Course of Theology - Volume Five II - João Poinsot

Course of Theology, Volume V (Part II) – John of St. Thomas (João Poinsot)

This second part of Volume V continues John of St. Thomas’s treatment of philosophical anthropology within his Course of Theology, completing his systematic study of the human person in the Thomistic tradition of Thomas Aquinas.

The work further develops the doctrine of the human soul, focusing especially on its higher operations. John of St. Thomas examines intellectual knowledge in greater depth, including the process of abstraction, the formation of universal concepts, and the nature of judgment and reasoning. He maintains a strong realist epistemology, emphasizing the intellect’s conformity to being.

A significant portion is devoted to the will, its freedom, and its relation to the intellect. He analyzes voluntary action, choice, and the ordering of the will toward the good, while carefully distinguishing between natural inclination and deliberate freedom.

The volume also treats the unity of the human person, explaining how soul and body form a single substantial unity, with the soul as the substantial form of the body. He clarifies how intellectual and sensitive operations belong to one integrated human subject.

Throughout, Poinsot applies his characteristic scholastic rigor, using precise metaphysical distinctions to explain the structure of human nature. The result is a comprehensive account of the human person as a rational, embodied substance ordered toward truth and moral good.