Aquinas' Proofs for God's Existence: St. Thomas Aquinas On: "The Per Accidens Necessarily Implies the Per Se"

ISBN-13: 9789401181877 / Angielski / Miękka / 1972 / 203 str.

Dennis Bonnette

Opis

The purpose of this study is to investigate the legitimacy of the principle, "The per accidens necessarily implies the per se," as it is found in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Special emphasis will be placed upon the function of this principle in the proofs for God's existence. The relevance of the principle in this latter context can be seen at once when it is observed that it is the key to the solution of the well known "prob lem of infinite regress. " The investigation of the principle in question will be divided into two Parts. A preliminary examination of the function of the principle will be made in Part I: Domains Other Than That of Creature-God. The domains to be considered in this Part are those of accident-substance, change, and knowledge. Employing what is learned of the function of the principle in these areas of application, Part II: The Domain of Creature-God will analyze the role of the principle in the proofs for God's existence. This latter Part will constitute the greater portion of the book, since the domain of creatures in their relation to God is the most significant application of the principle in the writings of St. Thomas. In the course of this investigation, relevant analyses by St. Thomas' commentators - both classical and contemporary - will be considered. Finally, in light of the insights offered by St."

Spis treści

The Nature and Limits of the Inquiry.- The Central Contexts to be Analysed.- I Domains Other than that of Creature-god.- I. The Domain of Accident-Substance.- Accident Implies Substance.- A Self-Evident Principle.- Classical Modern Objections are Irrelevant.- How Accidents Depend on Substance.- A More Profound Reason.- II. The Domain Of Change.- The Problem of Change.- A Difficulty.- The Per Accidens in Change Necessarily Requires the Per Se.- III. The Domain of Knowledge.- Sense Knowledge.- The First and Second Acts of the Mind.- The Third Act of the Mind.- The Necessity of a Per Se.- The Nature of the Scientific Syllogism.- A Possible Confusion.- The Argument.- A Clarification.- New Definitions.- II The Domain of Creature-god.- Introduction: The Cause of per Accidens Being.- I. The way of the de Ente et Essentia.- The Way.- Essence and Existence.- The Argument Itself.- A Further Argument.- II. Apropos of the quinque viae in General.- The Ways.- The Problem of Infinite Multitude.- Proper Causality.- III. The prima via.- The Way.- The Principle in Question.- The Arguments.- Sylvester of Ferrara.- A Second Argument.- A Further Argument.- Contemporary Comment.- IV. The secunda via.- The Way.- Efficient Causality.- The Argument.- The Commentary on the Metaphysics.- The Commentators.- Contemporary Comment.- Conclusions on Efficient Causality.- V. The tertia via.- The Way.- The Argument.- The Latter Part of the Proof.- VI. The quarta via.- The Way.- The Argument.- The Principle in Question.- Participation and Analogy.- Proof from St. Thomas.- VII. The quinta via.- The Way.- Finality in St. Thomas.- Chance.- An Intelligent Orderer.- Necessity of a Per Se.- The General Arguments.- Conclusion.- Exterior Causality.- The Quinque Viae.- Three Categories of Application.- The Principle in General.- The Other Applications.- A Final Comment.