Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act

239 Pages·2021·1.75 MB·English

by  Can Laurens Löwe

THOMAS AQUINAS ON THE METAPHYSICS
OF THE HUMAN ACT
This book offers a novel account of Aquinas’s theory of the human
act.ItarguesthatAquinastakesahumanacttobeacompositeoftwo
power-exercises,whereonerelatestotheotherasformtomatter.The
formalcomponentisanactofthewill,andthematerialcomponentis
a power-exercise caused by the will, which Aquinas refers to as the
“commandedact.”ThebookalsoarguesthatAquinasconceptualizes
theactoffreechoiceasahylomorphiccomposite:itis,materially,an
actofthewill,butitinheritsaformfromreason.Asthebookaimsto
show,thecoreideaofAquinas’shylomorphicactiontheoryisthatthe
exerciseofonepowercanstructuretheexerciseofanotherpower,and
this provides a helpful way to think of the presence of cognition in
conationandofintentioninbodilymovement.
can laurens lo¨we isPostdoctoralResearcherattheHumboldt-
Universität, Berlin, and a Member of the Centre for Advanced
Studies in the Humanities “Human Abilities.” He has published
numerousarticlesonmedievalphilosophyinjournalsincludingthe
BritishJournalfortheHistoryofPhilosophyandVivarium.
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THOMAS AQUINAS
ON THE METAPHYSICS
OF THE HUMAN ACT
CAN LAURENS LÖWE
CentreforAdvancedStudiesintheHumanities“HumanAbilities,”
Humboldt-Universität,Berlin
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doi:10.1017/9781108986120
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title:ThomasAquinasonthemetaphysicsofthehumanact/CanLaurensLöwe.
description:Cambridge;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2021.|Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2021001517(print)|lccn2021001518(ebook)|isbn9781108833646
(hardback)|isbn9781108986533(paperback)|isbn9781108986120(ebook)
subjects:lcsh:Thomas,Aquinas,Saint,1225?–1274.|Humanacts.|Metaphysics.
classification:lccb765.t54l692021(print)|lccb765.t54(ebook)|ddc171/.2–dc23
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For Elise
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Contents
ListsofFiguresandTables pagex
Acknowledgments xi
ListofAbbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
part i: the general framework 9
1 WhatIsaHumanAct? 11
1.1 Introduction 11
1.2 TheGeneralMetaphysicsofPowers 11
1.3 Acts,Actions,andPassions 14
1.4 HumanActs:TheChoice-BasedAccount 22
1.5 AquinasagainstAristotleonChoice 28
1.6 WhyChoice? 31
1.7 TheTaskaheadofUs:TheTwoComposites 33
part ii: choice hylomorphism 35
2 PracticalJudgment 37
2.1 Introduction 37
2.2 Judgments:AttitudeandContent 38
2.3 PreceptsaboutDoableandMakeableThings 42
2.4 Precepts,Means,andEnds:TheLogicalFormofPrecepts 48
2.5 TheLogicalFormFleshedOut:TwoDistinctions 50
3 TheJudgmentofChoice 57
3.1 Introduction 57
3.2 PreceptsNotSubjecttoFreeAssent 57
3.3 PreceptsSubjecttoFreeAssent 62
3.4 FreeAssentandSecond-OrderJudgment 66
3.5 Conclusion:TheJudgmentofChoiceExplained 72
vii
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viii Contents
4 VolitionandItsDependenceonJudgment 74
4.1 Introduction 74
4.2 VolitionsandTheirDirectionofFit 74
4.3 VolitionsandtheGoodinGeneral 79
4.4 TheDependenceofVolitiononJudgment:TerminologicalPreliminaries 81
4.5 TheObject’sFinal-andFormal-CausalInfluence 86
4.6 EfficientCausationandtheWill’sSelf-motion 89
4.7 TwoArgumentsforIntellectualism 92
4.8 ChoiceandItsDependenceontheJudgmentofChoice 97
5 Choice:ItsIntrinsicandItsExtrinsicForm 100
5.1 Introduction 100
5.2 ExtrinsicandIntrinsicForms:OriginalandDerivativeIntentionality 100
5.3 TheStructuralDifferencebetweenVolitionandJudgment 104
5.4 VolitionalForm,Part1:Attitude 105
5.5 VolitionalForm,Part2:Content 107
5.6 ChoiceHylomorphismExplained 111
part iii: act hylomorphism 115
6 TheHylomorphicStructureoftheHumanAct 117
6.1 Introduction 117
6.2 TheActofCommand,Part1:TheSuárezianReading 117
6.3 TheActofCommand,Part2:InstrumentalCausation 122
6.4 TheActofUseandtheCommandedAct 126
6.5 TheCaseforActHylomorphism 129
6.6 DevelopingAquinas’sActHylomorphism:Part1 133
6.7 DevelopingAquinas’sActHylomorphism:Part2 135
6.8 HowChoiceExplainstheHumanAct 139
6.9 Conclusion 146
7 TheOntologyofBodilyHumanActs 147
7.1 Introduction 147
7.2 TheDistinctionbetweenImmanentandTranseuntActs 149
7.3 ImmanentandTranseuntActsasComponentsoftheHumanAct 153
7.4 TheDistinctionbetweenCompleteandIncompleteActs 160
7.5 IncompleteActs:PowerandMereology 163
7.6 CompleteActsandTheirInstantaneousCharacter 171
7.7 HeterogeneityandFormalCausation 174
8 TheOntologyofMentalHumanActs 178
8.1 Introduction 178
8.2 TheSensoryPowerofMemory 179
8.3 TheCommandedActofReminiscing 183
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Contents ix
8.4 UseandtheCommandedActofReminiscing 186
8.5 ControlandImpediments:StartingandStopping 190
8.6 Conclusion 192
9 Aquinas’sActHylomorphismToday 193
Appendix:JudgmentandCompositionandDivision 203
Bibliography 208
Index 222
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Figures and Tables
Figures
4.1 Aquinas’staxonomyofstrivings page76
4.2 Thecausalrolesofreasonandwillinchoice 98
5.1 Aquinas’sChoiceHylomorphism 112
6.1 Aquinas’sActHylomorphism:extrinsicandintrinsic 138
forms
7.1 Thebodilyhumanactanditstwobearers 160
9.1 Aquinasandcontemporaryactiontheories 197
A.1 Propositionalversusjudicativecomposition 207
Tables
2.1 Precepttypes 55
7.1 Immanent/transeuntactsandincomplete/completeacts 163
x
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