St. Thomas Aquinas by Ralph McInerny (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 455 of others warrants overriding the claims of those who wish to remain aloof. Critics may also charge that the authors are somewhat optimistic in their account of how human goods and natural inclinations are known. This work is extremely valuable because of the intelligent, coherent, and convincing arguments it contains. The euthanasia debate will intensify in coming years, and its resolution will only come about through intelligent and sober debate. Life and Death With Liberty and Justice must be viewed as not just another contribution to the euthanasia debate but as a very important study. Dominican House of Studies Washington, DC. ROBERT L. BARRY, 0. P. St. Thomas Aquinas. By RALPH MclNERNY. Boston: Twayne Publishers (A Division of G. K. Hall & Co.), 1977. Pp. 197. $8.95. Profesor Mclnerny begins his preface with the following words: "In this book, I have aspired to write an introduction to the thought of a man who for some seven hundred years has been a major influence in philosophy and theology" (p. 9). It is indeed an introduction, a remarkably written and eminently readable one, one which can be readily understood by the intelligent reader who has never read a single word of St. Thomas Aquinas. But it is far more than an introduction; it presents the thought of Aquinas with precision and care, and adorns it with insights which will doubtless delight, and enlighten, even the seasoned reader of Aquinas. The organization of the book is in a way natural, and yet uncommon. Having presented a short, but very effective--at points even movingaccount of the life and work of St. Thomas with an account of his ancestry as background (pp. ll-Q9), Mclnerny writes a chapter on what Aquinas made of Aristotle (pp. 30-74) , another on what he made of Boethius (pp. 75-104), a third on what he made of Platonism (pp. 105-rn6), and a fourth on what Aquinas takes theology and its tasks to be (pp. rn7-169). The idea behind this organization was to " enable the reader to appreciate both Thomas's continuity with earlier thought and his creative independence of it" (p. 9). In the last chapter (pp. 170-1n), entitled Envoi, Mclnerny gives his book and Aquinas a royal bon voyage, ending, as he began, with the thought that this book " tried to present Thomas in such a way that my reader would quickly leave me and go to the works of Aquinas himself" (p. 9) "Ite ad Thomam. Go to Thomas. That is the message of this book " (p. l 7Q) . The Notes and References, pp. l 7318Q , are extremely helpful. The Selected Bibliography, pp. 183-189, gathers together primary sources in Latin, primary sources in English translation, 456 BOOK REVIEWS and a fine collection of secondary sources, each accompanied by short but clear and informative account of its contents. The careful and exhaustive entries of the Index, pp. 191-197, bring the book to a close, and re-impress on the reader's mind another message of this book: sapientis est ordinare. Aristotle. In reflecting on what Aquinas made of Aristotle, Mcinerny concentrates on Aquinas's treatment of Aristotle's apparent claims, contrary to Christian belief, that 1) the world is eternal, ~) there is no personal immortality, and 3) God, as thought thinking itself, is not concerned with the world, that there is no such thing as divine providence. Boethius. In his thoughts on what Aquinas made of Boethius, Mclnerny's primary concerns are with 1) how the notion of separatio is introduced into the discussion of the relation of metaphysics to the other speculative sciences, 2) the distinction between essence and existence, as an interpretation of Boethius's axiom that diversum est esse et id quad est, and 3) the compatibility between divine foreknowledge and human freedom. Platonism,. In discussing what Aquinas made of Platonism, Mcinerny concentrates on 1) the cognitive (theory of knowledge: illumination and abstraction) and the ontological (problem of universals) role of the Ideas, and 2) on the distinction between essential and participated perfection , with special reference to the names of God. The taslcs of theology. In considering Aquinas's views on theology and its tasks, Mcinerny...