So, we should consider the ultimate end of man to be that whereby be most closely approaches God. Therefore, it pertains to divine providence that things are preserved in being. [29] Therefore, we do not take away their proper actions from created things, though we attribute all the effects of created things to God, as an agent working in all things. [6] In fact, since evil and good are contraries, one of these contraries cannot be the cause of the other unless it be accidentally; as the cold beats, as is said in Physics VIII [1: 251a 33]. 33:20). [5] Besides, in any order, “that which exists through itself is prior to, and is the principle of, that which is through another.” So, that which is known through itself is known before all things that are known through another, and it is the principle of the knowing of them. But evil is the consequence of this power, because what is able to fall does fall at times. [9] So, also, among the lower spirits who attain, through the higher spirits, a perfect knowledge of the divine order which they are to carry out there must be some order. Now, it is impossible for celestial motion to result from the form of a celestial body, as from an active principle. [11] Again, this is the difference between speculative and practical knowledge: speculative knowledge and the functions that pertain to it reach their perfection in the universal, while the things that belong to practical knowledge reach their perfection in the particular. Therefore He Himself takes care by Himself of these singulars. [6] Now, just as in the activities of one man disorder arises from the fact that understanding follows the lead of sensual power, while the sensual power is dragged down to the movement of the body by virtue of some disorder of the body, as is evident in the case of men who limp, so also does disorder arise in a human government, as a result of a man getting control, not because of the eminence of his understanding, but either because he usurps dominion for himself by bodily strength or because someone is set up as a ruler on the basis of sensual affection. Therefore, no essence is evil in itself. Now, this can be none other than the most noble object of knowledge, which is God. So, it is better to become worthy of honor than to be honored. Moreover, if that quiddity also has a quiddity, it will in turn be possible to abstract the quiddity of this quiddity. It is in this way that an equivocal agent seeks its proper good by an act of causation, as in the case of the heavens. Therefore, it is impossible for the intellectual substance that sees God ever to will to be without that vision. But God sees His own substance most perfectly, being the only One Who comprehends it, as we showed above. And again: “She reaches from end to end mightily” (Wis. 8:1), that is, from the noblest creatures down to the lowest of them. [13] Moreover, since God is the cause of actual being because He is being, as was shown above, He must be the agent of providence for being, because He is being. Therefore, things tend t6ward this objective, of becoming like God, inasmuch as He is good. [3] So, it must be that God, Who is in all ways perfect in Himself, and Who endows all things with being from His own power, exists as the Ruler of all beings, and is ruled by none other. And this first philosophy is wholly ordered to the knowing of God, as its ultimate end; that is why it is also called divine science. So, if God works in all things, as we showed above, and if His dignity is not diminished thereby, and if this belongs rather to His universal and supreme power, it is in no sense something to be despised by Him, or something that might besmirch His dignity, if He exercises His providence immediately over these singulars. In fact, the end of speculative cognition is truth, which consists primarily and essentially in immaterial and universal things; but the end of practical cognition is operation, which is concerned with singulars. THAT THERE IS NO HIGHEST EVIL And Gregory says: “What do they not know, who know Him Who knows all things?” Therefore, it is not possible for a created substance to attain this vision, except through divine action. [4] On the other hand, Avicenna maintained that all substantial forms flow forth from the agent Intelligence. So, things are not ordered to God as to an end for which something may be obtained, but rather so that they may attain Himself from Himself, according to their measure, since He is their end. But all things are known to flee from evil; in fact, intelligent agents avoid a thing for this reason: they recognize it as an evil thing. [4] Besides, the nearer certain things are to God, the more they participate in His likeness; and the farther they are away, the more defective are they in regard to His likeness. For, since the perfection of the intellect is what is true, in the order of intelligible objects, that object which is a purely formal intelligible will be truth itself. However, lower bodies are not perfected in their natures without some contrariety. So, it is not present in the power of sight as its subject, but, rather, in the animal. We do find fault with things done according to art, for instance, when the grammarian does not speak correctly, and also in things done according to nature, as is evident in the case of the birth of monsters. [3] Again, things tend toward the divine likeness inasmuch as He is good, as we said above. CHAPTER 1 Though it is the lowest in the order of intellectual substances, the human intellect is, nevertheless, superior to all things that lack understanding. He gives a proof for this, in the same place, using the following argument: If those things which are understood in themselves, namely, separate substances, were not possible for us to understand, they would be for no purpose, just as if there were a visible object which could not be seen by any visual power. It will be on the side of the agent when the agent suffers a defect in its power, the consequence of which is a defective action and a defective effect. [7] So, it is evident from what has been said that, though God has His own perfect and complete goodness, in accord with His simple existing being, creatures do not attain the perfection of their goodness through