MIZAEL PINTO DE SOUZA

What is the main thesis of De Aeternitate Mundi? The hypotheses can be reduced to two: (i) Thomas Aquinas defended the possibility of the world being actually "eternal," or (ii) he defended the possibility that the world could have been (fuisse) eternal. Supporters of the first interpretation argue that, after commenting on Aristotle's Physics, Thomas changed his position in De Aeternitate Mundi compared to what he had stated in his earlier works. Previously, he had hesitated to take the final step and did not defend the real possibility of the world being actually eternal. In the case of the second thesis, Thomas did not defend the possibility of the world being actually eternal. Rather, he argued that, if God had willed, He could have made the world "eternal," that is, without a beginning in duration. In this scenario, Thomas would merely be defending a weaker modal possibility. An analysis of Thomas's commentary on the section of Aristotle's Physics relevant to this issue reveals that Thomas does not accept Aristotle's demonstration as conclusive. He considers that, on this point, the Philosopher was mistaken regarding the demonstrative nature of his thesis