starting to read Aquinas

Latin after CDLXXVI
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alexp
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starting to read Aquinas

Post by alexp »

I have not done any Medieval Latin before but would like to start reading some Aquinas. What is the best text for a beginner to start with, and are there any texts available with helpful notes and annotations?

I have been looking over Quaestiones De Anima, and though the construction of the sentences seems pretty simple compared to classical Latin, I still find the meaning opaque, maybe because I am not familiar with the terminology. I have heard that Deferrari's Latin-English dictionary is a great aid but at the moment hard copies of this book are priced at over a hundred dollars. Does anyone know of an online version of this dictionary or, alternatively, a digital version I could download?

Of course if you have any other suggestions, especially for helpful material easily accessible online, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

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bedwere
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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by bedwere »

The CORPUS THOMISTICUM web site has (links to) lexica that may be useful.

alexp
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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by alexp »

Thanks Bedwere.

What an amazingly comprehensive site!

They provide a link to a lexicon based on Defarrari; unfortunately it's presented in a very inconvenient format and searching for terms is a little tedious. It's clearly a public domain book since it was digitized by Google but my searches for a downloadable pdf have been in vain - it doesn't seem to be available through archive.org for some reason.

What I'm doing now is working my way through a dual language version of the Summa Theologiae, first trying to make out as much of the Latin as I can on my own, then consulting the translation, paragraph by paragraph, to get a clearer picture.

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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by scotistic »

"What I'm doing now is working my way through a dual language version of the Summa Theologiae, first trying to make out as much of the Latin as I can on my own, then consulting the translation, paragraph by paragraph, to get a clearer picture."

This is what I did when I first read Aquinas back when I was an undergraduate, though I used the Summa Contra Gentiles and used two books since I didn't have a dual-language version. It worked.

As you note, compared to the classics Aquinas' syntax is very easy and the real trouble is in the vocabulary, so much of it not found in your average classical Latin dictionary, and making sure you grasp the ideas. Be sure that you've studied your Aristotle - Aquinas' commentaries on Aristotle are a great way to get acquainted with both Aristotle and Aquinas as well as basic philosophy and easy Latin. The Latin translations of Aristotle are pretty much opaque and incomprehensible but Aquinas' commentary on them is typically lucid and illuminating.

Deferrari really is the best tool for learning scholastic vocabulary and it's too bad that it's unavailable now. Reading through the Summa with a translation might be your best alternative bet.

scotistic
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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by scotistic »

"What is the best text for a beginner to start with, and are there any texts available with helpful notes and annotations?"

You might want want to start with De ente et essentia, which is pretty foundational for Thomism and much, much shorter than the Summae or collections of Disputed Questions. There's a dual language edition with notes out there somewhere, but I forget who produced it. I'll check my library when I get home.

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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by Frank00 »

You can purchase a digital copy of Deferrari for 20 dollars here https://www.logos.com/product/29732/a-l ... as-aquinas
You can read it using logos software or logos and verbum free mobile apps both in ios and android. You can also purchase the Latin text of the Summa with the digital lexicon. But before purchasing is better to contact their customer service.

If you enroll in Aquinas 101 course at Thomistic institute you can ask a friar the best way to study Aquinas in Latin and whatever you want to ask. The course is totally free.
https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd55AP ... 7Jwqa8OcBA

here you have the De Ente et Essentia in Latin and English and many more Aquinas works for free ( even John and Matthew Gospels commentaries)
https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~DeEnte.C1.2


The free app for ios and android ipieta has The Summa in Latin and other languages. In the ios version you can lookup latin words. https://www.ipieta.com/

If you read French you can visit this great site http://docteurangelique.free.fr/accueil.html

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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by Shenoute »

They provide a link to a lexicon based on Defarrari; unfortunately it's presented in a very inconvenient format and searching for terms is a little tedious. It's clearly a public domain book since it was digitized by Google but my searches for a downloadable pdf have been in vain - it doesn't seem to be available through archive.org for some reason.
It is available at Hathithrust (it's among the top three results if I google "deferrari" and "lexicon").

alexp
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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by alexp »

Frank, thanks a lot--so many great resources!

Shenoute, yes, the Haithi Trust version is the one I accessed previously from the website given by Bedwere.

The problem is, on my computer at least, it's impossible to use--the loading times are impossibly slow, making the search function all but useless.

I should mention I did find a PDF version of the Leixcon to download from archive.org. For some reason it doesn't show up during a Google search, but I did find it on the site itself:

https://archive.org/details/AquinasLexicon

Unfortunately the scanned pages are out of sequence, so once again it isn't exactly easy to make use of. Searching the A section I come across entries for R and S. In the B section I come across entries for V. But at least it's available and I'll be able to consult it in a pinch. I'm considering purchasing the Logos digital version mentioned above--obviously the way to go for convenient searching of individual terms!

Shenoute
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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by Shenoute »

Ah, too bad about the Archive.org pdf.
I mentioned Hathi though because it is quite easy to download a pdf of the book using Hathi Download Helper.

alexp
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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by alexp »

Shenoute, I'm glad you mentioned the Hathi Download Helper. I was unaware this tool existed, but after reading your post I went in search of it. Now I have been able to download the Hathi version of the Lexicon. It appears to be much better quality than the one at archive.org with all the pages in proper sequence. Success at last!

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Re: starting to read Aquinas

Post by Shenoute »

Yes Hathi Download Helper is a great tool! I'm glad you could get a usable version of the book in the end.

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