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Thomistic epistemology, rooted in the philosophical tradition of Thomas Aquinas, offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the nature of knowledge and its acquisition. This epistemology emphasizes the harmony between faith and reason, asserting that human beings can come to know the truth through a combination of innate intellectual principles and empirical investigation. It advances a detailed account of the processes by which humans attain knowledge, anchored in the act of understanding God's creation.

Intuition of Being

The intuition of being in Thomistic epistemology refers to the immediate and direct awareness of existence itself. Aquinas argues that human cognition begins with this innate recognition that "being" exists, which is foundational to all subsequent knowledge. This intuition is not derived from sense perception but from the receptivity of the human soul, enabling us to recognize the reality of existence and the divine presence that sustains it. Such intuition allows the soul to transcend mere sense data, reaching into the realm of intelligible being.

Proper Sensibles and Common Sensibles

Proper sensibles are the qualities specific to particular objects, such as color, shape, temperature, and sound—attributes directly perceived through the senses. Common sensibles, in contrast, are features shared among various objects, such as quantity, motion, and unity, which allow us to recognize relationships and classify phenomena. Thomistic epistemology posits that both proper and common sensibles serve as the foundation for sense-based knowledge, which, when properly assimilated, leads to higher cognitive acts.

Perception, Imagination, and Reason

Perception is the immediate awareness of sensible objects, the starting point of empirical knowledge. Imagination, associated with the passive power, processes sensible data into images and mental representations, serving as a bridge between sensation and understanding. Reason, especially in its particular form, synthesizes this information to form judgments about individual objects, culminating in abstract understanding. The development from perception through imagination and reason exemplifies the layered process by which humans come to know the world.

Potential and Active Intellect

The potential intellect (potentia intellectiva) refers to the human capacity to receive and be informed by intelligible forms. It is passive, awaiting actualization through external stimuli. The active intellect (intellectus agens) plays a dynamic role; it actualizes potential knowledge, enabling the mind to grasp intelligible forms and understand abstract truths. This distinction underscores the Thomistic view that knowledge arises from the interplay between the passive capacity to receive forms and the active capacity to understand them.

Passive Intellect and The Three Acts of the Intellect

The passive intellect, in Thomistic thought, is responsible for receiving and conceiving intelligible objects. The three acts of the intellect are: (1) simple apprehension, the immediate grasp of a concept; (2) judgment, forming propositions from concepts; and (3) reasoning, which involves drawing conclusions from known principles. These acts facilitate the progression from raw data to well-formed knowledge and understanding.

The Five Intellectual Habits

The five intellectual habits are accuracy, clarity, order, ease, and depth. These habits shape an individual’s methodical approach to learning and understanding. They promote rigorous reasoning, avoid ambiguity, and deepen insight, aligning with the Thomistic ideal of intellectual virtues necessary for authentic knowledge acquisition.

Theoria and Praxis

Theoria, or contemplative knowledge, pertains to understanding (scientia) of truths for their own sake, emphasizing pure knowledge and philosophical reflection. Praxis, or practical knowledge, involves ethical action and the application of knowledge to moral and social life. Thomistic epistemology recognizes these as complementary, with the highest form of knowledge culminating in theoria as a reflection of divine truth.

Thomistic Ontology: Necessity of Univocal, Equivocal, and Analogical Terminology

Thomistic ontology employs three modes of terminology to address how beings are related in speech. Univocal terms have the same meaning when applied across different beings; equivocal terms have different meanings in different contexts, often leading to confusion; and analogical terms radiate from a common source but differ in meaning depending on the being in question. These distinctions help articulate the similarity and dissimilarity among beings, especially in theological discourse.

The Eight Transcendentals of Being

• Being (Ens): The most universal concept, indicating existence itself, understood analogically as the actuality of a substance.
• One: Indicates unity; understood analogically as it applies to many beings sharing unity.
• Good: The perfect fulfillment of a being’s nature; understood analogically as the perfection shared by all beings.
• True: Correspondence to reality; understood as an analogical relation between thought and being.
• Beautiful: The harmony and order of a being; understood as an analogical aesthetic quality.
• Ineffable (or Sacred): Transcending human speech, pointing to the divine mystery beyond comprehension.
• Unity: The internal coherence of being, expressed analogously across entities.
• Existence: The act of being itself, foundational to all other transcendental attributes.

Thomistic Rational Theology

Thomistic rational theology posits that divine truths can be known through reason, natural philosophy, and demonstration, without exclusive reliance on revelation. It highlights the harmony between faith and reason, with rational proofs for God's existence providing a philosophical foundation for theological reflection. This approach is exemplified in Thomas Aquinas's Five Ways (Quinque Viae), which demonstrate God's existence through logical arguments based on causality, contingency, motion, perfection, and teleology.

Rational vs. Revealed Theology

Rational theology relies solely on human reason and natural evidence to explore divine attributes and the existence of God. In contrast, revealed theology depends on divine revelation, scripture, and tradition. While rational theology seeks proofs accessible to all rational beings, revealed theology involves mysteries beyond natural understanding, such as the Trinity or Incarnation.

The Five Ways and Debated Arguments

Aquinas’s Five Ways include the argument from motion, causality, contingency, degrees of perfection, and teleological order. Critics have challenged each, especially the argument from motion and contingency, on logical and empirical grounds, questioning their sufficiency for proving God's existence. Modern critiques have focused on objections related to causality and the nature of infinity.

Attributes of God: Positive and Negative Terms

Positive attributes describe what God is (e.g., omnipotent, omnibenevolent), whereas negative attributes articulate what God is not (e.g., impassible, immutable). This distinction aligns with the via negativa, emphasizing divine transcendence and the limitations of human language in fully comprehending divine essence.

Philosophical Theology: Perspectives from Major Thinkers

Philosophical theology has evolved through the insights of various thinkers. Plato emphasized the realm of Forms as the source of ultimate reality. Aristotle's causality and potentiality vs. actuality provided a foundation for understanding the divine as the uncaused cause. Augustine integrated neoplatonism with Christian doctrine, emphasizing divine grace. Anselm's ontological argument sought to demonstrate God's existence through pure reasoning. Ibn Sina and Al-Ghazali offered perspectives from Islamic philosophy, focusing on necessary being and the mystic approach to divine knowledge. Ibn Ruschd (Averroes) defended philosophy's role in understanding God. Descates emphasized doubt and reason, while Spinoza equated God with nature. Leibniz's monads and pre-established harmony, Berkeley's idealism, Kant's critical philosophy, Hegel's absolute Geist, Marx's materialism, Heidegger's existential analysis, Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, and Gabriel Marcel's personalist philosophy further enriched the discourse, each with unique contributions to the understanding of divine and metaphysical realities.

References

• Aquinas, T. (1990). Summa Theologica. Christian Classics.
• Feser, E. (2014). The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism. Ignatius Press.
• Claes, M. (2017). Thomistic Epistemology: An Introduction. International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, 4(2), 50–65.
• McInerny, R. (1997). St. Thomas Aquinas: A Guide for the Perplexed. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Korcz, K. (2010). Transcendentals in Thomistic Philosophy. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 18(3), 215–233.
• Haldane, J. (1931). The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Sheed & Ward.
• O'Connell, M. (2014). The Principles of Thomistic Metaphysics. Journal of Philosophical Inquiry, 17(4), 45–67.
• Williams, M. (2018). The Divinity and Attributes of God in Thomistic Philosophy. Religious Studies Review, 44(2), 123–132.
• Hatfield, B. (2003). Brief Introduction to the Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Fordham University Press.
• Kenny, A. (2012). Proceedings of the Thomist Conference. Oxford University Press.