Professor Rik Van Nieuwenhove rik.van-nieuwenhove@durham.ac.uk
Professor
This contribution examines two related points in relation to Aquinas’s understanding of contemplation, which is a sorely neglected topic in scholarship. First, after having outlined that the final act of contemplation culminates in an intellective, simple apprehension of the truth, I will examine how this act relates to the three operations of the intellect (grasping of quiddity, judgement, and reasoning) Aquinas identifies in a number of places. Second, I argue that his view of contemplation as simple insight is significantly indebted to Neoplatonic sources; therefore, we must pay attention to the way he introduces Neoplatonic elements into his Aristotelian framework. I conclude this contribution by suggesting some reasons—of a theological nature—why Aquinas would have been drawn towards a non-discursive or “intuitive” notion of contemplation.
Van Nieuwenhove, R. (2017). Contemplation, Intellectus, and Simplex Intuitus in Aquinas: Recovering a Neoplatonic Theme. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 91(2), 199-225. https://doi.org/10.5840/acpq2017227108
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Online Publication Date | Apr 1, 2017 |
Publication Date | Apr 1, 2017 |
Deposit Date | Sep 4, 2017 |
Publicly Available Date | Sep 5, 2017 |
Journal | American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly |
Print ISSN | 1051-3558 |
Electronic ISSN | 2153-8441 |
Publisher | American Catholic Philosophical Association |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 91 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 199-225 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.5840/acpq2017227108 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1377411 |
Accepted Journal Article
(570 Kb)
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