A. MacIntyre: Aquinas and the Rationality of Tradition
MacIntyre provides two different characterizations of Thomas, first as someone who understood philosophical activity of the chief of craft, and second as someone who forward two differnet traditions, merged them into one and provided direction for still further development of new unified tradition.
To become adept in a craft we should not forget that every craft has it´s own history during which it has developed and is still developing now. It means that during history craft has distinctions, and if someone wants to be adept, he/she must learn how to apply them. One has to acquire a certain kind of knowing how which enables one to move from past, to further achievements. Someone who has been initiated into a craft becomes a part of history of craft.
According to Thomas, moral knowledge is not itself theoretical, the practice of virtues and experience of having one´s will directed by the virtues yields knowledge by what Thomas calls connaturality. Many agents learn to be viruous without ever explicitly raising philosophical questions.
The history of the moral life and the history of moral enquiry are aspects of a single albeit complex, history. Practical education of some person is in hand of his/her teacher. Order of good teaching is the same as effective learning.
Later MacIntyre talks about Aquinas summa, that we are able to read it only if we posses intellectual virtues prudentia and phronēsis and also a virtue of judgement. Virtue of justice is knowledge how to apply rules which prevent violation. Virtue of prudentia means to be able in particular situation to bring to bear relevant universals and to act so that the universal is embodied in the particular.
We also learn about importance of Summa, about how to read it, when it was consitueted, how Thomas wrote it and what affect it had in his times, he talks about content of of Summa. What Summa achieves is a definitive statement at the level of theory of the point reached by its moral and theological tradition so far.
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