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What does Thomistic mean?

"Thomistic" means relating to St Thomas Aquinas (1225 or 1227 to 1274) or to Thomism, the tradition of philosophy and theology that follows his teaching. A Thomistic argument works from Aquinas's principles and method: faith and reason in harmony, careful distinctions, and ideas such as act and potency, essence and existence, analogy and natural law.

The word

  • Pronunciation: toh-MISS-tik (Merriam-Webster gives tō-ˈmi-stik).
  • Origin: from the Medieval Latin thomista, a follower of Thomas Aquinas, with the adjective ending -icus (Merriam-Webster).
  • Related words:
Word Part of speech Meaning Example
Thomism Noun The philosophical and theological system that follows Aquinas "a short history of Thomism"
Thomist Noun A follower of Aquinas or of Thomism "Cajetan was a leading Thomist"
Thomist / Thomistic Adjective Of or relating to Thomism or Thomists "a Thomistic account of the soul"

"Thomist" and "Thomistic" are both used as adjectives. "Thomistic" is the more common in titles: Thomistic philosophy, Thomistic metaphysics, Thomistic ethics.

A broad sense and a narrow sense

The 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia article "Thomism" draws a distinction that still helps:

  • Broad sense: Thomism is "the name given to the system which follows the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas in philosophical and theological questions." Calling someone Thomistic in this sense means they work broadly within Aquinas's framework.
  • Narrow sense: a group of opinions "held by a school called Thomistic, composed principally, but not exclusively, of members of the Order of St. Dominic." Here "Thomistic" names a position within debates among Aquinas's followers, for example on grace and on how the sacraments cause grace. The article adds that many who opposed the school in these debates (it names the Molinists) professed to be followers of St Thomas themselves.

The same article notes that even within the Thomistic school there was not "absolute unanimity": commentators such as Cajetan, Bañez and Billuart did not always agree. So "Thomistic" usually means a family of positions, not a single fixed doctrine.

What makes an argument Thomistic

These ideas recur so often in Aquinas that they work as markers. The references point to the Summa Theologiae (ST), in the 1920 Dominican translation on newadvent.org.

1. Faith and reason work together. Aquinas argues that even truths about God that reason can reach needed to be revealed too, because reason alone would know them "by a few, and that after a long time, and with the admixture of many errors" (ST I, q. 1, a. 1). And "since therefore grace does not destroy nature but perfects it, natural reason should minister to faith" (ST I, q. 1, a. 8, reply to objection 2).

2. Act and potency. Change is the passage from what something can be (potency) to what it actually is (act). God, as first cause, is "pure act, without any potentiality" (ST I, q. 3, a. 2, referring back to the Five Ways in I, q. 2, a. 3).

3. Essence and existence. In creatures, what a thing is differs from the fact that it is. In God alone they are the same: "His essence is His existence" (ST I, q. 3, a. 4).

4. Analogy. Words like "good" and "wise" are said of God and creatures "in an analogous sense," neither in exactly the same sense nor in wholly different senses (ST I, q. 13, a. 5).

5. The soul as the form of the body. The intellectual soul "is the form of the body" (ST I, q. 76, a. 1), so a human being is one thing, body and soul together, and not a mind lodged in a machine. See What is the soul? for the related article on why the soul is subsistent.

6. Natural law. "The natural law is nothing else than the rational creature's participation of the eternal law" (ST I-II, q. 91, a. 2). The natural law explainer reads the article on its first precept.

7. The method of distinction. A Thomistic answer usually begins by asking in what sense a term is meant, and states the strongest objection before replying. That is the shape of every article in the Summa.

You do not need all seven for a view to be called Thomistic. But a view that rejected most of them would be hard to call Thomistic in any useful sense.

Thomism through history, in brief

  • Doctor of the Church: St Pius V proclaimed Aquinas a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1567 (Catholic Encyclopedia).
  • The 1879 revival: in the encyclical Aeterni Patris, Leo XIII wrote: "We exhort you, venerable brethren, in all earnestness to restore the golden wisdom of St. Thomas." The renewal that followed is often called Neo-Thomism.
  • Today: the Church's Code of Canon Law (1983) asks that seminarians learn dogmatic theology "especially with St. Thomas as a teacher" (canon 252 §3).

Thomistic is not the same as Catholic

Thomism has a special place in Catholic teaching, as canon 252 shows, but the two words are not interchangeable. Catholic theology includes other schools, and the Catholic Encyclopedia itself records long debates between Thomists and other Catholic theologians. "Thomistic" tells you whose method and principles are being followed, not simply which church someone belongs to.

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Thinking Thomistically with Aquinian

Aquinian is a study companion that reasons after the manner of Aquinas, in fidelity to the Thomistic tradition. Ask a question in the language you think in; Aquinian distinguishes the terms, orders the authorities, and can take the form of a Disputation, with the strongest objection stated first. Investigate takes a second pass that is allowed to wound the first.

Aquinian can reason with authority. It does not become authority: it is not St Thomas, a priest or an ecclesial authority, and named passages should be checked against primary sources before formal use.

Ask a Thomistic question: 150 free credits, no card.

FAQ

What does Thomistic mean? Relating to St Thomas Aquinas or to Thomism, the tradition of philosophy and theology that follows his teaching and method.

What is the difference between Thomist and Thomistic? "Thomist" is a noun for a follower of Aquinas and can also be an adjective. "Thomistic" is an adjective only. As adjectives they mean the same thing.

What is Thomistic philosophy? Philosophy that follows Aquinas's principles, including the harmony of faith and reason, act and potency, essence and existence, analogy, the soul as the form of the body, and natural law.

Is Thomism the official philosophy of the Catholic Church? Thomism has a special place: Leo XIII urged its revival in 1879, and canon law asks that seminarians study dogmatic theology "especially with St. Thomas as a teacher." But Catholic theology includes other schools, and Thomistic is not a synonym for Catholic.

Sources

Sources - Summa Theologiae, Dominican Fathers translation (1920), newadvent.org: I q1 (https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1001.htm), I q2 (/summa/1002.htm), I q3 (/summa/1003.htm), I q13 (/summa/1013.htm), I q76 (/summa/1076.htm), I-II q91 (/summa/2091.htm) - Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), "Thomism": https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14698b.htm - Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), "St. Thomas Aquinas": https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14663b.htm - Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris (4 August 1879), §31: https://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_le13ae.htm - Code of Canon Law (1983), canon 252 §3: https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html - Merriam-Webster, "Thomism", "Thomist", "Thomistic": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Thomistic

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