Fundamental Concepts of Thomistic and Aristotelian Metaphysics
Fundamental Concepts in Metaphysics
Abstraction
Abstraction is the capacity whereby the understanding extracts the form, universal or specific, from individual things and eliminates the material. Through this process, concepts are derived from sensory experience. In our case, these concepts are the effects of the five-way split (Q), since metaphysics is located in the third degree of abstraction, where we deal with abstract forms, i.e., with pure entities (entes).
Act and Potentiality (Actus et Potentia)
Act (Actus) is the realization of potential, what makes things what they are (Q). A being that is made has already acquired a form. Act is opposed to potentiality and serves, along with the concept of potentiality, to explain movement as the passage from potentiality to act (potentia). This pair of concepts is utilized in the First Way (of Aquinas). The notion of act has a plurality of fundamental meanings, including:
- Change or Movement
- Action
- Form
- Being (Ser)
Analogy in Thomistic Theology
Analogy is the property whereby words are attributable to several individuals with a meaning that is partly identical and partly different. Analogical predication is used by St. Thomas Aquinas at the ontological and theological levels. St. Thomas's theological discourse is based on analogy; that is, it is mediated by predicates extracted from sensible reality, which are then applied to God analogically.
Given the transcendent principle of causality, which limits direct knowledge (X) on the part of human intellect, this analogy is subjected to a dialectical process consisting of three moments:
- Affirmation
- Negation
- Affirmation of Excellence
Aristotelian Four Causes and Causality
Cause-Effect: A cause is defined as the principle from which something appropriate follows, or something that is necessarily the perfect antecedent. Following Aristotle, cause may be of four types:
- Material
- Formal
- Efficient
- Final
The use of the principle of causality and the interpretation of God as the transcendent cause enables analogical knowledge (the First Way). The principle of causality allows for the formulation of an ontological level of resemblance between cause and effect, enabling knowledge (Q) of the cause through the effect.
Definition: Real vs. Nominal
According to Aristotle, the essential definition expresses the essence of a thing, established by its genus and specific difference. Definition is necessary for the connection between scientific terms or concepts, which constitute the path (X) via demonstration.
In this context, we find two types of definition:
- The real definition, which indicates the nature or essence of a thing.
- The nominal definition, which indicates what is meant (Q) by a name.