This book offers a novel account of Aquinas's theory of the human act. It argues that Aquinas takes a human act to be a composite of two power-exercises, where one relates to the other as form to matter. The formal component is an act of the will, and the material component is a power-exercise caused by the will, which Aquinas refers to as the 'commanded act.' The book also argues that Aquinas conceptualizes the act of free choice as a hylomorphic composite: it is, materially, an act of the will, but it inherits a form from reason. As the book aims to show, the core idea of Aquinas's hylomorphic action theory is that the exercise of one power can structure the exercise of another power, and this provides a helpful way to think of the presence of cognition in conation and of intention in bodily movement.

This book argues that, for Aquinas, a human act exhibits a structure analogous to that of a material object.

About the Author
Can Laurens Loewe is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Humboldt-Universitat, Berlin, and a Member of the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities 'Human Abilities.' He has published numerous articles on medieval philosophy and metaphysics in journals including the British Journal for the History of Philosophy and Vivarium.

Reviews
This book is an important contribution from a rising scholar who is already making his mark. Historically well-researched and philosophically incisive, Loewe's account of Act Hylomorphism opens up rich new avenues for considering Aquinas's action theory and will surely become indispensable reading. Therese Cory, University of Notre Dame
'This book makes an innovative and impressive contribution to the field of Thomistic studies of human agency. ... it is also highly original and engaging.' Colleen McCluskey, The Thomist



Book Information
ISBN 9781108833646
Author Can Laurens Loewe
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 470g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 160mm * 20mm