The doctrine of Santo Tomás de Aquino on the analogy as a natural way to get to know God. A philosophical meditation on its extents and limits

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to reflect on the ontological foundations on the doctrine of Tomás de Aquino on analogy, in order to point out its extents and limitations for the natural knowledge of God. In the first section, there is a reflection on the analogia entis. In the second one, there is a definition of analogy and its different types.  In the third section, there is the explanation that it is possible to access the knowledge of God through an analogy. In the fourth section, there is the question regarding which god is the one that can be reached through analogy as the basic evidence of the existence of god, in order to argument what San Juan de la Cruz states that there is an infinite dissimilarity between god and all other creatures. That is the reason why, even if the analogy allows the theodicy the knowledge of god as a cause, it is not a proportionate medium for the knowledge of the supernatural being.  The article concludes by displaying the limits of the analogical thinking to know the essence of God: the transcendence and mystery that surround its presence. The thesis is to show that the analogical knowledge of god is imperfect and incomplete, but not false.