Thomas Aquinas Essence and Existence. F. Aquinas' doctrine of essence and existence. Combination of form and matter

Based largely on the teachings of Aristotle, Aquinas regarded God as the root cause and ultimate goal of existence, as a "pure form", "pure actuality". The essence of everything corporeal lies in the unity of form and matter. They are the real supersensible inner principles that form every real thing, everything bodily in general. According to Aquinas, matter is only the recipient of successive forms, "pure potentiality", because only thanks to the form a thing is a thing of a certain kind and type. In addition, the form acts as the target cause of the formation of a thing. And the reason for the individual originality of things (the principle of individuation) is the "impressed" matter of this or that individual.

Based on the late Aristotle, Aquinas canonized the Christian understanding of the relationship between the ideal and the material as the ratio of the original principle of form ("the principle of order") with the oscillating and unsteady principle of matter ("the weakest form of being"). The fusion of the first principle of form and matter gives rise, according to Aquinas, to the world of individual phenomena. This last provision put an end to the i in one of the most controversial issues of Christian scholasticism.

Forming Christianity, and hence scholasticism, could not help but be preoccupied with the interpretation of their attitude to matter, since the third hypostasis of the supreme absolute deity - Jesus Christ - was, according to the Bible, revealed in the form of a man, i.e. united both divine (ideal) and human (material-bodily) nature. The very fact of this unification did not make it possible to completely ignore matter as "nothing" (which was required by the dogma of creation from nothing), therefore, the qualification of matter by Aquinas with the help of a whole system of refined reasoning as the "weakest form of being" was perceived by the church as a way out of a logical impasse . Matter thus received a partial "justification" in scholasticism. Following Aristotle, Aquinas divided the existing into substances and accidents. Accidents, i.e. attributes, properties of a substance (quality, quantity, relation, place, time, etc.) are definitions of a substance.

Five Proofs for the Existence of God

In order to convince those who doubt faith, one must resort to philosophy, which performs a service role, in particular, it can help prove the existence of God, which is not obvious. Therefore, a person must, for his salvation, comprehend this in the way that is more intelligible to him. The methods of natural comprehension of truth can be twofold. The first way is to determine the cause (propter quid), the second is to know the cause through the effect (quia). Thomas Aquinas demonstrates the quia method by putting forward five proofs for the existence of God.

• 1. The first proof is that which is given in experience to every man—in motion. One communicates movement to another, another to a third, and so on. But it is impossible for this to continue indefinitely. It is necessary to conceive of a prime mover, which itself is not driven by anything. This is God.
• 2. The second way, also based on sense data, refers to productive causes that have their effects. The chain of causes and effects also cannot go to infinity, therefore "there is the first producing cause, which everyone calls God."
• 3. The third proof comes from the concepts of possibility and necessity. The human mind finds among things those that may or may not be. It is impossible for all things of this kind to exist eternally, but it is also impossible for all things to be accidental. There must be something necessary. And this necessary must have its own reasons, which cannot go to infinity, which is clear from the previous proof. Therefore, it is necessary to assume a certain necessary essence, which does not have an external cause of its necessity, but itself constitutes the cause of necessity for all others. This is God.
• 4. The fourth proof concerns the degrees of perfection, truth, and nobility of various things. To determine this degree, it is necessary to have a certain essence, which will be the ultimate degree of all blessings and perfections. And this, according to Aquinas, is God.
• 5. The fifth proof comes from "the order of nature." All things in nature, devoid of reason, are nevertheless arranged expediently. It follows that their activity is directed by "someone gifted with reason and understanding, as a shooter directs an arrow." Therefore, there is a rational being that provides goals for everything that happens in nature. This intelligent being is God.

From all of the above, it follows that Thomas in his theodicy (justification of God) relieves him of responsibility for evil and places this heavy burden on the shoulders of an imperfect person. The consolation here is that in man, according to Thomas, the intellect prevails over the will, he is nobler than the will. A person wants to find bliss, but it does not consist in an act of will, but in the triumph of reason striving for the highest good. Since it is not given to a person to know the fullness of the divine Good and perfection, a person, each time choosing, can make a mistake, but this is where his freedom is manifested. Practical reason, knowing ethical problems, recognizes good and evil by experience. Everything that corresponds to reason is good, everything that contradicts it is evil. Thanks to Thomas Aquinas, these ideas were firmly rooted in the culture of the Western European tradition and existed until the middle of the 19th century, when the philosophical irrationalism of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and others appeared.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

St. Petersburg University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Department of Philosophy, Political Science and Sociology

Discipline: Philosophy

The main provisions of the theory of being of Thomas Aquinas

Is done by a student

Kameneva Xenia

Saint Petersburg 2014

Introduction

The Middle Ages occupies a long period of European history from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the Renaissance (XIV-XV centuries). The philosophy that took shape during this period had two main sources of its formation. The first of these is ancient Greek philosophy, primarily in its Platonic and Aristotelian traditions. The second source is Holy Scripture, which turned this philosophy into the mainstream of Christianity.

The idealistic orientation of most of the philosophical systems of the Middle Ages was dictated by the main dogmas of Christianity, among which the most important were such as the dogma of the personal form of the creator god, and the dogma of the creation of the world by God "out of nothing". Under the conditions of such a cruel religious dictate, supported by state power, philosophy was declared a "servant of religion", in which all philosophical issues were resolved from the position of theocentrism, creationism, providentialism.

