CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Bujor, Cristian Paul |
|---|---|
| Title | QUOD DEUS NON POTEST. THE LIMITS OF GOD S POWER IN THE THOUGHT OF THOMAS AQUINAS AND THEIR RELATION TO THE 1277 CONDEMNATION |
| Summary | The 1277 condemnation, when the bishop of Paris Étienne Tempier banned 219 philosophical sentences, is one of the most interesting events of the medieval intellectual history. Among the condemned propositions, centered around the work of Aristotle, an important role was played by those which condemned limitations of God’s power. Since Thomas Aquinas’ direct condemnation in 1277 remained problematic, an opposition among scholars developed: some claimed that Aquinas was directly condemned, while others considered that his prestige as a theologian would have exempt him from this, even if he maintained some of the condemned ideas. This thesis is a contribution to the discussion of Aquinas’ possible condemnation in 1277. It attempts to go beyond the insufficient information than one can find in the historical sources trying to discover the philosophical background based on which some of Aquinas’ ideas on God’s power could have been condemned in 1277. In the description of this background the power distinction – as formulated by Aquinas – and the opposition between an impossibile simpliciter and one per naturam or secundum philosophia – present in the condemnation – were essential. A contribution to the description of the same background was also found in the discussion of Pierre Duhem’s idea of continuity between the 1277 condemnation and the early modern scientific positions since according to him God’s absolute power had an instrumental role in this development. The conclusion compares Aquinas’ position of God’s power and that which can be assumed to be behind Tempier’s condemnation, stressing the differences of the two which could have lead to Aquinas’ direct condemnation in 1277. |
| Supervisor | György Geréby |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/bujor_cristian.pdf |
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