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"An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas" is an
accessible Aquinas and a solid entry into his work. The format is
manageable, and the scope, appropriately limited. James F.
Anderson's skillful collection and lucid translation makes the
pleasure of reading Aquinas available as it has not been before.
The Book of Causes, highly influential in the medieval university,
was commonly but incorrectly understood to be the completion of
Aristotle's metaphysics. It was Thomas Aquinas who first judged it
to have been abstracted from Proclus's Elements of Theology,
presumably by an unknown Arabic author, who added to it ideas of
his own. The Book of Causes is of particular interest because
themes that appear in it are echoed in the metaphysics of Aquinas:
its treatment of being (esse) as proceeding from the First Creating
Cause; the triadic scheme of being, living, and knowing; and the
general scheme of participation in which "all is in all." Thus, the
Book of Causes provides a historical backdrop for understanding and
appreciating Aquinas's development of these themes in his
metaphysics. Thomas's Commentary on the Book of Causes, composed
during the first half of 1272, is a distinct philosophical work in
its own right. It provides an extended view of his approach to
Neoplatonic thought and functions as a guide to his metaphysics.
Though long neglected and, until now, never translated into
English, it deserves an equal place alongside his commentaries on
Aristotle and Boethius. In addition to the extensive annotation,
bibliography, and thorough introduction, this translation is
accompanied by two valuable appendices. The first provides a
translation of another version of proposition 29 of the Book of
Causes, which was not known to St. Thomas. The second lists
citations of the Book of Causes found in the works of St. Thomas
and cross-references these to a list showing the works, and the
exact location within them, where the citations can be found.
Among the great works of Thomas Aquinas, the ""Commentary on the
Sentences of Peter Lombard"" has suffered almost total neglect
among translators. Such neglect is surprising, considering that the
massive Commentary - more than 4,000 pages in the last printed
edition - is not only Aquinas' first systematic engagement with all
the philosophical and theological topics on which he expended his
energy over the span of a short career but is also characterized by
an exuberance and elaborateness seldom found in his subsequent
writings. Although Chenu had already drawn attention decades ago to
the importance of studying this youthful tour de force for a fuller
understanding of Thomas' more mature work, the ""Commentary on the
Sentences"" has remained a closed book for many modern students of
Thomistic and medieval thought because of its relative
inaccessibility in English or in Latin.The present volume,
containing all the major texts on love and charity, makes available
what is by far the most extensive translation ever to be made from
the Commentary with the added benefit that the better part of the
translation is based on the (as yet unpublished) critical edition
of the Leonine Commission. The collection of texts from all four
books has a tight thematic coherence that makes it invaluable to
students of Thomas' moral philosophy, moral theology, and
philosophical theology. In addition, the inclusion of parallel
texts from Aquinas' first (Parisian) Commentary as well as from his
second (Roman) attempt at a commentary, the recently rediscovered
""Lectura Romana"", makes this edition all the more valuable for
those who wish to track the internal development of Thomas'
thinking on these matters.The new availability of so many rich
passages from the ""Commentary on the Sentences"" will encourage
and facilitate use of a magnificent resource that deserves to be
better known.
In his sixth-century work commonly known as the De hebdomadibus,
Boethius (ca. 480-524) poses the question of how created things or
substances can be good just as they are - that is, good just by
existing - without being the same as the source of all goodness,
God, who is understood to be Goodness Itself. In his commentary
written in the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas sets out to
explain the problem Boethius is treating as well as to explicate
Boethius's solution. In doing so, however, the Angelic Doctor
suggests a more developed analysis of goodness, based on his own
metaphysical perspective. Still, his view can be seen to continue
the emphasis Boethius himself placed on the notion of creation -
bringing into being - as crucial to understanding the issues at
hand. The introduction to this translation provides critical
historical background, including an account of the influence of
Cicero and Augustine, for understanding Boethius's view of being,
or esse. Based on historical and textual analysis, the authors
reaffirm the ""traditional"" interpretation, which holds that for
Boethius esse indicates form rather than a distinct act of being.
In articulating the difference between Boethius's and Aquinas's
positions on esse and on goodness, and hence the relation of esse
and goodness, Schultz and Synan show not only that Aquinas was
respectful of Boethius's stance, but that his own position could be
seen as a development in harmony with his predecessor's thought.
The English translation itself, in facing-page format with the 1992
Leonine critical edition of Aquinas's Latin text, remains faithful
to the text and at the same time clear and readable.
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