阿奎那对亚里士多德正义论的评述和其自然法.doc

PAGE PAGE 1 A(刀1INASS INTERPRETATION OF THE ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE OF JUSTICE AND HIS DOCTRINE OF NATURAL LAS MATTHIAS PERKAMS Eredr cla-Sclailler- Uraz}erstlzt孙a If we wish to understand the philosophical significance that Aristotles newly rediscovered Nicomachean Ethics had for the thinkers of the thir- teenth century, we have to ask not one question but two. The first is, how did medieval theologians and philosophers interpret the Aris- totelian texts that became available to them through the new transla- tionsa The second question is, what philosophical use did they make of the material at handy Everyone who reads both Aquinass commen- taries on Aristotle and his systematic works will find out that the dis- tinetion mentioned is not just an invention of Aristotles modern inter- preters; the great Dominican himself was aware of the difference. Apart from this general statement, however, the exact character of Aquinass commentaries remains a topic of debate between modern interpreters which has not yet found a definitive solution. This debate concerns especially his explanation of Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics in the Sententia libri Ethicorum.2 Rene-Antoine Gauthier (the editor of theSententia), Harry Jaffa, Denis M. Bradley, Jean-Pierre Torrell, and oth- ers regard this and Aquinass other commentaries on Aristotle as the- ological treatises, while Martin Grabmann, Marie-Dominique Ghenn, Hermann Kleber, and others tend to understand them as nothing other than attempts to elucidate the intentio flristotelis.* The second interpreta- tion seems to ascribe to Aquinass commentaries what Siger of Bra- bunt considered a philosophical perspective. For Siger, though, pro- ceeding philosophically }rocedeTe}hiloso}hice) was just establishing what Aristotle meant, not what is trues-a perspective explicitly r旬ected by Aquinas.6 This position should not be confiised with the thesis ofJames G. Doig, who understands the Sententia libzi Ethicozum not only as a philo