The Problem of Individuation in St. Thomas Aquinas

366 Pages·019.056 MB·English

by  Jacklin, Edward G

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FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL
.......................... 19..-5-Q
This dissertation prepared under my direction by
Bev. Edward G-. Jacklin S.J.
entitled The Problem of Individualism in
St. Thomas Aquinas
has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Pr. John Plypu S.J.
(Faculty Adviser)
6 2 4 5 - ’ - 5 8
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THE PROBLEM OP INDIVIDUATION
IN ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
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THE PROBLEM OF INDIVIDUATION
IN ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
BY
EDWARD 0. JAGKLIN f, S . J .
A.B., M.A., S.T.L., Woodstock College,, *31.
DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF
PHILOSOPHY AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
1950
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1
II. MATTER AND FORM ....................................................... 27
III. FORM AND THE INDIVIDUAL .................................... 64.
IV. SUBSTANCE AND QUANT IT! ..........................................100
V. COGNITION AND INDIVIDUATION.................................160
VI. THE SOUL AND INDIVIDUATION .............................. 227
VII. ANGELS AND INDIVIDUATION ................................... 277
V III. GOD ........................................................................ 315
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ...-................................................................. 356
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Problem of Individuation
H istorians have frequently called attention to the -
fact th at the problem of the individual was one of the
central and important questions with which philosophers
of the medieval period were preoccupied. M. de Wulf for
instance has pointed out th at a universe composed of
individual substances,sreally d istin ct and divided from
each other, yet dependent in .some way on. God, is a point,
of view held in common by Arabian, Jewish and C hristian
thinkers of the scholastic age. In C hristian circles th is
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conviction was inspired not only by the promptings of
common sense but i t also had its roots thrust deep in the
doctrine of the creation of the universe by an in tellig en t
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and transcendent God. The question, however, was by no
means an exclusively medieval and C hristian one. As M.
Gilson has noted, H...th e problem of individuality was al­
ready a problem of pure philosophy several centuries before
1. M. de Wulf, e u t-il une philosophie schblasticque?'V
Revue Neo-Scolastique, 1927, p* 13
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i t became a C hristian one.H Nevertheless in a Christian.
Weltanschauung with its stress upon the reality and value;
of the individual the question inevitably acquired a new
and more profound significance. So much so that M. de
Wulf finds in the doctrine of the individuality of the
real, the fundamental inspiration of the feudal culture
and scholastic philosophy of the twelfth century,, which
setting out from .the metaphysical basis that 11 the only
existing reality is individual re a lity ,11 was steadily
furthering the emancipation of the serf by law and
broadening out the concept of human dignity and self-
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sufficiency.
1. Etienne Gilson, The S p irit of Medievar Philosophy.
New York, Charles Scribner*s Sons, 193^, p* 193*
2. H...U nder the influence of C hristianity, all three
aystems of law sought to m itigate serfdom; and th is
was especially true of the civ il lawyers and the
canonists who put into effect a series of measures
for the benefit of the serf, which guaranteed the
ind isso lu b ility of his marriage, assured him his
right of sanctuary, encouraged his em ancipation,, and
prescribed rules inrregard to his ordination-and his
entry into a monastery.. These ideas made headway -
slow, to be sure, but steady - toward that state of
society wherein:the serf could be set free with the
lib erty that is due a ll human beings.
Now the scholastic philosophy of the tw elfth century
based these ju rid ical declarations upon metaphysical
foundations, and they came, after the manrcenturies
of discussion,.to th is important conclusion.- a
conclusion no longer doubted - that the only exist­
ing reality is individual re a lity . Individuals
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Even a cursory reading of S t. Thomas w ill convince
one that he considered the problem of individuality and.
in:the m aterial order, the inseparable question of in­
dividuation as an im portant one. For instance we find,
him drawing a hard and fast lin e of philosophic demarca­
tion between the Creator and His creatures in:the dis­
tinction of essence and existence. The m anifestation.of
the .in fin ite perfection of the Godhead even im a p artial
and lim ited way calls for the real m ultiplication of species
upon species and individual upon individual ini the orderr
of creation. In the universe summoned into existence
by the creative f ia t one in te llig ib le sp irit in the hier­
archy of the angels is so d istin ct from every other as to
d iffer not only individually but even in specific type.
And in the m aterial order each individual substance fa ll­
ing under a common.species differs not only transcendent-
. Alone ex ist; and only individuals ever could e x is t.•<
Sim ilarly, everything that affects an existing being:
is particularized; man*s act of thinking, the shape
of an animal, the height of a plant, the activ ity of
a chemical molecule - everything th at ex ists, exists
in .th e condition of p articu larity . Scholastic phil­
osophy is p lu ra listic ; i t regards the real world as
a collection.of individuals and p artic u lars.11
Maruice de Wulf, Philosophy and C ivilization,in the
Middle Ages. Princeton, Princeton U niversity Press,
1922, pp'. 56-57.
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ally but also numerically from the re st. The primary
point in his elaboration of the doctrine of the analogy
of being is to show upon the deepest philosophical grounds
that God is an individual God, that there is a m ultiplicity
of pure sp irits, that man differes from man,.and thing;
from thing#
Yet ironically enough, one of the points singled out.
for attack in the m asterly synthesis of St. Thomas was
precisely his explanation of what constituted the in­
violable individuality of the re a l. Both his theory of,
the specific individuality of the angels and the cognate
doctrine that the principle of individuation for m aterial
species was m atter subject to quantitative determ inations,,
met with a very cool receiptlon in most university circles
of his day. The doctrine of S t. Thomas upon, the unity of;
the substantial form in man and the im m ateriality of the
angels barely escaped the condemnations of December 10,
1270, which lashed out against the principal theses of:
Averroism. On March 7, 1277, after consultation with the
most in flu en tial theologians of the U niversity, among
whose number was counted Henry of Ghent, .Etienne Tempier,.
the bishop of P aris, condemned a number of propositions
that repeated without disguise the teaching of St. Thomas,
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and among others his theories on individuation.
Later we find hoth the Thomistic theory on the
specific individuality of the angels and the doctrine that
m atter is the principle of individuation; for m aterial
things being subjected to a scorching criticism by the
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doctor su b tllis. Duns Scotus. And i t is undoubtedly;
true to say that the searching analysis, to which Duns
Scotus submitted the teaching of S t. Thomas, heavily
weighted the scales against the acceptance of Thomism im
the subsequent development, or if one prefer, the decadence
of scholastic thought. Taking its cue from Duns Scotus,,
the new school of nominalism showed its e lf inim ical to
the metaphysical constitution of the individual, as S t.
Thomas conceived i t , and to the theory of knowledge, which
is its logical counterpart, as though the Nominalists
1. l,42. Quod Deus non potest m ultiplieare individua
sub una specie sine m ateria. 96
”43• Quod, quia In telligentiae non habent materiam,
Deus non potest facere plures eiusdem specie!. 81
110. Quod formae non reelpiunt divisionem n isi per
materiam. - Error, n isi in tellig atu r.d e formis
eductis de potent!a m ateriae. 191•"
P. Pierre Mandonnet, Slger de Brabant et L1Averrois-
ine Latin au XIII me S iecle. Louvain, In stitu t
Superieur de Philosophic, 1908-1911, 2 v o ls.,, 2nd
ed., II, p. 182.. Fernand Van Steenberghens, Les
Oeuvres et la Doctrine de Sifter de Brabant. Brussels,
Palais des Academies, 1936, p. lfi2.
2. Cf• Bernard Landry, Duns Scot. P aris, Alcan, 1922„
Chap. IV. j