I think that H and St. Thomas are frankly approaching the question of
truth, and of being as well, from two completely different standpoints.
Thomas, as far as I know him (which isn't very well - I should be ashamed,
attending Catholic University as I am), seems interested in establishing
a metaphysics of existence grounded in a pre-understanding of being
as being-created ex nihilio, whereas Heidegger is questioning after the
structure of this pre-understanding itself.
I would also venture to assert that the same thing can be PHENOMENOLOGICALLY
primary and METAPHYSICALLY secondary. Truth as disclosure is the
ground for the possibility of truth as correctness, but that doesn't
mean that truth as correctness is necessarily less 'in itself' (in the
Aristotelian sense) or metaphysically derivative of the former. Just
as we need eyes to conduct physiology; doing physiology presupposes
having eyes, but isn't derivative of eyesight in a metaphysical sense.
Indeed, physiology should (theoretically) explain how eyes work in
the first place.
Has anybody here looked at Caputo's book Heidegger and Aquinas? He's
a bit self-righteous as always but its an interesting work.
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