St. Thomas Aquinas: Faith, Reason, and Philosophy
Santo Tomas: Value-Faith Reason
St. Thomas Aquinas: Core Beliefs
St. Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy is built upon key assumptions:
- Creation ex nihilo.
- The ultimate goal of humanity is the possession of God.
- Theology is the preeminent science, with philosophy clarifying Christian revelations.
Faith teaches the most important truths, some attainable through reason, others through the supernatural. Reason and faith have distinct objects, methods, and criteria, yet they are not contradictory. Reason stems from rational knowledge, seeking understanding of natural and artificial beings. Faith originates from divine illumination, addressing the mysteries of revelation.
Reason and faith intersect in the knowledge of God necessary for salvation, attainable through divine reason (articles of faith) and human reason (preambles of faith) found in the Bible.
Thomistic Ontology (Study of Being)
Following Aristotle, St. Thomas posits that material beings are composed of matter and form. Form is the actuality, while matter is potentiality. However, Aquinas amends this, stating that “being” applies to everything that exists, but each being exists differently. The essence is the mode of being, encompassing potentiality and integrated into form. Essence and existence constitute substance.
Humans are contingent, composed of substance and accident, essence and existence. A principle of individuation is the concrete matter of a thing. Since beings do not cause their own existence, there must be a First Cause, which is God.
Proofs for God’s Existence
Aquinas rejects the ontological argument, believing that the concept of God varies among individuals. He favors a posteriori arguments, based on observable effects. His Five Ways demonstrate God’s existence as the First Cause:
- The Way of Motion: Everything in motion is moved by something else; there must be a Prime Mover (God).
- The Way of Efficient Cause: Every effect has a cause; there must be a First Cause (God).
- The Way of Contingency: Contingent beings depend on a necessary being; God is the necessary being.
- The Way of Degrees of Perfection: There are varying degrees of perfection, implying a perfect being (God).
- The Way of Governance: Beings act towards an end, implying a guiding intelligence (God).
To understand God’s essence, Aquinas proposes the way of eminence (attributing qualities to God in an infinite degree) and the negative way (excluding qualities unsuitable for God). God is simple, eternal, omnipresent, and immutable.
God created various beings: incorporeal beings (simple, perfect creatures without matter), humans (sentient beings with body and soul), and sensory and autonomic beings. The soul is the principle of life, the form of the body. Humans, through their souls, are made in God’s image. The soul is immortal and has vegetative, sensory, and rational functions.
Theory of Knowledge
Aquinas does not believe in innate ideas. Knowledge begins with sensory experience, which the intellect abstracts to form universal concepts. This process involves:
- Senses: The source of knowledge.
- Imagination/Memory: Registers particular representations.
- Abstract Understanding: Universalizes particular images, identifying common characteristics.
- Cognitive Understanding: Formulates universal concepts.
Concepts are instruments of knowledge. Individuals know particulars through imagination.
Ethics
St. Thomas’s ethics are hedonistic and teleological. The ultimate end of humanity is beatitude (absolute happiness), achieved through the vision of God and His grace. Actions are morally good if they lead to beatitude, and bad if they lead away from it. Happiness is not fully attainable in this life.
Law is the rational ordering imposed for the common good. Aquinas distinguishes three types of law:
- Eternal Law: God’s governance of the universe.
- Natural Law: Human participation in Eternal Law, the standard of morality.
- Positive Law: Human-made laws based on Natural Law, enabling social order.
Through Natural Law and fulfilling our duties, we attain human happiness. Supernatural happiness is attainable through divine grace.
Freedom is a fundamental property of the human mind. Actions should aim at the possession of God. Society allows humans to develop their skills. Government should be by the most qualified, guided by positive laws consistent with Natural Law and promoting the common good. The Church should ensure that positive laws align with Natural Law.
Historical Setting (13th Century)
Europe experienced significant conflict and war. The Carolingian Renaissance gave way to the formation of national monarchies and the rise of cities. St. Thomas’s philosophy emerged within this context.
Sociocultural Framework
Feudal society was hierarchical, with an emerging bourgeoisie. The Church, particularly mendicant orders like the Franciscans and Dominicans, held significant influence. Monasteries were centers of cultural life. Scholasticism flourished, coinciding with the rise of universities.
Philosophical Framework
Aquinas engaged with Aristotelianism and Augustinianism. He critiqued Averroes’ interpretation of Aristotle and the reactionary tendencies of some Franciscans. He addressed the relationship between reason and faith and the problem of universals.
Influences and Implications
Theology fundamentally shaped Aquinas’s thought. He sought to reconcile human life with God, drawing on St. Augustine and Aristotle. He integrated Aristotelian concepts of substance, matter, and form, adapting them to Christian theology. He maintained the immortality of the soul as a dogma of faith and emphasized the cognitive process starting with sensory experience and abstraction.