Philosophy of Man St.

Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas Born on 1225 AD at Rocasseca, Naples in Italy. Died on March 7, 1274 AD Ordained as a Dominican priest on 1250 AD. His parents are Landulf and Theodora

St. Thomas of Aquinas is one of the doctors of the Church and is called an angelic doctor He is a great philosopher and a great theologian. He is the wisest of all holiest and holiest of all wisest.

Two monumental works: Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles Aquinas followed fundamentally the teachings of his great predecessor, Aristotle, whom he honored with the exclusive title The Philosopher Like Aristotle, Aquinas proclaimed the supremacy of reason in man and maintained that man can know the truth with certainty by the use of his reason.

Yet Aquinas stressed that there are some truths which cannot be known by human reason alone and which can be perceived only with the aid of the light of divine revelation Philosophy of Happiness

Man naturally longs for perfection and happiness and that this longing can be realized on earth with the full development of all mans powers and potentialities Yet Aquinas saw a higher form of perfection and happiness possible beyond this life. This perfect happiness which all men seek can be found in God alone

Man, in his present state of existence on earth is mortal, finite and imperfect; but with the attainment of his supreme purpose and union with God, he is elevated to the rank of the Divine, The Immortal and The Perfect. PRESENT STATE OF EXISTENCE ULTIMATE DESTINY Imperfect Perfect Finite Infinite Temporal Eternal Natural Supernatural Human Divine

The Transforming Power of Love

By perfect imitation of the Good that is by being good and doing the good according to Plato, we identify ourselves with THE GOOD. GOD is LOVE: then by loving we are likened to God who is Love and if we love perfectly and constantly, we identify ourselves with Love (GOD) According to St Paul, By the power of Love, you are made the children of God, and participants of His Divine Nature. TRANSFORMATION and TRANSCENDENCE Of all creatures of God, man has the unique power to change himself and the things around him for the better. Indeed, in accordance with his natural urge to be perfect and happy, he can improve and even perfect himself; and what is still more marvelous is that he can even transcend himself.

Therefore, according to St Thomas Aquinas, man has a supernatural transcendental destiny. Transcending the universal man of Aristotle as to perfection and destiny, the aforedescribed man of Aquinas is aptly called the Transcendental Man.

Transcendental comes from the Latin word transcendere which means to go beyond, to soar above, to surpass.
By:gmarroyo