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AP European History, the Vanguard School 2019 Summer Reading Guide Part II Excerpts from Thomas Aquinas' Summa Contra Gent

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AP European History, the Vanguard School 2019 Summer Reading Guide Part II Excerpts from Thomas Aquinas' Summa Contra Gent AP European History, The Vanguard School 2019 Summer Reading Guide part II Excerpts from Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica Petrarch’s The Ascent of Mount Ventoux Questions due on first day of school (14 August 2019). Submit as a word document attached to an email, addressed to [email protected]. You can type directly into this worksheet, or create a separate document. Save the file using your first initial, last name, the name of the assignment, and the due date. For example, if your name was Billy Frazz, you would save this file as bfrazz_SummerReadingII_14Aug2019. If you do not have a means to work with Word® files, you can also do it as a PDF*. Answer all questions in complete sentences. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was a Scholastic theologian and philosopher, a Dominican friar, a professor at the University of Paris and later at his own school near Naples. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a peer-reviewed on-line philosophy journal, provides an excellent summary of his life and works (http://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas/). His writings were hugely influential even during his lifetime, and remain the foundation for Catholic understanding of philosophy, theology, law, and ethics to this day. They represent the highest development of medieval thought just before the Renaissance. Francesco Petrarca or “Petrarch” (1304-1374) was a poet and scholar, sometimes called “the father of humanism,” born the son of a notary in Arezzo, just south of Florence, Italy. He studied law and then entered the church for a living, but his interest was always in literature, not a highly respected field at the time. Gaining the patronage of a wealthy nobleman, Petrarch devoted himself to study and writing. He is most famous for his poetry, in particular a sequence of 366 sonnets written from 1327 to 1368 called Il Canzoniere (“The Songbook”), devoted to his unrequited love for a married noblewoman, Laura de Noves. Crowned poet “laureate” (literally “with a laurel crown”) in Rome in 1341, the first since ancient times, he became a celebrity in Europe and traveled widely. He died at his desk, pen in hand, in 1374. Petrarch considered the great classical authors Cicero, Ovid, and Virgil, to be the models of literature, and their Latin as pure Latin. His influence would lead the writers of the Renaissance away from “Church” Latin1, spoken in universities, law courts, and among the clergy, back to the thousand-year-old Latin of the ancients. He also promoted their subject matter, which was human activity and behavior and the possibilities of human potential. He is therefore called “the father of Humanism” and historians often date the beginning of the Renaissance with the spread of his writings. The AP European History curriculum begins with the Renaissance. The readings demonstrate medieval and Renaissance thinking near the time of this decisive turning point in the development of modern Western civilization. The intent of this reading guide is to help you understand and compare the two. Begin with the excerpts from Summa Theologica, Aquinas’ monumental summation of his views on theology, philosophy, ethics, and human nature. Reading note: Aquinas began the Summa Theologica (literally “Summation of all Theology”) in 1265, and was still working it over when he died in 1274. Meant as a study text for graduate students of theology, he structured it as a set of “disputations” or debates. Such one-on-one debates were the centerpiece of the teaching method of medieval universities. The Summa is organized in Treatises on major topics, 1 Pronunciations in this form of Latin are more like those of modern Italian. Thus veni, vidi, vici, which in classical Latin is pronounced “weni, widi, wiki,” is “veni, vidi, vichi” in Church Latin. *Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® (with parent/guardian permission, you can download the program for free at https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/pdf-reader.html) will let you type text into the PDF version of the worksheet, go to “Tools” and select “Fill and Sign,” you can then add text to each box on the form. Page 1 of 4 AP European History, The Vanguard School 2017 Summer Reading Guide part II such as the “Treatise on God” and the “Treatise on Divine Government.” There are nineteen treatises, divided into “questions” for specific topics. There are 611 total “questions,” so what you have in the summer reading is a very small sampling (you’re welcome). Each “question” consists of a set of “articles” or more specific questions for debate. Each of