This is not meant as a criticism of Davies, but rather as praise.

Thomas deals with in two questions, out of 228 on human nature Davies concludes his discussion in three pages. Nor does the principle of double effect, which Davies indeed deals with in only four lines and a footnote. The discussion of God's knowledge of future contingents is dealt with by Davies on one page, and doesn't even show up in the pie charts in the appendix. Law occupies 19 questions and 96 articles, but only two of those questions discuss the relations of eternal law and natural law. 'The Existence and Nature of God' occupy, fittingly, 25 questions divided into 149 articles, but it takes very little effort to notice or to remember that the Five Ways takes up one of those 149 articles. Thomas devotes to each of his major themes. In these simple pie charts Brian Davies effortlessly shows exactly how many questions, and how many articles, St. 359-360, 'The Summa Theologiae at a glance'.

The reason for this is elegantly and graphically shown in the remarkable figures displayed in the appendix on pp. One looks for, but does not find, special attention being given to the passages that so many Thomist philosophers regard as crucially important: the Five Ways, natural law, the principle of double effect, divine foreknowledge and human freedom, the immortality of the soul - all the rag-bag of topics, more or less important in one context or another, with regard to which philosophers of religion and ethicists have so frequently turned for light from St. It is indeed an introductory guide to and a (brief) commentary on the whole of the Summa Theologiae - the whole of the Summa Theologiae. The most striking thing about this book is its completeness.

Theologica