Table Of Content‘It is not my opinioii that the philosophy of
Aquinas consists of a body ot true propositions
which can simply be handed on and learned like
the multiplication tables . . . But at the same time
I am convinced that a great deal of what Aquinas
had to say is of permanent value; and I want at
least to make it easier for the reader to consider
sympathetically his style of philosophizing and his
interpretation of the world . . . Aquinas was a saint
and a mystic, he was also a theologian and a
metaphysician; but he was careless neither of
logic nor ofterminological exactitude. His opinions,
like those of any other philosopher, are open to
criticism; but he was far from being a woolly-
minded individual who based his philosophy on
“hunches” and had recourse to rhetoric to supjKirt
their validity . . . To those who think that philo-
sophical theories must be erected on the changing
hypotheses of the sciences, the philosophy of
Aquinas can be of little but historical interest.
But to those who think that philosophical reflec-
tion is grounded in common experience and that
metaphysics has an intimate connexion with this
experience it can be a source of constant stimulus
and inspiration’(/rom the book).
Thomas Aquinas lived at a time when the Christian
West had recently become acquainted with the
riches of Greek and Islamic philosophy. Aristotel-
ianism seemed a naturaUstic menace to Christian
faith. But Aquinas developed the legacy of ancient
thought in a remarkable way, which embodies the
thirteenth-century ideal of a unified interpretation
of reality. In it, philosophy and theology play
their distinct parts in harmony, not opposition.
With his usual lucidity Professor Copleston
explains Aquinas’ philosophical ideas so that they
can be understood by those unacquainted with
medieval thought. But this book is not a summary
of received opinions; Professor Copleston’s
exposition is original and of interest to the profes-
sional philosopher or theologian. He relates
Aquinas’ ideas to current philosophical discussion
wherever possible in a lasting and unrivalled
presentation of the range and essence of Aquinas’
philosophy, of leading scholastic notions, and of
the development of Thomism in modern times.
ISBN (UK) o 85532 369 8
ISBN (USA) o 06 491277 9
d^S.F. PUBLIC LIBHARi
WEST ORANGE
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 9048 1047004 9
189
C
250497
'
Author:Copleston, Frederick Copy
Title:
Thomas Aquinas
South San Francisco Public Library
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THOMAS AQUINAS
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
and published by Search Press
♦
A HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
VOL. I: GREECE AND ROME
VOL. II: AUGUSTINE TO SCOTUS
VOL. Ill: OCKHAM TO SUAREZ
VOL. IV: DESCARTES TO LEIBNIZ
VOL. V: HOBBES TO HUME
VOL. VI: WOLFF TO KANT
VOL. VII: FICHTE TO NIETZSCHE
VOL. VIII : BENTHAM TO RUSSELL
VOL. IX: MAINE DE BIRAN TO SARTRE
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY (new edition)
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: PHILOSOPHER OF
CULTURE (new edition)
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER: PHILOSOPHER
OF PESSIMISM (new edition)
PHILOSOPHERS AND PHILOSOPHIES
THOMAS AQUINAS
BY
FREDERICK COPLESTON, S.J.
Professor Emeritus oj Historj oj Philosophj
in the Universitj of London
SEARCH PRESS LONDON
BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS NEW YORK
(a division of Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.)
SEARCH PRESS LIMITED
2-10 Jerdan Place, London SW6 ^PT
First published 1955
This library edition first published 1976
^ Frederick Copleston, 19^^
ISBN o 8^532 369 8
Published in the USA 1976 by
Harper & Row Publishers, Inc,
BARNES & NOBLE IMPORT DIVISION
ISBN 0—06—491277—9
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
translated, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the previous written permission
of Search Press Limited.
REPRODUCED AND PRINTED BY PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY AND BOUND IN
GREAT BRITAiN BY BILLING AND SONS LIMITED
GUILDFORD, LONDON AND WORCESTER
Contents
PREFATORY NOTE 9
1 INTRODUCTORY 17
2 THE WORLD AND METAPHYSICS 73
3 GOD AND CREATION HI
4 MAN (I): BODY AND SOUL 156
5 MAN (2): MORALITY AND SOCIETY 199
6 THOMISM 243
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 265
INDEX 268
S.S.F. PUBLIC LIBfiAH^
WEST ORANGE
- q r o 7
