Thomas Aquinas (Philosophers in 90 Minutes)

Thomas Aquinas (Philosophers in 90 Minutes)
Paul Strathern | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | Blackstone Audiobooks | 0 | Philosophy
These concise and enlightening explorations of our greatest thinkers bring their ideas to life in an entertaining and accessible fashion. Philosophical thought is deciphered and made comprehensible and interesting to almost everyone. Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the philosopher and his work, authoritative and clearly presented.
In yet another of his popular books explaining the ideas of the great philosophers in accessible language, Paul Strathern takes on "a shadowy figure amongst the incense clouds of theology," who also happens to be "the finest philosophical mind in Europe for a thousand years (since St. Augustine)," St. Thomas Aquinas. Strathern applies his trademark humor to the Summa Theologica ("Christianity's answer to the Talmud") and the Summa Contra Gentiles, whose "imaginary reader is generally reckoned to be an intellectual Arab. After being subjected to hundreds of pages demonstrating the incontrovertible truth of the Christian religion, it is assumed that he has no alternative but to forswear Islam and embrace Christianity. How many intellectual Arabs subjected themselves to this grueling experience and reached the same conclusion is unknown." Underneath the gags, however, you'll gain a reasonable summation of Aquinas's impact on the scholasticism of his era and the validity of his continued, if somewhat diminished, relevance to present-day philosophy.
Reviews
St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest thinkers in Church history. More than 25 Popes have lauded Aquinas as the Church's preeminent theologian. His most well-known work is his hefty "Summa Theologica", which includes arguments for the existence of God, his understanding of man's nature, and his writings on virtue and sin.



But while many are familiar with Aquinas the theologian, few people know Aquinas the man. Three of my favorite theologians have written great biographies of Aquinas--G.K. Chesteron, Fr. Robert Barron, and Fr. Aidan Nichols--but each is a more advanced study of Aquinas' life. "Thomas Aquinas In 90 Minutes", however, offers a shorter, more accessible look at this brilliant, holy man. The book begins with a quick overview of Thomas' childhood, then quickly moves into his thought and impact on scholasticism. Written with a light, humorous approach, the book really can be read in 90 minutes.



Read this book for a brisk, easy introduction to Aquinas' life.
Reviews
In Feb., on Maui, my wife found this book in our condo laundry room. and, I read it. I liked it so much, I have not only acquired it, but, most of the 90 Minute series. I keep reading and adding.
Reviews
Assuming good faith, I'm not quite sure why this book was written. There's very little discussion about and explanation of Thomas' philosophy. Filling his book with put-downs from page one, dripping with sarcasm, the author comes across as a stellar example of late 20th century intellectual snobbery. If you're looking for a concise beginner's introduction to Aquinas' influential thought, this is not it. The only practical use I can think of for this book would be as fodder for a study of published modern anti-Catholic "intellectualism."






Reviews
Strathern says Thomas Aquinas was a towering figure of Medieval philosophy. I had to read another book (Aquinas for Armchair Theologians) to find out why.



Strathern is less interested in revealing Aquinas' philosophy than in reviling his theology. Strathern outlines Aquinas' life, discusses Aquinas' philosophical errors, and ridicules Aquinas' theology. Along the way, he succeeds in ignoring almost every important contribution Aquinas made to the history of Western thought. E.g., Aquinas' profound effect on the thought of Martin Luther King, Jr., helped shape the American Civil Rights movement. But why write about that when you can lampoon Aquinas for making philosophical arguments in support of Christianity?



In the last paragraph of his afterword Strathern celebrates Descartes' dictum "cogito ergo sum" because with it, modern philosophy had begun and the cobwebs of Aquinas' teachings were "swept away forever." A reading of Descartes' "Discourse on Method" reveals that Descartes reasoned from "cogito ergo sum" to the existence of God. Far from "sweeping away" Aquinas' cobwebs, Descartes seems to be very much entangled in them. The belief that reason could provide a pathway to God was not original to Descartes, Aquinas thought of it a few centuries before Descartes' time. There are still enough of Aquinas' cobwebs around for Martin Luther King, Jr., to have quoted Aquinas in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," and for George Bush, Sr., to have patterned his speech justifying Desert Storm after Aquinas' model for the just war.



Almost everything about modern thought is influenced by Thomas Aquinas, from Greenpeace to the World Court. You won't learn how reading this book. Read "Aquinas for Armchair Theologians" instead.
Reviews
I am so glad I was able to obtain this book on loan because I can think of much better ways to spend my money. I was so hopeful when I started this reading that I would get a general idea of the philosophies of Aquinas. Obviously I did not expect to get to know him intimatly. What I got was a sarcastic and condescending review of a man who has greatly impacted the catholic church (the author claims that without Aquinas, the church may not have survived) and thus western civilization. I wish I had read the other reviews here first. The book presents itself as being biographical and unbiased but from page one you learn of the author's obvious distaste for Aquinas. I don't mind this sort of writing, only that I would like to know what I am in for. But worse, the books claims it will help you understand Aquinas but instead the author wanders off on barely related topics leaving me with no more information about Aquinas' philosophies than when I began.

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