Aquinas Against the Averroists

Cover

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Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

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Contents

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Preface

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pp. ix-

In this book, I present a translation of a short polemical work of Saint Thomas Aquinas, written in Paris in 1270 when Thomas returned from Italy to serve a second term as Regent Master in a Dominican chair of theology. The Latin title of the opusculum is De unitate intellectus contra Averroistas. I have chosen to render this in...

Part 1. Introduction

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pp. 1-

Thomas Aquinas's polemical work On There Being Only One Intellect was written in Paris in 1270 and may be said to concern the correct reading of Aristotle. Aristotle and Paris are, respectively, continuous and recurrent factors in the life of Thomas Aquinas (1225-74). Thomas was convinced of the complementarity...

Part 2. Text

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pp. 17-

Thomas's Latin is not easily altered; therefore, I have taken few liberties for the sake of style in the translation. I only hope that the result is intelligible English. C. S. Lewis has observed that medieval Latin was a living language, unlike the closet classicism of the Renaissance with its sterile attempts to mimic the style of a long-gone...

Part 3. Analysis

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pp. 147-

The claim that the intellect is a substance existing apart from the body is in conflict not only with Christian faith but also with philosophy. Thomas will not argue here that the claim is incompatible with Christian faith, although he says that this argument can be easily made. Rather, he sets forth the philosophical untenability of the...

Part 4. Interpretive Essays

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pp. 155-214

As the text of this polemical opusculum makes clear, while Thomas is outraged that fellow Christians should take the position he attacks to be compatible with their faith, his chief concern is to discuss the status of the human soul on a terrain that the believer can share with the nonbeliever, the mere philosopher. The whole of the first...

Select Bibliography

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pp. 215-218

Index

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pp. 219-222