Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metaphysics of Aquinas

Fran O'Rourke

Description

Although Pseudo-Dionysius was, after Aristotle, the author whom Thomas Aquinas quoted most frequently, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of this Neoplatonist thinker in the formation of Aquinas' philosophy. Fran O'Rourke's book is the only available work that investigates the pervasive influence of Pseudo-Dionysius on Aquinas, while at the same time examining the latter's profound originality.

Central themes discussed by O'Rourke include knowledge of the absolute, existence as the first and most universal perfection, the diffusion of creation, the hierarchy of creatures, and their return to God as final end. O'Rourke devotes special attention to the Neoplatonist element in Aquinas' notion of "being" as intensity or degree of perfection. He also considers the relation of being and goodness in light of Aquinas' nuanced reversal of Dionysius' theory of the primacy of the good, and Aquinas' arguments for the transcendental nature of goodness.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Métaphysique
• Religion
• Christianisme
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• God
• Metaphysics
• Catholic
• Christianity
• Aristotle
• History

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 03 novembre 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268161415
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 17 Mo

Extrait

o rourk e P S E U D O - D I O N Y S I U S a n d t h e M E T A P H Y S I C S o f A Q U I N A S
’
P S E U D O - D I O N Y S I U S A N D T H E M E T A P H Y S I C S O F A Q U I N A S
Fran O Rourke’
“Tis is one of the two or three most important books on Aquinas published in the last ffy fr an o rourke’years.” —Al asdair MacInt yre, University of Notre Dame
“[T]he completeness of O’Rourke’s survey of the vast quantity of relevant (and ofen
untranslated) text, as well as his extensive knowledge and prudent employment of the
multilingual literature, make [the book] genuinely useful resource for s cholars. . . .
[B]ecause of its exhaustive historical scholarship, its even-handedness, and its continued
philosophical cogency, the reissue of O’Rourke’s book can be greeted with a pplause.”
— journal of ecclesiastical history P S E U D O - D I O N Y S I U S
“Te substantial and detailed analysis of the texts of both authors will prove an invaluable
work of reference for students of Pseudo-Dionysius and Aquinas.”
—International Philosophical Quarterly
and the
“Although the argumentation of the book is subtle and profoundly conceived, it is stated with
the most lucid and compelling clarity. Te book was a labour of love and is certain to remain
for many decades or more the standard work in an extraordinarily difcult ar-ea of the his
tory of metaphysics.”— International Journal of Philosophical Studies
M E TA P H Y S I C S
“A truly magnifcent study.—” Angelicum
Although Pseud o-Dionysius was, afer Aristotle, the author whom Tomas A-qui
nas quoted most frequently, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of this
of Neoplatonist thinker in the formation of Aquinas’ philosophy. Fran O’Rourke’s book is the
only available work that investigates the pervasive infuence of Pseudo-Dionysi- us on Aqui
nas, while at the same time examining the latter’s profound originality.
FRAN O ROURKE is Senior Lecturer in the School of Philosophy at University College ’ AQ U I N A S
Dublin, Ireland.
Universit y of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, IN 46556
undpress.nd.edu
Cover design by andrew shurtz
O'Rourke PDMA 2010 cover.indd 1 2/16/10 11:39 AMPSEUDO-DIONYSIUS
AND
THE METAPHYSICS OF AQUINAS PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS
AND
THE METPHYSICS OF AQUINAS
by
FRAN O'ROURKE
Universit of Note Dame Press
Note Dame, Indiana O'Rourke reprint 10/4/05 11:51 AM Page iv
Copyright © 1992, 2005 by Fran O’Rourke
Cloth edition published in 1992 by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
First paperback edition published in 2005 by the University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
www.undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Reprinted in 2010
Manufactured in the United States of America
The Press gratefully acknowledges financial support from
The National University of Ireland for the publication of this paperback edition.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O’Rourke, Fran.
Pseudo-Dionysius and the metaphysics of Aquinas / by Fran O’Rourke.—
1st pbk. ed.
p. cm.
Originally published: Leiden ; New York : E.J. Brill, 1992, in series: Studien und
Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters ; Bd. 32.
Revision of the author’s thesis (Ph. D.)—Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte, Leuven.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-268-03724-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 10: 0-268-03724-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274. 2. Pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite—
Influence. 3. Metaphysics—History—To 1500. I. Title.
B765.T54O78 2005
186'.4—dc22
2005025288
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.1 no1lcuuime mo tU1sm1teo1Rf
Cao1rfn .SUS ma1Re. 48
CONTENTS
Prefce to the 2005 Reprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x1
