The Transcendentals and the Divine Names in Thomas Aquinas

Interpreters of Aquinas tend to posit a seamless transition from knowledge of the transcendentals in the abstract to naming God as one, true, and good. Some even suggest that the convertibility of the transcendentals with being implies the unity, truth, and goodness of esse divinum. Others hold simp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carl, Brian T. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Philosophy Documentation Center [2018]
In: American catholic philosophical quarterly
Year: 2018, Volume: 92, Issue: 2, Pages: 225-247
Further subjects:B RELIGIOUS doctrines
B Transcendentals
B Divine commands (Ethics)
B GOODNESS of God
B THOMAS, Aquinas, Saint, ca. 1225-1274
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
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Summary:Interpreters of Aquinas tend to posit a seamless transition from knowledge of the transcendentals in the abstract to naming God as one, true, and good. Some even suggest that the convertibility of the transcendentals with being implies the unity, truth, and goodness of esse divinum. Others hold simply that the meaning and order of these divine names is founded upon the meaning of the transcendentals. This study: (1) explains why Aquinas avoids "transcendental arguments" for these divine names; (2) argues that truth and goodness, as divine names, are derived not only from the transcendental meanings of these terms but also from specific perfections: namely, truth of intellect and moral goodness; (3) shows that the order of these divine names in the two Summae (being, good, one, true) better reflects the order of the transcendentals as received perfections than their more familiar order in the abstract (being, one, true, good).
ISSN:2153-8441
Contains:Enthalten in: American catholic philosophical quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.5840/acpq2018313148