Aquinas and Analogy

182 Pages·1996·10.58 MB·English

by  Ralph M. McInerny

AQUINAS AND ANALOGY

Ralph McInerny
AQUINAS AND ANALOGY
The Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 1996
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standards for Information Science-Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
McInerny, Ralph M.
Aquinas and analogy / Ralph M. McInerny.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225 ?-1274.-Contributions in
doctrine of analogy. 2. Analogy-History. 3. Analogy (Religion)
-History of doctrines-Middle Ages, 600-1500. 4. Analogy
(Religion)-History of doctrines-16th century. 5. Cajetan,
Tommaso de Vio, I469-1 5 34-Contributions in doctrine of
analogy. 1. Title.
B765·T54M236 1996
169' .092-dc20
96-16793
ISBN 0-8132-0848-3 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8132-°932-3 (pbk: alk. paper)
For David Burrell, C.S.c.
amicus arnica

CONTENTS
Preface IX
PART ONE: PROLEGOMENA
I. Where Cajetan Went Wrong 3
2. Analogy in Aristotle 30
PART TWO: ANALOGOUS NAMES
The Prospect Before Us 51
3· How Words Signify 53
4· Analogous Names 86
5· Kinds of Analogous Name 102
6. Metaphor and Analogy II6
7· Analogy Is Analogous 137
8. Analogy and Discovery 142
9· Analogy and Participation 152
Select Bibliography I6S
Index I67

PREFACE
Since publishing The Logic of Analogy in I96I, I have continued
to think about and write on the subject, almost exclusively as it
pertains to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas. Some of these writings
were brought together in Studies in Analogy (I968). Both books
have been out of print for a number of years and the question arose
as to whether they should be reprinted. I decided that it would be
preferable to treat the matter afresh. The result is this book. Like
many others, I found Cardinal Cajetan's treatise on the subject
oddly dissatisfying. It is no pleasure for a Thomist to depart from
the views of so eminent a leader of the school, but etiam Homerus
dormitat and when Cajetan nodded, his head hit the table. I have
given here as clear a statement as I can of the nature of the great
cardinal's mistake. The reader will find below my argument that
Cajetan embraced the very fallacy Thomas was defusing in the text
that provided the fundamental structure of the cardinal's treatise.
After examining the role that analogy plays in the thought of Aris
totle, and the degree to which Aristotelian analogy can be taken to
be regulative of Thomas's usage, I move systematically through the
topics that enable one to see the precise character of Thomas's teach
ing. I have tried to make this book as straightforward as I can. If I
am wrong, the critic will have no trouble discerning his target. If I
am correct, a good deal that has been, and continues to be, said
about analogy in Thomas Aquinas is simply wrongheaded. The Uni-
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