Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act

Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act PDF Author: Can Laurens Löwe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108988660
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
This book offers a novel account of Aquinas's theory of the human act. It argues that Aquinas takes a human act to be a composite of two power-exercises, where one relates to the other as form to matter. The formal component is an act of the will, and the material component is a power-exercise caused by the will, which Aquinas refers to as the 'commanded act.' The book also argues that Aquinas conceptualizes the act of free choice as a hylomorphic composite: it is, materially, an act of the will, but it inherits a form from reason. As the book aims to show, the core idea of Aquinas's hylomorphic action theory is that the exercise of one power can structure the exercise of another power, and this provides a helpful way to think of the presence of cognition in conation and of intention in bodily movement.

Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act

Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act PDF Author: Can Laurens Löwe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108988660
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book

Book Description
This book offers a novel account of Aquinas's theory of the human act. It argues that Aquinas takes a human act to be a composite of two power-exercises, where one relates to the other as form to matter. The formal component is an act of the will, and the material component is a power-exercise caused by the will, which Aquinas refers to as the 'commanded act.' The book also argues that Aquinas conceptualizes the act of free choice as a hylomorphic composite: it is, materially, an act of the will, but it inherits a form from reason. As the book aims to show, the core idea of Aquinas's hylomorphic action theory is that the exercise of one power can structure the exercise of another power, and this provides a helpful way to think of the presence of cognition in conation and of intention in bodily movement.

The Specification of Human Actions in St Thomas Aquinas

The Specification of Human Actions in St Thomas Aquinas PDF Author: Joseph Pilsner
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191608696
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Thomas Aquinas believed that human actions have species, such as theft or almsgiving. A problem arises, however, concerning his teaching on how such moral kinds are determined. Aquinas uses five different terms - end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive - to identify what gives species to human actions. Although similarities in meaning can be discerned between certain of these terms, apparent differences between others make it difficult to grasp how all five could refer to what specifies human actions. Joseph Pilsner examines and compares Aquinas's understanding of these five terms to see if a consistent account of his teaching on specification can be proposed.

Aquinas's Ethics

Aquinas's Ethics PDF Author: Thomas M. Osborne Jr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110858683X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description
This Element provides an account of Thomas Aquinas's moral philosophy that emphasizes the intrinsic connection between happiness and the human good, human virtue, and the precepts of practical reason. Human beings by nature have an end to which they are directed and concerning which they do not deliberate, namely happiness. Humans achieve this end by performing good human acts, which are produced by the intellect and the will, and perfected by the relevant virtues. These virtuous acts require that the agent grasps the relevant moral principles and uses them in particular cases.

Perfecting Human Actions

Perfecting Human Actions PDF Author: John Michael Rziha
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 0813216729
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
During the last few centuries, a practical dichotomy between God and humans has developed within moral theory. As a result, moral theory tends to focus only on humans where human autonomy is foundational or only on God where divine commands capriciously rule. However, the moral theology of Thomas Aquinas overcomes this dichotomy. For Thomas, humans reach their perfection by participating in God's wisdom and love. Perfecting Human Actions explores the ways humans participate in eternal law--God's wisdom that guides and moves all things to their proper action. The book begins with a thoughtful examination of the philosophic recovery of the notion of participation in Thomistic metaphysics. It then explains Thomas's theological understanding of the notion of participation to show how humans are related to God. It is discovered that when performing human actions, humans participate in the eternal law in two ways: as moved and governed by it, and cognitively. In reference to participation as moved and governed, humans are directed by God to their proper end of eternal happiness. This mode of participation can be increased by perfecting the natural inclinations through virtue, grace, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In reference to cognitive participation, humans as rational creatures can know their proper end and how to attain it. Through this knowledge of moral truths, the intellect participates in the eternal law. Cognitive participation is perfected by the intellectual virtues (especially faith) and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (especially wisdom). The book concludes by showing how the notion of human participation in the eternal law is a much better foundation for moral theory than the contemporary notion of autonomy. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Rziha is associate professor of theology at Benedictine College. PRAISE FOR THE BOOK: " A] competent and indeed masterful study. . . . Rziha's book is to be welcomed as not just an important, but indeed an overdue contribution to the contemporary recovery of Aquinas's moral theory. More importantly, this study is of surpassing importance in advancing the correct understanding of the relationship between human freedom and natural law. . . . Rziha's lucidly written and well-documented study displays all the characteristics of a competent and learned interpretation of the thought of the doctor communis according to the highest standards of current Aquinas scholarship."--Reinhard Hutter, Thomist "Rziha explores at length the two modes by which human participate in God's eternal law: as moved and governed by it and as having knowledge of it. . . . T]his book proves to be something of a comprehensive course in Thomistic thought. This project is supported by extensive and meticulous footnote reverences to texts of Aquinas." --Janine Marie Idziak, Speculum

Human Action in Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham

Human Action in Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham PDF Author: Thomas M. Osborne Jr.
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 0813221781
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
This book sets out a thematic presentation of human action, especially as it relates to morality, in the three most significant figures in Medieval Scholastic thought: Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham

Action and Conduct

Action and Conduct PDF Author: Stephen Louis Brock
Publisher: T&T Clark
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Stephen Brock examines the relation between conduct and physical action, or between the 'will' and the real events which it effects in the world, through the works of Thomas Aquinas.Few thinkers have devoted more attention to this topic than Thomas, who has influenced mainstream modern analytic philosophy through (among others) G. E. M. Anscombe, Anthony Kenny, Roderick Chisolm and the late Alan Donagan.Demonstrating an exhaustive knowledge of Thomas and of contemporary theories of action, Professor Brock provides a new interpretation of Thomas' thought on human action and exposes the incoherence of theories which place an exclusive emphasis on the morality of subjective intention

The Philosophy Of Aquinas

The Philosophy Of Aquinas PDF Author: Robert Pasnau
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100030437X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
This book introduces Thomas Aquinas's own principal fascinations in philosophy: rational theology, metaphysics, human nature, philosophy of mind, and value theory. It offers an introduction to his overarching explanatory framework in a distinctive deployment of an approach familiar from Aristotle.

A Summary of Philosophy

A Summary of Philosophy PDF Author: Thomas Aquinas
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1603840745
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
This compact collection of philosophical texts from the Summa Theologica--on God, creation, the soul, human acts, moral good and evil, love, habits, virtue, and law--is presented newly translated in abridged form and cast in a modified version of the medieval quaestio. Included are only the most important objections and Aquinas’ replies; appeals to scriptural, theological, and philosophical authorities have been omitted. Unlike the ordering of the originals, questions and answers are here presented prior to objections and replies; the result is a sharp, rich, topically organized question-answer presentation of Aquinas' major philosophical arguments within a brief compass. A general Introduction, headnotes, a glossary, an index, and a select bibliography offer expert guidance to the work of this major philosopher.

An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas

An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description


On Law, Morality, and Politics (Second Edition)

On Law, Morality, and Politics (Second Edition) PDF Author: Thomas Aquinas
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1603840737
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
The second edition of Aquinas, On Law, Morality, and Politicsretains the selection of texts presented in the first edition but offers them in new translations by Richard J. Regan--including that of his Aquinas, Treatise on Law (Hackett, 2000). A revised Introduction and glossary, an updated select bibliography, and the inclusion of summarizing headnotes for each of the units--Conscience, Law, Justice, Property, War and Killing, Obedience and Rebellion, and Practical Wisdom and Statecraft—further enhance its usefulness.