The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)

Rating:
Summary: Thorough, Precise, and Informative
Review: As always, Norman Kretzmann and Eleonore Stump deliver another masterful work together. Each of these writers are experts in their philosophical field of Medieval Metaphysics and philosophy. For anyone interested in gaining a better grasp of one of the greatest philosophers in the history of philosophy, this volume will certainly help. Kretzmann and Stump have edited this volume and included some of the preeminent Thomistic philosophers of the last 40 years. Chapters cover Aquinas' thoughts on ethics, metaphysics, Aristotle and Aquinas, Aquinas' theory of knowledge, law and politics and theological issues. Thus, the essentials of Aquinas are here in one volume. Moreover,this is an excellent work for those who would like to dig deeper and gain a more throrough understanding of Aquinas, or for those who would like to simply be "peeping Thomists" and get a small glimpse of what Aquinas espoused.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent work
Review: St. Thomas Aquinas was not a man short of words. The depth of his thinking, and the sheer volume of his texts, makes his thinking both profound and difficult. But most of all, the aspiring student of Thomas' work may be afraid to face the daunting task of diving into the vast ocean of Thomas' words.

For them, this volume is exactly what they need.

By gathering up some of the top Aquinas scholars in the field, this volume presents the major topics of Aquinas' work in a lucid, considered, and (most importantly) easily understood way. While certainly not comprehensive (that is not its aim, and after all, the book would be another 500 pages at least), any potential Thomist scholar would be greatly served by this volume. Not only do the various authors give the reader a general overview of Thomas' thought and development, they also introduce some of the disputes going on within academic Thomistic studies. As such, this volume is a good starting point for those interested in Aquinas, be it an academic interest or an desire to learn about the life and thought of a Doctor of the Church.

Admittedly, one should not try and delve into this book with no previous background into Thomas' thought. It does presume some level of familiarity with the terminology Aquinas gained from Aristotle, as well as from the Church Fathers and others. Given this, a general background in philosophy and/or patristic/scholastic theology should suffice for most of the work.

If you want to understand Aquinas, but are just starting out, you should have this book on your shelf. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Not for "nonspecialists"
Review: The cover states the book is for "students and nonspecialist", which I found to be not true. The best example was in the chapter Metaphysics, if you do not already understand the concepts and especially Aquinas` arguements before reading the book you will definitly not understand them after reading the book. I felt the book confuses much more than enlightens.