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The Ethics of Aquinas (Moral Traditions series)

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In this comprehensive anthology, twenty-seven outstanding scholars from North America and Europe address every major aspect of Thomas Aquinas' understanding of morality and comment on his remarkable legacy. While there has been a revival of interest in recent years in the ethics of St. Thomas, no single work has yet fully examined the basic moral arguments and content of Aquinas' major moral work, the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae. This work fills that lacuna. The first chapters of this book introduce readers to the sources, methods, and major themes of Aquinas' ethics. The second part of the book provides an extended discussion of ideas in the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae, in which contributors present cogent interpretations of the structure, major arguments, and themes of each of the treatises. The third and final part examines aspects of Thomistic ethics in the twentieth century and beyond. These essays reflect a diverse group of scholars representing a variety of intellectual perspectives. Contributors span numerous fields of study, including intellectual history, medieval studies, moral philosophy, religious ethics, and moral theology. This remarkable variety underscores how interpretations of Thomas' ethics continue to develop and evolve--and stimulate fervent discussion within the academy and the church. This volume is aimed at scholars, students, clergy, and all those who continue to find Aquinas a rich source of moral insight.

The essays in this collection amount to a complete commentary of the Prima and Secunda Secundae of the Summa Theologiae. The contributions on 20th century moral theology, which round off the volume, raise the reader's awareness of the changing interpretations of Aquinas' work over the past two to three hundred years. Written by leading scholars of Thomas Aquinas, the contributions represent first-class scholarship on Thomist ethics, while being written in a simple, introductory style accessible to the novice. A further reason that makes this collection a perfect starting place for research are the carefully selected further reading suggestions at the end of each contribution. It also includes translations of a number of classic essays originally written in German (Kobusch, Schockenhoff, Rhonheimer) and French (Pinckaers). I am a particular fan of Clifford Kossell's essay on natural law and human law, and of his overview over the work of three important 20th century Thomists, Odon Lottin, Jacques Maritain and Yves Simon. Indeed, Kossell's familiarity with these authors and their early 20th century context convey an exciting idea of the novelty of their interpretation and the huge contribution they made to the field, for instance, by emphasising the centrality of the virtues, and especially prudence. What makes Kossell an excellent guide is the way in which he avoids extremes, thus he, for instance, objects to the tendency in (more recent) virtue ethics to reject the idea of natural law as law (see p176 and n45).
Addition April 2011: Jean Porter's discussion of the relationship between justice and charity is also very helpful.