CHOICES

5 miles away

49 years old
Dominican Friar
From Naples
Eight siblings
Studied in Naples University
“I would rather believe that a cow
could fly.”
I AM COMMITTED ON MY
VOCATION
Aquinas was dubbed “the dumb ox”
by his fellow students, for being
large and quiet. He was
apparently quiet because he was
busy thinking; he became the
Catholic church’s top theologian,
a title he still holds today,
without dispute.
 2 miles away

I INFLUENCED THOMAS
AQUINAS. I AM HIS
TEACHER ON THEOLOGY
“I tell you, the bellows of this
‘dumb ox’ will awaken all of
Christendom.”
YOU WILL BE A
THEOLOGICAL
ADVISER
 While celebrating Mass a few months before he died,
he had a mystical experience. “I can write no more,” he
later said to a friend, “I have seen things which make all
my writings like straw.” Without any further
explanation, he gave up writing.
 ARISTOTLE CAN BE
CHRISTIANIZED, HE HAS
GREAT PHILOSOPHY.
TWO REALMS OF KNOWLEDGE:
TRUTH FROM FAITH
TRUTH FROM REASON
Line A–B represents Christian teachings that are
matters of faith, known only through revelation.
Line C–D represents knowledge based on
sensory experience and the self-evident rational
principles of philosophy
Finally, line B–C is where revelation overlaps
with philosophical knowledge.
TWO KINDS OF TECHNOLOGY:
NATURAL
SUPERNATURAL

THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY CAN’T

CONFLICT: BOTH REVEAL TRUTHS FROM IN
THE AUTHOR OF ALL TRUTH

HUMAN INTERPRETATIONS DO.

METHOD
EPISTEMOLOG
Y
THOMAS DOES NOT BELIEVE IN INNATE KNOWLEDGE
HE BELIEVS THAT KNOWLEDGE CAME FROM SENSES
INTELLECT RECEIVES RAW MATERIALS FROM SENSES
IF INTELLECT RECEIVES, IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT IS
ONLY PASSIVE, IT IS ACTIVE ASWELL SINCE IT
PROCESSES INFO
 AQUINAS BELIEVES THAT THE INTELLECT IS SELF
SUFFICIENT, NOT NEEDING DIVINE ILLUMINATION TO
OBTAIN KNOWLEDGE
HE DOESN’T BELIEVE THAT UNIVERSALS ARE ONLY
MENTAL. IF WE SEPARATE UNIVERSALS FROM
OBJECTS, THEN IT IS PROBABLY REAL.
META
PHYSICS
EVERY MATERIAL SUBSTANCE HAS TWO PRINCIPLES
- SUBSTANTIAL
- MATTER
 SUBSTANTIAL – WHAT MAKES THIS OBJECT, THIS
OBJECT.
E.G What makes a human a human and not a dog? That’s our
substantial form

MATTER – the result of substantial form.

MATTER ANSWERS PROBLEM OF CONTINUITY AND
INDIVIDUATION
PRIME MATTER/PURE POTENTIALITY - PURE MATTER
WITHOUT FORM, NO CHARACTERISTICS, BUT HAS
POTENTIAL.
 PERFECT, FULLY
ACTUALIZED

LIKE GOD, BUT LIKE

HUMANS
MADE IN IMAGE OF
GOD

LOWER THAN MAN

INORGANIC
SUBSTANCE
WE ARE TRYING TO IMITATE TO THE FULLNESS OF
DIVINE ACTUALITY AND PERFECTION (GOD)
 ESSENCE VS EXISTENCE

ESSENCE – What a thing is

EXISTENCE – If a thing really is a thing

This distinction is not present in God, for God’s essence

implies his existence.
GOD’S ESSENCE – PERFECT BEING
GOD’S EXISTENCE – COULD NOT PASS OUT OF
EXISTENCE.
The Mystery of Creation
The First Proof: The Prime Mover
Consider a bouncing
ball. How did the
ball start bouncing?
Did it fall and if so
what caused it to
fall? What started all
the action?
According to Aquinas,
“it is necessary to go
back to some first
mover, which is itself
moved by nothing---
and this all men know
as God.”
Consider yourself and your
family history. You came to be
because of your parents and
your parents came to be
because of their parents and
so on. But where does it begin?

Aquinas explains, “if the chain

were to go back infinitely,
there would be no first cause,
and thus no ultimate effect,
nor middle causes, which is
admittedly false. Hence we
must presuppose some first
efficient cause---which all call
God.”
The Third Proof: Possibility and Necessity

Consider things that exist beyond the realm of human control.

How did trees, animals, mountains, stars, and the sun come to
exist?
What caused these things to exist? If it was a mere accident what
existed before the universe? If nothing, then nothing can come
from nothing.
Thus, Aquinas argues, “there must be presupposed something
necessarily existing through its own nature, not having a cause
elsewhere but being itself the cause of the necessary existence
Consider the notion that
there are varying degrees of
love, goodness, and
perfection. Consider the
concept of heat. There are
certainly varying degrees of
heat.
Aquinas points out, “fire,
which is the greatest heat,
is the cause of all heat.”
The cause of the greatest
love, goodness, and
perfection is who we call
 Examine the natural
world around you.
Although it appears to
The Fifth Proof: The Cosmos be chaotic at times,
nature is very
structured. Weather
systems, oceans, the
solar system, time, it
all has structure. Who
is responsible for this
structure? Who could
have designed such a
plan?

