The mereology of Thomas Aquinas
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4812187 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Raphael Mary Salzillo (0000-0003-3761-9053, University of St. Thomas - Texas, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2021-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy Compass (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/phc3.12728 |
| OpenAlex | W3128567465 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 10 |
This article gives an overview of the mereological thought of the medieval philosopher and theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas. Until the 20th century mereology-the study of the relationship of whole and part-was not generally recognized as a distinct domain of philosophy and so Aquinas, like most of his contemporaries, has no single systematic treatment of it as a topic in its own right. However, a cohesive account of part-whole relations can be pieced together from the various metaphysical, ethical and theological contexts in which Aquinas deals with mereological issues. In this article, I give an account of both Aquinas's conceptual understanding of composition and his taxonomy of the different kinds of wholes and parts that there are. I end with comments on three marginal cases of mereological relationships in Aquinas's philosophy
Epistemology · Mereology · Metaphysics · SAINT · Taxonomy (biology · Thomism · Computer Science · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |