KNOWLEDGE AND PARTICIPATION IN THE ETERNAL REASONS IN AQUINAS: TWO READINGS

Abstract

The article analyzes two readings on the role played by the notion of participation in our knowledge of God’s eternal reasons, according to Thomas Aquinas. First, it examines the notion of participation in Summa theologiae (STH, Ia, 84, a, 5). It then compares the readings of Cornelio Fabro and Lima Vaz. Both admit a via platonica constitutive of the notion of participation and access to eternal reasons. It is argued that Lima Vaz’s reading, by rethinking the methodical structure of metaphysics, is more intelligible when it comes to understanding Thomas Aquinas´ position. Vaz, unlike Fabro, recognizes a circle of understand ing of the Absolute, unreflected in Thomas Aquinas. Finally, a hermeneutical perspective in the dialectic of participation is proposed by selecting some of the consequences of this brief comparison between the two readings.­