"This work should be in every graduate philosophy collection and is recommended for larger undergraduate libraries."--"Choice." (Philosophy)

Thomas's Commentary on the Book of Causes, composed during the first half of 1272, offers an extended view of his approach to Neoplatonic thought and functions as a guide to his metaphysics. Though long neglected and, until now, never translated into English, it deserves an equal place alongside his commentaries on Aristotle and Boethius. In addition to the extensive annotation, bibliography, and thorough introduction, this translation is accompanied by two valuable appendices. The first provides a translation of another version of proposition 29 of the Book of Causes, which was not known to St. Thomas. The second lists citations of the Book of Causes found in the works of St. Thomas and cross-references these to a list showing the works, and the exact location within them, where the citations can be found.

"This is a translation of [F. Stuart] Crawford's edition of the medieval Latin text presumed to have been rendered from Arabic into Latin by Michael Scot perhaps around 1220"--P. cvii.

"The translation of Aristotle's philosophical works into Latin in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries produced a crisis for Christian thinkers insofar as the Aristotelian writing seemed to offer demonstrative proof that the world has always existed without a beginning at some point finitely distant in the past. The present volume offers the reader three different responses to the Aristotelian doctrine of the eternity of the world: the radical Aristotelian views of Siger of Brabant contrasted with those of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure. The latter two both held creation in time, though Aquinas believed that the question could only be decided on the basis of revelation, while Bonaventure argued that creation in time could be proved by reason."--

Nevertheless, if you read this short book and understand what it lays out, you will be in the top 0.001% of people in the world who have a working knowledge of the philosophy and theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas. You will have the knowledge to pass a class called “Thomas Aquinas 101,” and you will be ready to study Thomas Aquinas at the collegiate level. You will have the building blocks to move forward. At the end of this book, I make practical recommendations to take it to the next level and recommend the next books to read.