A Summary of Philosophy

by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint; Regan, Richard J.

• ISBN13: 9780872206571
• ISBN10: 0872206572
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Hackett Pub Co Inc

Summary

This compact collection of philosophical texts from the Summa Theologica -- on God, creation, the soul, human acts, moral good and evil, love, habits, virtue, and law -- is presented newly translated in abridged form and cast in a modified version of the medieval quaestio. Included are only the most important objections and Aquinas' replies; appeals to scriptural, theological, and philosophical authorities have been omitted. Unlike the ordering of the originals, questions and answers are here presented prior to objections and replies; the result is a sharp, rich, topically organised question-answer presentation of Aquinas' major philosophical arguments within a brief compass. A general Introduction, head notes, a glossary, an index, and a select bibliography offer expert guidance to the work of this major philosopher.

Author Biography

Richard J. Regan is Professor of Political Science, Fordham University

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Biblical Abbreviations	xi
Other Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	xiii
God	1	(45)
Existence	1	(5)
Simplicity	6	(1)
Perfection	7	(1)
Goodness	8	(1)
Infinity	9	(1)
Immutability	9	(1)
Eternity	10	(1)
Only One	10	(1)
Our Knowledge of God	11	(1)
Our Predicates about God	12	(8)
Knowledge	20	(4)
Ideas	24	(2)
Life	26	(2)
Will	28	(7)
Love	35	(2)
Justice and Mercy	37	(1)
Providence	38	(2)
Predestination	40	(3)
Power	43	(3)
Creation and Governance	46	(15)
God the First Cause	46	(1)
Manner	47	(2)
Beginning	49	(1)
Diversity	49	(1)
Evil	50	(4)
Governance	54	(7)
The Soul	61	(44)
Essence	61	(3)
Union with the Body	64	(5)
Vegetative Powers	69	(1)
Cognitive Sense Powers	70	(4)
Sense Appetites	74	(2)
Cognitive Intellectual Powers	76	(4)
How the Soul Understands Material Things	80	(6)
Manner and Process of Understanding	86	(6)
What the Intellect Knows about Material Things	92	(2)
How the Soul Knows Itself, Its Innate Dispositions, and Its Acts	94	(2)
How the Soul Knows Superior Things	96	(2)
Appetitive Intellectual Power, the Will	98	(4)
Production	102	(3)
The Ultimate Human End: Happiness	105	(8)
Human Acts	113	(22)
The Voluntary and the Involuntary	113	(4)
The Will	117	(4)
Intention	121	(2)
Choice	123	(4)
Deliberation	127	(2)
Consent	129	(1)
Acts Commanded by the Will	130	(5)
Moral Goodness and Malice	135	(9)
Human Acts in General	135	(4)
Interior Acts of the Will	139	(3)
External Human Acts	142	(1)
Emotions	142	(2)
Love	144	(5)
Kinds	144	(1)
Causes	145	(1)
Effects	146	(3)
Habits	149	(8)
In General	149	(1)
Subjects in Which Habits Inhere	150	(3)
Causes	153	(4)
Virtue	157	(15)
Essence	157	(1)
Intellectual Virtues	158	(3)
Moral Virtues	161	(8)
Relation of Moral Virtue to Intellectual Virtue	169	(3)
Law	172	(37)
Essence	172	(2)
Kinds	174	(4)
Effects	178	(1)
The Eternal Law	179	(4)
The Natural Law	183	(6)
Human Laws	189	(12)
The Moral Precepts of the Old Law	201	(6)
Precepts of the Old Law Regarding Rulers	207	(2)
Glossary	209	(8)
Select Bibliography	217	(4)
Index	221