Introduction

Abstract

The material presentation of the texts and their organization under doctrinal heads in the Analytic Index provide a guide in the determination of the importance of different classes of texts. There are some texts which are unique, occur only once or twice and have no intrinsic relation to other texts and no doctrinal importance in themselves. Such is the repetition in the commentary on Saint Matthew of a remark made at the same point by Saint Jerome, that Plato advised his followers not to cover their heads and feet.¹ Some texts of this sort are clearly in function of a littera to be commented and occur no place else. Such is the elaborate description of Plato’s geographical and geological theories in the commentary on the Meteors² There are also certain citations or points of doctrine which are almost stock references for a given type of context, but which are not developed or integrated with other doctrines. Thus Plato’s definition of pleasure occurs frequently enough, but it stands almost alone as an isolated point of doctrine and is not elaborated or worked into relation with any larger theory.³ In fact, the references within the fields of ethics and politics are all of this nature. There is no elaborated theory in these fields designated as Platonic and treated at length. This is also confirmed by a comparison of the number of texts listed for the Pars Prima and Secunda, respectively, of the Summa Theologiae. These various types of texts could be eliminated from our listing without materially affecting the general impression of the textual corpus.