The epistemology of St. Thomas Aquinas with special reference to Summa Theologiae 1a q84

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Allan, Terence (1997) The epistemology of St. Thomas Aquinas with
special reference to Summa Theologiae 1a q84. PhD thesis.

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The Epistemology St. Thomas
of
Aquinas Special Reference to
with
Summa
Theologiae la
q84
Terence Allan
A thesis in fulfilment the
submitted of requirements
for the degree Doctor Philosophy
of of
University
Glasgow
of
Department Philosophy
of
Septemb'er`-l997
ABSTRACT
Attempts by to from
several commentators map categories contemporary
Aquinas' theory knowledge, their to give an account
epistemology onto of and attempts
his theory knowledge the background to this thesis.
of of perceptual constitute
In the opening chapter we outline Aquinas' theory of knowledge. We see that it is a
theory, dealing human knowledge, but divine
complex not only with also with and
knowledge. We Aquinas' the doctrine to the
angelic note application of of analogy
knowledge. Despite the differences between the Creator's knowledge
concept of
radical
and that of His creatures there are common elements: the grasp of being as true and the
knowledge
assimilation of the knower to the thing known. In the case of angelic we note
its innateness immediacy. In human knowledge the
and our analysis of we see
consequences of what Aquinas refers to as the dimness of the human intellect, both in
terms of how humans know and what they can know. In particular we highlight the
fragmented human knowledge,
nature of noting the absence of any mention of perceptual
knowledge in Aquinas' human knowledge.
account of
In two the
chapter we sketch various contemporary epistemological categories
that have to Aquinas' Pollock's theory of
philosophers sought map onto
epistemology.
discussed
Direct Realism is sketched as an example of internalism. Foundationalism is
to Chisholm. Two given:
with reference examples of externalism and reliabilism are
Nozick's tracking Goldman's We discuss the foundationalist
and reliabilism. also
Plantinga. We then how these labels have been to
externalism of outline various applied
Aquinas' theory knowledge. We begin MacDonald's foundationalist
of with and
internalist interpretation, his description knowledge
noting of perceptual as secondary
We then Ross' to describe knowledge in terms
scientia. consider attempt perceptual of
faith. In to these describe Stump's Aquinas,
contrast we externalist reading of noting
that finds in the Norman Kretzmann.
she support work of
In three Aquinas'
chapter we offer an analysis of account of perceptual
knowledge.
We that judgments knowledge
argue of perceptual consist of a metaphysical
Discussion the
and a psychological component. of metaphysical component
acknowledges the importance of Aquinas' metaphysical realism for his epistemology:
the grasp of being as the archimedean point of all knowledge. We examine the role of the
senses. Our examination of the psychological component, the intellectual processes
involved in judgments, by Joseph McDermott This
uses material as a catalyst. allows us
to address issues surrounding the grasp of quiddities and the first act of the intellect. We
consider the likeness which Aquinas says exists between the intentional and natural
existence of forms, discussing the intellect's grasp of the truth before proposing an
interpretation of Aquinas' account of perceptual knowledge. We show the complexity of
Aquinas' theory knowledge. We that the broad heading
of perceptual propose under of
knowledge, judgments be infallible. These
perceptual some will certain and are properly
called 'knowledge'. Other judgments will lack certainty and infallibility, but for the sake
them 'knowledge'. This introduces defeasibility into
of expediency we call perceptual
knowledge. We to Alvin Plantinga's
notice a strong parallel account of perceptual
knowledge. We that there internalist foundationalist in
admit are and elements
Aquinas' However, find two for disagreeing
epistemology. we major reasons with
MacDonald's
interpretation.
Scientia its to knowledge is in
and relationship perceptual addressed chapter
four. We begin by Stump MacDonald's differing We
outlining and accounts of scientia.
then analyse the relationship between scientia and perceptual knowledge by focusing on
perceptual knowledge's role in the formation of scientia's principles. We see the
knowledge in the Our
necessity and Importance of perceptual enterprise of scientia.
analysis to draw Stump's MacDonald's
also allows us conclusions regarding and
differing
interpretations.
In the final three the knowledge of
chapter we set out conclusions concerning
which STla q84 speaks, our knowledge of the material world. Two focus on perceptual
knowledge focuses
in Aquinas' human The third conclusion on
account of epistemology.
the
ST la
epistemic
naturalism of q84.