their being alone, but through many things. [8] Besides, according to this theory, the agent intellect is not asserted to be connected with us as a form except by the fact that it is the form of objects of speculative understanding; and it is claimed to be the form of these objects because the same action belongs to the agent intellect and to these objects of understanding, which action is to make things actually understood. So, the first active principle in moral actions is the thing that is cognitively apprehended, the second is the apprebensive power, the third is the will, and the fourth is the motive power which carries out the command of reason. Thus, the births of monsters are the result of lack of assimilation on the part of the matter. Nor, in fact, can it be said that God does not wish to govern them, since His will is universally concerned with every good thing, and the good of things that are governed lies chiefly in the order of governance. Chapter 75 So, evil does not seem to happen apart from intention. Of course, this is not sufficient for the ultimate felicity of man. Therefore, it is impossible for pleasure to be the ultimate end. Now, in their relation to the will act, true happiness does not differ from false happiness. And again: “You have done the things of old, and have devised one thing after another; and what You have willed has been done” (Judith 9:4). But the first cause of all things is God. Chapter 54 Therefore, it cannot be maintained, on the basis of Alexander’s opinion, that man understands separate substances. Therefore, divine knowledge is the ultimate end of man. Now, this should be observed as obtaining in the same way in the order of intelligible being as it does in substantial or physical being. So, it is from this fact that the names of these virtues are derived. [2] Now, since it is in potency toward all forms, matter is indeed originated to have all of them; however, a certain one of them is not necessarily due it, since without this certain one it can be actually perfect. But it is impossible for a created likeness to represent God in this way, since every created likeness belongs to a definite genus, while God does not, as we explained in Book One [25]. Now, it is obvious from things said above that all wisdom and understanding are caused in intelligent beings by the highest God, and that no intellect can understand anything unless by divine power; just as no agent can perform any operation unless be act by this divine power. Therefore, it is possible for one to see the divine substance more or less perfectly. [7] Hence it is said in the Psalm (102:21): “Bless the Lord, all His hosts; you ministers of His who do His will”; and elsewhere: “Fire, hail, snow, stormy winds, which fulfill His word” (Ps. Therefore, no being, as being, is evil. [10] Furthermore, everything that is moved is brought to the terminus of the movement by the mover and agent. [3] Again, acts are specified by their objects. [2] In fact, a created thing tends toward the divine likeness through its operation. And it is impossible to produce that which cannot come into being. It is evident from this that the entire potency of the possible intellect can be reduced to act at one time. So, it is in this way that an agent produces an effect like itself. Therefore, if the motion of the heavens were natural, since it tends westward naturally, it would return to the east in the manner of a thing that recedes from the west by a motion against nature. However, it is riaicuious to say that the end of a heavy body’s motion is not to be in its proper place, but that the end is the resting of the inclination whereby it tends there. [4] Besides, every action and movement are seen to be ordered in some way toward being, either that it may be preserved in the species or in the individual, or that it may be newly acquired. In fact, since everything that does not exist through itself is found to be derived from that which does exist through itself, it appears that the forms of things, which are not existing through themselves but in matter, come from forms which are existent through themselves without matter. [9] So, if the motion of the heavens is ordered to generation, and if the whole of generation is ordered to man as a last end within this genus, it is clear that the end of celestial motion is ordered to man, as to an ultimate end in the genus of generable and mobile beings. Indeed, this generation cannot be called natural by reason of the active principle, for that is moved naturally by an active principle, which has its active principle within it; “a nature is a principle of motion in that to which it belongs.” But the active principle in the generation of a simple body is outside. Therefore, man does not attain felicity, understood as his proper end, during this life, as we have shown. Now, few men attain the knowledge of God that we have just mentioned, acquired by way of demonstration, because of the obstacles to this knowledge which we touched on in the beginning of this work. [8] Through this conclusion, moreover, the error is set aside of those who say that God is in some definite part of the world (for instance, in the first heaven and in the eastern section) and that He is consequently the principle of heavenly motion.—Of course, this statement of theirs could be supported, if soundly interpreted: not, for instance, that we may understand God as being confined to some determinate part of the world, but that the source of all corporeal motions, according to the order of nature, takes its start from a determinate part, being moved by God. [4] Besides, to know is more noble than to be known; only the more noble things know, but the lowest things are known. Therefore, evil cannot be a first principle. Thus, a heavy body in some unusual position is in potency to its proper place. So, the soul had to have bodily organs by which it might draw knowledge from corporeal things. Acting as their spokesman, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes (5:17): “This therefore seemed good to me, that a man should eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of his labor, and this is his portion”; and again in Wisdom (2:9): “let us everywhere leave tokens of joy, for this is our portion, and