He platonists, or at least the neo-platonists, all tended to the view that the mind was lit entirely from within; st. thomas insisted that it was lit by five windows, that we call the windows of the senses. but he wanted the light from without to shine on what was within. he wanted to study the nature of man, and not merely of such moss and mushrooms as he might see through the window, and which he valued as the first enlightening experience of man. (chesterton, “the permanent philosophy”; p. 2),

according to chesterton, the most important difference between st. thomas aquinas and the neoplatonists was that
a. aquinas followed aristotle and rejected plato
b. aquinas wanted to understand the true nature of human beings and animals
c. aquinas believed that all knowledge was based on sensory experience
d. aquinas was more interested in the origin of evil than exploring inner experience