Beginning with a brief overview of Aquinas' life and philosophical career, the authors introduce his overarching explanatory framework in order to provide the necessary background to his philosophical investigations across a wide range of areas: rational theology, metaphysics, philosophy of human nature, philosophy of mind, and ethical & political theory.

Preface 1 Life and Work 1.1 Early Years 1.2 A Young Scholar 1.3 Master of Theology 1.4 Back to Italy 1.5 A Second Term in Paris 1.6 Breakdown 2 Aquinas's Explanatory Framework: The Four Causes 2.1 Introducing the Four Causes 2.1.1 Matter and Form 2.1.2 The Efficient Cause 2.1.3 The Final Cause 2.1.4 The Four Causes Reviewed and Briefly Illustrated 2.2 The Four Causes Developed and Articulated 2.2.1 Mutual Priority 2.2.2 Priority Among the Causes 2.2.3 Proximate and Non-Proximate Causes 2.2.4 Causal Coincidence 2.2.5 Incidental Causes 2.3 Conclusions 3 Aquinas's Metaphysical Framework: Being and Essence 3.1 Beings and Essences 3.2 Material Substances 3.2.1 First Qualification 3.2.2 Second Qualification 3.2.3 Third Qualification 3.3 Immaterial Substances 3.4 Substance and Accidents 3.5 Universals 3.5.1 Qualitative Sameness 3.5.2 Numerical Sameness 3.6 Conclusions 4 God's Existence and Nature 4.1 Our Knowledge of God 4.2 Phase One: God's Existence 4.2.1 The Proof from Motion 4.2.2 The Proof from Degrees of Truth 4.3 Phase Two: God's Nature 4.3.1 Absolute Simplicity 4.3.2 From Intellect to Will 4.4 Understanding God's Attributes: Analogical Predication 4.5 Conclusions 5 The Order of the Universe 5.1 God's Power 5.1.1 Creation 5.1.2 Omnipotence and Creation 5.1.3 The Beginning of the Universe 5.2 The Created Order 5.3 Providence 5.3.1 Conservation 5.3.2 Necessity and Freedom 5.4 Conclusions 6 The Human Soul and the Human Body 6.1 The Special Status of Human Beings 6.2 Soul as a Principle of Life 6.3 Souls and Bodies: Hylomorphism 6.4 Against Reductive Materialism 6.5 Against Platonism 6.6 A Difficult Intermediary 6.7 Soul as Subsistent 6.8 Where in the Body Is the Soul? 6.9 Conclusions 7 Sense and Intellect 7.1 The Nature of Cognition 7.2 The Cognitive Powers 7.2.1 Sensation 7.2.2 The Immateriality of Cognition 7.2.3 An Argument for the Intellect's Immateriality 7.3 Cognitive Functions 7.3.1 The Objects of Intellect 7.3.2 Abstraction 7.3.3 Illumination 7.3.4 Concept Formation 7.4 Conclusions 8 The Goal of Human Life 8.1 Introduction 8.2 That There Is a Human End 8.3 Happiness 8.4 What Happiness Is Not 8.5 What Happiness Is 8.6 The Beatific Vision 8.7 Conclusions 9 Ethics 9.1 Overview 9.2 Natural Law 9.2.1 Nature and Eternal Law 9.2.2 Natural Inclinations 9.2.3 The Passions 9.3 Virtue 9.3.1 The Need for Virtue 9.3.2 The Perfection of Virtue 9.3.3 Prudence 9.4 Conclusions Glossary Catalog of Works Index

"The book surely deserves to be read by analytic philosophers who want to learn more about Aquinas." -- Tyler Dalton McNabb, Houston Baptist University, Religious Studies Review "Shields and Pasnau's goal is to furnish the student of Aquinas with the basic philosophical knowledge necessary to read and understand the philosophical theologian's works. They do that not only, as I have said, by interacting with Aquinas's own works, but also by offering and commenting on relevant practical examples that facilitate understanding, especially for the beginner. Furthermore, the primary sources listed in the suggested readings indicated at the end of each chapter (and throughout the individual chapters) are a further helpful addition to guide the student in the challenging but rewarding endeavor of understanding Aquinas. The book is organized in a helpfully systematic way, and the exposition is clear and highly readable."--Marco Barone, Reading Religion

Selling point: Introduces Aquinas' overarching explanatory framework Selling point: Presents a systematic introduction to the principal areas of his philosophy Selling point: Each chapter takes a focal text and works through the text carefully in a way that invites students and scholars to use this volume in conjunction with the primary text

Christopher Shields received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University. Currently Shuster Professor of Philosophy and Concurrent Professor of Classics at the University of Notre Dame, he has also held permanent positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Oxford. In addition, he has held visiting posts at Cornell University, Yale University, St. Louis University, Stanford University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Humboldt University of Berlin. Robert Pasnau received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University, and has taught at the University of Colorado Boulder since 1999. He is the editor of Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy and the Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy and has published widely on both the history of philosophy and contemporary questions.

Selling point: Introduces Aquinas' overarching explanatory framework Selling point: Presents a systematic introduction to the principal areas of his philosophy Selling point: Each chapter takes a focal text and works through the text carefully in a way that invites students and scholars to use this volume in conjunction with the primary text