessible to the common masses; the dialectical (based on debate) and often employed by theologians and the ulama (religious scholars); and the demonstrative (based on logical deduction). According to Averroes,

3546-487: A few other major subdivisions. The method of exposition undertaken in the articles of the Summa is derived from Averroes , to whom Aquinas refers respectfully as "the Commentator". The standard format for articles of the Summa is as follows: Consider the example of Part III, Question 40 ("Of Christ's Manner of Life"), Article 3 ("Whether Christ should have led a life of poverty in this world?"): Part II of

3743-469: A good action, man acquires a moral habit or a quality that enables him to do the good gladly and easily. This is true only of the intellectual and moral virtues (which St. Thomas treats after the manner of Aristotle ); the theological virtues are imparted by God to man as a "disposition", from which the acts here proceed; while they strengthen, they do not form it. The "disposition" of evil is the opposite alternative. An act becomes evil through deviation from

3940-1015: A greater variety of subjects" than those of any of his predecessors in the East, including philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence or legal theory, and linguistics. Most of his writings were commentaries on or paraphrasings of the works of Aristotle that—especially the long ones—often contain his original thoughts. According to French author Ernest Renan , Averroes wrote at least 67 original works, including 28 works on philosophy, 20 on medicine, 8 on law, 5 on theology, and 4 on grammar, in addition to his commentaries on most of Aristotle's works and his commentary on Plato 's The Republic . Many of Averroes's works in Arabic did not survive, but their translations into Hebrew or Latin did. For example, of his long commentaries on Aristotle, only "a tiny handful of Arabic manuscript remains". Averroes wrote commentaries on nearly all of Aristotle's surviving works. The only exception

4137-531: A knight in the service of Emperor Frederick II , Landulf of Aquino held the title miles . Thomas's mother, Theodora, belonged to the Rossi branch of the Neapolitan Caracciolo family. Landulf's brother Sinibald was abbot of Monte Cassino , the oldest Benedictine monastery . While the rest of the family's sons pursued military careers, the family intended for Thomas to follow his uncle into

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4334-402: A leading Catholic thinker of the thirteenth century, relied extensively on Averroes's interpretation of Aristotle but disagreed with him on many points. For example, he wrote a detailed attack on Averroes's theory that all humans share the same intellect. He also opposed Averroes on the eternity of the universe and divine providence . The Catholic Church's condemnations of 1270 and 1277, and

4531-530: A master's degree in theology. He lectured on the Bible as an apprentice professor, and upon becoming a baccalaureus Sententiarum (bachelor of the Sentences ) he devoted his final three years of study to commenting on Peter Lombard 's Sentences . In the first of his four theological syntheses, Thomas composed a massive commentary on the Sentences entitled, Scriptum super libros Sententiarium ( Commentary on

4728-463: A new title to these traditional ones: Doctor Humanitatis ("Doctor of Humanity/Humaneness"). Thomas Aquinas was most likely born in the family castle of Roccasecca , near Aquino , controlled at that time by the Kingdom of Sicily (in present-day Lazio , Italy), c.  1225 . He was born to the most powerful branch of the family, and his father, Landulf of Aquino, was a man of means. As

4925-470: A possible insult to the caliph in his writings but modern scholars attribute it to political reasons. The Encyclopaedia of Islam said the caliph distanced himself from Averroes to gain support from more orthodox ulema , who opposed Averroes and whose support al-Mansur needed for his war against Christian kingdoms. Historian of Islamic philosophy Majid Fakhry also wrote that public pressure from traditional Maliki jurists who were opposed to Averroes played

5122-519: A prestigious office that his grandfather had once held. In 1184 Caliph Abu Yaqub died and was succeeded by Abu Yusuf Yaqub. Initially, Averroes remained in royal favour, but in 1195, his fortune reversed. Various charges were made against him, and a tribunal in Córdoba tried him. The tribunal condemned his teachings, ordered the burning of his works and banished Averroes to nearby Lucena . Early biographers' reasons for this fall from grace include

5319-627: A role. After a few years, Averroes returned to court in Marrakesh and was again in the caliph's favor. He died shortly afterwards, on 11 December 1198 (9 Safar 595 in the Islamic calendar). He was initially buried in North Africa . His body was later moved to Córdoba for another funeral, at which future Sufi mystic and philosopher ibn Arabi (1165–1240) was present. Averroes was a prolific writer and his works, according to Fakhry, "covered

5516-458: A royal physician, but his qualification and education was mostly theoretical. For the most part, Averroes's medical work Al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb follows the medical doctrine of Galen, an influential Greek physician and author from the second century, which was based on the four humors —blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm, whose balance is necessary for the health of the human body. Averroes's original contributions include his observations on

5713-551: A science, by which he meant a field of study in which humanity could learn more by its own efforts (as opposed to being totally dependent on having divine revelation planted into our minds). For Thomas, the raw material data of this field consists of written scripture and the tradition of the Catholic Church. These sources of data were produced by the self-revelation of God to individuals and groups of people throughout history. Faith and reason, being distinct but related, are

5910-548: A series of important disputations on the power of God, which he compiled into his De potentia . Nicholas Brunacci [1240–1322] was among Thomas's students at the Santa Sabina studium provinciale and later at the Paris studium generale . In November 1268, he was with Thomas and his associate and secretary Reginald of Piperno as they left Viterbo on their way to Paris to begin the academic year. Another student of Thomas's at

6107-467: A way that is fitting to the instruction of beginners." While there he also wrote a variety of other works like his unfinished Compendium Theologiae and Responsio ad fr. Ioannem Vercellensem de articulis 108 sumptis ex opere Petri de Tarentasia ( Reply to Brother John of Vercelli Regarding 108 Articles Drawn from the Work of Peter of Tarentaise ). In his position as head of the studium , Thomas conducted

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6304-591: Is lex humana (' human law '). In addition to the human law, dictated by reason, man also has the divine law, which, according to Question 91, is dictated through revelation, that man may be "directed how to perform his proper acts in view of his last end", "that man may know without any doubt what he ought to do and what he ought to avoid", because "human law could not sufficiently curb and direct interior acts", and since "human law cannot punish or forbid all evil deeds: since while aiming at doing away with all evils, it would do away with many good things, and would hinder

6501-500: Is Aeterni Patris , the 1879 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII stating that Thomas's theology was a definitive exposition of Catholic doctrine. Leo XIII directed the clergy to take the teachings of Thomas as the basis of their theological positions. Leo also decreed that all Catholic seminaries and universities must teach Thomas's doctrines, and where Thomas did not speak on a topic, the teachers were "urged to teach conclusions that were reconcilable with his thinking." In 1880, Thomas Aquinas

6698-575: Is Politics , which he did not have access to, so he wrote commentaries on Plato's Republic . He classified his commentaries into three categories that modern scholars have named short , middle and long commentaries. Most of the short commentaries ( jami ) were written early in his career and contain summaries of Aristotlean doctrines. The middle commentaries ( talkhis ) contain paraphrases that clarify and simplify Aristotle's original text. The middle commentaries were probably written in response to his patron caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf's complaints about

6895-517: Is Christ , the theme of Part III. It can be asserted that the incarnation was absolutely necessary. The Unio between the Logos and the human nature is a "relation" between the divine and the human nature, which comes about by both natures being brought together in the one person of the Logos. An incarnation can be spoken of only in the sense that the human nature began to be in the eternal hypostasis of

7092-458: Is a supernatural ethical character created in man by God, which comprises in itself all good, both faith and love. Justification by grace comprises four elements: Grace is a "transmutation of the human soul" that takes place "instantaneously". A creative act of God enters, which executes itself as a spiritual motive in a psychological form corresponding to the nature of man. Semi-pelagian tendencies are far removed from St. Thomas. In that man

7289-606: Is also notable for his Eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church's liturgy. As a Doctor of the Church , Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church's greatest theologians and philosophers. He is known in Catholic theology as the Doctor Angelicus ("Angelic Doctor", with the title "doctor" meaning "teacher"), and the Doctor Communis ("Universal Doctor"). In 1999, John Paul II added

7486-740: Is believed by some to have been some kind of supernatural experience of God. After taking to his bed, however, he did recover some strength. In 1274, Pope Gregory X summoned Thomas to attend the Second Council of Lyon . The council was to open 1 May 1274, and it was Gregory's attempt to try to heal the Great Schism of 1054, which had divided the Catholic Church in the West from the Eastern Orthodox Church . At