This work does several things ignored by other recent works on the same topic: It
acknowledges the uniqueness and complexity of Aquinas' epistemology. Acknowledging
his
views on the fragmented nature of human epistemology it gives an account of
Aquinas' theory knowledge does describe it in terms
of perceptual which not of another
kind
human knowledge. It between the by
of adjudicates attempted mappings
the between
contemporary Finally, it
scholars. explores relationship perceptual
knowledge
and scientia.
2
Contents
Acknowledgement
3
Abbreviations
4
Introduction
5
1. Aquinas Knowledge
on 7
Analogy
9
a.
b. God's Knowledge
19
.
Angelic Knowledge
24
c.
d.
Human Knowledge
32
2. The Interpreters
61
Contemporary Categories
62
a.
b. Mappings Interpretations
80
and
3. Perceptual Knowledge
90
The Metaphysical Component
92
a.
b.
The Psychological Component
103
Perceptual Knowledge
130
c.
4. Scientia
143
MacDonald Stump (again)
144
a. v
b. Scientiw
158
an analysis
i. Common Principles 160
It. Proper Principles 172
Concluding
Remarks
192
c.
5.
Aquinas Human
Knowledge:
on
a mediaeval naturalism 197
Bibliography
205
3
Acknowledgement
Many have In first I His Eminence
people contributed to this work. the place must thank
Cardinal Thomas Winning Archdiocese Glasgow for
and the of the support and generosity
When, Cardinal's I
which made this work possible. at the request, resumed the study of
infinitely
the
philosophy after a seven year gap my reacquaintance with subject was made
by Father Paul Conroy, Doctor Christopher
easier the three
generosity and wisdom of men:
Martin Professor Alexander Broadie. To I deep debt During
and them owe a of gratitude. my
time I had be by both Dr. Christopher Martin
of research the privilege to supervised and
Professor Alexander Broadie. To both I for
them, thank them their their
of patience and
eagerness to help Their At times I
me. scholarship was a constant source of encouragement.
`looked by department. To both Pat Shaw Scott Meikle
was the
after' other members of and
I offer my thanks. During the time of my postgraduate work I stayed at Turnbull Hall: to
Brigid Robert I heartfelt Over last four friends by
thanks. the their
and offer years many
companionship have brought laughter light to life. They too to
and support and my are many
individually. You know To `thanks'
mention to
who you are and what you mean me. offer
seems such an empty and easy gesture for all that you have done. Perhaps I can show my
thanks by longer boring Aquinas'
and appreciation no you with the subtleties of
As I have from I have
epistemology. the tree,
climbed educational primary school onwards,
had
just dedicated, learned individuals
many excellent teachers, as generous and wise as the
I hope in
named that
above. some small way this work serves as a thank you and an
encouragement to them to continue their wonderful vocation. Finally, to my family I want to
deepest
offer my The Rite Baptism in the Catholic Church that are
gratitude. of says parents
first
the best My
and educators of their children. What a perceptively true statement! parents
first
were my and best educators, all the others involved in my education simply built on the
foundations
laid
by them. Without that foundation have been
nothing would possible.
4
Abbreviations
The Aquinas in follows:
this thesis
works of which are cited are abbreviated as
De Anima. D. A.
De Ente Essentia. EEE
et
De Spiritualibus Creaturis. DSC
De Virtutibus in Communi. De Virt.
Expositio Super Librum Boethii De Trinitate. De Trinitate
In Aristotelis Librum De Anima Commentarium InD. A.
In Metaphysicam Aristotelis Commentaria. In Meta.
Quaestiones Disputatae De Veritate. DV
Sententia Super Posteriora Analytica. InP. A.
Sententia Super Physicam In Phy.
Summa Contra Gentiles. SCG
Summa Theologiae. ST
References Thomistic be in following
to the the
corpus will given ways:
ST la This be first Summa Theologiae, 84,
q84 alc. should read as the part of the question
the References DV be in
main part of article one. to will also given this way.
ST la This be Aquinas' the
to the
q84 al ad2. should read as response second point of
Summa
Theologiae, 84,
question article one.
In P. A. 11 14. This kind be for from In P. A.,
taken
of nomenclature will used citations
SCG,
In Meta, In D. A. The be The Commentary the
on
and example given should read as
Posterior Analytics, book 2, lectio 14. Occasionally, third be given as
chapter a number will
in SCG I. 36.2. This last
to
number refers a particular section of a chapter.
