Neo-Thomism

neo-Thomism: see Thomas Aquinas, Saint.

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Neo-Thomism

Modern revival of the philosophical and theological system developed by St. Thomas Aquinas and his later commentators. Neo-Thomism follows Aquinas in distinguishing between the realms of nature (in which reason and philosophy hold sway) and supernature (in which faith and theology are dominant). Aquinas's thought was presented in philosophy and theology courses or manuals, especially in the Dominican Order, through the 17th and 18th centuries, though most manuals of this period were watered with the opinions of other Schoolmen and remained remote from modern concerns. The modern revival of authentic Thomism began in the 19th century under the influence of the Jesuits and the papacy, who sought a sound philosophical foundation on which to develop responses to contemporary intellectual and social problems. After the mid-20th century neo-Thomists attempted to develop an adequate philosophy of science, to take into account the findings of phenomenology and psychiatry, and to evaluate the ontologies of existentialism and naturalism. See also Jacques Maritain.