Thomas Aquinas, Basic Philosophical Writing: From the Summa Theologiae and The Principles of Nature, ed. and trans. by Steven Baldner. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2019, 254 pp.

Abstract

No one can overlook the intellectual medieval giant, Thomas Aquinas. He looms so large in the Middle Ages that we ultimately almost tend to take him for granted and yet still do not quite know what positions he might have taken on so many different issues. St. Augustine, Isidore of Seville, and Thomas Aquinas belong to a category of medieval philosophers and theologians all by their themselves, which makes it rather difficult for most readers to gain a concise understanding of their teachings. Normally, we do nothing but cherry-picking, and use whatever statements we might need for our own research topics. But this does not do justice to those major figures. Any effort to synthesize and summarize what they had to say in a modern language can only be welcomed, certainly a daunting task.