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As one of the most influential philosophers of the medieval times, St. Thomas Aquinas' masterwork on scholasticism and later his own thomism, play an important part in the history of law. Known as the "Angelic Doctor", he was greatly persuaded by the works of previous philosophers, notably the great Aristotle. This timeline highlights his celebrated life, and shows how his theoretical work ties in with the law we know today.

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• He is born around 1224/25, Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily to a fairly respectable family.
• His education began at the Monastery of Monte Cassino for 9 years, where his family hoped he’d become an abbott.
• Up until the expulsion of monks by the emperor, he had a very spiritual and cultural life.
• In 1239, he started education at the University of Naples, where he first took genuine interest in the works of previous philosophers like the great Aristotle.
• In 1243, he joined the Dominican Order, against his family's wishes.
• During 1244-1245, his family kidnapped him for a year in hopes of changing his mind. At one point they even hired someone to seduce him. Much to their dismay, he was headstrong and never gave in.
• In 1245, he studied at the University of Paris under St. Albertus Magnus, where he was bullied by peers, but respected by his teacher.
• In 1248, he began to teach in Cologne.
• In 1252, he came back to Paris to earn his master's in theology.

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• Became known as the "Christian Apostle".
• Travelled, taught, preached, did public speaking and wrote many pieces.
• He taught in Cologne, Paris and Rome all while working on his theological pieces.
• He preached in Naples and Orvieto, even writing some hymns still sung today.
• Respected by the Pope at the time, Pope Clement IV, ultimately providing him working opportunities, along with his fellow Dominican Order jobs.
• Rejection of Arab philosopher Averroes' idea that faith and reason are not linked, which developed the theory that "both kinds of knowledge ultimately come from God" and can work in collaboration.
• He develops the 5 arguments proving the existence of God, first 5 are "cosmological":
• He believed that, as a natural product of human nature, laws of the state were crucial to society. As abiding these laws, one would be rewarded in the afterlife.
• He identifies 3 laws: natural, positive and eternal.

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• Around 60 pieces written, ranging in length.
• Some of his major works include:
- Scriptum super libros Sententiarium (Commentary on the Sentences) in the early 1250s,
- De ente et essentia (On Being and Essence) in the early 1250s,
- Impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem (gainst Those Who Assail the Worship of God and Religion), in 1256,
- Multiple commentaries on Aristotle's works.
• From 1265-1274 he wrote his most known pieces: Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles.
• In 1273, he had a vision from God, causing him to stop his writing.
• In 1274, while on a journey to Lyon on foot, he fell ill, and died on March 7th 1274.
• In 1323, he was canonized.

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• Truly believed in scholasticism, which was following both faith and reason as they come from God.
• As religious as he was, the "philosopher" side to St. Thomas Aquinas needed there to be more evidence of a higher being. In fact, he disliked being called a philosopher, as that's what he linked the pagans to. However, he still had great respect for Aristotle, as at that time he was known as "The Philosopher".
• Written in his Summa Theologica, he developed a theological system linking the theology of Aristotle and the Western Christian theologies.
• In summary, these 5 points were made to show the divine truth in the order of the natural world.
- Argument from motion: movement is caused by movers, therefore something must have started the motion in the first place, that being God.
- Argument from causation: anything that is caused must be caused from something else, that being God.
- Argument from contingency: can't have a world where everything is contingent, as nothing would exist, therefore the one necessary being is God.
- Argument from degrees: for degrees of perfection, there must be something perfect, that is measured against all else, that being God.
- Theological argument: every being has their own path to follow in life, but some beings lack the intelligence to complete this path and need God for assistance.

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• Aquinas' description of law goes along the lines of "a certain rule and measure of acts whereby man is induced to act or is restrained from acting."
• His beliefs are that naturally, law is directed to good, and this is all coming from God, who has made humans this way.
- Natural law: man acting in accordance to reach goals through his perception of right and wrong. Given to us by God.
- Positive law: law of the government, being a manifestation of natural law.
- Human law: similar to positive law, but defined as laws devised by human reason and then adapted into historical, geographical and social situations.
- Eternal law: accomplishment of man's spiritual goals through reason being put into action by free will.
- Divine law: derived from eternal law, divided into old and new law. Old law is based off of the ten commandments, and the teachings of Jesus represent the new law. Old law uses fear on humans, while rewarding with social piece and the benefits it comes with. On the other hand, new law uses divine love on humans, while also rewarding.
- In summary, there is a huge link between law and God, as everything we do, and the way we react is all because God has allowed us and given us our abilities.

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• Many different versions.
• The original, Aquinas theory is that we all seek out on the "basic goods", and that instinct and reason come together.
• The basic goods list includes:
- Life
- Reproduction
- Educating one's offspring
- Seeking God
- Living in society
- Avoiding offense
- Shunning ignorance
• This theory makes one recognize the basic goods of life, after valuing one's own life leading them to see others are the same and we should value each other's lives (no killing one another!).
• Each negative law (prohibition) has a corresponding positive law (positive injunction, not to be confused with actual positive law).
• Q: why do people violate the natural law all the time, even if God has allowed all of us to have these basic goods? Aquinas said that the reasoning behind this is the fact that we're ignorant and emotional.
• Aquinas believes that God has created the moral order.
• That life is simply better if we follow the natural law.
• However, this theory only truly works for those who actually believe in God, and the idea that perception of everything you do really matters. What may be right to you, may be wrong to others.

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• His books and commentary was used in schooling for many years.
• Developing the "5 ways", ultimately creating another understanding of the theory that God exists.
• Linking faith and reason together, as they both come from God.
• His theories may have been heavily religious, which is something not as prominent in today's law, but considering the time and place in which he was alive, he found a way to rationalize the idea of God, making it more than just faith.
• During history, his works have been respected by many, especially the Catholic Church.
• The interest for his works fell into a drought during Martin Luther and John Calvin's time, but regained following in the 1800s. This shows how although times may have evolved, his impact still has lasted.