Reviews for Aquinas : Selected Writings

The average rating for Aquinas : Selected Writings based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-03-26 00:00:00 John Ybarra These selected works of Aquinas gave me a great peek in to the middle age thinkers through the lens of Aquinas. He understands them well and quotes them extensively. The editor's one page summary of each chapter gave an exciting background and some necessary insights for understanding what was to follow in each chapter. That and the editor's choice of selections made this book a real nice find for me. I'm grateful that I didn't get a copy of the the Summa Theologia and found this book instead. The Summa by itself would mostly bore me. It would have taken me forever to have finished and I'd still be stumped regarding such questions as: do angels have intellect or not? The real question to me would be who is stupid enough to believe in angels? I've read about Aquinas from various modern authors who would talk about him, but after these 800 plus pages in his own words I have a real understanding of how he thought. Aristotle is always long winded. Aquinas is not. Aquinas takes "The Philosopher" and reworks him with in this framework and explains how to reconcile reason with his faith. It's a work of art to behold. No matter what the question Aquinas has a way of explaining his view point with logic. Also, even when Aquinas is explaining what Boethius meant by "being", you'll see the magic of Aquinas at work. He'll reword the work under consideration and explain it in such a way that is clear what Boethius was trying to say, but in some kind of peripatetic fashion even though in the case of Boethius he usually was speaking in Platonic terms. Science was saved by Aquinas. I can say that with near certainty after having read these selections. The way he approaches his religion through logic allows for science. Cause and effect is always in his dialectic. There's an appeal for principles (or rules, or laws) that lurk with in his arguments. I kept on seeing other more modern philosophers thoughts pop up in these selections. I wonder if they had read Aquinas or if Aquinas was just ahead of his time. "Knowledge is higher to the degree that it is more unified and extends to more things", that's very similar to Nietzsche with his "there are no truths but just perspectives and the greatest perspective is the one that includes the most truth". At the heart of living is understanding 'being' and 'truth'. It's safe to say, that Aquinas' world view is not mine, but he always gives a good argument. He'll say multiple places that "something can never be the cause of itself", but he'll say elsewhere that God (the prime mover) and conscience are each causes of them self. I'm not criticizing, just pointing out that most philosophers need a ground somewhere. I noticed that Heidegger did the same for conscience in "Being and Time". Aquinas has to give man 'free will' beyond what Augustine allows. He does that by giving us our own conscience from itself. Spinoza in his "Ethics" takes Aristotle and gives a completely necessary universe with no free will (cause and effect), but Aquinas can't allow that in his Catholic system. He really does overturn Augustine, but at the same time, he uses Augustine as his second favorite philosopher. Never trust what other people say about great thinkers. I read all the selections in this book. Even the overtly dogmatic selections, because Aquinas has an approach worth knowing. I would never suggest this book for someone who has not first read Aristotle's "Metaphysics" or "Ethics". It would probably lead to frustration and little understanding.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-11-05 00:00:00 Fred Van Holst Of the Selected Writings, I read: -The Inaugural Sermons -On the Principles of Nature -On Being and Essence -The Nature of Theology -Proof of God's Existence -The Human Good -On Goodness and the Goodness of God -Definitions of Soul -On the Ultimate End -On Human Choice Most of these sections were read at least twice. Most were read many more than two times. I supplemented my reading with four books ABOUT the writings of Aquinas. I have never been more thoroughly over a book in my life. Atheists need to read Aquinas. Not because he presents a convincing argument for the existence of God. But because he presents a deeply compelling and logically sound argument against atheism. And frankly, for the more strident and less learned atheists of the world (most of them), reading Aquinas would remove a lot of the duds from their arsenal of weapons frequently lobbed against religion.* A background in Aristotle would have been extremely helpful in my reading of these selections. Aquinas thinks and writes in a highly abstract state. Sometimes his concepts were so elusive that I almost had to meditate to reach some transcendental state of complete detachment from everything I thought I understood. And if I did it just right I could sometimes grasp his reasoning for one fraction of one second. Just long enough to understand that he was on to something. It was very difficult reading but I did find that with a dogged determination and enough coffee you can slog on and eventually it does become a little easier to understand the way he writes and presents arguments. A SOLID background in traditional logic would have been extremely helpful in my reading of these selections. My 15-year old seemed to come to an understanding with Aquinas more rapidly than I did. Is this because she's smarter than I am. Yes. Kind of. But I think there's a benefit to reading philosophy before your mind has fully gelled. That being said, time travel is still in the early stages of development and I can only read it at the age I am now. Save yourselves. *Edited to add that I am an atheist of long-standing and remain so even after this reading.