1. Thomas Aquinas

Born in 1225 (26) in the castle of Roccasecca near Aquino in the Kingdom of Naples (Southern Italy). His father is Italian Landolfo, Count of Aquinas, and his mother is Norman Theodora. He was brought up and studied at the monastery of Monte Cassino, and then in Naples (1239-1244), where he met the Dominicans. In 1224, despite the objection of the family, he entered the Dominican order. Educated under the leadership of Albert the Great in Paris (1245-1248) and Cologne (1248-1252) universities. He taught in Paris (1256-1259), as well as in Rome and Naples.

Thomas left a great creative legacy, including writings on theology, philosophy, social order and law. His other works also received fame: “On the Eternity of the World”, “On the Unity of the Theological Intellect”, “On Being and Essence”, “On the Principles of Nature”, “On Controversial Questions of Truth”, commentaries on the work of Boethius “On the Trinity”, and etc. Persistent systematic work undermined the health of the thinker. However, he continued to work until the end of his days (March 7, 1274), and to his doctor’s exhortations to stop working, he replied: “I can’t, because everything that I wrote seems to me rubbish, from the point of view of what I saw and what was revealed to me." After the death of Thomas, he was given the title of "angelic doctor". In 1323, by decision of the papal curia, Thomas was canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican has not awarded such an honor to any religious philosopher, either before or after Aquinas. The main provisions of the teachings of Thomas form the basis of modern Catholic Christian philosophy.

Thomas Aquinas built a hierarchy of beingness of things. According to Thomas, there are substantial and accidental forms; substances exist in themselves, accidents exist only in connection with substances. At the lower level of being, the form gives things only external certainty (substances and minerals), at the next level, the form is presented as the final cause, and things at this level (plants) have an internal expediency. At the next stage, the (animals) of form appear as the active cause. Finally, the highest stage of being is form as spirit, that is, a form that is not an organizing principle for matter, but acts independently, by itself. It is for this reason that the human soul is immortal. Only the human soul has faculties of thought and will, which it can exercise independently of the body; at lower levels these abilities are not represented.

Philosophy and Theology.

The main merit of Aquinas is his detailed and deep development of the main issue of medieval scholasticism - the question of the relationship between faith and reason, theology and philosophy. The essence of the question was in relation to the truths of Holy Scripture and the truths of reason.

Thomas proceeds from the principle of a harmonious combination of theology and philosophy, for both are turned to God, man, and the world. However, according to the views of the thinker, turning to the world, to man is possible only in the context of revelation - this is the initial position of Thomas. Justifying this position, he writes: “For the salvation of the human, it was necessary that, in addition to the philosophical disciplines that are based on the human mind, there was some science based on divine revelation ... this is necessary because ... for a person it is necessary for his salvation to know something that escapes from his mind, through divine revelation."

Revelation does not contain anything that is contrary to reason, but nevertheless, the possibilities of the mind are limited. Therefore, not everything can be rationally substantiated and proven.

Therefore, "it is necessary that the philosophical disciplines, which derive their knowledge from reason, be supplemented by a science sacred and based on revelation" - theology. At the same time, Thomas distinguishes “the theology of the Holy Doctrine - God, his attitude to the world and man, as well as the consciousness of a believing Christian. Sacred doctrine "accepts on faith the principles taught to it by God."

The problematic field of philosophical theology is determined by the solution of four tasks, namely: confirmation of the existence of God, determination of the nature of God, knowledge of the relationship between God and the world, comprehension of the relationship between God and man.

For Thomas, philosophical, or, as he himself called it, "natural" theology is based on positions directly "discovered" by the natural cognitive ability of the mind. As for the theology of the Holy Doctrine, it is based on the provisions “explained by another higher science; the latter is the knowledge that God possesses, as well as those who are blessed.”

Thomas Aquinas - harmony and synthesis

Medieval philosophy, often called scholasticism, is divided into three periods:

.Early scholasticism, from the 400s. until the 1200s In many ways, this period is associated with Augustine and Neoplatonism close to him. Its outstanding figures were the Irish monk John Scotus Eriugena, Anselm of Canterbury, as well as the skeptical Frenchman Peter Abelard, who, in particular, contributed to the honing of the scholastic method of raising and discussing philosophical questions.

.Mature scholasticism, from the 1200s. until the first decades of the fourteenth century. The outstanding of this era of grandiose systems and synthesis were Albert the Great, his student Thomas Aquinas and Thomas's main opponent John Duns Scotus.

.Late scholasticism, from the beginning of the 14th century to the heyday of the Renaissance. Its representatives were the Englishman William of Ockham. He asserted that faith and reason are essentially different from each other and substantiated nominalism and the turn of reason towards the empirical. Thus, his teaching marked a transition to the philosophy of modern times.

From a theological point of view, the problem of universals was a dispute in the relationship between faith and reason. Christian nominalists emphasized the special significance of faith and Revelation, which are beyond the comprehension of reason. According to the nominalists, if the mind itself could comprehend what Revelation teaches us with the help of God's word and faith, then the meaning of the Incarnation would weaken - the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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2. Metaphysics

The doctrine of the general principles and principles of the philosophical outlook of Thomas contains the doctrine of beings as such and natural theology, which is based on the proof of the existence of God.

