TRANSCENDENTALS

People often say “You’re beautiful,” or sometimes “What kind of unity do they have?”
But can we see these things that we are talking about? No. Beauty, unity, truth, and goodness:
these are the what we so-call TRANSCENDENTALS for they transcend being or the things that
we perceive. Transcendentals came from the Latin word “transcendere” which means to climb
over. What are these TRANSCENDENTALS anyway? These are also one of the most interesting
and exciting parts in the rich world of Metaphysics.
There are four transcendental properties namely: Beauty, Goodness, Unity and Truth.

UNITY

For us beings, for us to exist, there must be some sort of unity planted in us. Anything
that exists is intrinsically undivided: it has a certain unity. Experiences show that “every being is
one precisely to the extent that it is a being.” So if there is division in our very being then it
means that it would also be the loss of being. If the soul is taken apart from the body, the
person dies. Tissues and organs then begin to decompose for the very reason of their existence
is taken apart, they lost the unity which made the single whole of them.
We come to know the meaning of unity by saying that it is the undividedness of a being.
We can also say being manifests the absence of internal division in any reality. It is evident then
that we apprehend being before we apprehend unity for we are able to see unity with the
existence of being.
There are also types and degrees of unity. The unity of simplicity states that the unity of
being devoid of parts or of a multiplicity of constituent principles and elements. This is the most
perfect unity and can only be found in God. Creatures, on the other hand, have a lower degree
and this known as the unity of composition. For finite beings the degrees of unity depend on
the levels of composition found in them. There are three kinds of unity in them: substantial
unity, accidental unity, and relational unity. For substantial unity there is a need to differentiate
unity of purely spiritual creatures from creatures that are composed of matter and form.
But then there is an opposition to unity and this is called “multiplicity.” It says that
things are multiple inasmuch as they are divide from one another . multiplicity adds a further
negation: it is the privation of unity among various beings. Though multiplicity signifies a certain
unity, it does not completely express it.
There are notions derived from it, and of course, there are also notions opposed to it.
These are the notions derived:
a.) When there is unity in the substance, there is identity.
b.) When here is unity as regards accident quality, there is equality.
c.) When there is unity as regards the possession of quality, there is similarity.

But then there are also notions opposed to it:

a.) Where there is multitude as regards essences, there is diversity.
b.) Difference
c.) Distinction
 With regards to unity there is also the what we so-call “Aliquid.” It is clearly stated
that “another” (aliquid) is equivalent to “another something” (aliud quid). Aliquid
expresses the distinction of a being with respect to others. Aliquid can also be
equivalent to “something”- it means that being is perfectly opposed to absolute non-
being. Lastly, it may also signify the individual essence as it is known in an indeterminate
way.

TRUTH

We always say “I’m telling the truth” or sometimes “That is true!” can we see truth? No.
Again it is another transcendental property.
Truth is something attributed to judgments of our understanding. Truth belong sto acts
of intelligence which conform with reality and express it faithfully. Truth of the understanding
depends on being. If the intellect is true when it conforms with reality then the actuality of
things to be grasped by the intelligence is presupposed by truth.
The there is the ontological truth. Ontological truth states that things already have their
own truths in themselves. To sum up this St. Augustine said: what is true is true to the extent
that it is a being.” For this reason being and truth are now equivalent.
Things are also true in different ways whether they are referred to God’s intellect or the
human intellect.
The truth of things is the basis and measure of the human intellect. It is stated that thing
are the ones responsible for our knowledge. The bthings act on us and it is there that we gain
knowledge. The relation of beings to man’s intellect is merely a relation of reason. On the other
hand, the truth of created beings is based on God’s intellect. Things are measured by God’s
intellect in which all creatures are present.
The truth of the human intellect is the conformity of the intellect with reality. Therefore
falsehood can only arise in the human intellect, not on the being, because in the first place
being is always true. The human intellect is of itself directed towards truth.

GOODNESS

Another transcendental property is Goodness. Most of the time, even everytime, we

always desire for what is good. We constantly employ the notion of goodness in our daily life.
Being is good. Acting, living, perfecting oneself, is good.
What is then the contribution of goodness to being? Goodness adds to being its
desirability to an appetite. Therefore it states that being is good as long as it is desirable.
Aristotle once said: “Good is what we all desire.” Goodness is no the desire awakened in us but
the perfection which gives rise to it. We want things as long as they are good. This is the reason
why men always choose the things which are best for them.
There are types of goodness and they are:
 a.) “Everything which is” is good. It states that as long as being exists it has dgree of
goodness.
b.) That which reaches its end is good. It means that when a thing reaches its purpose,
it is good.
c.) That which spreads goodness is good. By experience we see that what is perfect has
the capacity to transmit its perfection to others. As what St. Thomas said: “For just
as it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so is it better to make known to
others the truth one contemplates, than to simply contemplate them.” Therefore a
thing is good when it shares its perfection.

The very act of being is good. Things that are desirable is good. But there is that
what we call “EVIL.” It is defined as the privation or absence of good.

BEAUTY

Something is good when it is in relation to man’s appetitive faculty: a thing is good when
it possesses perfection and the capability. When things are known, their truth and their
goodness bring pleasure and delight to the person who beholds them. We say that something is
beautiful if it has this property.
Basically, it is hard to define beauty. St. Thomas defines it through its effects, by saying
that “the beautiful is that which is pleasing to behold.” Beauty is a transcendental property
which results from the act of being of things.
There are two levels of beauty. Intelligible beauty which is proper to spiritual life and a
sense-perceptible beauty of a lower rank.
Beauty can be considered as a special type of goodness, since it is the object of a certain
natural tendency (appetite) that is set at rest by the contemplation of the beautiful. Beautiful
things bring about a special delight simply by being known. St. Thomas said that beauty
designates the suitability of things with respect to “a certain concurrence of the understanding
and the will.” What is beautiful is pleasing insofar as it is known.