This monograph discusses different philosophical and theological components of Aquinasâs view regarding the relation between human agency and divine providence. Against many contemporary scholars it argues that this view includes a plausible form of strong compatibilism whose philosophical premises are largely independent of Aquinasâs theological positions. Its original contributions to the understanding of Aquinasâs thought include an extensive analysis of Aquinasâs complex conception of modalities, his multileveled understanding of freedom, and his aristocratic perception of values.
Petr Dvorský, Ph.D. (1985), is assistant professor of philosophy at Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, and Post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of Czech Academy of Sciences. He works in the fields of scholastic philosophy and theology.
Acknowledgments
A Note Concerning Quotations
List of Abbreviations and Abbreviated Titles of Aquinasâs Works
Introduction
1âThe Goodness of the Scandalizing God
â1âIntroduction
â2âMaritainâs Divine Innocence, Aquinasâs Aristocratic Values, and the Homonymy of the Term âGoodâ
â2.1âIntroduction
â3.7âAquinasâs Freedom in Confrontation with Some Contemporary Arguments against Compatibilism: A Brief Preview
â4âGod of the Chosen Ones
â4.1âIntroduction
â4.2âBrief Remarks Concerning the Extrinsicist Viewpoint
â4.3âAquinasâs Rejection of Godâs Acting by Necessity
â4.4âPure Act â of Choice
5âForeknowledge, Providence, and Predestination
â1âIntroduction
â2âDivine Knowledge
â2.1âThe Knowledge of an Artisan
â2.2âThe Questioning of Causal Explanation
â2.3âTime, Eternity, and Presence in Aquinas
â2.4âThe Need for Atemporality
â3âProvidence
â3.1âThe Meaning of the Term
â3.2âProvidence â The Self-Propagation of the Good
â3.3âFate
â3.4âThe Failure of Providential Ordering
â3.5âFor Others and for Themselves
â3.6âProvidence and Happiness
â4âThe Special Case of Predestination
â4.1âIntroduction
â4.2âThe Foreknown Ones and Double Predestination
â4.3âElection on the Basis of Disposition
â4.4âTwo Neoplatonic Motives in Aquinasâs Explications of the Limitations of the Good
6âWill to Good and Deficient Causality
â1âIntroduction
â2âCause of the Act of sin
â2.1âThe God of Romans
â2.2âThe Origin of Sin
â2.3âCausa Defectus
â3âThe Antecedent Will
â3.1âIntroduction
â3.2âVelle Sine Vellendo
â3.3âVoluntas Antecedens
â3.4âAntecedent Will and Some Problems Divine Determinists Have with Sin
â4âLight and Sacramentality
General Summary
Bibliography
Index
Philosophers, theologians and historians of ideas (as well as students of these disciplines) interested in Aquinas, free will debate, divine determinism, modal notions, predestination, providence, aristocratic morality and related topics. Keywords: compatibilism, providence, evil, Aquinas, modalities, freedom, determinism, Thomism, sin, foreknowledge, contingency, will, causation, aristocratic morality.