this our lot.” Now, the object of the will is the end and the good. Now, every evil is present in something good. In another way, being means the truth in a judgment; in this meaning, privation is called a being, inasmuch as something is said to be deprived by virtue of a privation. Now, a subject becomes less potential to a form, not simply by the subtraction of any of its parts, nor by the fact that any part of the potency is subtracted, but by the fact that the potency is impeded by a contrary act from being able to proceed to he actuality of the form. But God preserves things in being by His providence, as we showed. But every act has something of good in its essential character, for there is no evil thing that is not in a condition of potency falling short of its act. Therefore, each one who sees the divine substance knows all the things mentioned above. THAT IN THIS LIFE WE CANNOT SEE GOD THROUGH HIS ESSENCE First, because the natural tendency in heavy and light things is determined to one place; hence, just as such a body naturally tends to this place, so does it go against nature in receding from it. Now, if felicity consists in perfect operation, in accord with perfect virtue, whether intellectual or moral, it is impossible for it to come to man until a long time has elapsed, And this is especially evident in speculative pursuits, in which man’s ultimate felicity is placed, as is clear from what we have said. Again, since it is possible to come in some way to the proper knowledge of a thing by means of negations, as we said above, the more a person can know that a large number of closely related things are set apart from an object, the more does one approach toward a proper knowledge of it. So, whatever intellect understands a separate substance, by knowing what it is, sees God in a higher way than He is known by any of the previously treated types of knowledge. Chapter 80 And this is plainly false. [5] However, if a careful consideration be made, these ways of arguing will be discovered to be frivolous. [1] Now, someone will object against the preceding statements. Besides, though anything is good in so far as it is a being, it is not, however, necessary for matter which is merely potential being to be good only in potency. Therefore, it is not possible for the attainment of this vision to be accomplished by a created intellect except through divine action. But the divine substance is something infinite in relation to every created intellect, since every created intellect is limited under a definite species. Now, if no evils were present in things, much of man’s good would be diminished, both in regard to knowledge and in regard to the desire or love of the good. [15] On this point there is abundant evidence of how even the brilliant minds of these men suffered from the narrowness of their viewpoint. And this is also true of every natural end in any species, that the members of this species do attain it, in most cases. [1] It is evident from the foregoing explanation that, no matter how much evil be multiplied, it can never destroy the good wholly. Now, in the case of things that are naturally known no one can err; for instance, in the knowing of indemonstrable principles no one makes an error. [2] Again, whatever type of creature carries out the order of divine providence, it is able to do so because it participates in something of the power of the first providential being; just as an instrument does not move unless, through being moved, it participates somewhat in the power of the principal agent. Therefore, such knowledge of God is not sufficient for ultimate felicity. [1] Now, there are certain points which seem to run counter to this view. But God is the most perfect agent. [3] And thus, the higher intellectual substances obtain immediately from God a perfect knowledge of the aforementioned order; and then, other lower substances must obtain this perfect knowledge through them, just as we said above that the student’s universal knowledge is brought to perfection by the knowledge of the teacher who knows in detail. It is not the unqualified intention of nature that water should not exist, but that there should be air, and while a thing is so existing it is not water. Now, the cause of the divine vision is God, as we proved above. For, the more a person understands, the more is the desire to understand increased in him, and this is natural to man, unless, perchance, there be someone who understands all things. Of course, the aforementioned light, in its power, falls far short of the clarity of the divine intellect. If it actually attains something which does not possess the specific nature of what was apprehended, then this will be apart from the intention. For a natural agent does not hand over its own form to another subject, but it reduces the passive subject from potency to act. If, then, the second and third provident agents are claimed to be under the first provident agent, Who is the highest God, they must receive the order that is to be established in things from the highest God. [4] Furthermore, because the end is related in a proportional way to the things which are directed to the end, these things must participate in the end differently, depending on the different ways in which they are disposed toward the end. 22:30). But things participate in the divine goodness to the extent that they are good, by way of likeness. Indeed, the same conclusion follows if it be granted that a created intellect is endowed with such a vision from the start of its creation. And so Dionysius says that this designation suggests that they are “bearers of God, immediately available for all divine undertakings. Now, the highest good which is God is the common good, since the good of all things taken together depends on Him; and the good whereby each thing is good is its own particular good, and also is the good of the other things that depend on this thing. Thus, simultaneously with the generation of one thing there necessarily results the corruption of another thing. On the basis of this meaning, they are quite appropriately put in the same order with the lowest ones. This cannot occur in the higher orders of substances. Potency, too, is a good thing, for potency tends toward act, as