Book Review – St. Thomas Aquinas – The Giants of Philosophy By Kenneth L. Schmitz

Aquinas The Giant

St. Thomas Aquinas – The Giants of Philosophy By Kenneth L. Schmitz

Synopsis:

St. Thomas Aquinas is known for producing history’s most complete system of Christian philosophy. In the late thirteenth century, this quiet, reflective Dominican scholar combined the work of Aristotle with Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and pagan thought to reconcile reason and faith. He believed we can know that God exists but not what God is like. Aquinas concluded that mortal happiness is uncertain but immortal happiness is the ultimate end of life; beatitude is to pass beyond death to see the face of God. His thought continues to exert a powerful influence on Catholic philosophy today.

The Giants of Philosophy series is a collection of dramatic presentations, in understandable language, of the concerns, questions, interests, and overall outlook of the world’s great philosophers and philosophical traditions. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations give you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life. (Taken from GoodReads page)

Review

What this smaller-sized book does is provide a little bit of the life and times of Thomas Aquinas and some good coverage on the main contributions he made to philosophy. So if you’re looking for more of a biography focus this one might not cover your need.

With respect to covering the philosophy, the author does a good job of laying out the main arguments to the Summa Theologiae. At the same time, it’s not too heady as to have to pause and thumb through a philosophy dictionary but it’s not so basic that it’s worthless to cover. The one thing that could have been focused on a bit more is actually what people applaud Aquinas for. Many talk about the interesting aspect that Aquinas brought to the table was bringing in thoughts from Aristotle but don’t really go into what Aristotle had to offer and why it wasn’t until Aquinas brought in the ideas that they came over.

So this book balances the length with the life and philosophy with a bit more emphasis on the philosophy work than the events surrounding his life.

Final Grade