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History of Philosophy
Scholastics of the Transition Period
by Turner, William (S.T.D.)
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The exigencies of religious controversy arising out of the doctrines of
the reformers brought about a revival of theological activity in the
Catholic schools and universities of this period. The development of
theological speculation naturally inspired the effort to restore and
supplement the philosophy of the Scholastics of the thirteenth century.
When, therefore, the charge of frivolity and master-worship is made
against the Scholastics of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
exception must be made in favor of those schoolmen who went back to the
sources of genuine Scholasticism and commented on the works of St.
Thomas and Scotus.
Chief among the commentators of St. Thomas are Paulus Barbus
Soncinas (died 1494), who followed in the footsteps, of Capreolus,
Thomas de Vio Cajetanus (Cajetan, 1469-1534), who wrote what is
still considered the classic commentary on the Summa Theologica
of St. Thomas, and Francis a Sylvestris of Ferrara
(Ferrariensis) (1474-1528), who composed a masterly commentary
on the Summa contra Gentiles. Mention must likewise be made of
the theologians Melchior Cano (1509-1560), Dominicus de
Soto (1494-1560), Dominicus Bañez (1528-1604), who
commented on the Summa Theologica, and of John of St. Thomas
(1589-1644), who wrote a Cursus philosophicus ad exactam, veram et
genuinam Aristotelis et Doctoris Angelici mentem. Under the
influence of these Dominicans and that of the great Carmelite teachers,
new zest was given to the study of St. Thomas at Salamanca and
Alcalá, while at the same time a new form of Thomism was
developed by the Jesuit teachers at Coimbra and at other centers of
learning in the Iberian peninsula. With this Neo-Thomism is associated
the establishment of a school of Jesuit theology at the Roman college.
It was there that Vasquez (1551-1604) and Toletus (1532-1596)
taught, who influenced to a great extent the subsequent development of
Catholic theology. Among the Jesuits who taught at Coimbra the best
known is Fonseca (1528-1599). Suarez (1548-1617), the
ablest and most distinguished of the Jesuit theologians and
philosophers of this time, is associated with the intellectual prestige
of Salamanca, Coimbra, Alcalá, and Rome. His works, which
include twenty-three folio volumes, contain, besides commentaries on
the works of St. Thomas, treatises which, like the Disputationes
Metaphysicae, are important as independent contributions to the
literature of Scholastic philosophy. [2]
[2] Cf. articles in Science Catholique, 1898, 1899,
"Suarez metaphysicien, commentateur de St. Thomas."
The principal representatives of the philosophy of Scotus are John
the Englishman (died 1483), Johannes Magistri (died 1482),
Antonius Trombetta (died 1518), and Maurice the Irishman
(1463-1513). [3]
[3] Cf. Wadding's Vita Joannis Duns Scoti, in Lyons
edition of Scotus' Works, I, 4. cf. also Wetzer u.
Welte's Kirchenlexikon, article, "Mauritius a Portu."
The philosophical significance of these teachers consists in the
serious effort which they made to understand and expound the works of
their predecessors, the great masters of Scholastic philosophy.
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