Thomismus - A brief summary:
- Synthesis of Faith and Reason: Thomas Aquinas integrates Christian revelation with Aristotelian philosophy, employing reason to illuminate and defend the truths of faith.
- Essence–Existence Distinction: In all created beings, “essence” (what a thing is) is distinct from “existence” (that it is); only in God are essence and existence identical.
- Act and Potency: Every substance comprises potentiality (capacity to be otherwise) and actuality (realized state); change occurs through the actualization of potential.
- Doctrine of Creation: God is the uncaused First Cause, eternal and self‑existent; the universe is created ex nihilo (out of nothing) by His will.
- Analogy of Being (Analogia Entis): We can speak of God and creatures analogically—neither identically nor entirely equivocally—recognizing both similarity and greater dissimilarity.
- The Five Ways (Proofs for God’s Existence):
- The Argument from Motion
- The Argument from Efficient Causes
- The Argument from Contingency and Necessity
- The Argument from Gradation (degrees of perfection)
- The Teleological Argument (design and purpose)
- Natural Law: God’s eternal law is reflected in the rational order of creation; humans discern moral principles (e.g., “do good and avoid evil”) through natural reason.
- Virtue Ethics: Virtues are stable dispositions to choose the good: the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance) and the three theological virtues (faith, hope, charity).
- Theory of the Soul: The human soul is the substantial form of the body, rational and immortal, endowed with intellect and will, oriented toward the ultimate good.
- Sacramental Theology: The sacraments are efficacious signs instituted by Christ to confer grace, with the Eucharist as the “source and summit” of Christian life.
- Beatific Vision: Human fulfillment (beatitude) consists in the direct, eternal vision of God, the ultimate end and happiness of the soul.
- Political Philosophy: Political community serves human perfection; just governance must aim at the common good in accordance with divine and natural law.