Thomism
Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose from the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In its broadest sense, Thomism denotes any system that follows Aquinas in philosophy and theology; in a narrower sense, it refers to the specific set of opinions held by the "Thomistic School," principally among Dominican writers, that have been contested by other thinkers who nonetheless profess to follow Aquinas. The Second Vatican Council described Aquinas's system as the "perennial philosophy," and Pope John Paul II called Thomas "a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology."
Aquinas's philosophy is characterized by a distinctive set of metaphysical doctrines: the real distinction between essence and existence (the actus essendi), act and potency as the fundamental principles of change, the four causes, and the analogy of being. In theology, his Summa Theologiae remains one of the most influential documents in medieval theology and continues to be a central point of reference for Catholic thought. The "Five Ways" (quinque viae) are his classical a posteriori arguments for the existence of God, grounded in sensory experience.
The history of Thomism spans more than seven centuries, evolving through several distinct periods. After Aquinas's death, his ideas faced opposition from the Condemnations of 1277 but were vindicated by his canonization in 1323 and the Council of Vienne (1311–1312). The Dominican Order adopted his teaching as its own, and by the mid-14th century the Summa Theologiae had supplanted Peter Lombard's Sentences as the standard theology textbook. The School of Salamanca in the 16th century developed Thomistic thought in new directions, making foundational contributions to international law, just war theory, and economic thought.
After a period of decline in the 18th century, Thomism experienced a major revival following Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Aeterni Patris (1879), which mandated the restoration of scholastic philosophy in Catholic education. This Neo-Thomist revival flourished for nearly a century, producing major figures such as Jacques Maritain, Étienne Gilson, and Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) marked a turning point, leading to Thomism's loss of its exclusive status in Catholic intellectual life. The 21st century has seen a notable resurgence of interest, with diverse schools including Ressourcement Thomism, Analytical Thomism, and renewed engagement with Aquinas's metaphysics.
2026 Developments
The year 2026 marked the culmination of the trilogy of Thomistic anniversaries—700 years since canonization, 750 years since death, and 800 years since birth—with a major international conference titled "Thomas Aquinas as Philosopher" held at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome.[^c1] The Nova et Vetera Winter 2026 issue featured a symposium for the 700th anniversary of Aquinas's canonization with contributions from Gilles Emery, Thomas Joseph White, and others.[^c5]
The same year saw the publication of the T&T Clark Handbook of Biblical Thomism, the first systematic presentation of Aquinas's biblical hermeneutics,[^c2] and the Cambridge University Press volume Thomism Revisited, examining the tradition's relevance to contemporary philosophy, theology, and political theory.[^c3] Matthew Levering's Reconfiguring Thomistic Christology reintegrated biblical typology with metaphysical Christology, and Rik Van Nieuwenhove's Providence, Evil and Salvation addressed providence and original sin from a Thomist perspective. Peng Yin's Persisting in the Good brought Thomistic ethics into dialogue with early Chinese thought.[^c8] Kevin White's Thomistic Considerations explored perennial themes through Aquinas, Aristotle, Augustine, Dante, and Eliot, while Leslie J. Kelley's A Thomistic Introduction to Modern Psychology applied Thomistic anthropology as a framework for integrating modern empirical psychological research.[^c9][^c10]
The Angelicum Thomistic Institute hosted an "Artificial Intelligence: A Tool for Virtue?" conference applying Aristotelian-Thomistic virtue ethics to AI,[^c4] alongside a "Divine Action" online series engaging Aquinas's metaphysics of providence with quantum mechanics. The special issue "Aquinas and the Sciences" published by Religions coined the term "Science-Engaged Thomism," demonstrating the tradition's capacity for fruitful dialogue with contemporary science.[^c6] A conference on "Theology After Fergus Kerr" at Blackfriars Oxford in July 2026 assessed the legacy of one of the most influential figures in late twentieth-century Thomism.[^c7]
Ongoing engagement with Aquinas's thought appeared across journals including The Thomist, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, and Acta Philosophica, covering topics from analytic Thomism's development, the metaphysics of esse, hylomorphism and contemporary biology, moral luck, and the Thomistic critique of neoclassical theism.