List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xm
Pref ace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
PART ONE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
I KOWLEDGE OF GOD IN PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS . . . . . . . . . . 3
Reason and Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Causality and the Knowledge of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
14 Positive and Negative Names of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Priority of Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
II DIONYSIAN ELEMENTS IN AQUINAS' DISCOVERY
OF GOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Reason and Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Triplex Va of Divine Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The Principle of Similitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Participation: Ground of Predication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Primacy of Negative Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PART TWO
TRANSCENDENCE OF BEING AND THE GOOD
III THEARCHIA: THE TRANSCENDENT GOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Transcendence of God as Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 of God Beyond Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
God as Non-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
God Beyond Being and Non-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
The Meaning of 'Non-Being' fr Dionysius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 f
IV AQUINAS: BEING, NON-BEING AND THE GOOD
God as Non-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
viii CONTENTS
85
The Notion of the Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Aquinas' Interpretation of Dionysius' Non-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Mt ter as . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
94
Potency as . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Being as First Desired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Goodness, Being and Causality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Primacy of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
PART THREE
TRANSCENDENT CAUSALITY AND EXISTENCE
V UNITY OF DIVINE CAUSATION IN DIONYSIUS . .. ... . 117
Dionysius, Aquinas and Exodus 3, 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
VI DIONYSIAN ELEMENTS IN AQUINAS' NOTION
OF BEING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Universal Being: the First Created Perf ection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
The Meaning of Esse Commune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Esse Commune and Ipsum Esse Subsistens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Vrtus Essendi: Intensive Being in Dionysius and Aquinas . . . . 15 5
Vrtual Quantity: the Language of Esse Intensivum . . . . . . 15 6 Intensity of Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Esse Intensivum: Primary Act and Perection . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Dionysius, Source of Aquinas' Intensive Notion of Being . . 180
VII GOODNESS OF GOD AS SUBSISTENT BEING . . . . . . . . . . 188
197 Divine Identity, Simplicity and Immutability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Divine Perfcti on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Aquinas and the Good beyond Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
PART FOUR
CREATIVE DIFFUSION OF THE GOOD
215 VIII PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS: THE CYCLE OF CREATION CONTENTS IX
IX CRE ATIVE DIFF USIO N IN AQUINAS 225
Divine Good as Origin of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Emanation and Return of Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Difsion of the Good: Efcient or Final Causation? . . . . . . . 241
God's Creative Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Presence and Transcendence of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Hierarchy and Order of Beings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 PREFACE TO THE 2005 REPRINT
Shortly afer Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metahys ics of Aquinas was frst pub­
lished in 1992, the senior editor at E.J. Brill confdently stated that there were
sufcient copies in stock to meet demands 'well into the next century'. He
could not have been as surprised as the author, however, by the deletion of the
title fom the catalogue within half a decade. I am gratefl to the University of
Note Dame Press fr their willingness to issue a reprint, fllowing many re­
quests that it be made available again. I am most gratefl also to those col­
leagues who reviewed the book on its appearance, or who critically engaged
with it subsequently in the literature. It is not my purpose here to profer a
reply since I am, fr the most par, happy to accept their criticism and com­
ments as legitimate. Aside fom some minor emendations the text remains un­
altered. In lieu ofrevision I take the liberty oflisting here some recent articles
of mine on Plato, Neoplatonism, and Aquinas. Hopeflly they will provide
elaboration on aspects of the background against which Aquinas articulated
his understanding ofDionysius.
'Via causalitatis; via negationis; via eminentiae', Historisches Worterbuch
der Philosoph ie, Band 11 [U-V]. Basel: Schwabe Verlag, 2001, 1034-3 8.
'Plato's Approa