Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, priest and theologian, one of the most influential thinkers of medieval Christianity. Born into a noble family at Roccasecca in southern Italy, he resolved to join the new Dominican order despite his family's opposition; they kept him at home for about a year, but he held firm and was finally released to follow his vocation. After study under Albert the Great, he taught at the University of Paris and in Italy. His Summa contra Gentiles and Summa Theologiae united the philosophy of Aristotle with Christian faith, holding that reason and revelation lead to the same truth, and set out his five ways of reasoning toward the existence of God. He also composed hymns for the feast of Corpus Christi, including “Pange Lingua” and “Tantum Ergo.” Canonized in 1323, he is honored in Catholic tradition as the “Angelic Doctor.”
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Western Philosophy from Augustine to Kant
Augustine of Hippo drew on Platonic philosophy to frame Christian thought, and Thomas Aquinas later united Christian theology with the philosophy of Aristotle. In the seventeenth century, René Descartes made methodical doubt the starting point of modern philosophy, Blaise Pascal explored the limits of reason, and John Locke grounded knowledge in experience. Immanuel Kant then sought to reconcile these rationalist and empiricist traditions.
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