The description of woman given by St. Thomas in his Summa Theologica had a decisive impact on the classification of woman in relation to man. The religious interpretations of the time affirmed that woman did not possess a soul like other animals (with the exception of man), which in some way had to justify the difference between the two genders. The inferiority of women in relation to men was already dealt with by Aristotle, from whom the church fathers later took his assertions to introduce them into a Christian dynamic, as well as the rest of his philosophy. The sinfulness of women was coupled with their intellectual inferiority, and it was believed that they did not possess the basic endowments of men, which justified their exclusion from teaching.

Collection: Texts

Chronology: XIII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/28505/1/RHM_21.pdf

Resource type: Historical source

Source: Tomás DE AQUINO Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 177, a 2c.

Language: Spanish

Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)

Identifier: Tomás DE AQUINO Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 177, a 2c.

Abstract: Fragment from the Summa of St. Thomas, where he specifies the nature of woman

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