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Summa Theologiae: A Concise Translation

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For those of us who do not have the time to physically sit down and read all five books of the Summa, this is most certainly the closest you will come to consuming the real thing! I found this after I had began to read the first few chapters and nothing comes so close to capturing the essence of Aquinas's writings so thouroughly (and in only a sixth of the size of the original)! This book is a must for the true Thomistic scholar!

As a research student in philosophy and a Catholic priest I have found this volume invaluable. It sits on my shelf next to my five volume 1950 Leonine edition of the Summa and acts as an expanded index. This is undoubtedly its greatest value: when seeking something in the Summa the ability to lift down this one volume, look for the appropriate text and check a summary of the Questions before turning to the real thing. I would additionally recommend it to all philosophy students and those interested in Catholic Philosophy and Theology as a text which can stand alone and whet the interest in this great thinkers magnum opus.

While any rigorous Thomistic scholarship obviously requires reference to Aquinas' unabridged works, this translation and abridgment is ideal for introducing students to Aquinas' thought. It allows students access to primary source material which would otherwise be too voluminous for easy consumption in an introductory setting. While scholars may debate the correctness of some of the translation, that is an issue for almost any translated text. Hence, I utilize this text myself in teaching Aquinas and highly recommend it to others looking for their first exposure to the Angelic Doctor's supreme achievment.

This is an impressive book. It is a collection of all of the "I answer that" sections of the Summa Theologica. This gives you a supreme one-volume version of Thomas' affirmative thought on Catholic Theology and Philosophy. This is a great "Thumbnail" and "introduction" to the hefty five-volume opus that many people love, but few have read.

There are only two deficiencies with this volume. It does not have any commentary that other Thomistic books have, such as "A Summa of the Summa." Secondly, it omits the rather fascinating interplay of ideas that characterizes all of Thomas' works. Aquinas was agile at confronting and assimilating opposing ideas. He was able to intellectually met steel to steel, and this is what makes him a mental giant.

This book is good for Catholics who want to know their religion, or anyone who is not Catholic (as I am), who can appreciate a genius when he or she works

I am not crazy about this book simply because it is a Concise translation. Otherwise it is a fine work. If you arent familiar with the scholastic set up or how it works this is probably the work for you, or are a "casual" reader of Thomas perhaps. I cannot quite imagine a casual reader of Thomas but thats ok. I would definitely recomend at least looking at the real thing at least once. The Benziger Bros. edition is probably one of the best, it keeps the scholastic structure that is, I think, so important especially for philosophical work. As someone familiar with medieval scholastic philosophy I could hardly imagine trying to slog through Thomas without the inherent structure to the argument that the scholastic form brings to it which is pretty much the part that gets sacrificed for conciseness in this version.

I read this book for a graduate class in ethics. I was particularly interested in studying the virtue of courage. The McDermott translation is the best of the several I examined. Over a nine-year period starting in 1265, Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae embarked on a transformative literary journey that culminated in a towering work of amalgamation of church theology and Aristotelian ethics. Aquinas' project as denoted in the word summa had a three-fold purpose. First, in a succinct fashion, it provides the essential understanding of a particular topic. In the case of Aquinas' Summa it was to provide the essence of Christian doctrine. The second purpose of a summa is to organize and critically analyze arguments on a particular subject. Finally, a summa's purpose is to synthesize the first two purposes into a text that is teachable to students. In essence, what a summa represents is an encyclopedic treatise on a particular subject. The Summa of Saint Thomas, in the field of theology, was and remains one of the most masterful realizations.

In his Summa, Aquinas perpetuates the four cardinal virtues of the classical Greeks; he lists them as, prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude (courage). Aquinas argues that all the other virtues are subsets of these four cardinal virtues, which pertain to the principal subject matters of life. One instantly observes an Aristotelian influence in his ideas of virtue when he states in his writings of the cardinal virtues in his section on Living Well and Living Badly that "Another name for these virtues is the political or social virtues: they govern our natural human life, and we are by nature social or political animals." As cited in Aquinas, 239-240, (vol. 23, 61-2-5).

