Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metaphysics of Aquinas

Erscheinungsjahr 1992
ISBN: 978-90-04-09466-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 32, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 703 g

Reihe: Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters

In Aquinas' encounter with Pseudo-Dionysius can be discovered an integral philosophy of reality — a comprehensive vision of existence, depicting the universe in its procession from and return to the Absolute, according to each grade of reality, including man, its place in the hierarchy of being. The point of divergence is the primacy attributed, in turn, by the authors to the Good or to Being as a universal principle.
Against this background the present work investigates the influence of Dionysius with respect to the central themes of Aquinas' metaphysics: knowledge of the Absolute, and its nature as transcendent; Being as primary and universal perfection; the diffusion of creation; the hierarchy of creatures and return of all to God as the final end.
This is one of the few studies to date which considers in a comprehensive way the relation between these remarkable thinkers. By concrete example and continual reference it illustrates both the pervasive influence of Pseudo-Dionysius and the profound originality of Aquinas.

Autoren/Hrsg.

O'Rourke

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie

Über Autor(innen)

Fran O'Rourke lectures in Philosophy at University College Dublin. He has edited At the Heart of the Real (Dublin, 1992), written articles on Neoplatonism, Aquinas and Heidegger, and translated articles from German and Modern Greek.