THE PERENNIAL LUSTRE OF THE METAPHYSICS OF THOMAS AQUINAS

Abstract

Although metaphysics got its name in the golden period of philosophy, it has been in place before Aristotle and it continued after him through the medieval period. However, Adrawing strength from Homer and Hesoid, the submissions of Aristotle and Plato influenced the metaphysical discourse of the scholastics; especially as it concerns humanism and theodicy. And one of the scholars that drew enormous strength from the golden age scholars is Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas the Angelic Doctor was regarded as a great scholastics because he was a great philosopher. And he was a great philosopher because he was not just an outstanding but also an accomplished metaphysician. This explains why one cannot underscore the growth and development of metaphysics in the medieval era without direct and sustained recourse to Aquinas. It is based on this that this paper in an attempt to interrogate some themes in the medieval era sought to dwell on the metaphysics of Aquinas. The paper employed the critical analytic model from where it became palpable that Aquinas remains the central figure in medieval metaphysics and it was obvious that he drew quite a lot of strength from Aristotle which also made his work enduring though not without some gaffe and some over ambitious metaphysical models that continually exposes his scheme.