Transcendental characteristics inherent in everything that exists are not correlated either with the individual, or with the commensurate, or with the material.

The term "existent" refers to everything that exists. It can be both logical and real.

Logical entity. General concepts, or universals, while not existing in reality, are nevertheless not devoid of a real basis, since they are derived from it. The general, according to Thomas, is a product of the human mind. However, the general has to do with reality, for it exists outside the mind. The existence of the common outside the mind is twofold: in itself and in the mind of God.

Real existence. Nothing material can exist independently of form (or God), since matter (potentiality) and form (actuality) are two real supersensible principles that form a thing. The certainty of forms, according to the thinker, goes back to its origin, to divine wisdom. Therefore, any thing has an existence, the actuality of which leads it out of logical being into real being.

Everything that is real, namely: the world, sensible things, man - are existential objects, i.e. existing. God also exists, but if being is inherent in the world, then God is being itself. In God, being coincides with essence.

Thomas considers the ontological proof of the existence of God, developed by Anselm of Canterbury, insufficient. He believes that the existence of God can only be proved a posteriori, i.e. proceeding from the fact of the existence of the world as the Creation of God.

Five Ways to Prove the Existence of God.

Thomas identifies five ways to prove the existence of God.

The first way comes from the concept of movement. Everything in the world moves, and each separate movement implies its own source of movement. Any sequence of individual movements cannot be infinite. Therefore, “it is necessary to reach some prime mover, which itself is not driven by anything else; and by him everyone understands God.

The second way proceeds from the concept of a producing cause. The cause-and-effect relationship is inherent in the entire universe, but nevertheless it is impossible to imagine that a number of causes go to infinity. Therefore, "it is necessary to put some primary producing cause, which is called God."

The third way proceeds from the concepts of possibility and necessity. In the world there is not only an accident, but also a necessity, a certain regularity. Therefore, not everything that exists is accidental, and there must be something necessary in the world. Being has a need for something else. Ultimately, “it is necessary to put some necessary essence, necessary in itself, not having an external reason for its necessity, but the very constituting reason for the necessity of all others; according to the general opinion, this is God.

The fourth way proceeds from various degrees of perfection. The world of things is a hierarchy of steps that make up the pyramid of the universe. Each successive step of this hierarchy is higher and more perfect than the previous one. The top of the pyramid of the universe is the most perfect entity, “which is the cause of good and all perfection for all entities; and we call her God.

The fifth way comes from the order of nature. Everything in this world is useful. “We are convinced that objects devoid of reason, which natural bodies, are subject to expediency ... Therefore, there is a rational being that sets a goal for everything that happens in nature; and we call him God.

The proofs of the existence of God, given by Thomas, are a modification of the ideas of pagan philosophy, and in particular the teachings of Aristotle.

In the teachings of Thomas, God is the beginning and end of all things, the source of being and being itself, which he created from "nothing"; according to Aristotle, God is a supersensible substance (“the form of all forms”), the eternal essence and primary reality, the prime mover and goal, which finds its embodiment in the highest Good. Therefore, in Thomism, God is being itself, in which essence and real being completely coincide; in pagan philosophy, God is engaged in the formation of the previous matter, i.e. gives shape to the world.

In Christian philosophy, God is a personified person, i.e. he has consciousness and knowledge, is free in his activity, is able to enter into relationships with other personalities. In pagan philosophy, on the contrary, God is an eternal and immovable essence, separated from the world of sensible things and the life of people; he is a pure act, a living active mind, devoid of elementary materiality and potentiality. Therefore, in pagan philosophy, God, being a form, is only a mode of being. In Thomism, God is the creator of being, and this is much more than being "the form of all forms."

Matter and form are the two components of the beginning.

However, despite the fact that the philosophical conceptualizations of the “essence” of God by Thomas and Aristotle are different, nevertheless, Thomism was nurtured on the basis of Aristotelian metaphysics. Following Aristotle, Thomas describes God as "pure form", "pure actuality", since "the primary essence must of necessity be wholly actual and not allow anything potential in itself."

The stated provisions of the metaphysical theory of Thomas are based on the teachings of Aristotle about matter as a potential beginning and form as an actual beginning. Within the framework of this teaching, Thomas believes that matter, as an indefinite, passive potency, is given real, actual being by form, since “it is not form that is determined by matter, but rather matter by form; in the form it is necessary to look for the reason why matter is such, and not vice versa.

Matter is "pure potentiality"; it is only the recipient of successive forms. The form is the actuality of this "pure potentiality", since the form determines the nature and essence of a thing, its content, i.e. that by which a thing becomes that thing.

Matter and form are the two components of the beginning, forming every corporeal thing. It is their synthesis that creates a sensual body of a certain kind and kind.

The specific characteristics of a thing are associated with an “individual basis”, a material principle. Matter gives concreteness and definiteness to the form and its inherent ideal universality. It is matter that is the cause of the individual originality of things of the same type, which introduces into the form the concretizing “principle of individuation”.

Generic characteristics suggest a certain universality, which is expressed in the definition (essence).