7683-520: Is created anew, he believes and loves, and now, sin is forgiven. Then begins good conduct; grace is the "beginning of meritorious works". Aquinas conceives of merit in the Augustinian sense: God gives the reward for that toward which he himself gives the power. Man can never of himself deserve the prima gratis , nor meritum de congruo (by natural ability; cf. R. Seeberg, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte , ii. 105–106, Leipsic, 1898). After thus stating

7880-696: Is filled with examples of Thomas arguing that we would expect certain Christian doctrines to be true, even though these expectations are not demonstrative (i.e. 'fitting' or reasonable). For example, Thomas argues that we would expect God to become incarnate, and we would expect a resurrected Christ to not stay on Earth. Averroes Ibn Rushd ( Arabic : ابن رشد ; full name in Arabic : أبو الوليد محمد بن أحمد بن رشد , romanized :  Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd ; 14 April 1126 – 11 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( English: / ə ˈ v ɛr oʊ iː z / ),

8077-468: Is grace. Since God is the first cause of everything, he is the cause of even the free acts of men through predestination. Determinism is deeply grounded in the system of St. Thomas; things (with their source of becoming in God) are ordered from eternity as means for the realization of his end in himself. On moral grounds, St. Thomas advocates freedom energetically; but, with his premises, he can have in mind only

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8274-409: Is more rational than the mother, (b) because, being stronger, he is better able to inflict physical punishment." Even though modern approaches to education do not support these views, "No follower of Saint Thomas would, on that account, cease to believe in lifelong monogamy, because the real grounds of belief are not those which are alleged". Thomas Aquinas viewed theology, "the sacred doctrine ", as

8471-519: Is necessary for those not amenable to persuasion, e.g. enemies of the state. Therefore, he justifies war as a last resort, which he also supports using Quranic arguments. Consequently, he argues that a ruler should have both wisdom and courage, which are needed for governance and defense of the state. Like Plato, Averroes calls for women to share with men in the administration of the state, including participating as soldiers, philosophers and rulers. He regrets that contemporaneous Muslim societies limited

8668-513: Is need of a "divine law"; and since the law applies to many complicated relations, the practicae dispositiones of the human law must be laid down. The divine law consists of an old and a new. Insofar as the old divine law contains the moral law of nature, it is universally valid; what there is in it beyond this is only valid for the Jews. The new law is "primarily grace itself" and so a "law given within"; "a gift superadded to nature by grace", but not

8865-465: Is no accident but all is substance, it follows that "the relation really existing in God is the same as the essence according to the thing". From another side, the relations as real must be really distinguished one from another. Therefore, three persons are to be affirmed in God. Man stands opposite to God; he consists of soul and body. The "intellectual soul" consists of intellect and will . Furthermore,

9062-404: Is the "loss of original righteousness". The consequence of this loss is the disorder and maiming of man's nature, which shows itself in "ignorance; malice, moral weakness, and especially in concupiscentia, which is the material principle of original sin." The course of thought here is as follows: when the first man transgressed the order of his nature appointed by nature and grace, he (and with him

9259-413: Is the act of faith accomplished and formed"). Law is nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated. All law comes from the eternal law of Divine Reason that governs the universe, which is understood and participated in by rational beings (such as men and angels ) as the natural law . The natural law, when codified and promulgated,

9456-501: Is the head of the human race and "by virtue of procreation human nature is transmitted and along with nature its infection." The powers of generation are, therefore, designated especially as "infected". The thought is involved here by the fact that St. Thomas, like other scholastics, believed in creationism ; he therefore taught that souls are created by God. Two things, according to St. Thomas, constituted man's righteousness in paradise: Both are lost through original sin, which, in form,

9653-508: Is to study God. The ultimate goals of theology, in Thomas's mind, are to use reason to grasp the truth about God and to experience salvation through that truth. The central thought is " gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit " (' grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it'). Thomas believed that truth is known through reason, rationality ( natural revelation ) and faith ( supernatural revelation ). Supernatural revelation has its origin in

9850-474: Is very common for the Summa Theologiae to be a major reference for those seeking ordination to the diaconate or priesthood , or for professed male or female religious life, or for laypersons studying philosophy and theology at the collegiate level. The Summa is structured into: Questions are specific topics of discussion, whereas their corresponding Articles are further-specified facets of

10047-651: The Colliget , became a textbook in Europe for centuries. His legacy in the Islamic world was modest for geographical and intellectual reasons. In the West, Averroes was known for his extensive commentaries on Aristotle, many of which were translated into Latin and Hebrew. The translations of his work reawakened western European interest in Aristotle and Greek thinkers, an area of study that had been widely abandoned after

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10244-551: The Muwatta , which Averroes went on to memorize. He studied medicine under Abu Jafar Jarim al-Tajail, who probably taught him philosophy too. He also knew the works of the philosopher Ibn Bajjah (also known as Avempace), and might have known him personally or been tutored by him. He joined a regular meeting of philosophers, physicians and poets in Seville which was attended by philosophers Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Zuhr as well as

10441-487: The Summa Theologiae , which he conceived specifically suited to beginner students: "Because a doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but to him pertains also to instruct beginners. As the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 3:1–2, as to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat , our proposed intention in this work is to convey those things that pertain to the Christian religion in

10638-520: The Areopagitic ideas of the graduated effects of created things play their part in St. Thomas's thought. Part I treats of God, who is the " first cause , himself uncaused" ( primum movens immobile ) and as such existent only in act ( actu )—i.e. pure actuality without potentiality, and therefore without corporeality. His essence is actus purus et perfectus . This follows from the fivefold proof for

10835-492: The Bidāyat al-Mujtahid on the differences between Islamic schools of law and the principles that caused their differences. In medicine, he proposed a new theory of stroke , described the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease for the first time, and might have been the first to identify the retina as the part of the eye responsible for sensing light. His medical book Al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb , translated into Latin and known as

11032-529: The Book of Healing by Ibn Sina , and Rebuttal of Ibn Sina's Classification of Existing Entities . Scholarly sources, including Fakhry and the Encyclopaedia of Islam , have named three works Averroes's critical writings in this area. Fasl al-Maqal ("The Decisive Treatise") is an 1178 treatise that argues for the compatibility of Islam and philosophy. Al-Kashf 'an Manahij al-Adillah ("Exposition of

11229-562: The Cistercian Fossanova Abbey after again falling ill. The monks nursed him for several days, and as he received his last rites he prayed: "I have written and taught much about this very holy Body, and about the other sacraments in the faith of Christ, and about the Holy Roman Church, to whose correction I expose and submit everything I have written." He died on 7 March 1274 while giving commentary on

11426-719: The Collegium Divi Thomae de Urbe . For example, Mancini's Elementa is referred to in Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man . The influence of Thomas's aesthetics also can be found in the works of the Italian semiotician Umberto Eco , who wrote an essay on aesthetic ideas in Thomas (published in 1956 and republished in 1988 in a revised edition). Twentieth-century philosopher Bertrand Russell criticized Thomas's philosophy, stating that: He does not, like

11623-522: The Colliget became a medical textbook in Europe for centuries. His other surviving titles include On Treacle , The Differences in Temperament , and Medicinal Herbs . He also wrote summaries of the works of Greek physician Galen (died c. 210) and a commentary on Avicenna 's Urjuzah fi al-Tibb ("Poem on Medicine"). Averroes served multiple tenures as judge and produced multiple works in

11820-536: The Complutenses and others. During the 19th century, a movement that came to be known as neo-scholasticism revived Catholic scholarly interest in scholasticism generally and Thomas in particular, as well as the work of the Thomists of second scholasticism. The systematic work of Thomas was valued in part as a foundation for arguing against early modern philosophers and "modernist" theologians. A good example

12017-734: The Hanbali school and the Ashʾarites. In particular, the Ashʾari scholar al-Ghazali (1058–1111) wrote The Incoherence of the Philosophers , a scathing and influential critique of the Neoplatonic philosophical tradition in the Islamic world and against the works of Avicenna in particular. Among others, Al-Ghazali charged philosophers with non-belief in Islam and sought to disprove the teaching of