Aquinas saw this ordered structure and argued,

“there is something intelligent by which all natural
things are arranged in accordance with a plan---and
this we call God.”
 PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
Human language is limited to describe God.
E.G
“God is good all the time.”
“All the time, God is good”

What does good mean? Human goodness can’t describe God.

IF KNOWLEDGE COMES FROM SENSE AND EXPERIENCE
THEN WE DON’T KNOW GOD AND WE CAN’T DESCRIBE
HIM – SAYING THAT GOD IS GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH

BUT SINCE HUMANS ARE MADE FROM THE IMAGE OF

GOD AND WE HAVE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. THEN WE CAN
STILL DESCRIBE HIM
SOLUTIONS: WE CAN DESCRIBE GOD BY USING NEGATIVE
TERMS OR ANALOGY

NEGATIVE TERMS LIKE: GOD IS NOT CHANGING, GOD IS

NOT BOUND BY TIME, GOD DOESN’T HAVE A PHYSICAL
BODY. (However, it is not enough to define something in terms of
what it is not.)

ANALOGY: HUMANS ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD,

SO IF OUR FRIEND IS GOOD, THEN WE CAN UNDERSTAND
GOD’S GOODNESS THROUGH OUR FRIEND.
ETHICS
ETHICS ARE WHAT ENDS ARE WORTHY FOR HUMANS TO
PURSUE.

END MEANS – MEANING OR OUR PURPOSE

TO DO GOOD IS TO FULFILL THIS PURPOSE.

HUMAN ACTS VS ACT OF HUMANS

HUMAN ACTS – WHAT WE CHOOSE TO DO
ACT OF HUMANS – WHAT WE AUTOMATICALLY DO
(SNEEZING)
THREE FACTORS TO TELL IF SOMETHING IS GOOD OR
EVIL:
1. OBJECT
2. CIRCUMSTANCE
3. END
Eternal LawNatural LawDivine Positive
LawHuman Positive Law
 Eternal Law – Divine reason and wisdom comprise an eternal
law
– a law governing the whole creation, a law not made but
eternally existing and therefore unknowable to humans entirely,
yet the source of all true law on earth.
(Eternal law comes from God and is unchanging).

 Natural Law – The practical reflection or sharing in “eternal

reason” that provides humans with objective, changeless,
universal rules or general principles of action for ethical and
political life.
Human Law True law that is Divine Law The revealed
derived from natural law. A rule truths such as the
of state that is at odds with commandments
ten and the
natural law is no law at all. Sermon on the Mounts that
supplement and corrects
human fallibility and frailty.
(Human positive law is the
laws made by the state ) (Divine Positive law is the
part of eternal law
revealed through the
scriptures).
The Order of Natural Law
First Principle: Do good and avoid evil.
For example preserving life, caring for
children, knowing the truth about God, not
harming others, helping the poor and the
sick, shunning ignorance, etc.
Second Principle: How to act based on the first
principle.
For example the enforcement of the law,
making of laws, functioning of society.
POLITICS
AQUINAS SEES POLITICAL LAW AS “ORDINANCE OF
REASON FOR COMMON GOOD”
MOST OF POLITICAL LAW IS BASED ON NATURAL LAW
(MURDER, THEFT)
BUT NATURAL LAW DOESN’T SPECIFY OTHER DETAILS
LIKE PENALTIES, OR WHAT SIDE OF THE ROAD TO DRIVE
ON. STILL, THEY ENSURE HUMAN SAFETY AND FOLLOW
THE UNIVERSAL RULE THAT LIFE SHOULD BE
PRESERVED. HUMAN LAW THAT VIOLATES NATURAL LAW
IS NOT A GENUINE LAW.
IF WE ILLEGALIZE ALL FORMS OF IMMORAL BEHAVIOR,
THEN ALL OF US MUST BE PUNISHED.
LAW’S LIMIT IS THAT IT SHOULD BE CONCERNED WITH
MAJOR EVILS, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT HURT OR HARM

FOR AQUINAS, THE IDEAL STATE HAS ONE RULER, WHO

DOESN’T HAVE ALL THE POWER. RATHER IT IS SPREAD
OUT TO OTHER LEADERS. IN OTHER WORDS AQUINAS
FAVORS DEMOCRACY.
AQUINAS REJECTS THE PLATONIC ASSUMPTION
DESCRIBING THE PHYSICAL WORLD IS A SHADOW
WORLD THAT IS NOT REAL OR IN THE WORLD OF FORMS.

FOR AQUINAS, PHYSICAL NATURE IS NOT STRANGE TO

SPIRITUAL DIMENSION. THE CHAIN OF BEING POINTS TO
GOD AND GOD ONLY.
THE BODY IS NOT A PRISON FOR THE SOUL. SINCE THE
BODY IS IMPORTANT FOR KNOWLEDGE AND IT IS WHAT
MAKES US INDIVIDUALS.
THEORY OF DUAL CAUSALITY
- Different sorts of causes explain a particular event
Example: why is the water boiling.
Reason is either scientific or teleological