The Metaphysics of Creation
Aquinas's Natural Theology in Summa contra gentiles II
Published on 17. June 1999
Book
Hardback
500 pages
978-0-19-823787-7 (ISBN)
Description
About Aquinas: St Thomas Aquinas lived from 1224/5 to 1274, mostly in his native Italy but for a time in France. He was the greatest of the medieval philosopher/theologians, and one of the most important of all Western thinkers. His most famous books are the two summaries of his teachings, the Summa contra gentiles and the Summa theologiae.
About this book: Norman Kretzmann expounds and criticizes Aquinas's natural theology of creation, which is `natural' (or philosophical) in virtue of Aquinas's having developed it without depending on the data of Scripture. The Metaphysics of Creation is a continuation of the project Kretzmann began in The Metaphysics of Theism, moving the focus from the first to the second book of Aquinas's Summa contra gentiles.
Here we find Aquinas building upon his account of the existence and nature of God, arguing that the existence of things other than God must be explained by divine creation out of nothing. He develops arguments to identify God's motivation for creating, to defend the possibility of a beginningless created universe, and to explain the origin of species. He then focuses exclusively on creatures with intellects, with the result that more than half of his natural theology of creation constitutes a philosophy of mind. Kretzmann gives a masterful guide through all these arguments. As before, he not only expounds Aquinas's natural theology, but advocates it as the best historical instance available to us.
About this book: Norman Kretzmann expounds and criticizes Aquinas's natural theology of creation, which is `natural' (or philosophical) in virtue of Aquinas's having developed it without depending on the data of Scripture. The Metaphysics of Creation is a continuation of the project Kretzmann began in The Metaphysics of Theism, moving the focus from the first to the second book of Aquinas's Summa contra gentiles.
Here we find Aquinas building upon his account of the existence and nature of God, arguing that the existence of things other than God must be explained by divine creation out of nothing. He develops arguments to identify God's motivation for creating, to defend the possibility of a beginningless created universe, and to explain the origin of species. He then focuses exclusively on creatures with intellects, with the result that more than half of his natural theology of creation constitutes a philosophy of mind. Kretzmann gives a masterful guide through all these arguments. As before, he not only expounds Aquinas's natural theology, but advocates it as the best historical instance available to us.
Reviews / Votes
Kretzmann does a wonderful job of both conveying Aquinas's thought clearly and cogently, and discussing it in terms of the most advanced and sophisticated work of our contemporaries. He writes furthermore in an excellent philosophical style, at once incisive, unpretentious and pellucid * The Heythrop Journal * Kretzmann's lucid analysis of the arguments, and his patient teasing out of their difficult steps, is a service to the learned world, both theological and philosophical * Anthony Kenny, Times Literary Supplement * Kretzmann's presentation of this argument is more plausible than any other argument for God's existence of which I am aware * Anthony Kenny, Times Literary Supplement *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
910 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-823787-7 (9780198237877)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2001
Oxford University Press
€88.10
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Norman Kretzmann, Susan Linn Sage Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Cornell University, New York, completed this book at the beginning of 1998, and died in the summer of that year. He taught philosophy at Cornell for more than thirty years, and also held appointments at Bryn Mawr College, Ohio State University, and the University of Illinois, and visiting positions at Wayne State University and the Universities of Minnesota, Arizona, and Oxford.
Content
1. NATURE FROM THE TOP DOWN; 2. FROM GOD TO EVERYTHING ELSE; 3. CREATION AS DOUBLY UNIVERSAL PRODUCTION; 4. CREATION'S MODALITIES; 5. COULD THE CREATED WORLD HAVE EXISTED FOR EVER? 6. THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES; 7. INTELLECTS; 8. METAPHYSICAL HYBRIDS; 9. THE SOUL'S ANATOMY; 10. SOULS BEFORE BIRTH AND AT DEATH; APPENDICES; REFERENCES; INDEXES.