Thomas Aquinas and modernity - A speculative observation on the history ofThomistic metaphysics

Thomas Aquinas' philosophical doctrine is undeniably marked by an intellect ualist tendency towards abstraction and the isolation of theoretic thought with regard to practical reason. Nevertheless, this penchant, which is not decisive when considering the Thomasean intention as a whole, was emphasize d by the Renaissance commentators, followed by their neothomist heirs. Both secretly participated in the reign of the modern "abstractio entis" agains t Aquinas that began with Occam and Scot. Thus this paradox: the antimodern ist claims of the tenors of the first neothomism are shown to be secretly g overned by the most fundamental options of the supposed enemy. Beginning wi th M. Blondel, Saint Thomas' heirs took up again with the Angelic Doctor's originality that his penchant for concept cannot overshadow, and thus Rouss elot and his heirs were able to bring to light the basically dynamic and pr actical dimension of Thomasian epistemology. Heidegger's influence was like wise decisive in rediscovering the absolute "prius" of being over thought i n the Thomasian theory of knowing, as in Gilson and Siewerth. There is no f uture of Thomism without the continuation of this double path that has allo wed Aquinas to be delivered from modern abstraction into which the first ne othomism had thrown his metaphysics by reducing it to a quantifying epistem ology.