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Title: Treatise on Happiness by Thomas, St. Aquinas, John A. Oesterle, Saint Thomas Aquinas ISBN: 0-268-01849-9 Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr Pub. Date: November, 1983 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
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Summary: A Jewel of Philosophy
Comment: Aquinas' "Treatise on Happiness", comprising the first 21 questions of the "Summa Theologicae", is one of the greatest pieces of philosophy. The essence of the questions is the notion that happiness must be found in "a vision of the divine essence", namely, God. While I am an atheist, I do find Aquinas' arguments intriguing. The object of happiness, he argues, is to no longer have desires, i.e., one's intellectual and willful curiosity is fulfilled. Because of this, one is not satisfied in merely knowing something, he argues, but in also knowing the cause. Therefore, even if one does know God exists, he states, one cannot be happy without knowing the cause of God. This can only be achieved through unity with God, most likely after death. It's a somewhat grim realisation for those hoping to achieve inner peace within their lifetimes, but a very fascinating and transcendentally Christian one.
Aquinas, of course, is best known for his fusing of the philosophy of the Greek rationalists, namely Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, with that of the Christian spiritualists, including Augustine. The "Treatise" is worth reading simply for this fact- that the fundamental system of Western education is based upon the fusion of rationality and spirituality, as first pioneered by Aquinas. The object, to achieve "imperfect", or earthly, happiness, and then attempt "perfect" transcendent happiness, has such import in Western culture that understanding the history of Europe and the West is contingent on a comprehension of Aquinas' theories.
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Title: Treatise on the Virtues by Aquinas, Saint Thomas, John A. Oesterle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Aquinas ISBN: 0268018553 Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr Pub. Date: September, 1984 List Price(USD): $11.50 |
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Title: Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) by Saint Augustine, Henry Chadwick ISBN: 0192833723 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: The Italian Renaissance Reader by Julia Conaway Bondanella, Mark Musa ISBN: 0452010136 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: November, 1987 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Fairy Queen: A Modernized Selection (Everyman) by Edmund Spenser, Douglas Brooks-Davies, Douglas Brooks-Davis ISBN: 0460875728 Publisher: Everymans Library List Price(USD): $10.50 |
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Title: Song of Roland (Penguin Classics) by Dorothy L. Sayers ISBN: 0140440755 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: December, 1957 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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