| Aquinas's Thoughts On Knowledge
Aquinas adopts Aristotle's
theory that the human knowledge is like a blank tablet that has the potential to be
written on. Aquinas believes that when a human is born he/she has potential to know and learn, but
does not know anything yet. Knowledge, to Aquinas, is the understanding of what a human
sees, and perceives. "Through the action of sensible objects on his senses, to the
act of sensation; by instruction or discovery, to the act of understanding." For instance,
if a person is born blind, he would then have no knowledge of colors. However, if he was
born with knowledge he would.
Aquinas attacks the Platonic idea
that when we perceive, it is knowledge. Aquinas says that there is a little thing in the human
soul, called reasoning, that we are born with. Reasoning helps someone determine what is
truth and what is not. However, he points out that everyones reasoning are at different
levels, and for one to have a good sense of reason, takes lots of practice and time. Therefore, the
people with a better sense of reasoning skills, would know more than of one without a good sense of
reason. |
