Medieval · 1225–1274
Who influenced Thomas Aquinas?
Influences and legacy
The great synthesis of Aristotle and Christian theology — natural law and the Five Ways.
Thomas Aquinas was influenced by Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, Albertus Magnus and 2 others, and went on to influence Duns Scotus and René Descartes. That is 10 lines of the 448 documented lines of influence between the 279 thinkers on this map.
Read on Wikipedia Portrait: Carlo Crivelli, Public domain See the whole map
Who was Thomas Aquinas?
Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar, priest, theologian and philosopher, and the father of Thomism. A proponent of natural theology, he held that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith, and he set out to unite Aristotle's philosophy with Christian teaching. He is best known for his Five Ways of proving the existence of God, his virtue ethics and his sacramental theology.
His unfinished Summa Theologiae is a comprehensive guide to Catholic theology; he also wrote the Summa contra Gentiles, commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle, and Eucharistic hymns still sung in the liturgy. Canonised in 1323, he is a Doctor of the Church known as the Angelic Doctor.
Summarized from the lead of the Wikipedia article.
Who influenced Thomas Aquinas?
8 direct influences on this map, earliest first.
- Aristotle 384–322 BC
- Augustine of Hippo AD 354–430
- Avicenna 980–1037
- Peter Abelard 1079–1142
- Peter Lombard c. 1096–1160
- Averroes 1126–1198
- Maimonides 1138–1204
- Albertus Magnus c. 1200–1280
Who did Thomas Aquinas influence?
2 thinkers on this map draw directly on Thomas Aquinas.
- Duns Scotus c. 1266–1308
- René Descartes 1596–1650
The line of teachers behind Thomas Aquinas
The longest documented line of influence ending at Thomas Aquinas runs 13 generations back, to Thales of Miletus.
Two steps away from Thomas Aquinas
Indirect influences
- Through Augustine of Hippo: Tertullian, Plotinus
- Through Aristotle: Plato
- Through Avicenna: Al-Farabi
- Through Peter Lombard: Anselm of Canterbury
- Through Averroes: Ibn Tufail
- Through Maimonides: Solomon ibn Gabirol
The second generation
Contemporaries of Thomas Aquinas
Thinkers on this map born within 25 years of Thomas Aquinas, with no direct line between them.
- Bonaventure 1221–1274
- Roger Bacon c. 1219–1292
- Ramon Llull c. 1232–1315
- Henry of Ghent c. 1217–1293
- Siger of Brabant c. 1240–1284
- Dōgen 1200–1253
- Dietrich von Freiberg c. 1250–1310
Thomas Aquinas by the numbers
- Direct influences
- 8
- Direct followers
- 2
- Thinkers upstream
- 38
- Thinkers downstream
- 136
- Wikipedia languages
- 162 — #2 of 58 among medieval philosophers
- Card rarity
- Legendary
Schools and lineages
- Scholastics: Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Meister Eckhart, Jean Buridan
Questions about Thomas Aquinas
- Who influenced Thomas Aquinas?
- Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, Avicenna, Peter Abelard, Peter Lombard, Averroes, Maimonides and Albertus Magnus.
- Who did Thomas Aquinas influence?
- Duns Scotus and René Descartes.
- When did Thomas Aquinas live?
- 1225–1274. The map files Thomas Aquinas under the medieval period.
- How rare is the Thomas Aquinas card?
- Wikipedia carries an article on Thomas Aquinas in 162 languages, which makes it a Legendary card. Legendary starts at 100 languages, Epic at 50 and Rare at 25.
More medieval philosophers
- Augustine of Hippo AD 354–430
- Avicenna 980–1037
- Ibn Khaldun 1332–1406
- Al-Ghazali c. 1058–1111
- Averroes 1126–1198
- Erasmus 1466–1536
- Hypatia c. 355–415
- Hildegard of Bingen 1098–1179