Natural reason served as Aquinas’s last resort for engaging the Muslim enemy
Evidence
In full agreement with Abelard, Aquinas offers reason as the last resort, indeed, as the last weapon that will enable communication with this enemy, that will force and enforce a consensus: “We must therefore have recourse to natural reason to which all men must give their assent” (1.2). But the realm of reason, much like the political realm, is where jus divinum does not apply, where the divine meets its limit. “It is true that in divine matters, it [natural reason] has its failings” (ibid.). Or, as a later author will put it, “it is much that the Moor should be more than reason.” — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 239
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships