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RESEARCH PAPERS

No. 54

A summary introduction to notions of science and magic art in Thomas Aquinas. From the personnal holiness to spiritual distort

  • José María Felipe Mendoza
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12795/themata.2016.i54.08
Submitted
March 15, 2017
Published
2016-12-20

Abstract

This paper gathers information about Thomas Aquinas’ viewpoint regarding ‘the activity of the magic art’ as the reverse side and spiritual distort of the study of science. This notion of magic has three characteristics in Aquinas. 1. There is a general prudence in the writing style and its references to specific cases that particularly affect the ways in which the magical practices are implemented. 2. The reader is supposed to have some knowledge about biblical history, and especially about the devil’s trickery and his supporters. 3. There is human tendency to get acquainted with demons, due to the original sin, though under divine permission. Based on this, the text is organized into three parts. The first part deals with the definitions of science and philosophy, their ultimate aim and their relationship with the Sacred Scripture. The second part brings up the most relevant passages of magic in general, and finally the third part shows the translations of the term ‘necromancy’ that Thomas Aquinas seldom mentions. 

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