<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p>This paper reopens the debate on the possibility that Aquinas borrowed his <italic>tertia via </italic>from a Latin translation of Maimonides ‘Guide for the Perplexed’. After introducing the text of the <italic>tertia via</italic>, I shall analyze the first part and conclude that while a ‘metaphysical’, tenseless reading is correct, we should not be nervous to call Aquinas’s reasoning for what it is: flawed. Framing the problematic passage in its historical context, I shall then argue that the flaw lies not so much with Aquinas, but with the source he was borrowing from. This is Maimonides’ <italic>Dalālat al-ḥāʾirīn </italic>(“The Guide for the Perplexed”), and in fact more specifically the blame is to be given to an early translator into Latin.  </p>
</abstract>

This paper reopens the debate on the possibility that Aquinas borrowed his tertia via from a Latin translation of Maimonides ‘Guide for the Perplexed’. After introducing the text of the tertia via, I shall analyze the first part and conclude that while a ‘metaphysical’, tenseless reading is correct, we should not be nervous to call Aquinas’s reasoning for what it is: flawed. Framing the problematic passage in its historical context, I shall then argue that the flaw lies not so much with Aquinas, but with the source he was borrowing from. This is Maimonides’ Dalālat al-ḥāʾirīn (“The Guide for the Perplexed”), and in fact more specifically the blame is to be given to an early translator into Latin.

Reconsidering Arabic Roots for the <italic>Tertia Via</italic>

European Journal for the Study of Thomas Aquinas

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

{"article-title":{"italic":"Tertia Via","content":"Reconsidering Arabic Roots for the"}}

This paper reopens the debate on the possibility that Aquinas borrowed his tertia via from a Latin translation of Maimonides ‘Guide for the Perplexed’. After...

Reconsidering Arabic Roots for the Tertia Via

Published Online: Oct 30, 2023

Page range: 1 - 20

Received: Nov 15, 2022

Accepted: May 30, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejsta-2023-0001

Keywords
Tertia via, Maimonides, Avicenna, contingency

© 2023 Cornelis van Lit, published by Sciendo

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

Reconsidering Arabic Roots for the Tertia Via

Published Online: Oct 30, 2023

Page range: 1 - 20

Received: Nov 15, 2022

Accepted: May 30, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejsta-2023-0001

KeywordsTertia via, Maimonides, Avicenna, contingency

© 2023 Cornelis van Lit, published by Sciendo

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

Keywords
Tertia via, Maimonides, Avicenna, contingency