Participation and Substantiality in Thomas Aquinas presents a comprehensiveand penetrating account of Aquinas metaphysics of creation. Its main focus isthe conc... » 

Participation and Substantiality in Thomas Aquinas presents a comprehensiveand penetrating account of Aquinas metaphysics of creation. Its main focus isthe concept of participation of being. On the basis of a detailed textualanalysis a philosophical interpretation is offered of the main concepts andarguments which underlie Thomas theocentric understanding of reality.The central unifying theme of the book is the apparent tension between thenotion of participation central to the Platonic tradition and that ofsubstance central to the Aristotelian tradition. The author argues thatAquinas is quite successful in bringing together in his metaphysics on the onehand the substantiality of finite beings and on the other hand their totaldependency upon the divine being by way of participation.The author defends his interpretation in a critical discussion of the views onparticipation brought forward by wellknown Aquinas scholars such as Geiger andFabro. «