The doctrine of "species" and genera, according to the views of Thomas, refers to both sensory knowledge and intellectual knowledge.

Theory of knowledge

The epistemology of Thomism is based on the doctrine of the real existence of the universal. In discussions about universals, Thomas held the views of moderate realism. In his opinion, the existence of the general is possible in the mind of God as ideal eternal forms (prototypes) of the existent, as ideas of future sensible things; in things as a real realization and individualization of these ideas (forms); and in the human mind as abstractions (general concepts).

The general is correlated with the individual, but according to the thinker, there is no complete correspondence between a person’s thoughts and reality.

The moderate realism of Thomas is nothing but one of the forms of an objective-idealistic worldview. At the heart of the universe are the ideas of the divine mind. These ideas are primary, sensible things are secondary.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that a person has two abilities of cognition: feeling and intellect.

Sensory knowledge originates from sensation and extends to the extent to which it is guided by sensory perception. Sensation cognizes only the singular, since "sense perception does not embrace the essence."

Intelligence is the second cognitive ability of a person. It allows through "intellectual contemplation" and abstraction to know the essence. “Hence, in intellectual cognition, we can take any thing in a generalized way that exceeds the possibilities of sensation.” However, the knowledge of substantial being is characteristic only of the intellect of God, and not of man. The human intellect cannot contemplate God in his essence, "except to the extent" that God, by his grace, unites with the created intellect of man as an object open to reason.

In the question of the nature of truth, Thomas proceeds from the position that "truth consists in the correspondence of the intellect and the thing." To know this consistency is to know the truth. "But the last sense perception does not know in any way, [for] truth in the proper sense of the word is present in the intellect." At the same time, concepts as an object of human thinking are true to the extent that they correspond to the displayed things. In turn, things, being the product of the material embodiment of the ideas of God, are true to the extent that they correspond to their ideas that preceded in the intellect of God. Absolute truth is in the intellect of God.

The doctrine of man

The anthropological views of Thomas are based on the idea of ​​a person as a personal combination of soul and body. The soul, called intellect or mind, is incorporeal and self-existent, or substantial.

The soul, according to the views of Thomas, is the beginning, directly through which the body carries out its vital activity. Thanks to the soul, a person takes food, feels, moves in space, and most importantly, thinks. The soul, therefore, as the intellect or thinking soul, is form. The soul is the substantial form of man. The substantial soul virtually contains the sensual soul and the vegetative soul. Therefore, in a person, the sensual, intelligible and vegetative souls coincide.

The soul has potency. Thomas refers to these the ability of growth, the ability of sensory perception, the ability of desire, the ability of spatial movement, the ability of intellect. Of these, three are called souls, and four are called modes of life.

The sensual soul contains four potencies: general feeling, imagination, the faculty of judgment, the faculty of memory.

The potencies, which constitute the beginnings of the functions of the vegetative and sensory parts of the soul, have their substratum in the essence composed of the soul and the body, and not only the soul. However, there are some functions of the soul that are carried out without the body. The powers which relate to the soul itself as to its substratum are thought and will.

The human intellect is a certain potency of the soul, and not its essence. Only in God is the intellect his essence; in all other "intelligent beings" the intellect is only their potency.

The soul, according to the views of Thomas, is not any principle of vital activity, but only the primary principle of life. At the same time, the soul is not a body, but an act of the body, like heat, which is the beginning of warming up. It is also the beginning of intellectual activity carried out by it independently without the participation of the body.

The intellectual beginning is the mind, reason, intellect. Thomas, believing that the nature of man is determined by his intellect, proclaims his famous thesis: "Reason is the most powerful nature of man." Hence the purpose of man - to know, understand, act.

Ethical views

Thomas's ethical views are based on the following principles: the doctrine of free will; the theory of beings as good and of God as absolute good; conception of evil as the absence or deprivation of good.

Human nature presupposes intellectual activity, and his morality presupposes understanding and behavior according to understanding. However, in earthly life, the human mind encounters various values, both positive (good) and negative (evil).

Man, being a rational being, is included in God's plan. Man's activities within the framework of this plan are the implementation of the law of "natural" underlying the virtuous behavior of people. Only in this way can a person, following his nature, avoiding evil and doing good, achieve the highest and perfect good. The goal of human moral behavior is heavenly bliss, and virtuous behavior based on faith, hope and love is only a means leading to this goal.

The doctrine of society and the state

The social teaching of Thomas is a synthesis of the socio-political views of Aristotle with Christian ideas about the Ecumenical divine universal order and the theocratic principles of governance of the Roman Church. State power is determined by "eternal" law, the rational plan of God. The life of a person in a secular state is only his preparation for a future, more meaningful and significant spiritual life. Therefore, the main goal of the state is to prepare a person for unearthly grace by creating a just society on earth, assisting in establishing the common good, promoting a virtuous lifestyle, love for one's neighbor and God. Considering the forms of state power, Thomas prefers the monarchy. However, the power of the monarch, in his opinion, should be limited by spiritual power, for all types and forms of power are from God. At the head of spiritual authority in heaven is Christ, and on earth is the Pope. Therefore, all sovereigns must obey the Pope "as to the Lord Jesus Christ himself."

