John of St. Thomas’s Challenge to Analogy of Intrinsic Attribution

Abstract: This paper takes up the inter-Thomist debate over whether analogy of proportionality or some form of analogy of attribution is required for metaphysics by considering the argument of John of St. Thomas that there can be no such thing as analogy of intrinsic attribution. I propose that John of St. Thomas’s critique of analogy of intrinsic attribution is more compelling as a philosophical position than the positions defended by John Wippel and Benedict Ashley. I also point out difficulties with John of St. Thomas’s position and appeal for feedback. I hope that this article will serve to motivate readers familiar with contemporary treatments of Aquinas on analogy to reinvestigate the assumptions and principles governing these treatments and to discover and compare the often quite different assumptions and principles operative in the debate between late Scholastic Thomists, Scotists, and Suárez.