Thomistic Philosophy: Key Concepts and Influences
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Properties
Extrinsic
Something improper or external to.
Intrinsic
Characteristic of being owned or thing if misma.ente. Sew or be-ke is real or imaginary existence.
Concepts of Grace and Material
Grace
Favor or gift given by God to help man.
Material
That which is made somewhat.
Formal and Efficient Causes
Formal
What an object is.
Efficient
Ke Akello for what that something exists.
Universals and True Faith
Universal
Ke concepts share common features a collection of individuals. Are obtained through a process of abstraction.
True Faith
Relations between faith and reason, distinguish types of truths. Fe, x god and truths are beyond the capacity.
Essence and Existence
Essence
Akello x lo ke ke something is what is and is defined as such.
Existence
Fact was essentially ke ke is despite there being a power, a difference as an act of being.
Hylomorphism and Pantheism
Hylomorphism
Theory on the mat ke lo beings are composed of two principles, raw material and substantial.
Pantheism
Philosophical doctrine according to nature and the universe are ekivalentes god is represented by the concept of god.
Participation and Pure Act
Participation
Ke Doctrine in need of being god to exist.
Pure Act
Ke be no power.
First Mover and Supersensible
First Mover
Ke akel not move things happen efficiently.
Supersensible
This out of reach of the senses or not accessible to them.
Being and Vias
Ser
Entity created and endowed with life contingent. In essence and substance composed of body and soul.
Vias
Arguments are the 5 Sto shots to demonstrate the existence of god. They arrive at the cause of all causes.
Types of Law
Eternal Law
Ke Oredn with god created the world.
Natural Law
Ke eternal law applies to the creature endowed with reason.
Positive Law
Promulgated by men for the common good.
Free Will, Act, and Power
Free Will
Capacity of the human will to choose freely, without hindrance, either good or evil.
Act
Ke is what it is.
Power
Lo ke can be.
Pure Act
Has no power. God.
Ke-Lighting
As God gives us to get to know.
Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine
Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine related reasons the absolute primacy of faith. Augustine believed both reason and faith are intertwined. Averroism maintains the theory of double truth, which necessitates separating reason and faith as they can reach different and contradictory truths. Thomas Aquinas’s solution: 1) Clear distinction between reason and faith; reason can only know natural truths from the bottom-up, starting with sense data. 2) Truth is unique; there is no contradiction between rational truths and truths of faith. 3) There is a confluence zone between reason and faith, a preamble of faith, where both natural and revealed truth lead to one truth. 4) Theology is a “mixed” science in this confluence zone, using principles of natural reason.
Sublunary and Supralunar
The sublunary is the earth, spherical and at the center of the universe. It is imperfect and corruptible. Empedocles identifies four elements: earth, air, water, and fire, with rectilinear, imperfect movement.
The supralunar celestial realm consists of the remaining areas, with the fixed stars at the outermost edge. It is incorruptible and perfect, composed of ether, the fifth incorruptible element. Movements are circular, perfect, and unchanging.
Perfect Society
The state is a perfect society with the means to achieve its own end: peace, economy, defense, etc., ensured by the government.
The Church’s end is superior to the state’s. The state government must allow man to achieve his supernatural end.
Reason has its own field, but must be conditional on faith. The state has its own area but must be subject to the Church.
Aquinas and Aristotle
Thomas Aquinas was heavily influenced by Aristotle. He adopted hylomorphism and its applications in anthropology and epistemology, including the idea that the soul and body form a single substance, and the differentiation of beings into actual and potential. Form is the ordering and structure of matter. Aquinas applies the theory of being to God, saying God is the total cause of everything. He takes Aristotle’s theory of knowledge, beginning with sense experience and abstraction, culminating in knowledge of the universal. Aquinas also draws on Aristotle’s ethics, including the idea of happiness as the ultimate end and supreme good, and virtues as means to that end. He also incorporates influences from Aristotle’s natural theology.