According to Thomas, law morally obligates those to whom it is directed. One applies a name substantially to x if that name refers to x in and of itself and not merely because of a relation that things other than x bear to x. SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (c.1225-1274) Summary of his thought : INTRODUCTION I. In short, I smell things, therefore, I am not an immaterial substance (see, for example, ST Ia. q. q. q. However, since right reason in human beings is a kind of participation in God’s mind (see, for example, ST IaIIae. q. For example, Thomas thinks that it is morally permissible for a community to put a criminal to death on the authority of the one who governs that community. In general, the theological virtues direct human beings toward their supernatural end, specifically in relation to God himself. 5). The final cause is the goal If we take Thomas’ manner of speaking about human happiness in ST as demonstrative of his own position—what we have here, after all, is one long chain of arguments—Thomas also thinks that it is possible to offer a convincing argument for what it is that, objectively, fulfills a human being qua human being. Insofar as we conclude that such an activity or apparent good is a real good for us, we conclude that it is a good we can—or ought to—seek. Prime matter is the material causal explanation of the fact that a material substance S’s generation and (potential) corruption are changes that are real (contra Parmenides of Elea), substantial (contra atomists such as Democritus), natural (contra those who might say that all substantial changes are miraculous), and intelligible (contra Heraclitus of Ephesus and Plato of Athens). That is to say, it is clear that the frog acts as an efficient cause when it jumps, since a frog is the sort of thing that tends to jump (rather than fly or do summersaults). 100, a. q. Although Aristotle’s Categories and On Interpretation (with Porphyry’s Isagoge, known as the ‘old logic’) constituted a part of early medieval education, and the remaining works in Aristotle’s Organon, namely, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Topics, and Sophismata (together known as the ‘new logic’) were known in Europe as early as the middle of the 12th century, most of Aristotle’s corpus had been lost to the Latin West for nearly a millennium. We can begin with the fact that, according to Thomas, morally good actions are moral rather than amoral. When we attribute perfections to creatures, the perfection in question is not to be identified with the creature to which we are attributing it. Thomas thinks that nothing can be understood, save insofar as it has being. q. Although we have a natural desire for some of the virtues, the actual possession of the virtues is not in us by nature. Thomas also thinks intelligent discussion of the subject matter of metaphysics requires that one recognize that “being is said in many ways,” that is, that there are a number of different but non-arbitrarily related meanings for being, for example, being as substance, quality, quantity, or relation, being qua actual, being qua potential, and so forth. (In this section, we are interested in natural law only insofar as it is relevant for the development of a political philosophy; for the importance of natural law where moral knowledge is concerned, see the discussion of that topic in the ethics section above.) 65, a. In God’s existence and essence coincide (“I am who I am,” declares the LORD in the Bible) on the contrary, essence and existence are different in the various individual substances, including humans. Both science (in the sense of engaging in an act of inquiry) and contemplation are acts of speculative intellect according to Thomas, that is, they are uses of intellect that have truth as their immediate object. Thus, Thomas speaks of a composition of essentia (being in the sense of what something is) and esse (being in the sense that a thing is) in the angels, for it does not follow from what an angel is that it exists. After the experience, despite constant urging from his confessor and assistant Reginald of Piperno, Thomas refused any longer to write. Of course, contemporary philosophers of science would not find sacred theology’s inability to fit neatly into a well-defined univocal conception of science to be a problem for the scientific status of sacred theology. Here follows a more detailed account of each of the four causes as Thomas understands them. In Thomas’ view, we cannot explain the behavior of perfect animals simply by speaking of the pleasures and pains that such creatures have experienced. However, even when it is separated from matter, a human soul remains the substantial form of a human being. Thomas was ordered by his superiors to return to the University of Paris in 1268, perhaps to defend the mendicant way of life of the Dominicans and their presence at the university. 94, a. Call such final causality extrinsic. Before being a field of study, it is above all a way of seeing the world, of questioning it. Another distinction Thomas makes where being is concerned is the distinction between being in act and being in potency. 76 that there needs to be one bishop, that is, the Pope, functioning as the visible head of the Church in order to secure the unity and peace of the Church.). Whereas the former is offered in one paragraph, the latter is given in 32 paragraphs. 4). 