5
Introduction
Imagine if Newsnight in
the confusion two political commentators appeared on and, a
discussion Prime Minister's beliefs, described him free
the
of political one as a radical
described him Imagine
market capitalist while the other as an ardent, nationalising socialist.
further, if incredulity, increasing hubris, Paxman,
the to
you will, not say confusion and of
both but
fail
as commentators not only to challenge the other's assertions or arguments,
instead back for help have in
choose to the the they
pat each other on given one another
shaping their theories.
respective
It bizarre Yet it happened, in
sounds a scenario. something akin to not a television studio or
but in interest
In has been
contemporary politics, epistemology. recent years there a renewed
in
the St. Thomas Aquinas. Several in
philosophy of philosophers, an effort to understand
the St. Thomas, have
epistemology to the
of sought apply categories of contemporary
Aquinas. Perhaps 700
epistemology to the epistemology of not surprisingly, given the year
epistemological gap and the complexity of Aquinas' theory different commentators have seen
it being
different
as What is to
an example of epistemological positions. surprising, not say
shocking, is that the different, in
within space of a couple of years radically and some
instances
diametrically
interpretations Aquinas' have been
opposed, offered;
of epistemology
involved
yet none of the commentators chose to respond to interpretations contrary to their
Instead
own. they backs for help So Eleonore Stump
patted one another's concluded
given.
her 1992
"Aquinas Foundations Scott
paper on the of Knowledge" with a word of thanks to
MacDonald.
1 In
this described Aquinas'
paper she epistemology as reliabilist and externalist
as
well as outlining be
what she considered to the correct understanding of scientia,
Aquinas'
theory A later in his "Theory Knowledge", for book
of science. year article of a
1
Stump
1992,
158
page
6
co-edited by Stump, Scott MacDonald his interpretation that Aquinas' theory of
offered
knowledge is internalist
foundationalist. Moreover, he
and also gave an account of scientia,
different
to that by Stump. The he
offered only reference made to the philosopher who
offered such a radically different, interpretation to his
and some might say contradictory
her for draft his 2 They
own, was an expression of gratitude to comments on the of paper.
are only two philosophers; others, as we will see, have offered their own interpretations of
Aquinas'
Like Stump MacDonald do to
epistemology. and they generally not respond
interpretations different
to their
own.
It is the kind of scenario that conspiracy theorists love. However, this thesis does not intend
to Instead it intends Aquinas' Its
explore evidence of a conspiracy. to explore epistemology.
is
aim to analyse Aquinas' theory of knowledge, in particular his theory of our knowledge of
the its human kind knowledge
material world and place within epistemology: the of which
Aquinas begins discuss in ST la As
to
this the
q84. part of analysis we will clear air and
decide
interpretations
the In
which of assorted contemporary are more accurate. our opening
chapter we give a broad sweep of Aquinas' epistemology. We see that his epistemological
deals
theory humans, but God We look his
not only with also with and the angels. at
complex epistemology, his `knowledge': `knowledge' it is
noting analogical use of as
God,
predicated of the angels and humanity. We look in detail at the various factors and
human knowledge. Having his
processes pertinent to
outlined epistemology's complexity
difference Cartesian in
and radical to the the
post epistemologies, second chapter we sketch
Stump,
attempts of MacDonald to describe Aquinas' human
and others account of
To flavour
epistemology. give a of the categories that these philosophers employ this chapter
opens with a sketch of the various epistemological positions used by them. Some of the
interpretations
by
offered these commentators attempt to give an account of Aquinas' theory
human
of perceptual knowledge. In the third Aquinas'
chapter we offer our own account of
theory knowledge by
of perceptual paying close attention to the components involved in the
judgments
knowledge. As indicate
constitutive
of perceptual this
part of analysis we which
different
the interpretations
of to describing Aquinas'
comes closest correctly this aspect of
epistemology. Another feature interpretations Aquinas' is focus
recurring of of theory a on
scientia. In four look its knowledge. In
chapter
we at scientia and relationship to perceptual
final
the draw
chapter Aquinas' human
we general conclusions theory
regarding of
knowledge
from discussion, be
which emerge to
our as well as offering what we consider
the feasible
only
mapping of a contemporary theory the
epistemological onto epistemology
St. Thomas.
of
2
MacDonald
1993,
195
page
7
1. Aquinas
Knowledge
on
And thus I depends
that the truth
very clearly see certitude and of all science
on the knowledge the true God, in that, before I knew him,
alone of as much
I have knowledge
could no perfect of any other thing.
