Treatise On Law, Summa Theologica Questions 90-97
(Aquinas)
Saint Thomas Aquinas produced an amazing amount of writing during his lifetime. He stands as a first rate scholar from an era once referred to as the ?Dark Ages? because it lacked enlightenment. (I guess it is not politically correct to refer to these times that way anymore, now they are called ?Middle Ages?). He assembled many of his writings into questions and then into larger units such as the SUMMA THEOLOGICA. Moderns often refer to questions 90-107 as ?Treatise on Law.? Here he tackles issues that relate to Law.
The first time Aquinas readers will have difficulty with the structure of his Questions. I suggest that you read the titles of each and then read the section that starts ?I answer that??. From there it is easier to get the gist of his argument. Then one can go back and read each objection followed by its reply. Using this order may help alleviate the lost feeling.
The ?Treatise on Law? is often truncated to Questions 90-97. It is enough for non-scholars to try to grasp the essence of these. They are particularly interesting for modern Americans. The concepts here inform our current legal system and its ultimate aim. Perhaps this is why the U.S. Supreme Court recently outlawed some but not all religious displays in courthouses? At any rate, the irony is that a Catholic Church father fathers our secular law.
Aquinas covers three main categories of Law. The highest is Divine/Eternal Law. A shadow of that is the Natural Law, followed by the Human Law. Each in turn aims to reproduce the effects of the Divine Law as much as possible. Human Law then is aimed at producing a greater good for the society ?ruled? by it. This is overly simplified and, to be honest I have studied these questions three times (about 10 readings of each in addition to an hour to two of classtime for each) and I am still unsure of this simple breakdown. What I mean to say here is: don?t trust my simplification, study them yourself.
Resumos Relacionados
- Summa Theologica
- A Boring Story
- Http://www.psipog.net
- Importance Of Davinci Code?
- Case For Faith
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