Augustine and Aquinas: Philosophy Forums

Augustine and Aquinas
new philosophy student here

Augustine and Aquinas

jensson
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Posted 10/16/09 - 06:15 PM: Subject: Augustine and Aquinas	#1
Hi. I'm a new philosophy student and I'm confused about a couple of things concerning Augustine and Aquinas. If anyone could help clarify I would greatly appreciate it. For Augustine... I understand that he says one must use reason to discover truth, but also must have divine illumination. But how does one gain knowledge up till divine illumination? through experience? And from my understanding.. Aquinas says the same thing. What is the difference between them? And do they view God differently? Also, what are Aquinas' "types of truth" ? The kind you can learn on your own and the type you need divine illumination for?

Gralsome
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Posted 10/22/09 - 11:55 AM:	#2
You describe yourself as a Philosophy student, but your questions about Augustine and Aquinas seem to concern the distinction between secular sciences and Christian Theology while presupposing Christian Revelation. I think therefore that you have come to the wrong place. You might try the following page of 'Science and Faith' links: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~nmcenter/sci-faith.html However, don't expect explicit mention of Philosophy - look for phrases like 'universal science'. To illustrate the distinction between Philosophy and Theology let me say that Aquinas would want to claim that he agreed with Augustine on theological matters (that he was interpreting him, but not criticising or adding anything) but that he sometimes disagreed with Augustine on philosophic matters.

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