Metaphysics

Philosophy:
the Handmaiden of Theology
 Metaphysics
 Metaphysics: the philosophy of being as being
which seeks to answer questions about
existence. Metaphysics seeks to describe the
world on the basis of reason and experience.
 Metaphysics seeks to answer the questions: Why
is there something rather than nothing? And
Who am I and why and I here?
 First used by Aristotle who wrote first his Physics
(concerning the physical world) and the
Metaphysics (beyond the physical world)
 2 Foundational Principles of
Metaphysics
 Principle of non-contradiction: no real being can both be and
not be at the same time and in the same way. A cannot exist
and not exist at the same time.
 Principle of sufficient reason: every being has the sufficient
reason for existence in itself or in another. It is not possible
for something to be its own cause (otherwise it would violate
the Principle of non-contradiction). God is uncaused and has
being in himself. Man is caused and has being as an effect.
Every being that does not possess the sufficient reason for its
own existence in itself must have an efficient cause (necessarily
extrinsic to itself).
 Being as being
 Defining ‘being’: thing which really exists; that
which is. The Latin verb esse (to be) describes
being effectively since the property of every
being is to be in the act of being. Activity,
however, is not the identical to being. Action
naturally pours forth from being. The first act
of a thing is to be (esse). Action is a thing’s
second act.
 Essence and Existence
 There is a subtle but important difference between what
a being is (essence or what-ness) and that it is (existence
or is-ness).
 Existence is the act of being real; anything outside of it
is not real.
 Essence limits existence (being) to a particular finite
thing.
 Key Point: Existence without limiting essence if God
(pure act, no potenitality). Every real being is a
composition of existence and essence.
 Divine Being
 God is existence subsisting in itself (uncaused
being). For God essence and existence is the
same thing. There is no distinction between is-
ness and what-ness; that is, God is pure being
without any limit.
 A self-sufficient being (God) is uncaused,
eternal, unchanging, simply composed, not a
part of or dependant on systems, and
qualitatively infinite in perfections.
 Created Beings
 Every created being participates in the act of existing; God alone
is His act of existing. The act of existing of every finite thing is
participated, because no thing outside God is its own act of
existing. Creation participates in God’s being.
 Whatever is participated in is related to the participator in its act.
But participated act of existing is limited by the capacity of the
participator (essence). Every being is like every other being in
that it exists, but also unlike every other because it is itself and
not another being.
 Beings with efficient causes (created beings; that is, possess being
in a participatory manner outside of itself) begin to exist, change,
are composite beings are finite (limited in degree of perfection),
and must belong to a system to exercise their natural properties.
Created Beings: Form and Matter
 Every limiting essence is a composition of an essential form and
limiting matter.
 Form is the intelligible pattern, the harmonious orderly structure
of real being. It is that in a being which makes it to be this kind
of being and not that kind.
 Matter is the principle of distinction and individuation.
 Form makes sameness possible and matter makes distinction
possible.
 In the same species, beings are the same in their essence and
different in their existence (this, not that). Dog is the form; Fido
is the matter. Fido is not Fluffy (two distinct beings) but both
are dogs (limiting essence) and not cats.
 One and Many
 Is reality one being or many beings?
 Existence is common to all beings. Beings participate in
existence according to their limiting essence. Of beings there is
both one (God) and many (creation).
 If all were one there would be no distinction in reality from one
being to another.
 Another false solution is pantheism, or that creation is made up
of one divine being. The problem here is that God would be
forced to create out of necessity in order to complete himself.
 Another problem is the opposite scenario: there is no common
bond among beings. If this is the case then there is no
relationality between beings.
 Causality
 Four causes of Aristotle:
 Efficient cause: the agent that brings something about (the artist
is the efficient cause of the statue)
 Material Cause: the material out of which something is
composed (the material cause of a table is wood)
 Formal Cause: originates in the idea of the form (the formal
cause of the statue is the idea of it in the artist’s mind)
 Final Cause: the purpose, the good, or the end of something.
(the final cause of a pen is decent writing)
 Causality
 Final causality: every agent (efficient cause) acts for an
end (telos). Every efficient cause (created being) needs
a final cause (end) to determine its action to produce
this effect rather than that effect. Final causality
focuses the power of a being’s actions. In non-free
beings this final causality is written into the nature of
the agent. In beings that are free the final cause is a
good that is sought after consciously.
 Transcendentals
 Transcendental Terms: concepts that are all-
inclusive concerning comprehension (the
content included in its meaning) and in its
extension ( the range of subjects to which it can
be applied).
 The transcendental properties of being “climb
over” all divisions, categories, and distinctions
between and within beings.
 Transcendentals
 One
 True
 Good
 Beautiful
 Hierarchy of Being
 God
 Angels
 Man
 Animals
 Plants
 Minerals
 Three Levels of Soul Activity
 Vegetative-gain nutrition; grow; reproduce
(plants)
 Sensitive-animals (senses)-material organs
 Intellective-humans (knowledge)-immaterial
mind receiving universal material form