“For those with faith, no evidence is necessary; for those without it, no evidence will suffice.” ― St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was the towering intellect of the High Middle Ages, the man who built on the philosophical system of Aristotle, on the concept of natural law, and on Christian theology to forge "Thomism," a mighty synthesis of philosophy, theology and the sciences of man. This young Italian was born an aristocrat, son of Landulph, count of Aquino at Rocco Secca in the kingdom of Naples. Thomas studied at an early age with the Benedictines, and later at the University of Naples. At the age of 15 he tried to enter the new Dominican Order, a place for Church intellectuals and scholars, but was physically prevented from doing so by his parents, who kept him confined for two years. Finally, St. Thomas escaped, joined the Dominicans, and then studied at Cologne and finally at Paris under his revered teacher, Albert the Great. Aquinas took his doctorate at the University of Paris, and taught there as well as at other university centers in Europe. Aquinas was so immensely corpulent that it was said that a large section had to be carved out of the round dinner table so that he could sit at it. Aquinas wrote numerous works, beginning with his Commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences in the 1250s, and ending with his masterful and enormously influential three-part Summa Theologica, written between 1265 and 1273. It was the Summa, more than any other work, that was to establish Thomism as the mainstream of Catholic scholastic theology in centuries to come.

My Ideal Philosopher will always be my favorite saint- Saint Thomas Aquinas. He is my ideal Philosopher because he is a great philosopher. He doesn't only speak in logical terms but he also speaks for the glory of God. In every word he says, it is always about friendship, goodness,  love and God. Saint Thomas is not only a Great Philosopher, he is also known as the Greatest Theologian of all time. I also think that he is a great Philosopher because he makes his followers think critically. It is said to be that no single work of St. Thomas can be said fully to reveal his philosophy. His works may be classified according to their form and purpose.

The first principle of philosophy according to St. Thomas is the affirmation of being. From this he proceeded to a consideration of the manner in which the intellect achieves knowledge. For humans all knowledge begins by way of the senses, which are the medium through which he grasps the intelligible world, the universal. According to the position of Thomas, which is known as moderate realism, the form or the universal may be said to exist in three ways: in God, in things, and in the mind. He argues that it is by the knowledge of things that we come to know of God's existence. In the natural order what God is can be known only by analogy and negation.

Saint Thomas' conviction that the existence of God can be discovered by reason is shown by his proofs of the existence of God. His metaphysics relies on the Aristotelian concepts of potency and act, matter and form, being and essence. A thing that requires completion by another is said to be in potency to that other; the realization of potency is called actuality. The universe is conceived of as a series of things arranged in an ascending order of potency, an act at once crowned and created by God, who alone is pure act. Two other pairs of metaphysical concepts—matter and form, essence and being—are special cases of potency and act. St. Thomas's moral philosophy is derived from these distinctions as well, since the opposite of being does not exist and since the good is identical with being, evil is but the absence of good.

I believe that his greatest idea is the idea in which he says that those who have faith does not need any explanation because it is true that if you have faith, you simply believe that it is true because you feel that it is true and you believe in what you feel. If one does not have faith even if you have all the explanation in the world a person with no faith still won't believe because the essence of no faith simply means there is no right explanation and that nothing is "believable" only "unbelievable." As what Thomas Aquinas said:

“For those with faith, no evidence is necessary; for those without it, no evidence will suffice.”

 #My Ideal Philosopher

“Wisest is she who knows she does not know.” ― Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World

Philosophy is an academic discipline that exercises reason and logic in an attempt to understand reality and answer fundamental questions about knowledge, life, morality and human nature.

Philosophy and Ethics is an important part of our lives. We all have to make choices and accomplish goals therefore Philosophy teaches us to be reasonable in everything that we do. Being reasonable enables us make good choices, accomplish our goals, live a better life, and become better people. Being reasonable allows a person to think critically and analyze a situation better. It helps us sharpen our minds and not only does it increases our mental capability, it also helps us to be moral. Being moral is not only doing what is right and refraining from doing what is  wrong. Being moral means doing what is right in your eyes, what is right in the eyes of other people, in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of God.

As a student Philosophy helps me in many ways such as increasing my knowledge of things. When you are a student you need to have a insurmountable amount of knowledge in order to understand everything you need to learn each day. Philosophy has offered us the knowledge necessary to understand formal logic, develop natural science, discover highly plausible beliefs concerning being reasonable, highly plausible beliefs concerning morality, and more. Even the highly speculative areas of philosophy involving the nature of reality, mental causation, the nature of mathematics, the nature of morality, and controversial applied ethics involves a great deal of knowledge. Philosophy can help us learn how to think more creatively. Learning about the answers people have thought of to life’s greatest questions opens possibilities that you would have a very difficult time to realize on your own. Philosophers often contribute to the world by thinking in entirely new ways and offering entirely new answers—and you can learn to do so as well through example.

Philosophy is important because it helps you understand many things about life while having fun. Philosophy is very enjoyable and it helps us to be reasonable. It is important to be a reasonable and moral person. However, the knowledge we attain through philosophy is also enjoyable and perhaps even “good for its own sake.” It might be worthy of learning just because it’s a good kind of knowledge to have, even when it’s not used for anything. Philosophy is a great help in learning new things each day. We must continue to learn many things because as a great philosopher once said:

 "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing"

I agree with Socrates' line of thinking. When you say that you know nothing you will strive harder to learn more each day and when you say you have nothing  you still have space for new knowledge each day. Therefore, when you know nothing you should always strive harder and find out more about the world because  "Wisest is she who knows she does not know"

#Intro to Philosophy and Ethics