PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE
Summa theological is a theological summary that seeks to explain the relationship between God and man. The theological text explains how the reconciliation of the divine and man is made possible through Christ. The book by Aquinas cites proof for existence of the Almighty creator of the universe and outlines the activities that make the nature of the Almighty God. Then the next part, almost one half of the theological summary looks at the nature and existence purpose of the humankind.
St. Aquinas writes as a philosopher who is intellectually interested in the truth. The saint writes as a Catholic who is convinced that humanity’s salvation is at stake. This particular conviction leads him to a rather rational exegesis of the topics of truth derived and primarily founded on the divine revelation. At first glance of the arguments made by Aquinas, it would seem rather astonishing or even counterintuitive that he reframes the arguments which are basically much of the Catholic theology in terms of Aristotle’s pre Christian philosophies. The writing of philosophy requires one to enter into discussions with quite an open mind in order to identify and examine the core assumptions about an issue. Aquinas rather does the opposite. He enlists the Aristotle philosophies in this quest to examine the very tenets of the catholic believes in the defense and explication of the same tenets.
Aquinas can be believed to have at the end of his examination and arguments about the incorruptible soul realizes every man regardless of his traditional or religious beliefs, shares the fruits of existence and are not necessarily corrupt. Aquinas through his arguments is seen as a believer of Aristotle philosophy whose main reason is essence of humanity. Without this philosophy, man can never be man.
The summa theologica is divided into questions. In the first part Aquinas puts forward the most elaborate argument about the incorruptibility of the rational soul. In his very elaborate arguments as noted earlier, he enlists the ideas of Aristotle and possibly Plato. He argues that the nature of the rational soul being incorruptible is mainly based on two ideas. One is because the soul is both subsistent and the other is that the soul operates independent of the body.
Aquinas takes the concept of subsistence from Aristotle’s cat and Metaph. Aristotle quotes says that some of the things in existence are in things and other things are said of things. The statement borrowed from the philosophies of Aristotle basically means “some things are in things” this refer to accidental properties while “things are said of things” refers to the essential properties. This can be defined again as at times accidents are found in other accidents while essential properties can be said of the similar essential properties.
In Aquinas arguments he maintains that what Aristotle talks about subsistent, makes him adopt the argument that the human soul is subsistent. The soul is explained as being subsistent in the sense that even though it is part of a composite soul and body it can also be argued that something can be part of something and in itself also be a substance. Aquinas argues that soul has its own properties and operates independent of its composite counterpart the human body. This fact is also deeply enlisted from Aristotle principle in the first chapter of the book De anima.
Aquinas argues that the rational soul operations are intelligible in themselves and as such held pure from the actions of the body and senses.
Aquinas's arguments on the subject of the soul are both similar to those of Plato at times. and they differ with those of Plato. Like Plato, Aquinas argued that the soul can be considered as the life force for all form of living things. But contrary to Plato, Aquinas argued that the existence of the body was as a results of the soul’s ability to divinely unify and in essence actualize the very thing that creates the living body, matter. The actualization and unification ability of the soul makes it according to the Aquinas arguments the body's form. This is the subsistence form argued also argued by Aristotle. Aquinas divides the body into three different kinds, this as a results of his argument of existence of three different kinds of soul: the first kind of soul is the vegetative, the other is the sentient, and finally there is the rational soul. Based form Aquinas arguments it can be agreed that there are many types of bodies from only three species of souls (vegetative, sentient, and rational). This argument is made possible primarily because according to Aquinas, the matter which is actualized by the soul is ultimately individualized. The philosophies projected here can help draw a conclusion that matter is the primary principle of individuation. The arguments of corruptible is advanced by the great Catholic saint from the subject of the subsistent soul which as explained earlier in the text operates independent of the body that is matter. According to Aquinas Souls are ranked according to their acts, since the very essence of being is revealed by the activities of the soul. The only differences between the different kinds of souls, vegetative, sentient, and rational are the activities of those souls and what they reveal in accordance to their degree of unification, the level of immateriality and the level of perfection. From the arguments, Aquinas argues that rational soul is the purest among the three kinds of soul. He argues that the rational soul has the highest degree of revelation and actuality, it has the highest levels of immateriality and finally are the most perfected form of the soul. As such the rational soul is capable of doing all the activities of the other souls and as such due to its immateriality levels it is the only soul capable of subsistence. This makes the rational soul incorruptible. According to Aquinas, it makes this soul have immortality and imperishability.
Aquinas however, acknowledges the fact that the rational soul even though being incorruptible can go out of existence. He however, indicates that going out of existence would only mean that God has ceased to sustain the soul but not that the soul has perished. He argues that when God ceases to sustain something it remains in the realm of divinity and not as corruptible things which go the realm of nature.
Bibliography
"Summa Theologica - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". 2016. Ccel.Org. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.FS_Q85_A6.html.
McInerny, Ralph and John O'Callaghan. 1999. "Saint Thomas Aquinas". Plato.Stanford.Edu. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas/.
"SUMMA THEOLOGICA: The Preservation Of The Individual In The Primitive State (Prima Pars, Q. 97)". 2016. Newadvent.Org. http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1097.htm.
"The Incorruptibility Of The Subsistent Soul According To Thomas Aquinas - Faith Movement". 2016. Faith.Org.Uk.http://www.faith.org.uk/article/march-april-2008-the-incorruptibility-of-the-subsistent-soulaccording-to-thomas-aquinas.