Conclusion

From the difference in forms, which are the likeness of God in things, Thomas derives a system of order in the material world. The forms of things, regardless of the degree of their perfection, are involved in the creator, due to which they occupy a certain place in the universal hierarchy of being. This applies to all areas of the material world and society. According to Thomas, it is necessary that some should be engaged in agriculture, others should be shepherds, and still others should be builders. For the divine harmony of the social world, it is also necessary that there be people engaged in spiritual work and working physically. Each person performs a certain function in the life of society, and everyone creates a certain good. Thus, according to the teachings of Thomas, the differences in the functions performed by people are the result not of the social division of labor, but of the purposeful activity of God. Social and class inequality is not a consequence of antagonistic production relations, but a reflection of the hierarchy of forms in things. All this essentially served Aquinas to justify the feudal social ladder. The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas did not immediately receive universal recognition among the scholastic currents of the Middle Ages. Thomas Aquinas had opponents in the Dominican order, among some members of the clergy, the Latin Averroists. However, despite the initial attacks, from the XIV century. Thomas becomes the highest authority of the church, which has recognized his doctrine as its official philosophy. Since that time, the church has used his teachings in the fight against all sorts of movements directed against its interests. From that time on, for several centuries, the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas was cultivated.

List of used literature

1. Gryadovoy D.I. History of Philosophy. Middle Ages. Renaissance. New time. Book 2: textbook for university students / D.I.Gryadovoy. - M.: UNITI-DANA, 2009. - 455 p.

Kasyanov V.V. History of Philosophy / Ed. V.V. Kasyanov. - Ed. 2nd. - Rostov n / D .: Phoenix, 2005. - 378 p.

Skirbek G. History of Philosophy: textbook. allowance for university students / Per. from English. IN AND. Kuznetsova; Ed. S.B. Krymsky M.: VLADOS, 2008. - 779 p.

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Essence and existence

Aquinas connects the metaphysics of Aristotle with Platonic ideas, this is manifested in the concepts of essence and existence (essence and existence). Every being, whether singular or divine absolute, consists of essence (essentia) and existence (esse, existentia). The essence of every thing is that which is expressed in the definition, which contains the generic, and not the individual. God's essence is identical with existence. On the contrary, the essence of all created things is not consistent with existence, because it does not follow from their individual essence. Everything individual is created, exists due to other factors, and thus has a conditioned and accidental character. Only God is absolute, not conditioned, therefore he exists with necessity, for necessity is contained in his essence. God is simple being, existing; a created thing, a being, is a complex being. The Thomist solution to the problem of the relationship between essence and existence strengthens the dualism of God and the world, which corresponds to the main principles of Christian monotheism.

In understanding essence and existence, Aquinas also uses such categories of Aristotle as matter and form. Material things are a synthesis of indefinite, passive matter and active form. Things become existing, reality (existence) because forms that are separable from matter (either appear in a purely substantive, ideal form, like angels and souls, or are the entelechy of the body), enter into passive matter. This is the essential difference between the ideas of Aquinas and Aristotle, in which the form always appears in unity with matter with one exception: the form of all forms - God - is incorporeal. The difference between the material and spiritual worlds is that the material, bodily consists of form and matter, while the spiritual has only a form.

Thomas Aquinas' concept of universals

In connection with the doctrine of form, let us take a closer look at the concept of Aquinas' universals, which expresses the positions of moderate realism.

First, the general concept (universals) exists in singular things (inrebus) as their essential form (formasubstantiates); secondly, they are formed in the human mind by abstraction from the individual (postres); thirdly, they exist before things (anteres) as an ideal prototype of individual objects and phenomena in the divine mind. In this third aspect, in which Aquinius ontologizes the future in the sense of objective idealism, he differs from Aristotle.

The existence of God can be proved, according to Aquinas, by reason. He rejects Anselm's ontological proof of god. The expression "God exists" is not obviously innate to the mind. It must be proven. The Summa Theologia contains five proofs that are mutually related to each other.

* The first is based on the fact that everything that moves is driven by something else. It is impossible, however, to continue this series to infinity, because in this case there would be no primary “motor”, and consequently, that which is driven by it, since the next moves only because it is driven by the first. This determines the need for the existence of the first engine which is God.

* Another proof comes from the essence of the efficient cause. There are a number of operating causes in the world. But it is impossible for something to be the efficient cause of itself, because then it would have to be before itself, which is absurd. In such a case, it is necessary to recognize the first effective cause, which is God.

* The third proof follows from the relationship between the accidental and the necessary. When studying the chain of this relationship, one cannot go to infinity either. The contingent depends on the necessary, which has its necessity either on another necessary or in itself. In the end it turns out that there is the first necessity - God.

* The fourth proof is the degrees of qualities that follow one after another, which are everywhere in everything that exists, therefore there must be the highest degree of perfection, and again it is God.

* The fifth proof is teleological. It is based on utility, which is manifested in all nature. Everything, even seemingly random and useless, is directed towards some goal, has meaning, utility. Therefore, there is a rational being that directs all natural things and purposes, and this is God.

