Summa Theologica

Wills of the Willing Saint Thomas Aquinas, a renowned philosopher of the 13th century, once stated in The Summa Theologica that “if we speak of the will as a power, thus it extends both to the end and to the means” (l-ll, Q.8. Article 2). Aquinas’ goal through this quotation was to convey that a person’s will and motivation in life represents the only source of true happiness, and that a means to a certain end can only be achieved by taking control of a situation and having the strength to pull…

While conventionally it would be the job of the critic, not the critiqued, to theorize as to the author’s ulterior motives in presenting, in this case, the plainly unreasonable as theory and pedagogy, they in a radical turn however have provided an account of their own skullduggery (likely on the admittedly safe assumption that no one outside the field of writing studies would make it more than 3 pages into this work.) “Reimagining FYC as Intro to Writing Studies might create more natural…

War and conflict have been a part of the human experience for most of recorded history, and many scholars use the concept of just war to analyse wars in their own time and in the past, and to consider how to create long lasting peace. Just war theory forms the basis of much of international law today, and still can be used to analyse modern day conflict, such as the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Just war theory in its most coherent form was first discussed by Saint Thomas…

did not write any treatise on economics itself and merely tackled economics under the cardinal virtue of justice. In Question Seventy-seven (77) of the Second Part of the Second Part of Summa Theologica, sins committed when buying or selling is discussed. From here, along with other sections of the Summa Theologica one will be able to grasp the economic theory of Thomas Aquinas of the just price. Firstly, it must be established that Aquinas is in favor of the ownership of properties, and even…

In the Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas claims that there must be a first efficient cause to existence and that therefore a chain of causes cannot infinitely continue. This is also known as Aquinas’ second way. An efficient cause is an agent that brings about a change or an effect. Aquinas uses the term to argue that a first efficient cause is needed in order for there to be existence. I will argue that there can be more than one first cause, since Aquinas never explicitly stated that there is…

God and Humanity Paper Thomas Aquinas and Karl Rahner are two major Christian thinkers that have helped shape Christian thought into what it is today. Thomas Aquinas, also known as St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), was a Dominican friar and a Catholic priest who was an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism. At the age of five he was sent to a Benedictine monastery, and later on decided to leave but wanted to remain religious so he joined the Dominicans…

In his Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas proposes the idea that perfection is unachievable for mortal humans and that only the “Divine Essence” -an immortal- is capable of obtaining this theoretical idea of perfected happiness. Modern culture, especially through the application of music, often promises society the glory of perfection and portrays imperfections as defects of the human mind, body, and soul. However, a modern pop song, “Something Just Like This,” collaboratively performed by…

I. Introduction A. History Background of Suicide Suicide, as we all know, raises many ethical debates throughout the history in the society. Most people see it as a morally wrong action but others claimed it as an ethical action. Suicide is the act of killing oneself wherein the guilty and the victim therein is the person him/herself. Looking at the history, people of the ancient city-states (especially the Greeks and Latinos) does not regard self-killing as a legal act and there is no such…

I am a perfectionist, a firm believer that if one puts enough dedication and effort, any personality flaw can be corrected. However, it was not until I read a couple of books from Josh MacDowell and sections of Summa Theologica that I understood this valuable principle. While undergoing physical development, I was frequently called arrogant. Although this labeling was sometimes based on a superficial evaluation of my personality; eventually, I understood that no matter what my opinion was if I…

scholasticism was to link reason to faith beliefs which conflicted the great works of Aristotle. Aristotle’s writings were based solely on reason and rationale which caused alarm and anxiety for Christians. This conflict led to Aquinas’ masterpiece, Summa Theologica, in which he attempted to harmonize faith and…