"The philosopher can reflect on the ordinary man's awareness of attaining truth, but he has not at his disposal some extraordinary and special means of proving that we can know truth or that 'knowledge' is knowledge. If a philosopher were to comment that in this case we can never prove that we can attain proof and that if we cannot prove it we can never know it, Aquinas might reply that the sort of proof which the philosopher is looking for is inherently useless and indeed impossible, but that it does not follow that we cannot both attain truth and also know that we can attain it. We do not need any further guarantee of our ability to attain truth than our awareness or recognition of the fact that we do in fact attain it."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Frederick Copleston, Aquinas: An Introduction to the Life and Work of the Great Medieval Thinker (1955)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. An immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, he is also known within the latter as the Doctor Angelicus, the Doctor Communis, and the Doctor Universalis. The name Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio, Italy. Among other things, he was a prominent propone
63 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Thomas Aquinas →
Related Quotes
"The seven liberal arts do not adequately divide theoretical philosophy; but, as Hugh of St. Victor says, seven arts a…"
"The fitting order of learning will therefore be as follow: First boys should be instructed in logical matters, since …"
"Thus Angels' Bread is made The Bread of man today: The Living Bread from Heaven With figures doth away: O wondrous gi…"
"Anything done against faith or conscience is sinful."
"Reason in man is rather like God in the world."
"Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship."
"The reason, however, why the philosopher may be likened to the poet is this: both are concerned with the marvellous."
"It must be said that charity can, in no way, exist along with mortal sin."
"If … the motion of the earth were circular, it would be violent and contrary to nature, and could not be eternal, sin…"
"O saving Victim, opening wide The gate of heaven to man below, Our foes press on from every side, Thine aid supply, T…"