Table Of ContentAOUINAS
-
(cid:34)(cid:1)(cid:40)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:69)(cid:70)(cid:1)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:83)(cid:1)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:70)(cid:1)(cid:49)(cid:70)(cid:83)(cid:81)(cid:77)(cid:70)(cid:89)(cid:70)(cid:69)
Peter S. Eardley and Carl N. Still
AQUINAS
A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
Continuum Guides for the Perplexed
Continuum’s Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessible introductions
to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challeng-
ing. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp,
these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a
thorough understanding of demanding material.
Guides for the Perplexed available from Continuum:
Adorno: A Guide for the Perplexed, Alex Thomson
Arendt: A Guide for the Perplexed, Karin Fry
Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed, John Vella
Augustine: A Guide for the Perplexed, James Wetzel
Bentham: A Guide for the Perplexed, Philip Schofield
Berkeley: A Guide for the Perplexed, Talia Bettcher
Deleuze: A Guide for the Perplexed, Claire Colebrook
Derrida: A Guide for the Perplexed, Julian Wolfreys
Descartes: A Guide for the Perplexed, Justin Skirry
The Empiricists: A Guide for the Perplexed, Laurence Carlin
Existentialism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Stephen Earnshaw
Freud: A Guide for the Perplexed, Celine Surprenant
Gadamer: A Guide for the Perplexed, Chris Lawn
Habermas: A Guide for the Perplexed, Lasse Thomassen
Hegel: A Guide for the Perplexed, David James
Heidegger: A Guide for the Perplexed, David Cerbone
Hobbes: A Guide for the Perplexed, Stephen J. Finn
Hume: A Guide for the Perplexed, Angela Coventry
Husserl: A Guide for the Perplexed, Matheson Russell
Kant: A Guide for the Perplexed, T. K. Seung
Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed, Clare Carlisle
Leibniz: A Guide for the Perplexed, Franklin Perkins
Levinas: A Guide for the Perplexed, B. C. Hutchens
Locke: A Guide for the Perplexed, Patricia Sheridan
Marx: A Guide for the Perplexed, John Sheed
Merleau-Ponty: A Guide for the Perplexed, Eric Matthews
Nietzsche: A Guide for the Perplexed, R. Kevin Hill
Plato: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gerald A. Press
Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Robert B. Talisse and Scott F. Aikin
Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Kemp
Relativism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Timothy Mosteller
Ricoeur: A Guide for the Perplexed, David Pellauer
Rousseau: A Guide for the Perplexed, Matthew Simpson
Sartre: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Cox
Schopenhauer: A Guide for the Perplexed, R. Raj Singh
Socrates: A Guide for the Perplexed, Sara Ahbel-Rappe
Spinoza: A Guide for the Perplexed, Charles Jarrett
The Stoics: A Guide for the Perplexed, M. Andrew Holowchak
Utilitarianism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Krister Bykvist
AQUINAS
A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
PETER S. EARDLEY AND CARL N. STILL
Continuum International Publishing Group
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane
11 York Road Suite 704
London SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
© Peter S. Eardley and Carl N. Still, 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-0-8264-9879-3
PB: 978-0-8264-9880-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eardley, Peter S.
Aquinas : a guide for the perplexed / Peter S. Eardley and Carl N. Still.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-8264-9879-3
ISBN: 978-0-8264-9880-9
1. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274. I. Still, Carl N. II. Title.
B765.T54E19 2010
189'.4–dc22
2010012596
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
For Stephen R. Eardley (1936–2009) and Dorothy V. Still (1935–2008),
both of whom passed away while this book was being written.
Requiescant in pace.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Metaphysics 11
Chapter 3 Psychology 34
Chapter 4 Epistemology 51
Chapter 5 Ethics 67
Chapter 6 Politics 93
Notes 117
Bibliography 138
Index 151
vii
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Thomas Aquinas is so central a figure in the history of philosophy
that one may be surprised that he is not better known than he is.
There are a number of reasons for this obscurity. He is almost cer-
tainly the best known and arguably the most influential of all the
medieval Christian theologians of the scholastic period (1100–1350).
Yet medieval philosophy has been among the most neglected of all
major periods of Western philosophy. The very term ‘medieval’ is
pejorative and implies that this vast ‘middle age’ was a hiatus between
the luminous periods of Greco-Roman antiquity and the Italian
Renaissance. Despite the achievements of the medieval period, which
include the founding of universities and the construction of Gothic
cathedrals, the term ‘medieval’ still suggests a chaotic and unenlight-
ened time. Until the twentieth century, it was widely believed that
medieval philosophy offered little in the way of original thought,
since it was shaped by religious commitments. Generations of schol-
ars have profoundly altered that impression, but there can be no
denying that the great medieval philosophers were actually theo-
logians and sought to harmonize the truths of philosophy with the
doctrines of faith. Aquinas is no exception to this. In studying
Aquinas, then, we are dealing with a medieval Catholic theologian.
While much in his thought will be familiar, thanks in part to the
persistence of Catholicism in the world today, other aspects will
seem peculiar to the point of being all but unintelligible. Our goal
will be to make these peculiar aspects more intelligible. This will not
of course render them credible in every case or to every reader. But
we hope to show why Aquinas’s conclusions seemed credible to him,
and why they still command attention and respect in many quarters
today.
1
