In this comprehensive anthology, twenty-seven outstanding scholars from North America and Europe address every major aspect of Thomas Aquinas's understanding of morality and comment on his remarkable legacy. While there has been a revival of interest in recent years in the ethics of St. Thomas, no single work has yet fully examined the basic moral arguments and content of Aquinas' major moral work, the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae. This work fills that lacuna.
The first chapters of The Ethics of Aquinas introduce readers to the sources, methods, and major themes of Aquinas's ethics. The second part of the book provides an extended discussion of ideas in the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae, in which contributors present cogent interpretations of the structure, major arguments, and themes of each of the treatises. The third and final part examines aspects of Thomistic ethics in the twentieth century and beyond.
These essays reflect a diverse group of scholars representing a variety of intellectual perspectives. Contributors span numerous fields of study, including intellectual history, medieval studies, moral philosophy, religious ethics, and moral theology. This remarkable variety underscores how interpretations of Thomas's ethics continue to develop and evolve—and stimulate fervent discussion within the academy and the church.
This volume is aimed at scholars, students, clergy, and all those who continue to find Aquinas a rich source of moral insight.
Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
The Setting of the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas-Revisited
Leonard E. Boyle, OP
The Sources of the Ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas
Servais-Theodore Pinckaers, OP
Translated by Mary Thomas Noble, OP
Overview of the Ethics of Thomas Aquinas
Stephen J. Pope
PART I: The First Part of the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae
Happiness
Georg Wieland
Translated by Grant Kaplan
The Will and Its Acts
David M. Gallagher
Good and Evil in Human Acts
Daniel Westberg
The Passions of the Soul
Kevin White
Habits and Virtues
Bonnie Kent
The Intellectual Virtues
Gregory M. Reichberg
Vice and Sin
Eileen Sweeney
Natural Law and Human Law
Clifford G. Kossel, SJ
The Old Law and the New Law
Pamela M. Hall
Grace
Theo Kobusch
Translated by Grant Kaplan and Frederick G. Lawrence
Part II: The Second Part of the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae
The Theological Virtue of Faith: An Invitation to an Ecclesial Life of Truth
Stephen F. Brown
The Theological Virtue of Hope
Romanus Cessario, OP
The Theological Virtue of Charity
Eberhard Schokenhoff
Translated by Grant Kaplan and Frederick G. Lawrence
The Virtue of Prudence
James F. Keenan, SJ
The Virtue of Justice
Jean Porter
Sins Against Justice
Martin Rhonheimer
Translated by Frederick G. Lawrence
The Virtue of Courage
R.E. Houser
The Virtue of Temperance
Diana Fritz Cates
Charisms, Forms and States of life
Serge-Thomas Bonino, OP
Translated by Mary thomas Noble, OP
Part III: The Twentieth-Century Legacl
Interpreting Thomas Aquinas: Aspects of the Dominican School of Moral Theology in the Twentieth Century
Thomas F. O'Meara, OP
Interpreting Thomas Aquinas:Aspects of the Redemptrist and Jesuit Schools in the Twentieth Century
Raphael Gallagher, CSSR
Thomistic Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century
Clifford G. Kossel, SJ
Interpretations of Aquinas's Ethics Since Vatican II
Thomas S. Hibbs
The Evaluation of Goods and the Estimation of Consequences: Aquinas on the Determination of the Morally Good
Ludger Honnefelder
Lonergan and Aquinas: The Postmodern Problematic of Theology and Ethics
Frederick G. Lawrence
Contributors
Index
Reviews
"Pope has assembled an impressive range of contributors to provide the most complete and authoritative commentary on the ethics of Thomas Aquinas. An indispensable resource for moral theologians and philosophers. A landmark volume."—Theological Studies
"This book addresses a wide audience of experts and others who are interested in Aquinas and in ethics. This is an important contribution and should be present in any serious theological library."—Catholic Library World
"Particularly timely . . . this work will address an imbalanced impression that those with only limited exposure to Aquinas may have."—Theology Today
"A must have for every theology library and an invaluable resource for moral theologians, philosophers and students alike. Pope has gathered some of the best Thomistic scholars and ethicists in Europe and America to contribute to this book."—Horizons
"A remarkable set of in-depth background essays by scholars of erudition, balanced judgement, and clarity of thought....This is a rich and unparalleled resource for scholars of theological ethics."—Lisa Sowle Cahill, Monan Professor of Theology, Boston College
About the Author
Stephen J. Pope is a professor in the Boston College Department of Theology. His books include The Evolution of Altruism and the Ordering of Love (Georgetown University Press, 1994).
