Philosophy is a science that gives rise to a huge amount of controversy. Nevertheless, one can always find a place for thought. Many philosophers have offered their theories and ideas for centuries in a row. At the moment, there are a huge number of them. Moreover, many of them switched to religion. Along with atheism, deism, neo-Thomism and others, there is Thomism.
What is it?
Tomism is a scientific thought in the Catholic faith, formulated by the famous philosopher Thomas Aquinas. Also, this doctrine is also called fomism. Often this thought is called theistic interpretation of Aristotelianism. Aquinas reflected all the basic concepts in his work “The Sum of Theology”. It is worth saying that these thoughts are not canons of faith, but rather a practical tool for understanding this idea with the help of the mind.
History
After the emergence of this point of view, it immediately began to spread in a certain territory. Aquinas Tomism was popular in the Dominican Order. In the 15th century, philosophy develops, a phenomenon such as scholasticism appears. She begins to form in Thomism. Then this idea begins to be divided into several directions. Orthodox and Renaissance tomism appears. The first denies the development of anything, that is, there is a lack of modernization. And the second involves a synthesis of Thomism with new humanistic ideas.
By the way, Renaissance Thomism began to be called Spanish, as it was first adopted there by the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria, and then by the Jesuit Francisco Suarez. The latter tried to explain some dogmas from the point of view of realism. He tried to transform all metaphysical concepts into natural science analysis. Moreover, he tried to separate these two phenomena from the very beginning and at the same time reunite them.
A new step in history is the recognition that Thomism is the norm of Catholic theology. This question was raised by Pope Leo XIII in the encyclical. It happened in 1879. Then this historical document became mandatory when studying in every theological school.
Founder
Speaking about this idea, one cannot but say a few words about her “father”. The founder of Thomism, Thomas Aquinas, was supposedly born in 1225. He was a philosopher and theologian of Italy. In addition to works related to Thomism, he also engaged in the systematization of scholasticism, was a church teacher, a member of the Dominican order.
Already many years after his death, in 1879, he was recognized as one of the main and authoritative philosophers of Catholicism. He was praised for his successful attempt to combine Christian doctrine with Aristotelianism. In addition, he was able to form and express five evidence that God exists.
Essence
It is worth noting that Thomism is a multifaceted concept that can be interpreted in several areas. You can learn about this teaching by familiarizing yourself with the theory of knowledge. It is also permissible to combine Thomism with the doctrine of being. And connect it with the science of human nature. There is a cosmic view of the essence of the doctrine, as well as an ethical and political view.
Theory of knowledge
Thomism in philosophy is complex ideas that try to combine what seemed previously impossible to put together. In turn, this doctrine tries to distinguish between philosophy and theology. Aquinas believed that in the first case the subject was “truths of the mind”, and in the second - “truths of revelation”.
The philosopher was convinced that both faith and reason could not be sharply opposed. Both of these concepts come from God, and therefore are not contradictory. Thomism suggests that philosophy is the “slave” of theology as much as the human mind is low before divine wisdom. This teaching interprets truth as the correspondence of reason and thing.
Speaking of concepts, Thomism prefers moderate realism. It was him who was supported in due time by Aristotle. It is believed that the features of the subject are its main nature. That is, a common entity as such does not exist. So, from the main theoretical definitions three universals are formed:
- the first is called “before things” and means the essence of God's thought;
- the second - “in things” - is related to the general essence of things;
- and “after things” is interpreted as the ability of the human mind to extract things from an object and form concepts.
Being
Many scholars who became acquainted with Thomism believed that this teaching is synonymous with ontology. That is, the study of being is the connecting of two thoughts. This leads to the classification of Tomism according to several main definitions of ontology.
The most important thought in the teaching of the existence of Thomism is the reality of the existence of God. Moreover, this idea is not just fundamental, it also provides and explains the power of other things. God is the realization of existence.
The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, Thomism in particular, shares the concepts of essence and existence. They can only coincide when it comes to things. But true resemblance is achieved only in God. Thus, the doctrine indicates that essence is the possibility of a thing, but existence is its reality.
Human
Thomism is a teaching that encompasses many other sciences. So, if you approach the issue from an anthropological point of view, Fomism considers a person as a combination of soul and body. Or rather, a harmonious combination. We know from other philosophical teachings that the soul is not matter and is a substance. But thanks to the body, she receives the final fulfillment.
Thus, we understand that the soul is the driving force of the body and its substantial form. Aquinas believed that she remains after the death of a person. In addition to being independent of the body, it is immortal.
By the way, the anthropological point of view is reflected in the theses of Thomism. Thanks to this teaching, it becomes known that the soul has two main functions: cognition and will. Thus, the first is the goal, and the second is achievement. Immediately pops up preference for intellectualism. As the 21st thesis says, "reason is beyond will."
Space
Due to the limited knowledge of Thomas Aquinas, and indeed of all the people of that time, the cosmos in Tomism was presented in the form of a staircase. The philosopher believed that in the first stage of the world are inorganic creations, then plants, animals, a human being are located behind them, angels are at the fifth stage, and God is at the top of everything. It is not just a peak, but the cause, meaning and purpose of everyone and everything.
Ethics and Politics
As mentioned earlier, Thomism is a teaching that has penetrated into all areas. Ethical and political views came from here. They formed a Thomist ethic. Its main interpretation is the goal. That is, according to Aquinas, for a person’s action to be good, his submission to a good goal is necessary.
This thought echoes the biblical one about the struggle against thoughts, which says that if a person has good thoughts, then Divine Grace lives in him. By the way, Thomism suggests that virtue is not just a desire. Most likely, this is a skill of good.
Innovations
Thomism and neo-Thomism go very close. We can say that these two teachings are synonymous. Their only difference is in the time interval. The fact is that neo-Thomism is not just an idea, but the official philosophy of Catholics in the period from 1879 to 1962.
This new teaching mainly confirms the dualism of being and being. The first is represented by God, and the second by nature. Thus, the Lord remains the root cause, the thing is the synthesis of matter and form, and the process is the movement of potency to relevance. Now the popularity of these two trends has become much less. It is no secret that more and more Europeans are becoming atheists.