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‘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 philosophical 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 RULES A fine of 10 cents a day will be charged on books kept overdue. No books will be issued to persons in arrears for fines. Careful usage of books is expected, and any soiling, injury or loss is to be paid for by the borrower. Keep This Card in The Pocket Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/thomasaquinasOOcopl 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