7). Therefore, whether they consciously know it or not, all human beings desire contemplative union with God. 100, a. If I am invincibly ignorant of p, it is not reasonable to expect me to know p, given my circumstances. Notably, in a place in ST, Thomas argues that a certain kind of mixed government is really the best form of government (ST IaIIae. A classic study by the famous 20th-century Thomist and scholar of medieval philosophy. Aquinas Substances, for example, living things, are thus to be directly contrasted with heaps or collections of objects, for example, a pile of garbage or an army. Thomas would want us to notice a couple of things about these human laws. q. Therefore, when we come to understand the essence of a material object, say a bird, the form of the bird is first received spiritually in a material organ, for example, the eye. (Compare here with a child learning that it is wrong to lie; parents wisely want their children to learn this truth as soon as possible.) Consider an analogy: say Ted loses his arms and legs in a traffic accident but survives the accident. 6, prologue). Thomas, like Aristotle and Jesus of Nazareth (see, for example, Matthew 5:48), is a moral perfectionist in the sense that the means to human happiness comes not by way of merely good human actions, but by way of perfect or virtuous moral actions. 2, respondeo), God’s governing of the universe is perfectly good, and so God’s idea of how the universe should be is a rational command for the sake of the common good of the universe. Although Thomas has much of great interest to say about (b)—see, for example, SCG, book IV, ST Ia. However, the form of (or plan for) a house can also exist in the mind of the architect, even before an actual house is built. Therefore, any real conflicts between faith and reason in non-Catholic religious traditions give us a reason to prefer the Catholic faith to non-Catholic faith traditions. While reason and philosophy have their respective roles in the Although x can be the efficient cause of itself in one respect, for example, an organism is an efficient cause of its own continued existence insofar as it nourishes itself, it cannot be the efficient cause of itself in every respect. the chief impediment to the realization of our spiritual destiny. 64, a. U. S. A. Finally, the substantial forms of human beings have operations (namely, understanding and willing) that do not require bodily organs at all in order to operate, although such operations are designed to work in tandem with bodily organs (see, for example, SCG II, ch. 8). q. Fideism is another position with which we can contrast Thomas’ views on faith and reason. An excellent collection of scholarly introductions to all the major facets of Thomas’ thought. Some material objects have functions as their final causes, namely, that is, artifacts and the parts of organic wholes. 31, a. For example, he authored four encyclopedic theological works, commented on all of the major works of Aristotle, authored commentaries on all of St. Paul’s letters in the New Testament, and put together a verse by verse collection of exegetical comments by the Church Fathers on all four Gospels called the Catena aurea. q. 3 [ch. For general introductory courses, of course, this book can and should be supplemented by representative works of other important philosophers (e.g., Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant). 91, a. 154, a. The formal cause is the Thomas thinks that human beings in this life—even those who possess the infused virtues, whether theological or moral (about which more is said below)—at best attain happiness only imperfectly since their contemplation and love of God is, at best, imperfect. The principle of causality is a piece of common sense that arguably also plays a pivotal role in all scientific inquiry. This argument might be formulated as follows: The second premise, third premise, seventh premise, the inference to the eighth premise, and the fourteenth premise likely require further explanation. In a case of complete or uncontrolled equivocation, we predicate of two things (x and y) one and the same name n, where n has one meaning when predicated of x and n has a completely different meaning when predicated of y. English usage of the word “bank” is a good example of complete or uncontrolled equivocation; here the use of the same name is totally an accident of language. 101, aa. (Thomas thinks this is true even of the person who is graced by the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity in this life; knowing the essence of God is possible for human beings, Thomas thinks, but it is reserved for the blessed in heaven, the intellects of whom have been given a special grace called the light of glory [see, for example, ST Ia. For Thomas, intellect and will always act in tandem. Whereas the article in ST that treats this question fields four objections, the corresponding article in Thomas’ Disputed Questions on the Power of God fields 18 objections. nature and limits of human knowledge, and the purpose of man. A substance s is in first act or actuality insofar as s, with respect to some power P, actually has P. For example, the newborn Socrates, although actually a human being, only potentially has the power to philosophize and so is not in first act with respect to the power to philosophize. 3, respondeo). 2 [chapter 1 in some editions]). Building on the logic of legendary philosopher Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas outlined compelling reasons for people to embrace the existence of God. For example, consider that a bear eats a bug at t, so that the bug exists in space s, that is, the bear’s stomach, at t. Some prime matter therefore is configured by the substantial form of a bug in s at t such that there is a bug in s at t. At time t+1, when the bug dies in the bear’s stomach, the prime matter in s loses the substantial form of a bug and that prime matter comes to be configured by a myriad of substantial forms such that the bug no longer exists at t+1. In general, talk of essence/esse composition in created substances is Thomas’ way of making sense, for him, of the fact that such substances do not necessarily exist but depend for their existence, at every moment that they exist, upon God’s primary causal activity.

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