This book explores what Thomas Aquinas said about the importance of animal side of human nature in relation to such non-animal pursuit as contemplation. The author shows how sensory perception, emotional responses and the feeling of delight - all of which, says Aquinas, belong to the animal side of human nature - guide human contemplation of eternal truths. We contemplate because we are naturally inclined to seek knowledge, to desire truth. According to Aquinas, our basic inclinations, appetites, love and desire, direct us towards our proper good, towards our ends, in accordance with our...