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12214-472: The Neoplatonist tendencies of Muslim philosophers such as Al-Farabi and Avicenna . He rejected al-Farabi's attempt to merge the ideas of Plato and Aristotle, pointing out the differences between the two, such as Aristotle's rejection of Plato's theory of ideas . He also criticized Al-Farabi's works on logic for misinterpreting its Aristotelian source. He wrote an extensive critique of Avicenna, who

12411-739: The Santa Sabina studium provinciale —the forerunner of the Santa Maria sopra Minerva studium generale and College of Saint Thomas, which in the 20th century would become the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum —that Aquinas began to compose the Summa . He completed the Prima Pars ('first part') in its entirety and circulated it in Italy before departing to take up his second regency as professor at

12608-474: The Song of Songs . In 1277, Étienne Tempier , the same bishop of Paris who had issued the condemnation of 1270, issued another more extensive condemnation. One aim of this condemnation was to clarify that God's absolute power transcended any principles of logic that Aristotle or Averroes might place on it. More specifically, it contained a list of 219 propositions, including twenty Thomistic propositions, that

12805-649: The Summa is divided into two parts ( Prima Secundae and Secunda Secundae , cited respectively as "1a2æ" and "2a2æ"). The first part comprises 114 questions, while the second part comprises 189. The two parts of the second part are usually presented as containing several "treatises". The contents are as follows: The Summa makes many references to certain thinkers held in great respect in Aquinas's time. The arguments from authority, or sed contra arguments, are almost entirely based on citations from these authors. Some were called by special names: St. Thomas's greatest work

13002-474: The Summa , therefore, deals with the life of Christ. In order to follow the way prescribed by this perfect man, in order to live with God's grace (which is necessary for man's salvation), the Sacraments have been provided; the final part of the Summa considers the Sacraments. The first part of the Summa is summed up in the premise that God governs the world as the "universal first cause ". God sways

13199-571: The Trinity , Aquinas starts from the Augustinian system. Since God has only the functions of thinking and willing, only two processiones can be asserted from the Father; but these establish definite relations of the persons of the Trinity, one to another. The relations must be conceived as real and not as merely ideal; for, as with creatures relations arise through certain accidents, since in God there

13396-588: The University of Paris (1269–1272). Not only has the Summa Theologiae been one of the main intellectual inspirations for Thomistic philosophy , but it also had such a great influence on Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy , that Dante's epic poem has been called "the Summa in verse". Even today, both in Western and Eastern Catholic Churches, and the mainline Protestant denominations ( Anglicanism , Lutheranism , Methodism , and Reformed Christianity ), it

13593-753: The fall of the Western Roman Empire . His thoughts generated controversies in Latin Christendom and triggered a philosophical movement called Averroism based on his writings. His unity of the intellect thesis, proposing that all humans share the same intellect, became one of the best-known and most controversial Averroist doctrines in the West. His works were condemned by the Catholic Church in 1270 and 1277. Although weakened by condemnations and sustained critique from Thomas Aquinas , Latin Averroism continued to attract followers up to

13790-466: The mendicant orders , which had come under attack by William of Saint-Amour . During his tenure from 1256 to 1259, Thomas wrote numerous works, including: Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate ( Disputed Questions on Truth ), a collection of twenty-nine disputed questions on aspects of faith and the human condition prepared for the public university debates he presided over during Lent and Advent ; Quaestiones quodlibetales ( Quodlibetal Questions ),

13987-618: The moral limits of government authority . He has been described as "the most influential thinker of the medieval period " and "the greatest of the medieval philosopher -theologians". Thomas's best-known works are the unfinished Summa Theologica , or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274), the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259) and the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265). His commentaries on Christian Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. He

14184-600: The scholastic tradition. His writing attracted a strong circle of followers known as the Latin Averroists . Paris and Padua were major centers of Latin Averroism, and its prominent thirteenth-century leaders included Siger of Brabant and Boethius of Dacia . Authorities of the Roman Catholic Church reacted against the spread of Averroism. In 1270, the Bishop of Paris Étienne Tempier issued

14381-472: The spherical Earth . Averroes was aware that Arabic and Andalusian astronomers of his time focused on "mathematical" astronomy, which enabled accurate predictions through calculations but did not provide a detailed physical explanation of how the universe worked. According to him, "the astronomy of our time offers no truth, but only agrees with the calculations and not with what exists." He attempted to reform astronomy to be reconciled with physics, especially

14578-431: The "consensus of the people of Medina " argument that is one of the traditional Maliki position. In Bidāyat al-Mujtahid , one of his major contributions to the field of Islamic law, he not only describes the differences between various school of Islamic laws but also tries to theoretically explain the reasons for the difference and why they are inevitable. Even though all the schools of Islamic law are ultimately rooted in

14775-765: The "father of free thought and unbelief" and "father of rationalism". Michael Scot (1175 – c. 1232) was the first Latin translator of Averroes who translated the long commentaries of Physics , Metaphysics , On the Soul and On the Heavens , as well as multiple middle and short commentaries, starting in 1217 in Paris and Toledo . Following this, European authors such as Hermannus Alemannus , William de Luna and Armengaud of Montpellier translated Averroes's other works, sometimes with help from Jewish authors. Soon after, Averroes's works propagated among Christian scholars in

14972-572: The 13th and 14th centuries. The Summa was translated into: Greek (apparently by Maximus Planudes around 1327) and Armenian ; many European languages ; and Chinese . The structure of the Summa Theologiae is meant to reflect the cyclic nature of the cosmos, in the sense of the emission and return of the Many from and to the One in Platonism , cast in terms of Christian theology: The procession of

15169-549: The 20th century, as seen in the praise offered by Pope John Paul II in the 1998 encyclical Fides et ratio , and similarly in Pope Benedict XV 's 1921 encyclical Fausto Appetente Die. Some modern ethicists within the Catholic Church (notably Alasdair MacIntyre ) and outside it (notably Philippa Foot ) have recently commented on the possible use of Thomas's virtue ethics as a way of avoiding utilitarianism or Kantian "sense of duty" (called deontology ). Through

15366-578: The Almohad empire. He also took the opportunity from his travels to conduct astronomical research. Many of his works produced between 1169 and 1179 were dated in Seville rather than Córdoba. In 1179 he was again appointed qadi in Seville. In 1182, he succeeded his friend Ibn Tufayl as court physician. Later the same year, he was appointed chief qadi of Córdoba , then controlled by the Taifa of Seville ,

15563-618: The Almoravid and the Almohad empires started as ideal, shariah-based states but then deteriorated into timocracy , oligarchy , democracy and tyranny . In his tenure as judge and jurist, Averroes for the most part ruled and gave fatwas according to the Maliki school of Islamic law which was dominant in Al-Andalus and the western Islamic world during his time. However, he frequently acted as "his own man", including sometimes rejecting

15760-608: The Almoravids were replaced by the Almohads in 1146. According to his traditional biographers, Averroes's education was "excellent", beginning with studies in hadith (traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad ), fiqh ( jurisprudence ), medicine and theology. He learned Maliki jurisprudence under al-Hafiz Abu Muhammad ibn Rizq and hadith with Ibn Bashkuwal, a student of his grandfather. His father also taught him about jurisprudence, including on Imam Malik 's magnum opus

15957-417: The Apostle , Pseudo-Dionysius , Maimonides , Anselm of Canterbury , Plato , Cicero , and John Scotus Eriugena . The Summa is a more-structured and expanded version of Aquinas's earlier Summa contra Gentiles , though the two were written for different purposes. The Summa Theologiae intended to explain the Christian faith to beginning theology students, whereas the Summa contra Gentiles , to explain

16154-682: The Averroists ) in which he reprimands Averroism as incompatible with Christian doctrine. During his second regency, he finished the second part of the Summa and wrote De virtutibus and De aeternitate mundi, contra murmurantes ( On the Eternity of the World, against Grumblers ), the latter of which dealt with controversial Averroist and Aristotelian beginninglessness of the world. Disputes with some important Franciscans conspired to make his second regency much more difficult and troubled than

16351-720: The Christian faith and defend it in hostile situations, with arguments adapted to the intended circumstances of its use, each article refuting a certain belief or a specific heresy . Aquinas conceived the Summa specifically as a work suited to beginning students: Quia Catholicae veritatis doctor non solum provectos debet instruere, sed ad eum pertinet etiam incipientes erudire, secundum illud apostoli I ad Corinth. III, tanquam parvulis in Christo, lac vobis potum dedi, non escam; propositum nostrae intentionis in hoc opere est, ea quae ad Christianam religionem pertinent, eo modo tradere, secundum quod congruit ad eruditionem incipientium Because

