Thomas Aquinas PDF

Thomas Aquinas  The Conception of God  Religions, philosophies, and individuals all over the world have conceived of God or gods very differently  The concept of God held by Thomas Aquinas is of Abrahamic monotheism, a conception shared by Judaism, Christianity, an...

Thomas Aquinas  The Conception of God  Religions, philosophies, and individuals all over the world have conceived of God or gods very differently  The concept of God held by Thomas Aquinas is of Abrahamic monotheism, a conception shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam  (Though Christians also believe in the doctrine of The Trinity, but that won’t concern us here)  Theology = reasoning about God from within a certain faith tradition/based on revealed truths from scripture  Philosophy of religion = rational evaluation of religious claims independent of divine revelation  Abrahamic Theism (Classical Theism)  God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good  Omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent  God is either eternal or exists beyond time  God does not change  There is never a time when God has not existed  Although there are anthropomorphic descriptions of God in scripture, these are symbolic and metaphorical  God is utterly transcendent  Arguments for God’s existence  Evidentialism – belief in God is based on evidence  Theistic evidentialism – belief in God is based on evidence and there is good evidence to believe in God  Atheistic evidentialism – belief in God is based on evidence and there is no good evidence to believe in God  Non-evidentialism – belief in God is independent of evidence, based on faith, existential meaning, practical motivations, etc.  Thomas Aquinas believes that, although not all religious claims are demonstrable through reason (like The Trinity), God’s existence is supported by rational arguments  William James will be a non-evidentialist  Types of Arguments for God’s Existence  Ontological argument  Cosmological argument – observations about the world are taken to show evidence for a creator and a sustainer  The first three of Aquinas’ Five Ways are cosmological arguments  Teleological argument – an argument from the design of the world  The natural world shows signs of a telos, a goal or purpose, that reflects a creator  The fifth of Aquinas’ Five Ways is a teleological argument  The Problem of Evil  Thomas Aquinas himself thought there were two common arguments against belief in the existence of God  1. There’s no good evidence to believe in God (addressed by his Five Ways)  2. How could a good God permit so much suffering in the world?  A theodicy is a defense against the problem of evil, an explanation or justification of the existence of evil on a theistic view  Aquinas addresses the problem of evil in this reading: God permits suffering always for some greater good  Athens and Jerusalem  Plato and Aristotle -> Greek Philosophy  Rise of Christianity (33 CE)  Monotheism, dualism, belief in the afterlife, belief in the fallenness of the world corrupted by sin, the superiority of a spiritual realm to the material realm  Augustine (354-430 CE)  Was a student of Neoplatonic philosophy before converting to Christianity, takes up many Platonic ideas  Christianity in its more otherworldly form is more Platonic, focusing on a spiritual reality apart from this realm being the true world  Fall of Western Roman Empire in the 400s CE, learning of Greek philosophy falls with it in the West The Rediscovery of Greek Philosophy Through Islamic Civilization  Rise of Islam (7th century CE)  Al-Kindi (801–873 CE) engages Islamic thinkers with Greek philosophy  Huge translation project undertaken in Baghdad under the Abbasids to engage with Greek philosophy (mid-eighth century to late tenth century CE) led to the incorporation of ideas from Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus  Al-Kindi: We should embrace truth wherever we find it  Philosophers like Ibn Sina (c. 980-1037 CE), Ibn Rushd (1126-1198 CE) develop Aristotelian philosophies that are in harmony with monotheism  It is ultimately via contact with Islamic civilization that the ideas of Greek philosophy and Aristotle are taken up again into Western Christian thought  Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 CE) synthesizes Aristotelian ideas with Christianity and his views come to dominate the medieval Catholic church and form Scholastic philosophy  Scholastic “Schoolmen” Philosophy  Medieval Scholastic philosophy takes up Aristotle’s view of the world and develops elaborate systems of theology and philosophy  Aquinas understands God to be the Creator of the Aristotelian essences of things (like Plato’s Forms but inside material things) and the physical world  We can understand God’s purposes by observing Creation  Physical motion is explained on Aristotelian physics as objects desiring to return to the center of the earth  The center of the earth