Abstract

This article presents a summary of The Ordinance Concerning Higher Education in the Society of Jesus. It was issued by the general of the Society, Francesco Piccolomini, in 1651. It contains a set of guidelines for study, and is closely linked to St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica. There is no differentiation between different types of topic: theological, philosophical, logical, metaphysical, physical—they are all present and mutually intertwined. There were two lists of issues: positive and negative. The latter contained topics which were banned for study and was divided into two parts: philosophical and theological. The main authority for teaching philosophy remained Aristotle.