Aquinas' quick definition of courage is to be prepared to face death. Like Aristotle, Aquinas proposes that all virtuous acts require an injection of reason into our base emotions, which he deems is ultimately necessary in order for people to lead the "good" life. "There are different kinds of virtue depending on how the objects of our appetites need the control of reason." Aquinas in essence, agrees with the Aristotelian definition of courage when he states that it is necessary to have an amalgam of reason and emotion, which produces practical reason to make an act virtuous. Aquinas, (vol. 23, 60-1). One instantly detects that Aquinas astutely realized how strong a role emotions played in people's psyche, and how they exerted great influence on their activity. "The measure of good and bad in other activities however relates to the doer, and depends on whether his emotional attitude to the activities are good or bad; so here virtue is chiefly concerned with controlling the emotions (as in moderation and courage)." (Aquinas, 238, (vol. 23, 60-2).

It is in Aquinas' section on Living in the World--Moral Virtue where he delineates his definition of courage, which is similar to Aristotle's. "Courage restrains our boldness and stiffens us against fear, for the same reason: so that we will prize the good of reason above the dangers of death." (Aquinas, 436, (vol. 43, 161-2). Aquinas' definition has definite "echoes" of the classical Greek model of the virtue of courage being the "golden mean" between the emotions of fear, which debilitates an agent from acting courageously, and boldness, which causes an agent to act carelessly. However, by "drilling down" further into Aquinas' teachings on Christian virtues, his ethical philosophy evolves one stage further than Aristotle's does. It is in this section of his Summa that Aquinas explains his notions concerning virtue in general and courage of the "firmness of mind" in particular. Aquinas like Aristotle believes in the idea of virtue, and how an agent will balance their emotions with reason to produce the practical reasoning necessary to perform virtuous acts. For Aquinas, "Virtue is by definition concerned not with the difficult but with `the good.'" (Aquinas, 423, (vol. 42, 123-12). It is important to note that as a theologian, Aquinas is constantly vigilant to the danger of how emotions can overcome reason and deflect an agent from performing a virtuous act. Aquinas sends the virtue of courage down a religious path when he posits that, "In the very nature of martyrdom, the martyr stands firm in truth and justice against the assaults of persecutors. Clearly then martyrdom is a virtuous act, an act indeed of courage." (Aquinas, 423, (vol. 42, 124-1). Aquinas argues that Christians need to develop their "firmness of mind" to face their fears of death through their faith and love of their savior.

I find Aquinas' notion of firmness of mind is similar to Aristotle's definition of the term practical reason. I argue that the real evolutionary step Aquinas takes with his notion of the firmness of mind is best understood in how he expects a person to mix her love of God with her reason to give herself the firmness of mind necessary to act courageously in the face of martyrdom. Aquinas' firmness of mind notion is a deviation from Aristotle's idea that love or friendship of another person is the human emotion most responsible for motivating an agent to perform a courageous act. Aquinas' firmness of mind really pertains to a Christian possessing love and faith of God as the most important motivating factor in causing them to act courageously. In addition, Aquinas argues that the Christian that posses this kind of faith and love will also rely on the character traits of patience and perseverance as well to act courageously. "Courage's ability to endure requires patience to remain unbroken by sorrow and perseverance to remain undefeated by hardship: and these too are both component parts of courage and its subsidiary virtues." Aquinas, 424, (vol.42, 128-1).

Therefore, both Aristotle and Aquinas use the emotion of love or friendship as the human emotion that a person ultimately relies on to overcome their fears and enables them to act courageously. However, I find Aquinas' notion of firmness of mind is an evolutionary stage away from the classical Greek definition of courage. Essentially, Aquinas is asking Christians to rely on their love of God, which is an abstraction, along with reason to produce a "firmness of mind" which will embolden them to act courageously. This belief of Aquinas' is juxtaposed to Aristotle's idea that an agent must rely on their love or friendship of another person; a tangible connection with someone, along with reason to produce the practical reasoning necessary to enable them to overcome their fear and act courageously. Aquinas' definition of courage in particular and his Summa in general is the ethical guidepost which Christian Europe followed until the birth of the Age of Reason.

Regardless of your religious perspective (or lack thereof), you will learn that the basis for a great deal of modern ethical rationale is rooted in the wisdom of Aquinas. This translation is regarded as most readable by those brighter than I; however, as a physician on our academic medical center's Ethics Committee and a Palliative Care Consultative Service, I enjoy the notion that this scholar's influence is profound regardless of one's existential/religious/spiritual biases. I admittedly have to read it in small portions and often cross reference to other areas in the text. At almost 60 years of age, it is especially fun to read this and think of it not as an obligatory chore and more of edification.

The book came in a timely fashion. I recommend this company and the book that I purchased. God bless you.