Obviously, one should not undertake special studies to find out that these proofs are close to the reasoning of Aristotle (and Augustine). Arguing about the essence of God, Aquinas chooses a middle path between the idea of ​​a personal god and the Neoplatonic understanding of it, where God is completely transcendent, unknowable. According to Aquinas, God can be known in a threefold sense: knowledge is mediated by divine influence in nature; on the basis of the likeness of the creator and the created, for concepts resemble divine creations; everything can be understood only as a particle of the infinite perfect and the essence of God. Human knowledge is imperfect in everything, but nevertheless it teaches us to see God as a perfect being, consisting in itself, as an absolute existence in and for itself.

Revelation also teaches us to see God as the creator of the universe (according to Aquinas, creation refers to realities that can only be known through revelation). In creation, God realizes his divine ideas. In this interpretation, Aquinas again reproduces Platonic ideas, but in a different form.

Four mnemonic rules, five proofs that God exists, the problems of theology, the superiority of spoken language over writing, the reasons why the activities of the Dominicans make sense and other important discoveries, as well as facts about the biography of the Sicilian Bull

Prepared by Svetlana Yatsyk

Saint Thomas Aquinas. Fresco by Fra Bartolomeo. Around 1510-1511 Museo di San Marco dell "Angelico, Florence, Italy / Bridgeman Images

1. On the origin and disadvantageous relationship

Thomas Aquinas (or Aquinas; 1225-1274) was the son of Count Landolfo d'Aquino and nephew of Count Tommaso d'Acerra, Grand Justiciar of the Kingdom of Sicily (that is, the first of the royal advisers in charge of court and finance), and second cousin of Frederick II Staufen . Kinship with the emperor, who, seeking to subjugate all of Italy, constantly fought with the popes of Rome, could not but do a disservice to the young theologian - despite the open and even demonstrative conflict of Aquinas with his family and the fact that he joined the Dominican order loyal to the papacy . In 1277, part of Thomas's theses was condemned by the Bishop of Paris and the Church, apparently mainly for political reasons. Subsequently, these theses became generally accepted.

2. About the school nickname

Thomas Aquinas was distinguished by his tall stature, heaviness and sluggishness. It is also believed that he was characterized by meekness, excessive even for monastic humility. During the discussions led by his mentor, the theologian and Dominican Albertus Magnus, Thomas rarely spoke out, and other students laughed at him, calling him the Sicilian Bull (although he was from Naples, not Sicily). Albert the Great is credited with a prophetic remark, allegedly uttered to pacify the students teasing Thomas: “Do you call him a bull? I tell you, this bull will roar so loudly that its roar will deafen the world.”

Posthumously, Aquinas was awarded many other, more flattering nicknames: he is called the “angelic mentor”, the “universal mentor” and the “prince of philosophers”.

3. About mnemonic devices

Early biographers of Thomas Aquinas claim that he had an amazing memory. Even in his school years, he memorized everything that the teacher said, and later, in Cologne, he developed his memory under the guidance of the same Albert the Great. The collection of sayings of the Fathers of the Church on the four Gospels, which he prepared for Pope Urban, was compiled from what he memorized by looking through, but not transcribing manuscripts in various monasteries. His memory, according to contemporaries, possessed such strength and tenacity that everything that he happened to read was preserved in it.

Memory for Thomas Aquinas, as for Albertus Magnus, was part of the virtue of prudence, which had to be nurtured and developed. To do this, Thomas formulated a number of mnemonic rules, which he described in a commentary on Aristotle's treatise "On Memory and Remembrance" and in "The Sum of Theology":

- The ability to remember is located in the "sensitive" part of the soul and is associated with the body. Therefore, "sensible things are more accessible to human knowledge." Knowledge that is not associated "with any bodily likeness" is easily forgotten. Therefore, one should look for “symbols inherent in those things that need to be remembered. They should not be too famous, because we are more interested in unusual things, they are more deeply and clearly imprinted in the soul.<…>Following this, it is necessary to come up with similarities and images. Summa Theologiae, II, II, quaestio XLVIII, De partibus Prudentiae..

“Memory is under the control of the mind, so the second mnemonic principle of Thomas is “to arrange things [in memory] in a certain order so that, remembering one feature, you can easily move on to the next.”

- Memory is associated with attention, so you need to "feel attached to what you need to remember, because what is strongly imprinted in the soul does not slip out of it so easily."

- And finally, the last rule is to regularly reflect on what needs to be remembered.

4. On the relationship between theology and philosophy

Aquinas distinguished three types of wisdom, each of which is endowed with its own "light of truth": the wisdom of Grace, theological wisdom (the wisdom of revelation, using the mind) and metaphysical wisdom (the wisdom of the mind, comprehending the essence of being). Proceeding from this, he believed that the subject of science is the "truths of reason", and the subject of theology is the "truths of revelation."

Philosophy, using its rational methods of cognition, is able to study the properties of the surrounding world. The dogmas of faith, proved with the help of rationalized philosophical arguments (for example, the dogma of the existence of God), become more understandable to a person and thereby strengthen him in faith. And in this sense, scientific and philosophical knowledge is a serious support in substantiating the Christian doctrine and refuting criticism of faith.

But many dogmas (for example, the idea of ​​the createdness of the world, the concept of original sin, the incarnation of Christ, the resurrection from the dead, the inevitability of the Last Judgment, etc.) are not amenable to rational justification, since they reflect the supernatural, miraculous qualities of God. The human mind is not able to comprehend the divine plan in full, therefore, true, higher knowledge is not subject to science. God is the lot of supramental knowledge and, therefore, the subject of theology.

