Thomism

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Thomas Aquinas (posthumous painting by Carlo Crivelli , 1476)

As Thomism a philosophical and theological teaching direction is referred to that in the late Middle Ages and in the modern era of the works of Thomas Aquinas joined (1225-1274). Their followers are called Thomists . In the 19th and beginning of the 20th century Thomism received significant support, especially from the Holy See . This was also underlined by Pope Leo XIII. (1878–1903) published encyclical Aeterni patris (1879) and the development of neo-scholasticism and neo-homism .

history

The doctor of the church Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was a Dominican , philosopher , theologian and scholastic . He was an analytical thinker and left behind works that made him one of the most important Catholic Church Doctors. His best-known works include the textbook of theology ( Summa theologiae ) and the textbook against the unbelieving peoples ( Summa contra gentiles ), in addition, he wrote commentaries on the Bible and on Aristotle . One of his early works is, for example, the well-known treatise De Regime principum , "On the rule of princes". With his writings he knew how to give theology the character of a science and how to show that faith and reason do not contradict one another. Pope Pius V (1566–1572) raised him to Doctor ecclesiae and Pope Leo XIII in 1567 . (1878–1902) declared Aquin's doctrine, "Thomism", to be the official philosophy of the Church in 1879 . With this declaration Leo XIII committed. the Catholic seminaries to follow the method and principles of the theory of Thomism. Thomas von Aquin created another philosophical basis with basic research on natural law . His doctrine of virtues , in which he describes the cardinal virtues as hinges on faith, is regarded in moral theology as a measure of human coexistence.

Periods of Thomism

Thomas Aquinas was a controversial person, he contributed to the promotion of Thomism through the freedom of expression at the time. The actual development of Thomism experienced different periods of time. The first period consisted of warding off criticism and ran through the 13th and 14th centuries. It was followed by commentary and defense between the 15th and 16th centuries. The next period was in the era of the Counter Reformation around the 16th and 17th. Century and led to the greatest spread of the Thomistic doctrine. It was not until the 19th century, after the emergence of Neuscholasticism , that Thomism - as Neuthomism - experienced a further upswing, including in 1879 with the appointment of Thomism as the official church philosophy.

13./14. century

The Scottish Franciscan Johannes Duns Scotus (1266–1308) turned against Thomism . He placed the will above the intellect because it first shows the direction of the intellectual interest. Scotus was closer to Augustinian Christianity than to cool Thomism. While the Dominicans pushed through the Thomistic concept early on, thinkers of the Franciscans such as Roger Bacon (1214–1294), who completely rejected scholasticism , designed alternatives. In Germany, Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) was one of the critics of Thomism, he skipped over the entire world order of Thomas Aquinas and relied on the relationship between God and soul. With Wilhelm von Ockham (1288-1349) another English Franciscan stepped up against the Thomistic conception and led with his modern ideas to the idealism of the modern age . He was followed by Nicolaus von Autrecourt (d. 1350) and Nikolaus von Oresme (1320–1382). In addition to the listed Franciscans, criticism also spread in the Dominican religious community . It was led by the French Dominican Durandus of St. Pourçain (d. 1334), who wrote an antithomistic commentary with which he joined the criticism of Wilhelm de la Mare 's (d. Around 1290).

15./16. century

Alongside other defenders of Thomism, the Thomist Johannes Capreolus (died 1444) came to the fore with his work “Defensiones Theologiae D. Thomae de Aquino”. The commentaries and defense writings on Thomism led the works “Summa theologiae” and “Summa contra gentiles” to university textbooks and reading books. The Italian Dominicans developed as further proponents of the Aquinas, headed by Cardinal Thomas Cajetan (1469–1534) and the order general Franciscus de Sylvestri . They also wrote noteworthy comments, which found their way into the so-called Editio Leonina .

