Information on the thesis

ANNOTATION
Sodomora  P.  A.  The  Terminological  System  of  Thomas  Aquinas  and  its
Reception  in  the  Ukrainian  Philosophical Context  (based  on “Summa  Theologiae”
and “Summa contra Gentiles”). – Manuscript.
Dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor of  Philosophy  in  the  speciality  09.00.05  –
History of philosophy. – Lviv Ivan Franko National University. – Lviv, 2016.
The  dissertation  contains  a  study  of  scholastic  terminology  based  on  “Summa
theologiae”  by  St.  Thomas.  Reception  of  Aquinas’  teaching  in  Ukrainian  context  is
researched.  Teaching  of  scholastic  philosophers  is  considered  to  be  crucial  for  the
development  of  European  philosophy.  The  necessity  of  investigating  the  influence  of
Thomas’ works on Ukrainian philosophical thought is obvious because of significant gap
in the field. In order to estimate philosophical heritage of Thomas Aquinas in the context
of  Ukrainian  philosophy  it  is  necessary  to  review  Aquinas’  concepts  as  they  are
reproduced  by  various  European  philosophical  and  linguistic  systems.  The  analysis  is
centered  on  “Summa  Theologiae”.  Some  other  works of  Aquinas  are  included  as  well.
Estimation and evaluation of Aquinas’ works in relation to the development of Ukrainian
philosophical thought constitutes the goal of the research. Reception of Aquinas’ concepts
in  Ukrainian  philosophy  is  the  subject  of dissertation.  The  work  provides  a contrastive
analysis of Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ concepts compared to teachings of some Ukrainian
philosophers.
Chapter 1, “The Methodological Basics of Researching the Terminological System:
Sources  and  Historiography”  enlightens  key  concepts  of  the  research.  It  is  stated  that
Ukrainian scholars were influenced by scholastic philosophy since Universities in Ukraine
had  been  established.  The  problem  of  reception  of  scholastic  concepts  by  Ukrainian
philosophical thought is augmented by diversity of two civilizations that have collided on
Ukrainian  terrain,  namely  Eastern  and  Western  one.  Despite  their  diversity,  required
foundation  for  scholastic  teaching  development  was  formed  in  Ukraine.  The  chapter
includes  a  research  into  the  topic  of  influence  of  Aquinas’  philosophy  on  Ukrainian
philosophical thought.
In  Chapter  2,  “Basic  Metaphysical  Categories  of  Thomism  and  their  Reception”,
problems of reproduction and textual explanation of some synonymic pairs of terms are
researched. The objective of translation of scholastic philosophical  text  is to adequately
reproduce the original text in the target language. Adequate reproduction of philosophical
terms is one of the most important aspects of translation of „Summa theologiae”. Solution
to some translation problems  is suggested in the chapter. Different options of Ukrainian
translation  of  one  and  the  same  term  are  compared  here.  The  difference  in  semantic
content of one and the same term that is translated using various methods is illustrated by
numerous passages of the text. Some conclusions on application of different translation
methods  are  conducted  as  well.  The  main  attention  is  paid  to  unavoidable  differences
between  primary  and  secondary  texts.  The  modern  stage  of  development  of  Ukrainian
philosophical  thought  is  determined  by  increased  interest  in  teaching  of  scholastic
philosophers  in  general  and  Aquinas’  works  in  particular.  Certain  works  enlighting
Thomas’ thoughts have recently appeared in Ukrainian philosophy.

Chapter 3, “The Gnoseological Terms in Aquinas’ Philosophy” researches certain
terms that are connected to the notion of intellect. The difference between Latin terms and
their modern equivalents is explained on the material of various philosophical approaches
and in different cultural contexts, including Ukrainian one. The untranslatable words are
examined in contrastive bilingual analysis. It is emphasized that in most cases there are no
direct equivalents for some philosophical terms in Ukrainian language. Every such case is
very interesting for Ukrainian philosophy and crucially important for the development of
Ukrainian  philosophical  language.  This  fact  emphasizes  the  importance  of  research  of
philosophical terms in contemporary Ukrainian philosophy. It is established that Aquinas
was not a typical phenomenon for the thirteenth century. The great thinker had exceeded
many  philosophers  that  appeared  even  after  him,  giving  them  the  soil  for  upcoming
investigations. The language itself was  the defining factor for Aquinas. This means that
there is no need for creating new words or using old ones in new contexts. Terms should
be  comprehensible  for  broad  circles  of  readers,  according  to  his  explanation.  This  is
important because Latin  language  was always dependent on Greek one. There are some
words  in  Latin  that  are  translated  directly  from  Greek,  e.g.  individuum  is  a  translation
from  Greek  atom,  accidentia  is  a  translation  from  Greek  symbebekos  etc.  This  fact
approves using of copying as one of the methods of reproducing of philosophical terms in
Ukrainian  philosophy.  The  influence  of  Aquinas’  teaching  on  Ukrainian  scholars  is
researched in the chapter.
Chapter IV, “Moral and Social Terms”, establishes Aquinas’ concepts of free will,
virtues,  goal  etc.  Some  thoughts  of  Ukrainian  philosophers  are  compared  to  Thomas’
teaching. Aquinas uses Latin translations of Greek words widely in his works, but at the
same  time  he  applies  entirely  Greek  words,  e.g.  hypostasis  together  with  substance.
Despite  the  fact  that  these  words  are  derivatives,  Aquinas  sometimes  distinguishes
between them and sometimes considers them to be synonyms. Similar problems exist in
modern  languages  as  well.  Certain  terms  that  share  ambivalent  meaning  in  the  text,
influence  some  periods  of  it.  This  is  why  certain  periods  of  scholastic  text,  especially
“Summa theologiae” require some extratextual explanations.
It  is  stated  in  Conclusions  that  Ukrainian  philosophical  thought  was  strongly
influenced by scholastic philosophy. Due to two cultural streams colliding  in Ukrainian
culture, scholastic teaching was only partially accepted by Ukrainian philosophers.
Key  words:  terminological  system,  being,  existence,  essence,  sign,  analogy,  act,
potency, form, matter, substance, accidence.