<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In both the 20th and 21st centuries, there has been a lively debate concerning beauty’s transcendental status in Aquinas’ thought. Nobody, however, has noticed that this debate can be replicated with peace. Peace’s place vis-à-vis the transcendentals is also ambiguous. This paper argues that peace is not an independent transcendental, but a transcendental of the good. In peace’s positive and negative <italic>rationes,</italic> union/order and rest/tranquility, it is reduced to the transcendental good. Yet through this reduction, peace adds conceptual content to <italic>ens.</italic> Inasmuch as something is, it is ordered/in union. Inasmuch as something is, it is at rest/tranquil.</abstract>

In both the 20th and 21st centuries, there has been a lively debate concerning beauty’s transcendental status in Aquinas’ thought. Nobody, however, has noticed that this debate can be replicated with peace. Peace’s place vis-à-vis the transcendentals is also ambiguous. This paper argues that peace is not an independent transcendental, but a transcendental of the good. In peace’s positive and negative rationes, union/order and rest/tranquility, it is reduced to the transcendental good. Yet through this reduction, peace adds conceptual content to ens. Inasmuch as something is, it is ordered/in union. Inasmuch as something is, it is at rest/tranquil.

Peace and the Transcendentals: The Case of Thomas Aquinas

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University

European Journal for the Study of Thomas Aquinas

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Peace and the Transcendentals: The Case of Thomas Aquinas"}

In both the 20th and 21st centuries, there has been a lively debate concerning beauty’s transcendental status in Aquinas’ thought. Nobody, however, has noticed...

Peace and the Transcendentals: The Case of Thomas Aquinas

Published Online: Jun 26, 2019

Page range: 18 - 34

Received: Jan 29, 2019

Accepted: Mar 08, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejsta-2019-0002

Keywords
transcendentals, peace, good, Thomistic metaphysics, peace studies

© 2019 John Meinert, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Peace and the Transcendentals: The Case of Thomas Aquinas

Published Online: Jun 26, 2019

Page range: 18 - 34

Received: Jan 29, 2019

Accepted: Mar 08, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejsta-2019-0002

Keywordstranscendentals, peace, good, Thomistic metaphysics, peace studies

© 2019 John Meinert, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
transcendentals, peace, good, Thomistic metaphysics, peace studies