What is the importance of Aquinas research in our time, especially for moral theology?
I see two important contributions Aquinas can have nowadays. In the first place, Thomas teaches us that we may have confidence in the capacity of our natural reason. He underscores the importance of the link between morality and reality. The morally good can only be appealing when it is part of ones experience in one way or another. Abstract laws or idealistic concepts of good and evil are not of direct use in ethics. To put it differently: the interrelation between metaphysics and ethics is a complex one, as Wolfgang Kluxen has shown. In the second place, being familiar with Aquinas can be helpful so as to regain an openness towards problems of our day. The Enlightenment has not only opened, but also sometimes narrowed our scope and this is still felt in the way problems are approached in philosophy and theology. Thinkers like Aquinas, who are not yet contamined with this narrowed scope can shed light on our situation which can be refreshing. What do you think of the Thomas Instituut?
