Sinne, Gegenstände und Sensibilia

This study intends to vindicate Thomas Aquinas' theory of perception as a key element which is systematically constituent for his theory of knowledge generally. The causal conditions for perception, the physical framework and the resulting perceptual knowledge are analysed.

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Thomas Aquinas' theory of knowledge has mainly been studied from the point of view of his theory of intellect. However, one of the constituent elements of such a theory has been widely neglected: perception. This work tries to disentangle the different aspects of Aquinas' theory. First, the causes of perception are looked at, including analyses on the physics of perception. Secondly, the psychology of perceptual knowledge and the theory of sensibles are explored, and thirdly, the importance of the perceptual apparatus is sketched by stressing the role of the outer and inner senses in the process of the acquisition of perceptual knowledge.
In order to give a comprehensive account of his theory, three main aspects are taken into account.