Neo-Thomism

The identification of medieval philosophy with the Aristotelian-Christian system constructed by Thomas Aquinas in the second half of the 13th c. produced an interpretive approach (defined as neo-Thomism or neo-Scholasticism) and an historiographic framework according to which the preceding centuries and thinkers had constituted a slow ‘preparation’ for the Thomistic synthesis, considered ultimately the philosophic ‘height’ of the Middle Ages, and which was then followed by a period of ‘decadence.’ According to this scheme, then, the first histories of medieval philosophy in the 20th c. are arranged; particularly significant is that of Maurice De Wulf, a basis and model for philosophic handbooks and manuals until the 1950’s. The most important editorial projects linked to Neo-Thomism are: the critical edition of Aquinas’ works (the Leonine edition); the collection of texts and studies in Philosophes Médiévaux, Bibliothèque Thomiste, and so on; and the journals Bulletin Thomiste, etc. Among scholars belonging to this interpretative school we should at least mention Pierre Mandonnet and Martin Grabmann.