The Human Wisdom of St. Thomas, by Josef Pieper

Last updated on: November 14, 2013 at 12:17 pm by willduquette

The Human Wisdom of St. Thomas, by Josef Pieper 2013-11-11T20:18:21-05:00 willduquette

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In 1948, Josef Pieper published a selection of short texts from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, specifically, those texts he wanted to bring to the attention of his friends so that they could come to understand the character and thought of St. Thomas. The texts (often no more than a sentence) are arranged in a particular order by topic, so as to lead the reader through the philosophical thought of the saint. The book is entitled The Human Wisdom of St. Thomas.

Beyond a short introduction, in which he explains his scheme and his reasons for it, Pieper is present only in his choice of texts and their arrangement. He wished to engender contemplation, the heart of philosophy, so that his readers might come to know St. Thomas by having thought his thoughts after him, not by having read Pieper’s own thoughts. To that end, it’s a book to be picked up now and then, not a book to be read straight through…which is extremely fortunate, because a single text can hang me up for a considerable length of time. It’s not because I don’t understand what Thomas is saying, necessarily, but because I do. Or, at least, I sometimes think I do. The surface is calm, but there are deep waters here.

St. Thomas was a theologian, and wrote mostly theology; but he held philosophy to be the handmaiden of theology, and his philosophy underlies every word he wrote. Consequently, to understand the reasoning behind his theology it helps to have a notion of his philosophy. The problem is, he never really wrote about his philosophy—not directly, or systematically. It’s everywhere, but nowhere is it in one place. Consequently, this little book (it is just over one-hundred pages long) might be a good place to start: what Pieper has done is precisely to pull the little bits of philosophy from all over Thomas’ body of work and put them in a sensible philosophical order.

Highly recommended, for those with an interest in this area.

_________

* Yes, I know that’s the same picture of St. Thomas that’s in my sidebar. It’s the picture of St. Thomas that I like.

Woof Guide to Theology

Previous Post

November 14, 2013

Words I Wish I'd Written: Talents

Next Post

November 14, 2013 Discovering the Saints: Justin Martyr

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Admin App o' the Morning Ask the Dogmat Believing Thomas Bits of Fiction Blasts from the Past Bootstrapping the Interior Life Catholic Mom Christian Living Deep Thoughts from the Doghouse Dominicana Evangelii Gaudium Interviews It Was A Dark and Stormy Night Links to This and That Lumen Fidei Meme Watch On Writing Operation Gratitude Pedant Errant Photography Quill Random Barkings S'Mary's World Shakers of Salt Software Development The Dog Whistler The Dogmat Sez Third Orders Thomas Aquinas Uncategorized Vikings at Dinos Woof Guide to Cinema Woof Guide to History Woof Guide to Literature Woof Guide to Obscure Catholic Music Woof Guide to Philosophy Woof Guide to Popular Music Woof Guide to Technology Woof Guide to Theology Words I Wish I'd Written Works For Me

Select a Month September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does 1 John say the world and its desires are doing?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Coming to an end Passing away Being judged Growing darker