Question

why G. K. Chesterton claims that, "St. Thomas Aquinas, perhaps more than he is anything else, is a great anthropologist.

Answer 1

Chesterton explains how Thomas Aquinas was way ahead of his time in understanding what it means to be human and had a developed a great sense for ontology. He would argue that there are many of his own contemporaries that think and develop their ideas just like Aquinas did. You can use this as a starting point and develop your essay.

Answer 2

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

In his book “Saint Thomas Aquinas” of 1933, G.K. Chesterton portrays Thomas Aquinas as a mysterious and brilliant man. Chesterton believes that Saint Thomas Aquinas view man as a whole, rather than as a beast like the anthropologists because Aquinas conceived men as an intricate spiritual being, not only flesh and blood. Aquinas, in opposition to the anthropology view, considered than man had a divine nature that makes humans special in relation to God.

Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English novelist. After his conversión from Anglic to Catholic in 1922, he wrote books on religion such as “The Catholic Church Conversion”, “St. Francis of Assisi”, and the mentioned “Saint Thomas Aquinas.”