16548-549: The Dominican Order. Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a prostitute to seduce him, presumably because sexual temptation might dissuade him from a life of celibacy. According to the official records for his canonization, Thomas drove her away wielding a burning log—with which he inscribed

16745-815: The Methods of Proof"), written in 1179, criticizes the theologies of the Ash'arites , and lays out Averroes's argument for proving the existence of God, as well as his thoughts on God's attributes and actions. The 1180 Tahafut at-Tahafut ("Incoherence of the Incoherence") is a rebuttal of al-Ghazali 's (d. 1111) landmark criticism of philosophy The Incoherence of the Philosophers . It combines ideas in his commentaries and stand-alone works and uses them to respond to al-Ghazali. The work also criticizes Avicenna and his neoplatonist tendencies , sometimes agreeing with al-Ghazali's critique against him. Averroes, who served as

16942-632: The Moon are caused by variations in its thickness; the thicker parts receive more light from the Sun—and therefore emit more light—than the thinner parts. This explanation was used up to the seventeenth century by the European Scholastics to account for Galileo 's observations of spots on the Moon's surface, until the Scholastics such as Antoine Goudin in 1668 conceded that the observation

17139-526: The Moon, the Sun and the planets. He argued that those objects move uniformly in a strictly circular motion around the Earth, following Aristotelian principles. He postulates that there are three type of planetary motions; those that can be seen with the naked eye, those that requires instruments to observe and those that can only be known by philosophical reasoning. Averroes argues that the occasional opaque colors of

17336-501: The Neoplatonists of unbelief ( kufr ). Averroes responded to Al-Ghazali in his Incoherence of the Incoherence . He argued first that the differences between the two positions were not vast enough to warrant the charge of unbelief. He also said the pre-eternity doctrine did not necessarily contradict the Quran and cited verses that mention pre-existing "throne" and "water" in passages related to creation. Averroes argued that

17533-468: The Order at the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva began in 1255 as a community for women converts but grew rapidly in size and importance after being given over to the Dominicans friars in 1275. In 1288, the theology component of the provincial curriculum for the education of the friars was relocated from the Santa Sabina studium provinciale to the studium conventuale at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which

17730-443: The Philosophers , Judah ben Solomon ha-Kohen in his Search for Wisdom and Shem-Tov ibn Falaquera , relied heavily on Averroes's texts. In 1232, Joseph Ibn Kaspi translated Averroes's commentaries on Aristotle's Organon ; this was the first Jewish translation of a complete work. In 1260 Moses ibn Tibbon published the translation of almost all of Averroes's commentaries and some of his medical works. Jewish Averroism peaked in

17927-505: The Platonic Socrates, set out to follow wherever the argument may lead. He is not engaged in an inquiry, the result of which it is impossible to know in advance. Before he begins to philosophize, he already knows the truth; it is declared in the Catholic faith. If he can find apparently rational arguments for some parts of the faith, so much the better; if he cannot, he need only fall back on revelation. The finding of arguments for

18124-417: The Quran and hadith, there are "causes that necessitate differences" ( al-asbab al-lati awjabat al-ikhtilaf ). They include differences in interpreting scripture in a general or specific sense, in interpreting scriptural commands as obligatory or merely recommended, or prohibitions as discouragement or total prohibition, as well as ambiguities in the meaning of words or expressions. Averroes also writes that

18321-402: The Quran uses the rhetorical method of inviting people to the truth, which allows it to reach the common masses with its persuasiveness, whereas philosophy uses the demonstrative methods that were only available to the learned but provided the best possible understanding and knowledge. Averroes also tries to deflect Al-Ghazali's criticisms of philosophy by saying that many of them apply only to

18518-509: The Quran; the arguments from "providence" and "from invention". The providence argument considers that the world and the universe seem finely tuned to support human life . Averroes cited the sun, the moon, the rivers, the seas and the location of humans on the earth. According to him, this suggests a creator who created them for the welfare of mankind. The argument from invention contends that worldly entities such as animals and plants appear to have been invented. Therefore, Averroes argues that

18715-399: The Santa Sabina studium provinciale was Blessed Tommasello da Perugia. Thomas remained at the studium at Santa Sabina from 1265 until he was called back to Paris in 1268 for a second teaching regency. With his departure for Paris in 1268 and the passage of time, the pedagogical activities of the studium provinciale at Santa Sabina were divided between two campuses. A new convent of

18912-511: The Sentences ). Aside from his master's writings, he wrote De ente et essentia ( On Being and Essence ) for his fellow Dominicans in Paris. In the spring of 1256, Thomas was appointed regent master in theology at Paris and one of his first works upon assuming this office was Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem ( Against Those Who Assail the Worship of God and Religion ), defending

19109-787: The Soul , On the Heavens , and Posterior Analytics . Averroes also wrote stand-alone philosophical treatises, including On the Intellect , On the Syllogism , On Conjunction with the Active Intellect , On Time , On the Heavenly Sphere and On the Motion of the Sphere . He also wrote several polemics : Essay on al-Farabi 's Approach to Logic, as Compared to that of Aristotle , Metaphysical Questions Dealt with in

19306-515: The University of Paris for a second time, a position he held until the spring of 1272. Part of the reason for this sudden reassignment appears to have arisen from the rise of " Averroism " or "radical Aristotelianism " in the universities. In response to these perceived errors, Thomas wrote two works, one of them being De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas ( On the Unity of Intellect, against

19503-454: The University of Paris when the Dominicans from his home province called upon him to establish a studium generale wherever he liked and staff it as he pleased. He chose to establish the institution in Naples and moved there to take his post as regent master. He took his time at Naples to work on the third part of the Summa while giving lectures on various religious topics. He also preached to

19700-536: The abbacy; this would have been a normal career path for a younger son of Southern Italian nobility. At the age of five Thomas began his early education at Monte Cassino, but after the military conflict between Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilt into the abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had Thomas enrolled at the studium generale ( university ) established by Frederick in Naples . There, his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music

19897-563: The ability to "light quickly on the middle term ". Averroes writes that if philosophers cannot rule—as was the case in the Almoravid and Almohad empires around his lifetime—philosophers must still try to influence the rulers towards implementing the ideal state. According to Averroes, there are two methods of teaching virtue to citizens; persuasion and coercion. Persuasion is the more natural method consisting of rhetorical, dialectical and demonstrative methods; sometimes, however, coercion

20094-482: The advance of the common good, which is necessary for human intercourse." Human law is not all-powerful; it cannot govern a man's conscience , nor prohibit all vices, nor can it force all men to act according to its letter, rather than its spirit. Furthermore, it is possible that an edict can be issued without any basis in law as defined in Question 90; in this case, men are under no compulsion to act, save as it helps

20291-427: The age of nineteen, Thomas resolved to join the Dominican Order. His change of heart, however, did not please his family. In an attempt to prevent Theodora's interference in Thomas's choice, the Dominicans arranged to move Thomas to Rome, and from Rome, to Paris. However, while on his journey to Rome, per Theodora's instructions, his brothers seized him as he was drinking from a spring and took him back to his parents at

20488-472: The agent intellect gives humans the power of universal understanding, which is the material intellect. Once the person has sufficient empirical encounters with a certain concept, the power activates and gives the person universal knowledge (see also logical induction ). In his last commentary—called the Long Commentary —he proposes another theory, which becomes known as the theory of "the unity of

20685-730: The altar alongside the Bible and the Decretals . This happened within the historical timeframe of the " second scholasticism ", a trend during the 16th and 17th centuries that saw renewed interest in the works of scholars of the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, in spite of humanism as a contrary trend. Second scholasticism gave special emphasis to the works of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus , with more Franciscans following Duns Scotus, and more Dominicans and Carmelites following Thomas. "Thomists", or those following Thomas, included Francisco de Vitoria , Thomas Cajetan , Franciscus Ferrariensis , Domingo de Soto , Domingo Báñez , João Poinsot ,

20882-580: The ancients", probably in reference to Greek philosophy and sciences. By 1153 Averroes was in Marrakesh , the capital of the Almohad Caliphate (now in Morocco), to perform astronomical observations and to support the Almohad project of building new colleges. He was hoping to find physical laws of astronomical movements instead of only the mathematical laws known at the time but this research

