CFP: Aquinas: Strategies and Methods (Volume)

Guest Editors: Harm Goris (Tilburg University, DE), Piotr Roszak (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, PL), Marcin Trepczyński (University of Warsaw, PL)

DEADLINE: April 15, 2026

St. Thomas Aquinas had brilliant ideas, which contributed to both theology and philosophy. However, an important part of his success as a theologian and philosopher which can be easily overlooked was his effective planning. In order to gain truth and present it to the readers or listeners (according to the Dominican motto: contemplata aliis tradere), it is essential to know how to do that. Aquinas’s investigations and presentations are always ordered according to certain patterns and governed by ideas, which he often explains. They also follow clear methodological frameworks.

In our volume, we would like to focus on strategies he adopts in different types of his production and methods he applies both as a theologian and as a philosopher. We are going to examine the importance and the consequences of such choices, as well as their motivations and inspirations. We will include both those strategies and methods which are explicitly mentioned by Thomas and those which can be traced back. This will enable us to create a picture of Aquinas as a scholar who cared about the correct ways of thinking and scientific procedures.

We are interested in analysing Aquinas’s:

  • patterns of work composition,
  • exegetical techniques,
  • hermeneutical strategies,
  • methodology of sciences (including metaphysics, theology, natural sciences),
  • ways of argumentation and argumentative strategies,
  • use of logic,
  • analytical approach,
  • other similar aspects of his work.

This special issue of the journal Philosophical Education (University of Warsaw) will host contributions concerning those topics.

Deadlines and Guidelines

Interested contributors are invited to send their article to edukacjafilozoficzna@uw.edu.pl by 15 April 2026 for full consideration. They are also welcome to send (at the same address) an abstract of the intended paper earlier, to check whether their topic is appropriate for the special issue.

Submissions should be between 20,000 and 40,000 characters (c. 4,000 and 9000 words) and should include an abstract between 800 and 1200 characters (c. 150 and 200 words), 5-8 keywords and a bibliography. Once accepted, papers will need to adhere to the journal’s formatting guidelines: http://www.edukacja-filozoficzna.uw.edu.pl/en/do-autorow/

Publishing Policy

Submissions are subjected to double-blind peer review.

Philosophical Education does not charge the authors any fees for publishing.

Authors do not transfer the copyright of their papers to the Publisher, but only grant the Publisher a non-exclusive licence.

We provide professional copy-editing and typesetting for all Authors.

All contributions are published both in print (one free copy for every author) and online (open access). To maximise impact, online publication will occur as soon as possible after copy-editing. We also encourage authors to upload PDF copies of their articles to other websites and repositories to make them more accessible to the public.