Norman Kretzmann The Metaphysics Of Creation Aquinas’s Natural Theology In SCG

Although this is a sequel to The Metaphysics of Theism, and although Aquinas conceives of his enterprise in Summa contra gentiles I–III as rigorously continuous, most of the topics covered in The Metaphysics of Creation can be considered on their own—especially those having to do with philosophy of mind, which occupy more than half the 101 chapters of Aquinas's Book II. Philosophy and philosophical scholarship thrive on criticism. In writing The Metaphysics of Theism, I benefited from thought-provoking questions raised by members of graduate seminars and lecture audiences, and from the even more valuable detailed written criticisms faithfully provided by the best readers I could have wished for, all of whom I'm happy to count as friends of mine. Because I wrote The Metaphysics of Creation without nearly as much opportunity to try it out in lectures and seminars, I've been even more dependent on written criticisms I received on various drafts, especially on those I received on every chapter's first draft from my faithful friend and first reader, Eleonore Stump. William Rowe and Zoltán Szabó gave me helpful comments on some of these chapters, Anthony Kenny and Scott MacDonald on most of them, and William Alston on absolutely all of them. Once again I've had the best readers imaginable, for whose hard work and unstinting friendship I'm very grateful.