21079-477: The application of qiyas (reasoning by analogy) could give rise to different legal opinion because jurists might disagree on the applicability of certain analogies and different analogies might contradict each other. As did Avempace and Ibn Tufail , Averroes criticizes the Ptolemaic system using philosophical arguments and rejects the use of eccentrics and epicycles to explain the apparent motions of

21276-570: The attribute of knowledge and argues that divine knowledge differs from human knowledge because God knows the universe because God is its cause while humans only know the universe through its effects. Averroes argues that the attribute of life can be inferred because it is the precondition of knowledge and also because God willed objects into being. Power can be inferred by God's ability to bring creations into existence. Averroes also argues that knowledge and power inevitably give rise to speech. Regarding vision and speech, he says that because God created

21473-617: The bishop had determined to violate the omnipotence of God. The inclusion of the Thomistic propositions badly damaged Thomas's reputation for many years. By the 1300s, however, Thomas's theology had begun its rise to prestige. In the Divine Comedy (completed c. 1321), Dante sees the glorified soul of Thomas in the Heaven of the Sun with the other great exemplars of religious wisdom. Dante asserts that Thomas died by poisoning, on

21670-429: The caliph asked Averroes whether the heavens had existed since eternity or had a beginning. Knowing this question was controversial and worried a wrong answer could put him in danger, Averroes did not answer. The caliph then elaborated the views of Plato, Aristotle and Muslim philosophers on the topic and discussed them with Ibn Tufayl. This display of knowledge put Averroes at ease; Averroes then explained his views on

21867-587: The castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano . Thomas was held prisoner for almost one year in the family castles at Monte San Giovanni and Roccasecca in an attempt to prevent him from assuming the Dominican habit and to push him into renouncing his new aspiration. Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomas's release, which had the effect of extending Thomas's detention. Thomas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of

22064-402: The common good. This separation between law and acts of force also allows men to depose tyrants , or those who flout the natural law ; while removing an agent of the law is contrary to the common good and the eternal law of God, which orders the powers that be, removing a tyrant is lawful as he has ceded his claim to being a lawful authority by acting contrary to law. The way which leads to God

22261-436: The context of some of Aristotle's astronomical works. However, his works influenced astronomer Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji (d. 1204) who adopted most of his reform principles and did succeed in proposing an early astronomical system based on Aristotelian physics. In physics, Averroes did not adopt the inductive method that was being developed by Al-Biruni in the Islamic world and is closer to today's physics. Rather, he was—in

22458-625: The contradiction. This interpretation must be done by those "rooted in knowledge"—a phrase taken from surah Āl Imrān 3 :7 of the Quran , which for Averroes refers to philosophers who during his lifetime had access to the "highest methods of knowledge". He also argues that the Quran calls for Muslims to study philosophy because the study and reflection of nature would increase a person's knowledge of "the Artisan" (God). He quotes Quranic passages calling Muslims to reflect on nature. He uses them to render

22655-405: The contrary, he draws all things to himself; but from another side, God is the cause of all things, so he is efficacious also in sin as actio but not as ens . The devil is not directly the cause of sin, but he incites the imagination and the sensuous impulse of man (as men or things may also do). Sin is original sin . Adam's first sin passes through himself to all the succeeding race; because he

22852-559: The detailed critique by Aquinas weakened the spread of Averroism in Latin Christendom , though it maintained a following until the sixteenth century, when European thought began to diverge from Aristotelianism. Leading Averroists in the following centuries included John of Jandun and Marsilius of Padua (fourteenth century), Gaetano da Thiene and Pietro Pomponazzi (fifteenth century), and Agostino Nifo and Marcantonio Zimara (sixteenth century). Averroes had no major influence on Islamic philosophic thought until modern times. Part of

23049-514: The difficulty of understanding Aristotle's original texts and to help others in a similar position. The long commentaries ( tafsir or sharh ), or line-by-line commentaries, include the complete text of the original works with a detailed analysis of each line. The long commentaries are very detailed and contain a high degree of original thought, and were unlikely to be intended for a general audience. Only five of Aristotle's works had all three types of commentaries: Physics , Metaphysics , On

23246-421: The divine nature. So Christ is unum since his human nature lacks the hypostasis . Thomas Aquinas#Late career and cessation of writing (1272–1274) Thomas Aquinas OP ( / ə ˈ k w aɪ n ə s / ə- KWY -nəs ; Italian : Tommaso d'Aquino , lit.   'Thomas of Aquino '; c.  1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest ,

23443-585: The early 20th century in the nouvelle théologie movement (meaning "new theology"). It was closely associated with a movement of ressourcement , meaning "back to sources", echoing the phrase " ad fontes " used by Renaissance humanists. Although nouvelle théologie disagreed with neo-scholasticism about modernity, arguing that theology could learn much from modern philosophy and science, their interest in also studying "old" sources meant that they found common ground in their appreciation of scholastics like Thomas Aquinas. The Second Vatican Council generally adopted

23640-477: The end of his life. The girdle was given to the ancient monastery of Vercelli in Piedmont, and is now at Chieri , near Turin . By 1244, seeing that all her attempts to dissuade Thomas had failed, Theodora sought to save the family's dignity, arranging for Thomas to escape at night through his window. In her mind, a secret escape from detention was less damaging than an open surrender to the Dominicans. Thomas

23837-440: The exercise of it in his government are what condition as cause everything which comes to pass in the world. Hence follows predestination : from eternity some are destined to eternal life, while as concerns others "he permits some to fall short of that end". Reprobation is more than mere foreknowledge; it is the "will of permitting anyone to fall into sin and incur the penalty of condemnation for sin". The effect of predestination

24034-486: The existence of God and his Attributes (Unity, Truth, Goodness, Power, Knowledge) through reason, certain specifics may be known only through the special revelation of God through Jesus Christ . The major theological components of Christianity, such as the Trinity , the Incarnation , and charity are revealed in the teachings of the church and the scriptures and may not otherwise be deduced. However, Thomas also makes

24231-627: The existence of God as the Necessary Existent. Averroes felt strongly about the incorporation of Greek thought into the Muslim world , and wrote that "if before us someone has inquired into [wisdom], it behooves us to seek help from what he has said. It is irrelevant whether he belongs to our community or to another". During Averroes's lifetime, philosophy came under attack from the Sunni tradition , especially from theological schools like

24428-430: The existence of God; namely, there must be a first mover, unmoved, a first cause in the chain of causes, an absolutely necessary being, an absolutely perfect being, and a rational designer. In this connection the thoughts of the unity, infinity , unchangeability, and goodness of the highest being are deduced. As God rules in the world, the "plan of the order of things" preexists in him; in other words, his providence and

24625-456: The feast of Corpus Christi are still sung today, such as the Pange lingua (whose final two verses are the famous Tantum ergo ), and Panis angelicus . Modern scholarship has confirmed that Thomas was indeed the author of these texts, a point that some had contested. In February 1265, the newly elected Pope Clement IV summoned Thomas to Rome to serve as papal theologian. This same year, he

24822-566: The fields of Islamic jurisprudence or legal theory. The only book that survives today is Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid ("Primer of the Discretionary Scholar"). In this work he explains the differences of opinion ( ikhtilaf ) between the Sunni madhhabs (schools of Islamic jurisprudence) both in practice and in their underlying juristic principles, as well as the reason why they are inevitable. Despite his status as

25019-438: The final end. The "first cause" alone is able to reclaim him to the "final end". This is true after the fall, although it was needful before. Grace is, on one side, "the free act of God", and, on the other side, the effect of this act, the gratia infusa or gratia creata, a habitus infusus that is instilled into the "essence of the soul... a certain gift of disposition, something supernatural proceeding from God into man." Grace

25216-435: The first of the three works, Averroes follows Ibn Bajja 's theory that something called the " material intellect " stores specific images that a person encounters. These images serve as basis for the "unification" by the universal " agent intellect ", which, once it happens, allow a person to gain universal knowledge about that concept. In his middle commentary, Averroes moves towards the ideas of Al-Farabi and Avicenna, saying

25413-443: The first. A year before Thomas re-assumed the regency at the 1266–67 Paris disputations, Franciscan master William of Baglione accused Thomas of encouraging Averroists, most likely counting him as one of the "blind leaders of the blind". Eleonore Stump says, "It has also been persuasively argued that Thomas Aquinas's De aeternitate mundi was directed in particular against his Franciscan colleague in theology, John Pecham ." Thomas