Rene Descartes: Fifth Meditation. 1
To know
is know it is But know
a proposition to that true. that
p you cannot
is it is
true true.
p unless
Alvin Goldman: Epistemology Cognition. 2
and
Knowledge is being having
a particular way of connected to the world, a
factual
it.
specific real connection to the world: tracking
Robert Nozick: Philosophical Explanations. 3
The
have different
above authors theories does does
regarding what and not constitute
knowledge.
For Descartes knowledge
linked be distinctly
to
was what could clearly and
perceived to be true. For Goldman, know if
a person can claim to a proposition p and only
if
the is
claim the for Nozick know is
result of some cognitively to to
reliable process; and
have
belief
a which tracks the truth. There knowledge.
theories
are, of course, many other of
Within
the
multitude of post-Cartesian theories that have been is,
proposed one aspect
however,
For
constant. each of them `knowledge' is As L. M. Regis notes:
used univocally.
During
last
the three Western has
centuries thought tended toward
constantly
unifying the meaning knowledge. According
of to this trend, the word should not
Descartes
1.
1992,
116.
page
2
Goldman
1986,
42.
page
3
Nozick
1981,
178.
page
8
have
4
several meanings.
Thus in Goldman's theory, knowledge is the belief forming mechanism.
result of a reliable
in
The `knowledge' be
term be It an
will always used univocally. will never applied
analogical way. Distinct from this issue of analogical use another remark can be made about
contemporary theories. It is is the our
a remark which made at risk of pre-empting
discussion: long knowledge is for
as as satisfies whatever epistemological criteria used, say
Goldman's knowledge
it does
example, reliability criterion, not matter whether the object of
is
knowledge,
a piece of scientific such as a geometrical theorem, or a piece of perceptual
knowledge that the is the Both labelled `knowledge'. Aquinas does
such as cat on mat. are
have
knowledge. For he human knowledge
not a similar conception of a start says that exists
in division He different human knowledge,
a state of and multiplicity speaks of types of
.5
differentiated by
each their
object:
In different knowledge imply different kinds knowledge: in
man objects of of
knowing
he is have `understanding', in knowing
to
principles said conclusions
`science', in knowing highest `wisdom', in knowing human
the
cause actions
`counsel',
But God knows by
these things
or prudence. all one simple
knowledge..... 6
Neither does he have knowledge. As Regis it:
a univocal concept of puts
The had flexible human instead
ancient philosophers a much more and method; of
distinguished in
surgically they to
mutilating man's cognitive powers, order unite.
They invented formal both
theories the
of objects and of analogy which safeguarded
diversity
knowledge
of the types of and the unity of meaning of the word
knowledge,
becomes
the
a unity without which word unintelligible?
It is debatable
describe Aquinas `ancient
whether one would as an philosopher'.
Nonetheless,
Regis fits
`knowledge'
outlines an understanding and use of the word that
squarely that Aquinas. For St. Thomas, `knowledge' is
with of as we shall see, the concept
used analogically.
The
significance these two Aquinas' divided
of aspects of epistemology: the and multiple
human knowledge have
nature `knowledge'
of and the analogical use of the term seems to
been
lost, best by Thomistic interpreters. Rarely is
or at under emphasised, today's
many of
his
account the human knowledge Moreover,
of multiple nature of treatment.
given adequate
the
analogical the term `knowledge' is ignored. It
use of that the
virtually appears most
common, contemporary way to look at the epistemology of St. Thomas is through
`univocally
coloured' spectacles focussing human knowledge ignoring the
solely on and
4
Regis1959,
151.
page
5
ST1a
g14 a1 ad2.
6
ibid. Homo
diversa
autem secundum habet diversas
cognita cognitiones: nam secundum quod
cognoscit principia, dicitur habere inteliigentiam;
scietiam vero, secundum quod cognoscit
conclusiones;
sapientiam, secundum
quod cognoscit causam altissam; consilium vel prudentiam
secundum quod cognoscit agibilia. Sed haec Deus
omnia una simplici cognitione cognoscit......
7
Regis
1959,
152
page