However, for Thomas there is no contradiction between philosophy and theology (just as there is no contradiction between the “truths of reason” and the “truths of revelation”), since philosophy and knowledge of the world lead a person to the truths of faith. Therefore, in the view of Thomas Aquinas, studying the things and phenomena of nature, a true scientist is right only when he reveals the dependence of nature on God, when he shows how the divine plan is embodied in nature.

5. About Aristotle

Albert the Great, the teacher of Thomas Aquinas, was the author of the first commentary written in Western Europe on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. It was he who introduced the writings of Aristotle into use in Catholic theology, until then known in the West mainly in the exposition of the Arab philosopher Averroes. Albert showed the absence of contradictions between the teachings of Aristotle and Christianity.

Thanks to this, Thomas Aquinas got the opportunity to Christianize ancient philosophy, primarily the works of Aristotle: striving for a synthesis of faith and knowledge, he supplemented the doctrinal dogmas and religious and philosophical speculations of Christianity with socio-theoretical and scientific reflection based on the logic and metaphysics of Aristotle.

Thomas was not the only theologian who tried to appeal to the writings of Aristotle. The same was done, for example, by his contemporary Seeger of Brabant. However, Seeger's Aristotelianism was considered "Averroist", retaining some of the ideas introduced into the writings of Aristotle by his Arabic and Jewish translators and interpreters. The "Christian Aristotelianism" of Thomas, based on the "pure" teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher, which did not contradict Christianity, won - and Siger of Brabant was put on trial by the Inquisition for his convictions and killed.

6. About the conversational genre

Answering the question why Christ preached, but did not write down the postulates of his teaching, Thomas Aquinas noted: "Christ, addressing hearts, put the word above the scripture" Summa Theologiae, III, quaestio XXXII, articulus 4.. This principle was generally popular in the 13th century: even the system of scholastic university teaching was based on quaestio disputata, a discussion on a given problem. Aquinas wrote most of his works in the genre of "sum" - a dialogue consisting of questions and answers, which seemed to him the most accessible for students of theology. The Summa Theologia, for example, a treatise he wrote in Rome, Paris, and Naples between 1265 and 1273, consists of chapters, articles, in the title of which is a controversial issue. Thomas gives several arguments to each, giving different, sometimes opposite answers, and at the end he gives counterarguments and the correct, from his point of view, decision.

7. Evidence for the existence of God

In the first part of The Sum of Theology, Aquinas substantiates the need for theology as a science with its own purpose, subject and method of research. He considers the root cause and the ultimate goal of all that exists, that is, God, to be its subject. That is why the treatise begins with five proofs of the existence of God. It is thanks to them that the Summa Theology is primarily known, despite the fact that out of the 3,500 pages that this treatise occupies, only one and a half are devoted to the existence of God.

First proof the existence of God relies on the Aristotelian understanding of motion. Thomas states that "everything that moves must be moved by something else" Here and below: Summa Theologiae, I, quaestio II, De Deo, an Deus sit.. An attempt to imagine a series of objects, each of which makes the previous one move, but at the same time is set in motion by the next one, leads to infinity. An attempt to imagine this must inevitably lead us to the understanding that there was a certain prime mover, "who is not driven by anything, and by him everyone understands God."

Second proof slightly reminiscent of the first and also relies on Aristotle, this time on his doctrine of four causes. According to Aristotle, everything that exists must have an active (or generative) reason, that from which the existence of a thing begins. Since nothing can produce itself, there must be some first cause, the beginning of all beginnings. This is God.

Third proof the existence of God is a proof "from necessity and chance." Thomas explains that among entities there are those that may or may not be, that is, their existence is accidental. There are also necessary entities. “But everything necessary either has a reason for its necessity in something else, or it does not. However, it is impossible that [a series of] necessary [existing] having a reason for their necessity [in something else] goes to infinity. Therefore, there is a certain essence, necessary in itself. This necessary entity can only be God.

Fourth proof“comes from the degrees [of perfections] found in things. Among things, more and less good, true, noble, and so on are found. However, the degree of goodness, truth and nobility can only be judged in comparison with something "the most true, best and noblest." God has these properties.

In the fifth proof Aquinas again relies on Aristotle's doctrine of causes. Based on the Aristotelian definition of expediency, Thomas states that all objects of being are directed in their existence towards some goal. At the same time, "they achieve the goal not by chance, but intentionally." Since the objects themselves are "devoid of understanding", therefore, "there is something thinking, by which all natural things are directed towards [their] goal. And this is what we call God.

8. About the social system

Following Aristotle, who developed these questions in Politics, Thomas Aquinas reflected on the nature and character of the sole power of the ruler. He compared royal power with other forms of government and, in accordance with the traditions of Christian political thought, spoke unambiguously in favor of the monarchy. From his point of view, the monarchy is the most just form of government, certainly superior to the aristocracy (the power of the best) and polity (the power of the majority in the interests of the common good).

