Aquinas was greatly influenced by the work of Aristotle. Aquinas himself recognized this, and even referred to Aristotle as "<em>The Philosopher</em>." Aquinas adopted Aristotelian views in his analysis of physical objects, the idea of time and place and in his cosmology. His moral philosophy is carefully crafted around Aristotelian ideas, and he provided the first analysis of many areas of Aristotelian philosophy that otherwise would have remained obscure. However, this does not mean that Aristotle was his only influence. More importantly, it does not mean that his ideas are simply a reinterpretation of Aristotelian ones. Aquinas created a new way of looking at life and the world, which was markedly different from any author before or after him.
He smacked him in the face