is the natural home of things made of earth  Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)  Born in southern Italy, son of the count of Aquino  At 14 went to university in Naples  His family wanted him to join a different wealthier order of monks  Hired a prostitute to tempt him  But he refused, chasing the prostitute away with a burning stick from the fire  And joined the Dominican order, an order which adopted complete poverty  Studied Greek and Islamic philosophy as well as natural science and theology at the University of Paris  Wrote over eight million words, could dictate to six or seven secretaries at a time  Near the end of his life had a deeply religious experience: “All that I have written seems to me like straw compared to what has no been revealed to me”  GR and natural law Natural law is the objective moral norms that are written on the human heart. These are based on instinct and reason, and known by nearly everyone. Human laws are invented by human reason to apply natural law to particular circumstances. Morality is part of God’s plan to lead us to himself. God gave us the ability to know the good and to choose freely. Our duties depend on reason + our created biological nature.  Thomas Aquinas on Natural Law “Do good and avoid evil” is first precept We can use reason to derive secondary principles from this Other principles Aquinas emphasizes include: The Golden Rule The Doctrine of Double Effect Central to the understanding of our duties will be the basic goods, what things are good for human beings, seen by rational reflection on human nature: life, procreation, social life, knowledge, and rational conduct  The Basic Goods  “…all those things to which man has a natural inclination, are naturally apprehended by reason as being good, and consequently as objects of pursuit, and their contraries as evil, and objects of avoidance.”  “Because in man there is first of all an inclination to good in accordance with the nature which he has in common with all substances: inasmuch as every substance seeks the preservation of its own being, according to its nature: and by reason of this inclination, whatever is a means of preserving human life, and of warding off its obstacles, belongs to the natural law.”  The Basic Goods  “Secondly, there is in man an inclination to things that pertain to him more specially, according to that nature which he has in common with other animals: and in virtue of this inclination, those things are said to belong to the natural law, "which nature has taught to all animals" [Pandect. Just. I, tit. i], such as sexual intercourse, education of offspring and so forth.”  “Thirdly, there is in man an inclination to good, according to the nature of his reason, which nature is proper to him: thus man has a natural inclination to know the truth about God, and to live in society: and in this respect, whatever pertains to this inclination belongs to the natural law; for instance, to shun ignorance, to avoid offending those among whom one has to live, and other such things regarding the above inclination.”  The Basic Goods Pluralism: many things are good and needed to live a good life Eudaimonism: after eudaimonia, literally “flourishing”, holds that the good life is the life in which human beings flourish, which for Aristotle and Aquinas means the life of reason, the life rationally moderated (even as, for Aquinas, ultimate fulfillment is only possible in the next life through union with God) Natural law theory holds that a duty can be derived from a basic good to promote or protect that basic good, the basic goods being those necessary for a flourishing life: Life Life is a basic good, therefore, we have duties not to kill or harm others or ourselves The Doctrine of Double Effect will show when it is permissible to kill or harm despite the general prohibition against it Procreation Duties not to interfere with natural course of procreation (wrong to use contraceptives)  The Basic Goods Social life Human beings are social animals, we need to cooperate with others to survive, so social life is a basic good We ought to protect and promote social life, and so ought not to undermine social harmony through behaviors like stealing, lying, etc. Knowledge We ought to protect and promote knowledge, not spread lies or false information Rational Conduct We ought to be rational, to pursue knowledge, not follow irrational desire, not live intemperately Other natural law views will have different lists of goods  Discussion  Can we know what is required for human flourishing just by thinking about human nature?  Is there one human nature common to all human beings in all times and places?  Is there a higher law than human law, by which we can judge that some human laws are unjust? If not, can we not criticize existing laws and institutions?  Should the virtuous rule? Could there be a virtuous king that rules? Would that be better than a virtuous democracy?