Religions, Vol. 14, Pages 1407: Being and Essence of Creation in Liber de Causis and Aquinas’s Reception

Religions, Vol. 14, Pages 1407: Being and Essence of Creation in Liber de Causis and Aquinas’s Reception

Religions doi: 10.3390/rel14111407

Authors: Lingchang Gui

Derived from Proclus’s Elementatio Theologica, Liber de Causis (LDC), with the concept of “creation” at its core, provides a substantial monotheistic adaptation of the former that was absorbed and criticized by medieval philosophers represented by Aquinas. Taking Aquinas’s classical distinction between being and essence as the axis of inquiry, this paper first points out that, in contrast to Proclus, LDC not only introduces the concept of creation but also includes in this concept the distinction between being and essence. By reviewing the different readings of Avicenna and Aquinas on the division, this paper then sketches out two different tendencies in the medieval Arab and Latin worlds to either accept the concept of creation in LDC that both being and essence of individua are given from the One via intelligence or to take a further monotheistical transformation, which declaims the One bestowing the being of creations directly. Through this case study, this paper attempts to show the influence of LDC on Aquinas’s thought and demonstrate the civilizational transitions, fusions, and exchanges that characterized medieval philosophy.