Thomas considered the most reliable type of monarchy to be elective, not hereditary, since electivity can prevent the ruler from turning into a tyrant. The theologian believed that a certain set of people (he probably meant bishops and part of the secular nobility participating in the election of secular sovereigns, primarily the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the pope) should have the legal opportunity not only to give the king power over themselves, but and deprive him of this power if it begins to acquire the features of tyranny. From the point of view of Thomas Aquinas, this "multiple" should have the right to deprive the ruler of power, even if they "previously submitted themselves to him forever", because the bad ruler "transcends" his office, thereby violating the terms of the original contract. This idea of ​​Thomas Aquinas subsequently formed the basis of the concept of "social contract", which is very significant in modern times.

Another way to combat tyranny, which was proposed by Aquinas, makes it possible to understand on which side he was in the conflict between the empire and the papacy: against the excesses of a tyrant, he believed, the intervention of someone standing above this ruler could help - which could easily be interpreted contemporaries as an endorsement of the intervention of the pope in the affairs of "bad" secular rulers.

9. About indulgences

Thomas Aquinas resolved a number of doubts related to the practice of granting (and buying) indulgences. He shared the concept of the "treasury of the church" - a kind of "surplus" stock of virtues replenished by Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints, from which other Christians can draw. This "treasury" can be disposed of by the Pope of Rome, issuing special, legal in nature acts - indulgences. Indulgences only work because the holiness of some members of the Christian community outweighs the sinfulness of others.

10. About the Dominican mission and preaching

Although the Dominican order was founded by Saint Dominic in 1214, even before the birth of Aquinas, it was Thomas who formulated the principles that became the rationale for their activities. In The Sum Against the Gentiles, the theologian wrote that the path to salvation is open to everyone, and the missionary's role is to give a particular person the knowledge necessary for his salvation. Even a wild pagan (whose soul strives for good) can be saved if the missionary manages to convey to him the saving divine truth.

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One of the most prominent representatives of mature scholasticism was the Dominican monk Thomas Aquinas (1225/1226-1274), a student of the famous medieval theologian, philosopher and naturalist Albert the Great (c. 1193-1280). Like his teacher, Thomas tried to substantiate the basic principles of Christian theology, based on the teachings of Aristotle. At the same time, the latter was transformed by him in such a way that it would not conflict with the dogmas of the creation of the world from nothing and with the teaching of the God-manhood of Jesus Christ. Like Augustine and Boethius, in Thomas the highest principle is being itself. By being, Thomas means the Christian God who created the world, as it is told in the Old Testament. Distinguishing being (existence) and essence Thomas, however, does not oppose them, but, following Aristotle, emphasizes their common root. Essences, as substances, have, according to Thomas, an independent existence, in contrast to accidents (properties, qualities), which exist only due to substances. From this a distinction is drawn between the so-called substantial and accidental forms. The substantial form communicates to every thing a simple being, and therefore, when it appears, we say that something has arisen, and when it disappears, that something has been destroyed. The accidental form is the source of certain qualities, and not the existence of things. Distinguishing, following Aristotle, the actual and potential states, Thomas considers being as the first of the actual states. In every thing, Thomas believes, there is as much being as there is actuality in it. Accordingly, he singles out four levels of the beingness of things, depending on the degree of their relevance, expressed in how the form, that is, the actual beginning, is realized in things.

At the lowest level of being, the form, according to Thomas, is only the external determinateness of the thing (causa formalis); this includes inorganic elements and minerals. At the next stage, the form appears as the final cause (causa finalis) of a thing, which therefore has an expediency, called by Aristotle the “vegetative soul”, as if shaping the body from the inside - such are the plants. The third level is animals, here the form is an active cause (causa efficiens), therefore, the being has in itself not only a goal, but also the beginning of activity, movement. At all three levels, form enters matter in different ways, organizing and animating it. Finally, at the fourth stage, the form no longer appears as an organizing principle of matter, but in itself, independently of matter (forma per se, forma separata). This is the spirit, or mind, the rational soul, the highest of created beings. Not being connected with matter, the human rational soul does not perish with the death of the body. Therefore, the rational soul bears the name of "self-existent" in Thomas. In contrast to it, the sensual souls of animals are not self-existent, and therefore they do not have actions specific to the rational soul, carried out only by the soul itself, separately from the body - thinking and volition; all the actions of animals, like many human actions (except for thinking and acts of will), are carried out with the help of the body. Therefore, the souls of animals perish along with the body, while the human soul is immortal, it is the noblest thing in the created nature. Following Aristotle, Thomas considers reason as the highest among human abilities, seeing in the will itself, first of all, its reasonable definition, which he considers the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Like Aristotle, Thomas sees practical reason in the will, that is, reason directed to action, and not to knowledge, guiding our actions, our life behavior, and not a theoretical attitude, not contemplation.

In the world of Thomas, it is the individuals who are in the final analysis. This peculiar personalism is the specificity of both Thomist ontology and medieval natural science, the subject of which is the action of individual "hidden entities" - "doers", souls, spirits, forces. Starting with God, who is a pure act of being, and ending with the smallest of created entities, each being has a relative independence, which decreases as it moves downward, that is, as the being of beings located on the hierarchical ladder decreases.

The teachings of Thomas (Thomism) enjoyed great influence in the Middle Ages, the Roman Church officially recognized him. This teaching was revived in the 20th century under the name of neo-Thomism, one of the most significant currents of Catholic philosophy in the West.