16./17. century

In Spain Thomism experienced an upswing in the 16th century, with the " School of Salamanca ", to which Dominicans and Carmelites belonged, being in the lead. Her goal was to harmonize Thomism with the new order of the time. The impulses of the Counter Reformation and the Council of Trent (1545 and 1563) finally led to Thomas Aquinas being promoted to Doctor ecclesiae ( Doctor of the Church) in 1567 . The Thomism of Spanish scholasticism had an effect on the development of practical philosophy and European international law , the latter being promoted in particular by Hugo Grotius . The Dominican Domingo Báñez (1528–1604), who led the Thomist position in the dispute over grace with the Jesuit Luis de Molina (1535–1600), and the Dominican Bartolomé de Medina (* 1527, ✝ ) were considered to be important advocates and commentators in this phase 1580). They wrote trend-setting commentaries on Thomas Aquinas, while the Jesuits remained aloof from Thomism.

17./18. century

The most important Thomists of the 17th century are Johannes a Sancto Thoma (1589–1644) with his writings Cursus philosophicus and Cursus theologicus and Jean Baptiste Gonet (1616–1681) with his Clypeus theologiae thomistae contra novos eius impugnatores . In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Benedictine University of Salzburg, located in the German-speaking region, gained greater importance with regard to the spread of Thomism. Responsible for this were in particular the works of Paul Mezger ( Theologia thomisitico-scholastica Salisburgensis ) and Ludwig Babenstuber (1660–1726; Philosophia thomistica Salisburgensis ). "They document [...] a Thomism, which examines the programmatic connection to the tradition of Spanish, Italian and contemporary-French Dominican School, to the strictly Thomist Spanish scholasticism and the Thomas reception of the Discalced Carmelites" and subsequently as Salzburg Thomism became known .

From the 19th century

Now, in the epoch of Neuthomism, the Jesuits began to turn to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas. Neuthomism became the core of Neuscholasticism and had its first beginnings in France and Belgium . The turn to Thomism was recognized by Pope Leo XIII. to find who, as already mentioned, had made Thomism the official philosophy of the Church and who had included the founder's works in the Editio Leonina. With Neuthomism began a “philosophy according to Immanuel Kant ”, in which the early works of Aquinas such as De ente et essentia (“On beings and beings”) were used.

Thomas Aquinas (posthumous painting by Joos van Wassenhove , also Justus van Gent, around 1475)

Teaching content of Thomism

Thomism is a combination of theology and philosophy that originally came from scholasticism. Individual religious philosophers summarize the Thomistic interests, methods and theses as "Analytical Thomism", among them Alvin Plantinga (* 1932) and Josef Pieper (1904–1997).

Thomistic philosophy

The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas tried to connect with the philosophy and the teaching of Aristotle and to link these elements with the teaching of the Roman Catholic teaching. In the Summa theologica he presented a synthesis with which he wanted to prove an overall interpretation of reality between religion and philosophy.

The works of Aristotle became university foundations in the 13th century, which were disseminated by Albertus Magnus (around 1200–1280) and his pupil Thomas Aquinas. Thomistic philosophy was one of the most famous representatives of a correspondence or adequation theory of truth . In the Quaestiones disputatae de veritate the formulation of truth can be found as a "correspondence of the matter with the understanding": In the later philosophy of Thomism a distinction is made between a univoken and an analog understanding of being.

Philosophical-theological features

The main work of the scholastic theologian Petrus Lombardus (around 1095 / 1100–1160) are the four books "Sententiae", the sentences written there are a representation of the church fathers and church teachers on the totality of theology. They found their way into Thomism and were later used by Capreolus to comment on it. Since the 13th century his work has been part of the standard of theological study and was commented on by Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. The “Summa theologiae” from the period from 1265 to 1273 is rated as the main work of Thomas Aquinas. It deals with the philosophical-theological doctrine of God , the doctrine of morality and virtue - also known as cardinal virtues - as well as Christology and the sacraments . This analytical work, provided with many philosophical elements, is so important for Thomism that the revelation of God is to be presented in it and consequences are sought through a natural theology . Philosophically, it spans the areas of metaphysics , anthropology and moral philosophy . The sum of theology is not only about answering theological questions, but also about the presentation of philosophical presuppositions and conditions.

