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Thomas Aquinas: The Universal Doctor
N A Morris,
M.A. (Oxon) Phil. Lic. (Rome),
Doct. ès Lettres (Paris)
About the Author
N. A. Morris spent her childhood in the countryside of East Sussex and Wiltshire. She was educated
at Bexhill County Grammar School for Girls and St Hilda’s College, Oxford, where she read Modern Languages. After
twenty years teaching in various countries in Europe and Africa, and in Canada, she started her study of philosophy
at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. From there she transferred to the Sorbonne, Paris, where her Maîtrise
dissertation was on ‘Peace in the Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas,’and her Doctoral thesis was entitled ‘The Principle
of Individuation in the Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas.’ Having obtained a Licentiate in Philosophy at the Gregorian
University, Rome, concentrating mainly on modern philosophy, she taught at that university for a while.
'Stand by the roads and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is,
and walk in it …'
But they said,
'We will not walk in it.'
Jeremiah 6:16
Hoath House
2005
Copyright © N. A. Morris 2005
This book can be obtained directly from the author-:
N. A. Morris
Hoath House
22 Pentre Street
Glynneath
Neath
SA11 5HA
UK
Price £12.50 including postage (UK)
Email: jnamm @ live.co.uk (without any
spaces)
Also from Amazon using this LINK
Table of Contents
I The Meaning of Things – What went wrong....................................1
II A Philosophy of Balance –
The Metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas......................................................23
III A Philosophy of Order –
The Physics of Thomas Aquinas..............................................................37
IV A Respect for Nature –
Thomas Aquinas and Ecology..................................................................59
V A Respect for Human Nature –
Thomas Aquinas and Morality...................................................................76
VI Justice Begins at Home –
Thomas Aquinas’s Teaching on Marriage..................................................103
VII – Politics for an Imperfect World....................................................125
VIII – The Necessities of Life –
Thomas Aquinas and Economics...............................................................146
IX –Unity Within and Without -
Thomas Aquinas on Peace.........................................................................177
X – The Universal Doctor –
Thomas Aquinas is for Everyone.................................................................194
Appendix I – A brief biography of Thomas Aquinas.................................215
Appendix II – The ‘ontological’ proofs for the existence of God................224
Index...................................................................................................... 231
FOREWORD
This book was written firstly, to express the author’s conviction that there is something distorted
in Western society at the beginning of the third millennium; secondly, to analyse the causes of this imbalance;
thirdly and principally, to offer a set of solutions. It is the author’s opinion that these solutions are still
to be found in the writings of the thirteenth century philosopher and theologian, Thomas Aquinas. It is hoped that
the book will succeed in introducing Thomas Aquinas’s philosophical thought to a new generation. It is also hoped
that some at least among its readers will feel inspired to study this philosophy more deeply, and that a few of
these will become the experts in Thomism that are lacking to the twenty-first century.
As this is intended to be no more than an introduction to Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy those readers who are more
academically-minded may find an irritating lack of exact references. These have been kept to a minimum as the book
is meant to be for everyone, not only for the academic. Those who are really interested will go to Thomas’s writings
and seek out the passages where he talks about the various topics mentioned. For these readers, the few references
given should serve as sufficient guides for them to start their search.
The book need not necessarily be read through from the beginning to the end, although it will seem more logical
if it is read in this way, as later chapters do partly depend on what has gone before - but not entirely. Readers
must choose their own itineraries. Whatever route they choose they cannot fail to come at least a little nearer
to this clear and practical thinker, who was given to the world for all time, not just for a few centuries between
two dark ages.
Chapter 1
Copyright © N. A. Morris 2005
This Version: 14th March 2010
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