Fede e grazia. Tommaso d'Aquino e le condizioni del naturale esercizio della ragione

This paper attempts to investigate the theoretical assumptions which allow Aquinas to establish the autonomy of reason on the primacy of faith. I suggest that Aquinas’ thesis finds a theological and metaphysical explanation in the special relationship which binds the creature to the Creator and makes the integrity of nature a function of grace. Made from nothing in order to be an instrument of the Providence, nature is contained and rooted in the divine power, on which depends not only its existence, but also the realization of its possibilities.