Proof of God

In Thomism the proof of God lies in the necessity between reason and faith . They hold the view that the existence of God can be understood through reason. For the Thomistic doctrine the world is a systematically transparent arrangement through which things reach a higher degree of perfection. The Thomistic proof of God is based on a world control (gubernatio rerum), according to which there is a being at the very highest point who is able to set goals, "and that is what we call God," says Thomas Aquinas.

Ontology of Thomas Aquinas

The science of being and its principles - as ontology called - in Thomas Aquinas can be represented as follows: A key element of Thomistic ontology is the doctrine of the "analogy of being", that means that the concept of being ambiguous, but analog is . By and large, these considerations about “being” take up a small place in Thomism, rather they are a logical conception of how we should view the different meanings of the term “being”. Another important distinction is that of matter and form .

Thomism and Inquisition

The Dominicans made since the introduction of the Inquisition in the early 13th century in the pontifical mandate inquisitors for the detection and prosecution of heretics . In addition to inquisitors from the ranks of other orders, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans worked as inquisitors throughout the Middle Ages, especially in France, Italy and the Holy Roman Empire . Thomism provided the theoretical basis for the Inquisition. For heretics Aquinas called in his Summa Theologica the excommunication and the death penalty .

Thomistic educational institutions (selection)

Today there are several educational establishments and institutes around the world in which the methods and teachings of Thomas Aquinas are taught and scientifically developed. If they are in the hands of the church, they are predominantly led by Dominicans.

literature

  • Emmanuel Bauer: Thomistic Metaphysics at the old Benedictine University of Salzburg. Presentation and interpretation of a philosophical school of the 17th / 18th centuries Century. Innsbruck-Vienna (Tyrolia) 1996, ISBN 3702220267 .
  • David Berger , Jörgen Vijgen (Ed.): Thomistenlexikon , Nova & Vetera, Bonn 2006, ISBN 978-3-936741-37-7 .
  • David Berger: Thomism: Great leitmotifs of the Thomistic synthesis and their topicality for the present , Books on Demand, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3831116202 .
  • Jan Bor, Errit Petersma (ed.): Illustrated history of philosophy. Scherz Verlag, Bern / Munich / Vienna, 1st edition 1995, ISBN 3-502-15057-5 .
  • Romanus Cessario: A Short History of Thomism , The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC 2005. Reviews by J. Holmes , A. Freddoso (PDF; 82 kB)
  • Etienne Gilson : Le Thomisme. Introduction à la philosophie de Saint Thomas d'Aquin , Coll. Etudes de philosophie médiévale, 1, Librairie J. Vrin, Paris 1948.
  • Leonard A. Kennedy: A catalog of Thomists, 1270 - 1900 , Center for Thomistic Studies, Univ. of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas 1987, ISBN 0-268-00763-2 .
  • Ralph McInerny : Thomism in an age of renewal , University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, London 1968.
  • Craig Paterson (Ed.): Analytical Thomism: traditions in dialogue , Aldershot: Ashgate 2006, ISBN 978-0-7546-3438-6 .
  • Fernand van Steenberghen : Le Thomisme , Que sais-je? Vol. 587, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1983, ISBN 2-13-037749-1 .

Magazines

  • Revue thomiste , revue doctrinale de théologie et de philosophie, published by the Dominicans in Toulouse [23] .
  • Doctor Angelicus , International Thomistic Yearbook [24] .
  • The Thomist, a Theological and Philosophical Quarterly , published by the Dominican Fathers of the St. Joseph Province, USA [25] .
  • Divus Thomas . This Italian edition of the magazine ( Bologna ) was the first in the world to be devoted exclusively to St. Thomas dedicated [26] .
  • Ciencia Tomista , Spanish edition ( Salamanca ) of a Thomistic script [27] .

