Thomas van Aquino en de Thomas van Utrecht. Kritische kanttekeningen bij de Utrechtse lezing van de Summa Theologiae

In the last decade a group of scholars at the Catholic University of Utrecht developed an approach of its own to Aquinas's Summa theologiae, which is named “the Utrecht hypothesis”. In section I this hypothesis is summarized in eight propositions. Its main elements are twofold. (A) Thomas does not begin the Summa with an informative doctrine of God, but with an inquiry into the rules for speaking about God. (B) The linguistic rules have a principally negative character and are formulated on the basis of “formal features” that become apparent in Thomas's point of departure: Composition (q.3). In this essay I am testing the Utrecht hypothesis and arrive at the conclusion that each of the eight propositions must be denied. The incorrectness of the propositions is shown in two complementary ways. First, by an analysis of the structure and intention of the first questions in the Summa;, second, by pointing to texts in which Thomas himself looks back on his account and provides a kind of reflexive review. © 1994 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.