[...]... as preoccupied with theism, but certainly not to the exclusion of other concerns or in such a way as to distort their philosophy into preaching or to obliterate the boundary between it and dogmatic theology Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 8 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AQUINAS As Anthony Kenny and Jan Pinborg have pointed out, during the Middle Ages The most advanced scholarly... contributors hope to have provided a Companion to Aquinas that will suffice to introduce him to new readers and to show them and others the way to a wider knowledge and a deeper appreciation of his philosophy Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 JAN A AERTSEN 1 Aquinas' s philosophy in its historical setting I INTRODUCTION Thomas Aquinas was born at the end of 1224 or the beginning... about the authority of any Scripture on the basis of which they can be convinced it is necessary to have recourse to natural reason, to which everyone is compelled to assent - although where theological Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 IO THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AQUINAS issues are concerned it cannot do the whole job" (SCG 1.2.n) It is even more surprising that Aquinas. .. Cologne There he studied from 1248 to 1252 with Albert the Great, who was named Doctor universalis in the Middle Ages because of his wideranging scholarly interests To complete his theological training Aquinas returned to the University of Paris (1252-1256) During these years the theological faculty there harbored an air of hostility 12 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Aquinas' s... always the form of the question demanded an affirmative or a negative reply, thus presenting an issue with two sides One of the bachelors (counterparts of today's graduate students, broadly speaking) was required to respond to the arguments advanced on both Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 16 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AQUINAS sides On the day following the dispute, the master... role in Aquinas' s thought The origin and end of things are one and the same The dynamics of reality is a circular motion [circulatio) The authoritative text that formed the basis of the lectio in the theology faculty was the Bible The master in theology was thought of as primarily a "Master in the sacred Page." Aquinas' s lecturing on Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Aquinas' s... viewed as the final seal on the fact that Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Aquinas' s philosophy in its historical setting 21 the once primarily preparatory arts faculty had developed in the thirteenth century into a philosophy faculty There the student was trained for six years in the thought of Aristotle, who had become known to all as "the Philosopher/7 Scholastic theoretical... knowledge The human intellect has a "natural light77 that is itself sufficient for the Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 22 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AQUINAS knowledge of truths 21 The way to intellective cognition passes from sensory cognition through abstraction: the intellect abstracts the intelligible content from sense images Aquinas' s frequent reproach to the Platonists... to know perfectly when we know the first cause." Here Aquinas cites Aristotle's definition of "to know" [Posterior Analytics I 2, 7ibio) but with an addition: perfect knowledge is knowledge of the first cause Now the first cause of all things is God Therefore, for us the ultimate end is to know God The ulti- Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 32 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO. .. being They hold that there is a first principle, which is the essence of goodness, of unity, and of being - a principle, Aquinas says, that we call God Other things are called good, one, or being because of their derivation from the first principle In the continuation of the Prologue, Aquinas rejects the first application of the Platonic method, subscribing to Aristotle's criticism that the Platonists . satisfactory companion to all aspects of Aquinas& apos;s thought, but the ten contributors hope to have provided a Companion to Aquinas that will suffice to introduce him to new readers and to show them and. and further, deeper exploration. Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 4 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AQUINAS III. . Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 14 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AQUINAS that letter they expressed their grief at the death