Web links

Wiktionary: Thomism  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Uwe Wesel : History of the law. From the early forms to the present . 3rd revised and expanded edition, Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-47543-4 , p. 321 f.
  2. ^ The medieval aristocratic culture - philosophy and intellectual history. In: Cultural History of Europe - From Antiquity to the Present. Ed .: Dr. Fritz Winzer, Neumann & Göbel Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne, pages 272, 295 and 340.
  3. ↑ Cultural History of Europe - From Antiquity to the Present, Ed .: Dr. Fritz Winzer, Neumann & Göbel Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne, page 340/341.
  4. ↑ Karl Forster , The Defense of the Doctrine of St. Thomas from the God Show by Johannes Capreolus , (Award-winning book by the theological faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich), (= Munich Theological Studies, 2., Systematic Department, Volume 9); (At the same time university publication, Munich, Theological Faculty, dissertation from July 5, 1952) Munich 1955.
  5. ↑ The Editio Leonina is a critical edition of all the works of Thomas Aquinas, it was published by Pope Leo XIII. entrusted to the Dominican Order. It is one of the most valuable handwritten traditions, this is especially true for the scholastic texts. [1]
  6. ^ A b Franz Wieacker : History of private law in the modern age with special consideration of the German development . 2nd Edition. Göttingen 1967, DNB 458643742 (1996, ISBN 3-525-18108-6 ). Pp. 265 and 289.
  7. ^ Emmanuel Bauer: Thomistic Metaphysics at the old Benedictine University of Salzburg. Presentation and interpretation of a philosophical school of the 17th and 18th centuries. A research report . In: Information Philosophie 4/1998, p. 82.
  8. ↑ CORPUS THOMISTICUM Editio Leonina (Works by Thomas Aquinas)
  9. ↑ See e.g. B. Marian David:  The Correspondence Theory of Truth. In: Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . . Compared to today's correspondence theories, however, there are also differences. B. point out: John Milbank, Catherine Pickstock: Truth in Aquinas. Routledge 2001, e.g. BS 6ff. A systematic elaboration of similarities and differences between the Thomasian adequacy theory of truth and today's correspondence theories of truth developed z. B. Tobias Davids: Truth as correspondence and adequation , reflections on the conception of truth by Thomas Aquinas, in: Philosophisches Jahrbuch 113/1 (2006), 63-77. There is also further literature on the subject.
  10. ↑ Sancti Thomae de Aquino -Quaestiones disputatae de veritate
  11. ↑ Cf. Thomas Aquinas: Quaestiones disputatae de veritate q.1.a.1.
  12. ↑ Thuringian University and State Library: Petrus Lombardus: Sententiae. Lib. 1 - 4, France 13th century 2nd half [2]
  13. ^ Josef Pieper : The four-team - cleverness, justice, bravery, measure . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-466-40171-2
  14. ↑ Otto Hermann Pesch in: Die deutsche Thomas-Ausgabe Vol. 13 Das Gesetz (I-II, 90-105; ISBN 3-222-10596-0 ), introduction p. 533
  15. ↑ gubernatio: steering a ship or, figuratively speaking, the government, steering, management [3]
  16. ↑ Thomas von Aquino: Sum of theology , summarized, introduced and explained by Joseph Bernhart , Volume I: God and Creation , Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 1938, p. 25
  17. ↑ Thomas Aquinas: De veritate . q.2 a.11. Quoted in Josef de Vries : Analogy . In: Basic Concepts of Scholasticism . 3rd edition Darmstadt 1993, ISBN 3-534-05985-9 .
  18. ↑ On excommunication, in: Thomas von Aquin, Sum der Theologie [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
  19. ↑ On the death penalty, in: Thomas von Aquin, Sum der Theologie, [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
  20. ↑ Rome: Thomist Congress on Christian Humanism 2003