these in turn begins with “Objections,” in which Aquinas lays out arguments against his own position. These are not mere “straw men.” Aquinas strove to “own” these arguments and present them to the best of his ability2. This was the true spirit of the scholastic disputation, the collective seeking after truth by debate. Following the set of objections is an “on the contrary,” in which we get the first hint of Aquinas’ actual position. He then explains his position rigorously, and concludes by answering each of the objections directly. From “The Treaties on Habits in Particular” (from Summa Theologica, Part I of the Second Part) Question 57: Intellectual Virtues 1. How does Thomas Aquinas justify declaring what we would call intellectual activities to be “virtues”? 2. What are the “intellectual virtues,” and why three and not just “wisdom”? Question 61: Cardinal Virtues 1. What is a “cardinal virtue” according to Aquinas? 2. Which four does he declare to be such, and why? Question 62: Theological Virtues 1. What is the difference between theological virtues and others (intellectual or moral)? 2. What then are the theological virtues, and why these? 3. What does Aquinas seem to mean by the word “charity”? Is it the same as what we normally mean today? Question 85: The Effects of Sin on Human Nature 1. What did original sin do to human nature, according to Aquinas? 2 For a fuller explanation of the art and spirit of the scholastic disputation, and Aquinas’ extensive use of it in teaching as well as writing, see Josef Pieper, Guide to Thomas Aquinas (Ignatius Press, 1991) pp. 76-88. Page 2 of 4 AP European History, The Vanguard School 2017 Summer Reading Guide part II 2. Why does it also have physical effects? From “The Treatise on Law” (from Summa Theologica, Part II of the Second Part) Question 91: Of the Various Kinds of Law 1. According to Aquinas, what is the “natural law”? 2. What is the difference between natural law and “human law”? 3. Since we have human law and natural law, why do we also need “divine” law? 4. What is the difference between “divine” law and “eternal” law? Question 92: the Effects of Law 1. Is it possible, according to Aquinas, for even a tyrannical law to in some way be aimed at making men good? The next part is to read and compare an excerpt from Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles, and Petrarch’s The Ascent of Mount Ventoux. Aquinas wrote Summa Contra Gentiles (literally “summation against the Greeks,” actually “summation against unbelievers”) from 1259 to 1265 as a training manual for missionaries working to convert Muslims and Jews. Petrarch wrote The Ascent of Mount Ventoux in 1336 as a letter addressed to his mentor and professor from his university days, an Augustinian monk named Dionigi de Borgo. It starts as a recounting of the difficult hike, but Petrarch turns it into an allegory. At that point it takes up basically the same subject as the selection from Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles, namely how to achieve true happiness or “felicity” in life. 1. Why does Aquinas say that true happiness (or “felicity”) is an intellectual pursuit, rather than an act of will (ie a kind of behavior)? 2. Taken together, what do chapters 27 – 33 indicate regarding where not to look for ultimate happiness? 3. How do you think Aquinas’ conclusions in chapters 34-36 would differ from those of many pre- Christian philosophers (and perhaps of many people today)? 4. Referring then to chapters 37 and 130: a. What is the highest happiness? Page 3 of 4 AP European History, The Vanguard School 2017 Summer Reading Guide part II b. What is the highest form of living? 5. Why did Petrarch decide to try and ascend Mount Ventoux in the first place? 6. The physical ascent is a struggle for Petrarch until he finally reaches the summit. He draws parallels from this physical struggle to another. What is it? a. The ascent itself, including the obstacles: b. The times he took wrong turns, looking for a smoother way up: c. The summit: 7. What do you think it is that Petrarch still “loves,” although he struggles not to? 8. After finally making the summit, he enjoys the view. Why does he then become upset with himself for enjoying the view? 9. Starting the descent, where does Petrarch’s focus and contemplation then turn for the rest of the trip? 10. Comparing Aquinas and Petrarch: a. Look at the authorities each cites in his writing. How are they similar, and how do they differ? b. In what ways do they appear to have similar views of what is virtuous, and in what ways different? c. Compare/contrast what you think each would say is the way to the highest happiness. Final thought: once you’ve completed all of this (whew!), bring to the first day of class, on a 3x5 card, two points: 1) the most important thing you learned from this set of readings; and 2) the question about which you are most curious as a result of this set of readings.
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