Aquinas’s Commentary on the Metaphysics

Abstract

Thomas Aquinas set out to comment on Aristotle's works rather late in his career. His first Aristotelian commentary, Sententia Libri De Anima , dates back to 1267/68 when Aquinas was still in Rome to direct recently founded Dominican studium . Aquinas's activity as an Aristotelian commentator had a rather private character and was mainly prompted by Thomas's desire to enhance his knowledge of Aristotle's thought and philosophical jargon. Aquinas's works gained in popularity, circulation, and importance to become a point of reference for any subsequent interpretation of Aristotle's texts. Aquinas's commentaries came soon to be regarded by both adversaries and followers as standard expositions of Aristotle's doctrine, to be compared to or set against Averroes's exegetical corpus. Moerbeke's revision and translation are used throughout Aquinas's commentary as main basis for his exposition of Aristotle's text, references are made also to other versions of Metaphysics , including Media , the Vetus , and the Vetustissima . Keywords: Aristotelian commentary; Averroes's exegetical corpus; Dominican studium ; Media ; Metaphysics ; Moerbeke; Sententia Libri De Anima ; Thomas Aquinas; Vetus ; Vetustissima