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• Title:[Tommaso d'Aquino. English]
  Aquinas : on the beginning and end of human life / Fabrizio Amerini ; translated by Mark Henninger.
  
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• Author/Creator:Amerini, Fabrizio.
  
• Other Contributors/Collections:Henninger, Mark.
  
• Published/Created:Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2013.
  

• Holdings

  Holdings Record Display

  • Location:BMB LIBRARY (VGH) stacksWhere is this?
    
  • Call Number: B765.T54 A215513 2013
    
  • Number of Items:1
    
  • Status:Available
    

  • Location:KOERNER LIBRARY stacks (Floor 1)Where is this?
    
  • Call Number: B765.T54 A215513 2013
    
  • Number of Items:1
    
  • Status:Available
    

   
• Library of Congress Subjects:Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274.
  Human embryo--Moral and ethical aspects.
  Soul--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500.
  
• Medical Subjects: Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274.
  Beginning of Human Life
  Philosophy--history
  
• Description:xxii, 260 pages ; 24 cm
  
• Summary:"In contemporary discussions of abortion, both sides argue well-worn positions, particularly concerning the question, When does human life begin? Though often invoked by the Catholic Church for support, Thomas Aquinas in fact held that human life begins after conception, not at the moment of union. But his overall thinking on questions of how humans come into being, and cease to be, is more subtle than either side in this polarized debate imagines. Fabrizio Amerini--an internationally-renowned scholar of medieval philosophy--does justice to Aquinas' views on these controversial issues. Some pro-life proponents hold that Aquinas' position is simply due to faulty biological knowledge, and if he knew what we know today about embryology, he would agree that human life begins at conception. Others argue that nothing Aquinas could learn from modern biology would have changed his mind. Amerini follows the twists and turns of Aquinas' thinking to reach a nuanced and detailed solution in the final chapters that will unsettle familiar assumptions and arguments. Systematically examining all the pertinent texts and placing each in historical context, Amerini provides an accurate reconstruction of Aquinas' account of the beginning and end of human life and assesses its bioethical implications for today. This major contribution is available to an English-speaking audience through translation by Mark Henninger, himself a noted scholar of medieval philosophy."--Publisher's description.
  
• Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
  
• ISBN:9780674072473
  0674072472
  
• Contents:Machine generated contents note: One. General Principles of the Embryology of Thomas Aquinas
  1. Some Constraints on Substantial Generation
  2. Some Constraints on Substantial Form
  Two. Nature of the Human Soul
  1. Unity of the Human Being and the Soul as the Substantial Form of the Body
  2. Identity of the Being of the Soul and the Being of the Body: Some Problems
  Three. Status of the Embryo
  1. Origin of the Human Soul
  2. Ensoulment of the Embryo: Opposing Positions
  3. Two Different Intuitions concerning the Ensoulment of the Embryo
  Four. Some Problems
  1. Discontinuity of Generation and Immediate Ensoulment
  2. Formation versus Functioning of the Embryo
  3. Natural Generation of the Body versus Creation of the Soul
  Five. Identity of the Embryo
  1. Identity and Continuity of the Embryo
  2. Identity of the Subject of Generation
  2.1. Different Kinds of Identity
  2.2. Incomplete versus Complete Identity
  2.3. Some Difficulties
  3. Identity of the Embryo and the Succession of Souls
  4. Identity of Subject and Identity of Matter
  4.1. Material Continuity of the Human Body
  4.2. Identity of Matter, Quantity, and Extension
  Six. Bioethical Implications
  1. Origin of Human Life and the Affirmation That the Embryo Is a Human Being in Potency
  2. Elusive Human Nature of the Embryo
  3. Some Bioethical Consequences: Abortion, Homicide, and the Suppression of Life
  Seven. Beginning and End of Human Life
  Eight. Contemporary Debate over the Hominization of the Embryo.