Form, essence and matter in Aquinas’ early work De ente et essentia. Notes to the metaphysical foundation of Aquinas’ psychology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.1537Keywords:
Matter, form, esse/essentia distinction, physics, metaphysics, Thomas Aquinas, Avicenna, Aristotle, soul, human beingAbstract
The article analyzes the role of matter (materia prima) in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, from both the systematic and historical-philosophical aspect. It shows that Arab tradition (Avicenna and Averroes) and its interpreters from the first half of the 13ᵗʰ century played an important and very complex role in his reception of philosophical tools derived from Aristotle. The article also presents the process by which Aquinas was able to unite hylomorphism with the metaphysical theory of real distinction esse/essentia, which paved the way for a non-dualistic conception of man.References
Maurer A., Form and essence in the philosophy of St. Thomas, “Mediaeval Studies” 13 (1951), p. 165–176.
Hyman A., Aristotle’s ‘first matter’ and Avicenna’s and Averroes’ ‘corporeal form’, [in:] Harry Austryn Wolfson jubilee volume, vol. 1, Jerusalem 1965, p. 385–406.
Bazán B. C., The highest encomium of human body, [in:] Littera, sensus, sententia. Studi in onore del prof. C. J. Vansteenkiste, a cura di A. Lobato, Milano 1991, p. 99–116.
Bazán B. C., The human soul: form and substance? Thomas Aquinas’ critique of eclectic Aristotelianism, “Archives d’Histoire Doctrinale et Littéraire du Moyen Âge” 64 (1997), p. 95–126.
Fabro C., La nozione metafisica di partecipazione secondo S. Thomaso d’Aquino, 3ʳᵈ ed. (Turin 1963).
Sweeney E., Supposition, signification, and universals, „Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie un Theologie“ 42 (1995), p. 267–290.
Stump E., Non–Cartesian substance dualism and materialism without reductionism, “Faith and Philosophy” 12 (1995), p. 505–531.
Gilson É., Élements d’une métaphysique Thomisté de l’être, “Archives d’Histoire Doctrinale et Litteraire du Moyen Age” 40 (1973), p. 7–36.
Klocker H. R., Two Quodlibets on essence/existence, “The Thomist” 46 (1982), p. 267–282.
Lehrberger J., The anthropology of Aquinas´s “De ente et essentia,” “The Review of Metaphysics” 51 (1998), p. 829–47.
Aertsen J. A., Medieval philosophy and the transcendentals: the case of Thomas Aquinas, Leiden 1996.
Wippel J. F., Aquinas route to real distinction: a note to “De ente et essentia,” “The Thomist” 43 (1979), p. 275–295.
Wippel J. F., The metaphysic thoughts of Thomas Aquinas, Washington 2000.
Owens J., Stages and distinction in “De ente”: a rejoinder, “The Thomist” 45 (1981), p. 99–123.
Owens J., Thomas Aquinas (B. CA. 1225; 1274), [in:] Individuation in scholasticism: the latter Middle Ages and the counter reformation, ed. J. J. E. Gracia, Albany 1994, p. 173–194.
Sweeney L., Existence/essence in Thomas Aquinas’s early writings, “Proceeding in the American Catholic Philosophical Association” 37 (1963), p. 97–130.
Pasnau R., Thomas Aquinas on human nature, Cambridge 2004.
Zavalloni R., Richard de Mediavilla et la controverse sur la pluralité des formes, Louvain 1951.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The following rules apply to copyright:
1. The author declares that he or she has full copyright to the work, and such copyright it is not limited to the extent applicable to this declaration, that the article is an original work and that it does not infringe any third-party rights.
2. The author agrees to a free-of-charge, non-exclusive and non-restricted use of the work by Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow i.e.:
- to record and duplicate: make copies of the work by means of printing, reprography, magnetic or digital storage;
- to circulate the original or the copies of the work (disseminate, lend or lease the original or copies thereof, publicly display, screen or make the work publicly available so that everyone is able to access it at the time and in place they wish to do so);
- to include the work in a compilation;
- the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow may grant sublicenses Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland
- the author and the title of the work will be listed,
- the place of publication (name of the periodical and an Internet link to the originally published work),
- the work will be distributed in a non-commercial way,
- no derivative works will be created.
The UPJPII Press does not waive any of its copyrights to any target group.
If you want to publish the text in Logos and Ethos, you must sign the license. However, the signing takes place at a later stage of publishing. Check the license: [license_en.pdf]