Consistency of the theory of participation contained in the texts of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Abstract

In my article, I ask the question whether the theory of participation found in the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, complies with his metaphysics in its fundamental lines. To answer this question, I analyze several texts by Doctor Angelic devoted to the issue of participation.

After my research, I conclude that Aquinas' theory of participation is founded on the concepts of the act and power, and that it includes all the degrees of being, as in two of his other great theories: the theory of causation and the theory of analogy, which are fundamental points of all his teaching.

We see then, that the theory of participation is an integral and really important part of the metaphysical doctrine of Doctor Angelic, although we know that this is a question which came from the Platonists and Neo-Platonists.