appears in every instance of change. [7] Now, this is the light of which it is said in the Psalms (35:10): “In Thy light we shall see the light,” that is, of the divine substance. Hence, its first object precedes every one of its acts. For, if that which is apart from intention be either an invariable or a frequent consequence of what is intended, then it does not occur fortuitously or by chance. [1] Now, from these conclusions it becomes evident that divine providence, whereby He governs things, does not prevent corruption, deficiency, and evil from being found in things. So, the divine wisdom is in control of ordering what, bow many, and what kind of effects proceed from His power, even down to the lowest things. And so, one would know all the reasons for things created if he knew all the goods which could come about in created things in accord with the order of divine wisdom. [5] Moreover, evil is not caused, except by the good, and then only accidentally. [2] But, in regard t o the execution, He orders the lower things through the higher ones, and the bodily things through the spiritual ones. Indeed, contrariety arises from the various things that determine and contract a genus; hence, in the realm of understanding, because it is universal the species of contraries are not contraries, for they may co-exist. But evil is a specific difference in some genera; for instance, among habits and acts in the moral order. Therefore, this vision consists in a participation in eternity, as completely transcending time. Chapter 13 Now, nothing. Now, this is impossible. Therefore, the essence of a separate substance is not an adequate medium whereby God could be seen essentially. So, then, it is necessary that an object of understanding, which is not based on any species of this kind, be identical in me and in you. So, if it be manifest that some causes are contingent, because they can be prevented from producing their effects, it would evidently be against the character of providence for all things to happen out of necessity. These cannot be the ultimate end of human life, for we ourselves are, rather, the ends for all artificial things. But God is the first cause in the order of final causes, since He is the highest in the order of goods. But then, in most cases, only a little part of human life remains. But, since the created intellect cannot know the divine substance in such a way that it comprehends it, the intellect does not have to see all things that can be known through this substance, when it sees it. Chapter 51 But this is impossible, for things which occur always, or for the most part, are neither chance nor fortuitous events, but only those which occur in few instances. [2] Indeed, everything whereby things attain their end pertains to the governance of these things. For instance, moral evil is present in a natural good, while a natural evil, which is a privation of form, is present in matter which is a good, in the sense of a being in potency. And so, in the case of the healing of an afflicted person, accomplished miraculously, it makes no difference whether the person is much or little afflicted. Also, the instruction of those who occupy the position of leaders among men concerning matters pertinent to the administration of their rule seems to be the concern of this order. For example, the artistic form that is produced in matter proceeds from the form that is in the mind of the artist. Taken away, also, would be justice which rewards and punishes, if man could not freely do good or evil. Therefore, it is possible that one of those who see God may see Him more perfectly than another, even though both see His substance. just as the entire likeness of the result achieved by the actions of an intelligent agent exists in the intellect that preconceives it, so, too, does the likeness of a natural resultant pre-exist in the natural agent; and as a consequence of this, the action is determined to a definite result. Consequently, we see that animals which live but a short time also take but a short time to come to perfect maturity. Now, this is characteristic of the ultimate end: it is sought for its own sake. [4] Moreover, a thing that one can use both for good and for evil cannot be man’s highest good, for that is better which no one can use in a bad way. Now, as a result of this fact, that creatures do act in this way, corruption and evil result in things, because, due to the contrariety and incompatibility present in things, one may be a source of corruption for another. [2] Again, the light which is received in a created intellect is something created. Chapter 22 These are placed by Dionysius in the middle hierarchy, for, just as it is directed by the highest, so also does it direct the lowest one, as he says in On the Celestial Hierarchy VIII. As a matter of fact, our act of understanding, whereby we attain to the knowledge of what our soul is, is very remote from the intelligence of a separate substance. So, either they never were produced by God, or their being is always flowing forth from God as long as they exist. However, it is clear that this is false, for the act of temperance is given most praise when it involves abstaining from pleasures; as a result, it gets its name from this fact. [1] Similarly, neither can worldly power be man’s highest good, since in its attainment, also, fortune can play a most important part. Therefore, every action and movement are for the sake of a good. For this reason it is said in Wisdom (7:11): “All good things came to me together with her.” Hence it is also said in the Psalm (111:3): “Glory and wealth shall be in His house.” But every evil is caused by a good, as we have shown. However, that man who has not only universal, but also a proper, knowledge of things is more perfect in speculative science, for, the man who knows only universally merely knows a thing potentially. THAT LOWER BODIES ARE RULED BY GOD THROUGH CELESTIAL BODIES This is accomplished through the order of Dominations, for it is the function of those who hold dominion to prescribe what the others execute. Consist primarily in an act of being ordered to a superior and so, these ways of aquinas summa contra gentiles book 3 summary differ! 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