25610-413: The foremost Scholastic thinker, as well one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition. He was from the county of Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily . Thomas was a proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought (encompassing both theology and philosophy) known as Thomism . Central to his thought was the doctrine of natural law , which he argued

25807-552: The fourteenth century; Jewish writers of this time who translated or were influenced by Averroes include Kalonymus ben Kalonymus of Arles , France, Todros Todrosi of Arles, Elia del Medigo of Candia and Gersonides of Languedoc . Averroes's main influence on the Christian West was through his extensive commentaries on Aristotle. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , western Europe fell into

26004-510: The future caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub . He also studied the kalam theology of the Ashari school, which he criticized later in life. His 13th-century biographer Ibn al-Abbar said he was more interested in the study of law and its principles ( usul ) than that of hadith and he was especially competent in the field of khilaf (disputes and controversies in the Islamic jurisprudence). Ibn al-Abbar also mentioned his interests in "the sciences of

26201-400: The human race) lost this order. This negative state is the essence of original sin. From it follow an impairment and perversion of human nature in which thenceforth lower aims rule, contrary to nature, and release the lower element in man. Since sin is contrary to the divine order, it is guilt and subject to punishment. Guilt and punishment correspond to each other; and since the "apostasy from

26398-480: The idea of the moral law of nature so important in medieval ethics. The second part of the Summa follows this complex of ideas. Its theme is man's striving for the highest end, which is the blessedness of the visio beata . Here, St. Thomas develops his system of ethics, which has its root in Aristotle . In a chain of acts of will, man strives for the highest end. They are free acts, insofar as man has in himself

26595-531: The ideal state to be one based on the Islamic law ( shariah ). His interpretation of Plato's philosopher-king followed that of Al-Farabi, which equates the philosopher-king with the imam , caliph and lawgiver of the state. Averroes's description of the characteristics of a philosopher-king are similar to those given by Al-Farabi; they include love of knowledge, good memory, love of learning, love of truth, dislike for sensual pleasures, dislike for amassing wealth, magnanimity, courage, steadfastness, eloquence and

26792-596: The inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is made available through the teaching of the prophets, summed up in Holy Scripture, and transmitted by the Magisterium , the sum of which is called "Tradition". Natural revelation is the truth available to all people through their human nature and powers of reason. For example, he felt this applied to rational ways to know the existence of God. Though one may deduce

26989-452: The intellect ". In it, Averroes argues that there is only one material intellect, which is the same for all humans and is unmixed with human body. To explain how different individuals can have different thoughts, he uses a concept he calls fikr —known as cogitatio in Latin—a process that happens in human brains and contains not universal knowledge but "active consideration of particular things"

27186-420: The intellect abstracts from individual things is universal, the mind knows the universal primarily and directly and knows the singular only indirectly by virtue of a certain reflexio (cf. Scholasticism ). As certain principles are immanent in the mind for its speculative activity, so also a "special disposition of works"—or the synderesis (rudiment of conscience)—is inborn in the "practical reason", affording

27383-409: The intellect; he gives the power to know and impresses the species intelligibiles on the mind, and he sways the will in that he holds the good before it as aim, creating the virtus volendi . "To will is nothing else than a certain inclination toward the object of the volition which is the universal good." God works all in all, but so that things also themselves exert their proper efficiency. Here

27580-443: The invariable good which is infinite," fulfilled by man, is unending, it merits everlasting punishment. God works even in sinners to draw them to the end by "instructing through the law and aiding by grace." The law is the "precept of the practical reason". As the moral law of nature, it is the participation of the reason in the all-determining "eternal reason"; but since man falls short in his appropriation of this law of reason, there

27777-446: The knowledge of their end (and therein the principle of action). In that the will wills the end, it wills also the appropriate means, chooses freely and completes the consensus . Whether the act is good or evil depends on the end. The "human reason" pronounces judgment concerning the character of the end; it is, therefore, the law for action. Human acts are meritorious insofar as they promote the purpose of God and his honor. By repeating

27974-425: The light from the humors of the eye [the lens], just like the humors receive the light from air." Another of his departure from Galen and the medical theories of the time is his description of stroke as produced by the brain and caused by an obstruction of the arteries from the heart to the brain. This explanation is closer to the modern understanding of the disease compared to that of Galen, which attributes it to

28171-476: The material universe from divine essence ; the culmination of creation in man ; and the motion of man back towards God by way of Christ and the Sacraments . The structure of the work reflects this cyclic arrangement. It begins with God and his existence in Question 2. The entire first part of the Summa deals with God and his creation, which reaches its zenith in man. The First Part, therefore, ends with

28368-513: The meeting, Thomas's work for Pope Urban IV concerning the Greeks, Contra errores graecorum , was to be presented. However, on his way to the council, riding on a donkey along the Appian Way , he struck his head on the branch of a fallen tree and became seriously ill again. He was then quickly escorted to Monte Cassino to convalesce. After resting for a while, he set out again but stopped at

28565-443: The meridionale during the first several decades of the order's life. The new studium provinciale at Santa Sabina was to be a more advanced school for the province. Tolomeo da Lucca , an associate and early biographer of Thomas, tells us that at the Santa Sabina studium Thomas taught the full range of philosophical subjects, both moral and natural. While at the Santa Sabina studium provinciale , Thomas began his most famous work,

28762-513: The name in European languages include "Ibin-Ros-din", "Filius Rosadis", "Ibn-Rusid", "Ben-Raxid", "Ibn-Ruschod", "Den-Resched", "Aben-Rassad", "Aben-Rasd", "Aben-Rust", "Avenrosdy", "Avenryz", "Adveroys", "Benroist", "Avenroyth" and "Averroysta". Little is known about Averroes's early life. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Rushd was born on 14 April 1126 (520 AH ) in Córdoba . His family

28959-458: The new studium generale at Cologne , in 1248, Thomas followed him, declining Pope Innocent IV 's offer to appoint him abbot of Monte Cassino as a Dominican. Albertus then appointed the reluctant Thomas magister studentium . Because Thomas was quiet and did not speak much, some of his fellow students thought he was slow. But Albertus prophetically exclaimed: "You call him the dumb ox [ bos mutus ], but in his teaching he will one day produce such

29156-496: The object of both faith and love is God, involving also the entire complex of truths and commandments that God reveals, insofar as they in fact relate to God and lead to him. Thus, faith becomes recognition of the teachings and precepts of the Scriptures and the Church ("the first subjection of man to God is by faith"). The object of faith is, by its nature, object of love; therefore, faith comes to completion only in love ("by love

29353-518: The obstruction between heart and the periphery. He was also the first to describe the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease in his Kulliyat , although he did not give the disease a name. Maimonides (d. 1204) was among early Jewish scholars who received Averroes's works enthusiastically, saying he "received lately everything Averroes had written on the works of Aristotle" and that Averroes "was extremely right". Thirteenth-century Jewish writers, including Samuel ibn Tibbon in his work Opinion of

29550-762: The order of Charles of Anjou ; Villani cites this belief, and the Anonimo Fiorentino describes the crime and its motive. But the historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori reproduces the account made by one of Thomas's friends, and this version of the story gives no hint of foul play. When the devil's advocate at his canonization process objected that there were no miracles , one of the cardinals answered, " Tot miraculis, quot articulis "—"there are as many miracles (in his life) as articles (in his Summa )". Fifty years after Thomas's death, on 18 July 1323, Pope John XXII , seated in Avignon , pronounced Thomas

29747-441: The parent question. For example, Part I, Question 2 ("The Existence of God") is divided into three articles: (1) "Whether the existence of God is self-evident?"; (2) "Whether it can be demonstrated that God exists?"; and (3) "Whether God exists?" Additionally, questions on a broader theme are grouped into Treatises , though the category of treatise is reported differently, depending on the source. The Summa 's three parts have

29944-727: The people of Naples every day in Lent of 1273. These sermons on the Commandments, the Creed, the Our Father, and Hail Mary were very popular. Thomas has been traditionally ascribed with the ability to levitate and as having had various mystical experiences. For example, G. K. Chesterton wrote that "His experiences included well-attested cases of levitation in ecstasy; and the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, comforting him with

