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Is thomism relevant today?

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Describe St. Thomas Aquinas' major contribution to philosophy? Are his ideas relevant today? Why or why not?

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Are Thomas Aquinas' ideas relevant today? This is what this post addresses. See whether his reading of Aristotle and his treatise on faith and reason could contribute to our understanding of ourselves and our world today. Does he in any way contribute to our understanding of people who do not have the same views as we do?

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The issue would certainly need a long exposition that I cannot possibly undertake here. But let me say first of all that Aquinas was an Aristotelian or a defender of Aristotle. Many have claimed, and not without good reason, that he used Aristotle to serve his own and his church's interest. However, in his magnum opus, the Summa Theologica, one finds as many references to Plato as to Aristotle. But when Aquinas talks of "the philosopher", he was always referring to Aristotle.

I could think of his main ideas in the following points: 1. Showing the limits of Platonism. Elimination of Platonism, or the Platonic world of Ideas, from metaphysics, epistemology and psychology. Aquinas wanted to show, contrary to Plato, that the human being, for instance, is not a spirit that is imprisoned in the ...

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