Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and the most important theologian and philosopher of the medieval Catholic Church. Born into Italian nobility near Aquino, he defied his family's wishes by joining the mendicant Dominican Order and went on to study under the great Aristotelian scholar Albertus Magnus in Cologne and Paris. Aquinas's great project was the synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, demonstrating that reason and faith were complementary rather than contradictory. His masterwork, the Summa Theologica (begun 1265, left unfinished at his death in 1274), is a systematic exposition of theology structured as a series of questions, objections, and responses. It addressed everything from the existence of God to the ethics of war and the nature of the soul with rigorous logical argument. His five 'ways' or proofs for the existence of God remain among the most discussed arguments in philosophy. Known as the 'Doctor Angelicus' (Angelic Doctor), Aquinas was canonized in 1323 and declared a Doctor of the Church. His philosophical system, Thomism, became the dominant framework of Catholic intellectual life and profoundly influenced Western thought. At the end of his life he reportedly declared that everything he had written 'seemed like straw' compared to what he had experienced in mystical contemplation.
- Lived: 1225 CE – 1274 CE
- Nationality: italian
- Roles: philosopher, religious_leader