30141-506: The person has encountered. This theory attracted controversy when Averroes's works entered Christian Europe; in 1229 Thomas Aquinas wrote a detailed critique titled On the Unity of the Intellect against the Averroists . While his works in medicine indicate an in-depth theoretical knowledge in medicine of his time, he likely had limited expertise as a practitioner, and declared in one of his works that he had not "practiced much apart from myself, my relatives or my friends." He did serve as

30338-526: The philosophers using logical arguments. In Decisive Treatise , Averroes argues that philosophy—which for him represented conclusions reached using reason and careful method—cannot contradict revelations in Islam because they are just two different methods of reaching the truth, and "truth cannot contradict truth". When conclusions reached by philosophy appear to contradict the text of the revelation, then according to Averroes, revelation must be subjected to interpretation or allegorical understanding to remove

30535-803: The philosophy of Avicenna and not to that of Aristotle, which Averroes argues to be the true philosophy from which Avicenna has deviated. Averroes lays out his views on the existence and nature of God in the treatise The Exposition of the Methods of Proof . He examines and critiques the doctrines of four sects of Islam: the Asharites , the Mutazilites , the Sufis and those he calls the "literalists" ( al-hashwiyah ). Among other things, he examines their proofs of God's existence and critiques each one. Averroes argues that there are two arguments for God's existence that he deems logically sound and in accordance to

30732-405: The physics of Aristotle. His long commentary of Aristotle's Metaphysics describes the principles of his attempted reform, but later in his life he declared that his attempts had failed. He confessed that he had not enough time or knowledge to reconcile the observed planetary motions with Aristotelian principles. In addition, he did not know the works of Eudoxus and Callippus , and so he missed

30929-505: The principles of morality, in the Secunda Secundae, St. Thomas comes to a minute exposition of his ethics according to the scheme of the virtues. The conceptions of faith and love are of much significance in the complete system of St. Thomas. Man strives toward the highest good with the will or through love; but since the end must first be "apprehended in the intellect", knowledge of the end to be loved must precede love; "because

31126-446: The psychological form of self-motivation. Nothing in the world is accidental or free, although it may appear so in reference to the proximate cause. From this point of view, miracles become necessary in themselves and are to be considered merely as inexplicable to man. From the point of view of the first cause, all is unchangeable, although from the limited point of view of the secondary cause, miracles may be spoken of. In his doctrine of

31323-520: The public role of women; he says this limitation is harmful to the state's well-being. Averroes also accepted Plato's ideas of the deterioration of the ideal state. He cites examples from Islamic history when the Rashidun caliphate —which in Sunni tradition represented the ideal state led by "rightly guided caliphs"—became a dynastic state under Muawiyah , founder of the Umayyad dynasty . He also says

31520-403: The reason and from divine moral law. Therefore, sin involves two factors: Sin has its origin in the will, which decides (against reason) for a "changeable good". Since the will also moves the other powers of man, sin has its seat in these too. By choosing such a lower good as its end, the will is misled by self-love, so that this works as cause in every sin. God is not the cause of sin since, on

31717-522: The reason was geography; Averroes lived in Spain, the extreme west of the Islamic civilization far from the centers of Islamic intellectual traditions. Also, his philosophy may not have appealed to Islamic scholars of his time. His focus on Aristotle's works was outdated in the twelfth-century Muslim world, which had already scrutinized Aristotle since the ninth century and by now was engaging deeply with newer schools of thought, especially that of Avicenna. In

31914-427: The retina: he might have been the first to recognize that retina was the part of the eye responsible for sensing light, rather than the lens as was commonly thought. Modern scholars dispute whether this is what he meant it his Kulliyat , but Averroes also stated a similar observation in his commentary to Aristotle's Sense and Sensibilia : "the innermost of the coats of the eye [the retina] must necessarily receive

32111-495: The royal physician at the Almohad court, wrote a number of medical treatises. The most famous was al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb ("The General Principles of Medicine", Latinized in the west as the Colliget ), written around 1162, before his appointment at court. The title of this book is the opposite of al-Juz'iyyat fi al-Tibb ("The Specificities of Medicine"), written by his friend Ibn Zuhr, and the two collaborated intending that their works complement each other. The Latin translation of

32308-458: The sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, and canon law ). Pope Pius V proclaimed St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church on 15 April 1567, and ranked his feast with those of the four great Latin fathers: Ambrose , Augustine of Hippo , Jerome , and Gregory . At the Council of Trent , Thomas had the honour of having his Summa Theologiae placed on

32505-452: The sixteenth century. Ibn Rushd's full, transliterated Arabic name is "Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn ʾAḥmad Ibn Rushd". Sometimes, the nickname al-Hafid ("The Grandson") is appended to his name, to distinguish him from his grandfather, a famous judge and jurist. "Averroes" is the Medieval Latin form of "Ibn Rushd"; it was derived from the Spanish pronunciation of the original Arabic name, wherein "Ibn" becomes "Aben" or "Aven". Other forms of

32702-497: The so-called Augustinians, were fearful that this introduction of Aristotelianism and the more extreme Averroism might somehow contaminate the purity of the Christian faith. In what appears to be an attempt to counteract the growing fear of Aristotelian thought, Thomas conducted a series of disputations between 1270 and 1272: De virtutibus in communi ( On Virtues in General ), De virtutibus cardinalibus ( On Cardinal Virtues ), and De spe ( On Hope ). In 1272, Thomas took leave from

32899-413: The soul is the absolutely indivisible form of man; it is immaterial substance, but not one and the same in all men (as the Averroists assumed ). The soul's power of knowing has two sides: a passive (the intellectus possibilis ) and an active (the intellectus agens ). It is the capacity to form concepts and to abstract the mind's images ( species ) from the objects perceived by sense; but since what

33096-423: The stance of the theologians of nouvelle théologie, but the importance of Thomas was a point of agreement. The council's decree Optatam Totius (on the formation of priests, at No. 15), proposed an authentic interpretation of the popes' teaching on Thomism, requiring that the theological formation of priests be done with Thomas Aquinas as teacher. General Catholic appreciation for Thomas has remained strong in

33293-442: The subject, which impressed the caliph. Averroes was similarly impressed by Abu Yaqub and later said the caliph had "a profuseness of learning I did not suspect". After their introduction, Averroes remained in Abu Yaqub's favor until the caliph died in 1184. When the caliph complained to Ibn Tufayl about the difficulty of understanding Aristotle's work, Ibn Tufayl recommended to the caliph that Averroes work on explaining it. This

33490-461: The treatise on man. The second part of the Summa deals with man's purpose (the meaning of life), which is happiness. The ethics detailed in this part are a summary of the ethics ( Aristotelian in nature) that man must follow to reach his intended destiny. Since no man on his own can truly live the perfect ethical life (and therefore reach God), it was necessary that a perfect man bridge the gap between God and man. Thus God became man. The third part of

33687-460: The two primary tools for processing the data of theology. Thomas believed both were necessary—or, rather, that the confluence of both was necessary—for one to obtain true knowledge of God. Thomas blended Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine by suggesting that rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, were valid ways to understand truths pertaining to God. According to Thomas, God reveals himself through nature, so to study nature

33884-563: The welcome news that he would never be a Bishop." It is traditionally held that on one occasion, in 1273, at the Dominican convent of Naples in the chapel of Saint Nicholas , after Matins , Thomas lingered and was seen by the sacristan Domenic of Caserta to be levitating in prayer with tears before an icon of the crucified Christ. Christ said to Thomas, "You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have for your labor?" Thomas responded, "Nothing but you, Lord." On 6 December 1273, another mystical experience took place. While Thomas

34081-406: The west and are important to the overall development of physics. Averroes expounds his thoughts on psychology in his three commentaries on Aristotle's On the Soul . Averroes is interested in explaining the human intellect using philosophical methods and by interpreting Aristotle's ideas. His position on the topic changed throughout his career as his thoughts developed. In his short commentary,

34278-456: The will can not strive after God in perfect love unless the intellect have true faith toward him." Inasmuch as this truth that is to be known is practical, it first incites the will, which then brings the reason to "assent"; but since, furthermore, the good in question is transcendent and inaccessible to man by himself, it requires the infusion of a supernatural "capacity" or "disposition" to make man capable of faith as well as love. Accordingly,

