ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes some of Thomas Aquinas’s principal jurisprudential ideas. Following the introduction, the second section provides a brief biographical sketch, while the third and fourth sections offer a focused analysis of two features of Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on Law, which is found in his Summa Theologiae, Ia, IIae, quaestiones 90 to 97. The first of these features, explored in the third section, comprises the numerous apodictic statements Thomas made about the nature and function of law. The fourth section then investigates in closer detail several of Aquinas’s key terms. The general method of proceeding resembles a close commentary on selected texts. Such a focus, however, seems appropriate. Thomas was certainly careful in his use of language, and one therefore hopes that this method will shed significant light on his jurisprudence. The final section provides a brief conclusion, summarizing what can be learned from this careful study of definitions and vocabulary.
