Saint Thomas Aquinas: Key Philosophical Concepts
Theory of Knowledge According to Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas, heavily influenced by Aristotle, developed a theory of knowledge aimed at justifying the Christian faith. He posited that God created the world through knowledge, and by understanding creation, we come to know the Creator. In the 13th century, the importance of sensory experience was emphasized. Aquinas, using Aristotle’s framework, proposed that knowledge stems from research and abstraction, allowing us to discern the essence of things. This process of understanding the essence is a way to grasp God’s true form.
Ontology: The Theory of Being
Aquinas’s ontology asserts that God created everything according to a divine, rational order. To understand the relationship between the Creator and the created, he distinguished between essence and existence. He proposed the “analogy of proportion,” suggesting that all beings possess attributes to a lesser degree than God. The closer a being is to God, the more it shares common characteristics. Aquinas argued that essence (idea and form) exists in things because it first passes through God’s mind. God is the only being whose essence inherently involves existence. While things exist thanks to God, their existence depends on His will.
Proofs of God’s Existence
Aquinas offered five a posteriori proofs for God’s existence, each based on sensory experience and following a cause-and-effect pattern:
- The Argument from Motion: Everything in motion is moved by something else. There must be a First Mover, unmoved by anything else, which is God.
- The Argument from Efficient Cause: Everything has a cause. The ultimate cause, which gives things their effect, is God.
- The Argument from Contingency: Things exist contingently and could have been otherwise. There must be a Necessary Being, who always exists and creates without being created, which is God.
- The Argument from Gradation: There is a hierarchy of values in things (e.g., courage, kindness). The closer individuals are to God, the greater their virtues.
- The Argument from Design: The order in the world suggests a purpose and coherence, implying a superior being who created it. This demonstrates the ethical framework Aquinas used to justify the nature of things.
Ethics, Law, and Politics
Aquinas distinguished between natural law and positive law:
- Natural Law: Inherent laws given by God, belonging to us by virtue of our purpose.
- Positive Law: Human-made laws for societal living, not necessarily based on divine principles.
He believed that all rational individuals, regardless of their religion, possess natural law. However, Christians are on the “right path.”
Ethics: Following Aristotle, Aquinas believed that humans tend toward happiness through rationality. By understanding the world, we approach God and achieve happiness. Acting rationally according to Christian principles leads to the knowledge of God and true happiness.
Politics: While Aquinas favored monarchy as a hierarchical system resembling God’s governance, he acknowledged that any form of government could be just if its laws were based on natural law. He advocated for Christian states to strive for religious realization through the understanding of what is right.