Thomas Aquinas and Avicennian Peripatetic Metaphysics
This lecture examines the essential influence of the Muslim Peripatetic philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) on the early metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas, focusing on their treatments of essence, existence, and creation. Aquinas critically adopted Avicenna's distinction between a creature's essence (what it is) and its existence (that it is). This foundational framework allowed Aquinas to define God as the unique being in whom essence and existence are identical—ipsum esse subsistens.
However, Aquinas sharply diverged on the doctrine of causality. He explicitly rejected Avicenna's model of mediate creation through a hierarchy of intermediary intellects, finding it incompatible with Christian theology. Instead, synthesizing Avicennian insights with ideas from Pseudo-Dionysius and the Liber de causis, Aquinas argued that God is the sole, immediate, and efficient cause of existence for every single creature. The study demonstrates Aquinas’s selective and critical adaptation of Peripatetic and Neoplatonic concepts to forge his distinct Christian metaphysical system.
When:
March 17th, 2026
Where:
Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish
2700 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA, 94704
Time:
7:30 PM
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