Thomas Aquinas on bodily identity / Antonia Fitzpatrick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fitzpatrick, Antonia, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274.

Thomas.

Human body (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

X, 203 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

This is a study of the union of matter and the soul in the human being in the thought of the Dominican Thomas Aquinas. At first glance this issue might appear arcane, but it was at the centre of polemic with heresy in the thirteenth century and at the centre of the development of medieval thought more broadly. The book argues that theological issues, especially the need for an identical body to be resurrected at the end of time, but also considerations about Christ's crucifixion and saints' relics, were central to Aquinas's account of how human beings are constituted. The book explores in particular how theological questions and concerns shaped Aquinas's thought on individuality and personal and bodily identity over time, his embryology and understanding of heredity, his work on nutrition and bodily growth, and his fundamental conception of matter itself. It demonstrates, up-close, how Aquinas used his peripatetic sources, Aristotle and (especially) Averroes, to frame and further his own thinking in these areas.

Contents:

1 Aristotelian Tradition (I): Individuality and the Individual Body 27

Introduction 27

The Basics (I): Body and Soul as 'Proper Matter' and 'Proper Form' 29

Substance and Accident 30

The Basics (II): Human Generation, the Material Principle, and Necessity in Causation 31

The Generation of the Individual Body 38

The Individual Body and the Intellect in De Anima 42

Essence and Individuality in the Metaphysics 43

Conclusions 50

2 Aristotelian Tradition (II): Bodily Identity 52

Introduction 52

Body as a Kind of Quantity 54

Growth and Material Exchange 56

The Corpse 60

Substantial Change and Material Continuity 62

Aristotle on Substantial Change 65

Averroes on Substantial Change and Corporeal Structure 69

Corporeal Structure as Incorruptible 69

Corporeal Structure as Divisible 73

Corporeal Structure and Material Identity 75

'Indeterminate Dimensions': An Accidental Form Sui Generis 77

Conclusions 78

3 Thomas Aquinas (I): Individuality and the Individual Body 80

Introduction 80

Substantial Form and Matter in Human Nature 81

Essence and Esse 81

Human Essence as Composite 83

Commensuratio between Individual Soul and Individual Body 91

Universals 92

Dimensive Quantity: The Body's Accidental Corporeal Form 96

Dimensive Quantity and Organic Structure 97

The Human Body as Optime Dispositus 100

Human Generation, Heredity, the Shaping of Individuals 103

Material Developments in Human Generation 105

Individual Bodies 112

Individual Matter 118

Conclusions 126

4 Thomas Aquinas (II): Bodily Identity 130

Introduction 130

Material Continuity in the Mortal Body 131

The Identity of Dimensive Quantity across Growth 139

Formal Continuity in the Resurrected Body 141

The Body's Esse 143

The Soul and the Body's Formal Identity 144

The Soul as the Body's Efficient Cause 146

The Soul as One of Two Essential Principles 151

Postmortem Bodily and Material Continuity 155

The Continuity of the Matter Particular to Individual Bodies 158

Christ's Corpse and Saints' Relics 165

Conclusions 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0198790856

9780198790853

OCLC:

987904614