Abstract

ANCHEPE, Ignacio Miguel. Neither the Same nor the Other. On Knowledge and Likeness in the Aquinas' Epistemology: Augustinian background, current debates. Scripta Mediaevalia [online]. 2014, vol.7, n.2, pp.115-138. ISSN 1851-8753.

The notion of likeness - similitudo - is often useful to Aquinas to explain what is to know. He uses it to describe what is the species both intelligible and sensible as well as the mental word. However, the leading role of this notion involves at least two problems. Scholars often seek to explain it by postulating an Aristotelian possible precedent. However, carefully examined, the work of Aristotle provides rare appearances of this concept. In this paper I examine the feasibility of an Augustinian precedent as a cause of recurring likenesses in Aquinas. And there is a second problem. How to reconcile these overarching likenesses with the alleged direct realism canonically attributed to Aquinas? Regarding this, I criticise some interpretations that nullify likeness taking it as a mere synonym of identity simpliciter. Finally, I argue that, according to Aquinas, the epistemological efficacy of likeness is based on the difference rather than on the identity.

Keywords : Augustine of Hippo; Likeness; Mental representations; Theory of knowledge; Thomas Aquinas.

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