To Know the Truth of Things

If you have visited the Thomistic Philosophy Page in recent months, you may have notice an image of the cover for my forthcoming book, To Know the Truth of Things: An Overview of the Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas. The title comes from an observation about the nature and goal of philosophy that Saint Thomas makes in the course of commenting on one of Aristotle’s many surveys of the views of his predecessors:

The study of philosophy aims not at knowing what men have thought, but what the truth of things is.

Commentary on Aristotle’s On the Heavens, Book I, Lecture 22, no. 228.

Most of the material for the book derives from content on the Thomistic Philosophy Page, though much updated and expanded. Chapter 2 – Basics of Logic is almost entirely new and goes beyond my few brief remarks on substance and accidents currently in the Natural Philosophy section; it also includes a brief explanation of the place of liberal arts in medieval university education along with a basic presentation of traditional logic.

Also, much updated and expanded in Chapter 1 are the biography of Saint Thomas and reflections on the problem of Christian Philosophy, i.e., how genuine philosophy based only on natural reason may be found in the texts of a 13th century Catholic theologian based on his faith in divine, supernatural revelation. These pages on the website have already been updated with material from this chapter. (The latter essay was probably the weakest on the site before these revisions and expansion, and was frustratingly inconclusive; the new essay is, I think, much better.)

Here is what else the book will contain when published (and available for purchase):

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to the Life and Work of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Sample Draft)
2. Basics of Logic: the Art and Science of Reasoning
3. Philosophy of Nature: the Study of Matter and Motion
4. Philosophical Psychology: the Study of the Soul
5. Metaphysics: the Study of Being as Being
6. Natural Theology I: Knowing God’s Existence through Reason
7. Natural Theology II: Knowing (Something of) God’s Nature (Attributes)
8. Ethics: the Study of Good and Evil Human Acts and Virtues
9. Political Thought: the Study of the Common Good

Stay tuned for an announcement of the actual publication of the book. I am shooting for the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas on January 28, 2025, in time for the 800th anniversary of his birth (though this might be a bit ambitious).

Sancte Thoma Aquinatis, Doctor Angelice, ora pro nobis!