34475-485: The words of historian of science Ruth Glasner—an "exegetical" scientist who produced new theses about nature through discussions of previous texts, especially the writings of Aristotle. because of this approach, he was often depicted as an unimaginative follower of Aristotle, but Glasner argues that Averroes's work introduced highly original theories of physics, especially his elaboration of Aristotle's minima naturalia and on motion as forma fluens , which were taken up in

34672-466: The work of twentieth-century philosophers such as Elizabeth Anscombe (especially in her book Intention ), Thomas's principle of double effect specifically and his theory of intentional activity generally have been influential. The cognitive neuroscientist Walter Freeman has proposed that Thomism is the philosophical system explaining cognition that is most compatible with neurodynamics . Henry Adams 's Mont Saint Michel and Chartres ends with

34869-428: The world was created at a specific moment in time or whether it has always existed . Neo-Platonic philosophers such as Al-Farabi and Avicenna argued the world has always existed. This view was criticized by the mutakallimin (philosophers and theologians) of the Ashʾari tradition; in particular, al-Ghazali wrote an extensive refutation of the pre-eternity doctrine in his The Incoherence of the Philosophers and accused

35066-435: The world, he necessarily knows every part of it in the same way an artist understands his or her work intimately. Because two elements of the world are the visual and the auditory, God must necessarily possess vision and speech. The omnipotence paradox was first addressed by Averroes and only later by Thomas Aquinas . In the centuries preceding Averroes, there had been a debate between Muslim thinkers questioning whether

35263-405: Was Petrus de Ibernia . It was at this university that Thomas was presumably introduced to Aristotle , Averroes and Maimonides , all of whom would influence his theological philosophy. During his study at Naples, Thomas also came under the influence of John of St. Julian, a Dominican preacher in Naples, who was part of the active effort by the Dominican Order to recruit devout followers. At

35460-614: Was a strong proponent of Aristotelianism ; he attempted to restore what he considered the original teachings of Aristotle and opposed the Neoplatonist tendencies of earlier Muslim thinkers, such as Al-Farabi and Avicenna . He also defended the pursuit of philosophy against criticism by Ashari theologians such as Al-Ghazali . Averroes argued that philosophy was permissible in Islam and even compulsory among certain elites. He also argued scriptural text should be interpreted allegorically if it appeared to contradict conclusions reached by reason and philosophy. In Islamic jurisprudence, he wrote

35657-485: Was accessible to human reason and grounded in the very nature of human beings, providing a basis for understanding individual rights and moral duties . He argued that God is the source of the light of natural reason and the light of faith. He embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. Aquinas' natural law theory has been influential in shaping ideas about human liberty and

35854-459: Was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy , theology , medicine , astronomy , physics , psychology , mathematics , Islamic jurisprudence and law , and linguistics . The author of more than 100 books and treatises, his philosophical works include numerous commentaries on Aristotle , for which he was known in the Western world as The Commentator and Father of Rationalism . Averroes

36051-423: Was canonized, his feast day was inserted in the General Roman Calendar for celebration on 7 March, the day of his death. Since this date commonly falls within Lent , the 1969 revision of the calendar moved his memorial to 28 January, the date of the translation of his relics to Church of the Jacobins , Toulouse . Thomas Aquinas is honored with a feast day in some churches of the Anglican Communion with

36248-458: Was celebrating Mass, he experienced an unusually long ecstasy. Because of what he saw, he abandoned his routine and refused to dictate to his socius Reginald of Piperno . When Reginald begged him to get back to work, Thomas replied: "Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me" ( mihi videtur ut palea ). As a result, the Summa Theologica would remain uncompleted. What exactly triggered Thomas's change in behaviour

36445-549: Was declared the patron saint of all Catholic educational establishments. Similarly, in Pascendi Dominici gregis , the 1907 encyclical by Pope Pius X , the Pope said, "...let Professors remember that they cannot set St. Thomas aside, especially in metaphysical questions, without grave detriment." On 29 June 1923, on the sixth centenary of his canonisation, Pope Pius XI dedicated the encyclical Studiorum Ducem to him. In response to neo-scholasticism, Catholic scholars who were more sympathetic to modernity gained influence during

36642-423: Was deeply disturbed by the spread of Averroism and was angered when he discovered Siger of Brabant teaching Averroistic interpretations of Aristotle to Parisian students. On 10 December 1270, the Bishop of Paris, Étienne Tempier , issued an edict condemning thirteen Aristotelian and Averroistic propositions as heretical and excommunicating anyone who continued to support them. Many in the ecclesiastical community,

36839-416: Was more likely caused by mountains on the Moon. He and Ibn Bajja observed sunspots , which they thought were transits of Venus and Mercury between the Sun and the Earth. In 1153 he conducted astronomical observations in Marrakesh, where he observed the star Canopus (Arabic: Suhayl ) which was invisible in the latitude of his native Spain. He used this observation to support Aristotle's argument for

37036-582: Was ordered by the Dominican Chapter of Agnani to teach at the studium conventuale at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina , founded in 1222. The studium at Santa Sabina now became an experiment for the Dominicans, the Order's first studium provinciale , an intermediate school between the studium conventuale and the studium generale . Prior to this time, the Roman Province had offered no specialized education of any sort, no arts, no philosophy; only simple convent schools, with their basic courses in theology for resident friars, were functioning in Tuscany and

37233-442: Was redesignated as a studium particularis theologiae . This studium was transformed in the 16th century into the College of Saint Thomas ( Latin : Collegium Divi Thomæ ). In the 20th century, the college was relocated to the convent of Saints Dominic and Sixtus and was transformed into the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas , (aka the Angelicum ). In 1268, the Dominican Order assigned Thomas to be regent master at

37430-428: Was responsible for the pastoral formation of the friars unable to attend a studium generale . In Orvieto, Thomas completed his Summa contra Gentiles , wrote the Catena aurea ( The Golden Chain ), and produced works for Pope Urban IV such as the liturgy for the newly created feast of Corpus Christi and the Contra errores graecorum ( Against the Errors of the Greeks ). Some of the hymns that Thomas wrote for

37627-412: Was sent first to Naples and then to Rome to meet Johannes von Wildeshausen , the Master General of the Dominican Order . In 1245, Thomas was sent to study at the Faculty of the Arts at the University of Paris , where he most likely met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus , then the holder of the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James in Paris. When Albertus was sent by his superiors to teach at

37824-410: Was the Summa , and it is the fullest presentation of his views. He worked on it from the time of Clement IV (after 1265) until the end of his life. When he died, he had reached Question 90 of Part III (on the subject of penance ). What was lacking was added afterwards from the fourth book of his commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard as a supplementum , which is not found in manuscripts of

38021-437: Was the beginning of Averroes's massive commentaries on Aristotle; his first works on the subject were written in 1169. In the same year, Averroes was appointed qadi (judge) in Seville. In 1171 he became qadi in his hometown of Córdoba. As qadi he would decide cases and give fatwa s (legal opinions) based on religious law . The writing rate increased during this time despite other obligations and his travels within

38218-455: Was the standard-bearer of Islamic Neoplatonism in the Middle Ages. He argued that Avicenna's theory of emanation had many fallacies and was not found in the works of Aristotle. Averroes disagreed with Avicenna's view that existence is merely an accident added to essence, arguing the reverse; something exists per se and essence can only be found by subsequent abstraction. He also rejected Avicenna's modality and Avicenna's argument to prove

38415-431: Was unsuccessful. During his stay in Marrakesh, he likely met ibn Tufayl, a renowned philosopher and the author of Hayy ibn Yaqdhan who was also the court physician in Marrakesh. Averroes and ibn Tufayl became friends despite the differences in their philosophies. In 1169, ibn Tufayl introduced Averroes to the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf . In a famous account reported by historian 'Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi ,

38612-420: Was well known in the city for their public service, especially in the legal and religious fields. He was probably of Muladí and Berber ancestry. His grandfather Abu al-Walid Muhammad (d. 1126) was the chief judge ( qadi ) of Córdoba and the imam of the Great Mosque of Córdoba under the Almoravids . His father Abu al-Qasim Ahmad was not as celebrated as his grandfather, but was also chief judge until

38809-415: Was working on one of his most famous works, Summa contra Gentiles . In 1259, Thomas completed his first regency at the studium generale and left Paris so that others in his order could gain this teaching experience. He returned to Naples where he was appointed as general preacher by the provincial chapter of 29 September 1260. In September 1261 he was called to Orvieto as conventual lector, where he

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