Philosophical Psychology I (Study of the Philosophical Proofs for the Soul) Class Notes (Taken at a Pontifical University) First Lesson: What is the Place of Psychology in the field of sciences? In the “old days” Natural Sciences were divided into Logic (required discipline for Philosophy, because it speaks about the rules of our mind / the laws of reasoning one has to use to arrive at the truth) and Philosophy. Philosophy was divided into speculative (dealing with the object for the sake of knowledge) and practical (acquired for the sake of operation) Philosophy. Speculative Philosophy is divided into three aspects according to the degree of excellence of the object investigated. This degree is measured by the ability of the object to be separated from a material component / to be abstracted from matter. This separation exists on two levels: Definition and existence. Natural Philosophy has the lowest degree of perfection, because it deals with objects totally dependent on matter both in definition and in existence. Mathematics have a higher degree of perfection because they deal with objects existing in material condition but defines the reality of those objects separated from matter. Metaphysics have the highest degree of perfection, because they do not depend on matter and can be taught without matter existing. Practical Philosophy is divided into Ethics and Art/Poetics () Metaphysics is the science of Being. It is divided into Ontology: talks about Being as Being Epistemology: deals with our relation to Being Natural Theology: because Metaphysics have to examine the first causes of Being Mathematics are concerned with quantified Being. Look at reality from a quantitative point of view Natural Philosophy investigates the world of nature, the material world. Nature here means the world of beings that can be recognized by our senses and that move through time and space. Natural Philosophy is divided into Cosmology: dealing with things that need an external cause of movement Psychology: dealing with beings that in themselves have the principle of movement
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Philosophical Psychology I (Study of the Philosophical Proofs for the Soul)
These are the notes from the Philosophical Psychology course from a major Pontifical University. The philosophical point of view of the teacher was the Thomistic school.
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Philosophical Psychology I(Study of the Philosophical Proofs for the Soul)
Class Notes(Taken at a Pontifical University)
First Lesson:
What is the Place of Psychology in the field of sciences?
In the “old days” Natural Sciences were divided into Logic (required discipline for Philosophy, because it speaks
about the rules of our mind / the laws of reasoning one has to use to arrive at the truth) and Philosophy.
Philosophy was divided into speculative (dealing with the object for the sake of knowledge) and practical (acquired
for the sake of operation) Philosophy.
Speculative Philosophy is divided into three aspects according to the degree of excellence of the object
investigated. This degree is measured by the ability of the object to be separated from a material component / to be
abstracted from matter. This separation exists on two levels: Definition and existence.
Natural Philosophy has the lowest degree of perfection, because it deals with objects
totally dependent on matter both in definition and in existence.
Mathematics have a higher degree of perfection because they deal with objects existing
in material condition but defines the reality of those objects separated from
matter.
Metaphysics have the highest degree of perfection, because they do not depend on
matter and can be taught without matter existing.
Practical Philosophy is divided into Ethics and Art/Poetics ()
Metaphysics is the science of Being. It is divided into
Ontology: talks about Being as Being
Epistemology: deals with our relation to Being
Natural Theology: because Metaphysics have to examine the first causes of Being
Mathematics are concerned with quantified Being. Look at reality from a quantitative point of view
Natural Philosophy investigates the world of nature, the material world. Nature here means the world of beings that
can be recognized by our senses and that move through time and space. Natural Philosophy is divided into
Cosmology: dealing with things that need an external cause of movement
Psychology: dealing with beings that in themselves have the principle of movement
Psychology is the part of Natural Philosophy that deals with beings that are capable of self-motion. The principle
inner cause of movement has been given the name “soul”. So “soul” here is equivalent to the capacity of self-
movement
What is the Object of Psychology?
Object: from lat. obicere: “to put in front of” = the thing put in front of our eyes in order to examine it.
The Object has to be divided into the objectum quod (What are we studying?) and the objectum quo (“Lumen sub
quo”: the light under which we examine the object / the specific point of view).
The objectum quod has to be divided into the material quod (a particular thing investigated in general, that is looked
at from different points of view (quo)) and the formal quod (the specification of that particular thing)
In ancient Philosophy the Material Object of Psychology has been the Soul (1st essay on the soul by Aristotle “
”). The Soul is a principle of life / of organized bodies that potentially have life, of material beings which are
animated. The object of Psychology was every thing that was alive: natural, physical, corporal realities with an
inherent principal of movement (plants, animals, humans).
In St. Thomas’ time the focus of what is the object of Psychology shifted from the soul in general to the human being.
For Thomas the main object of study were humans, while for Aristotle it was the totality of living beings. This limitation
was made complete by modern philosophers, because now the objects of Psychology are human beings exclusively.
While humans are indeed special they still incorporate vegetative and animal aspects. Modern Psychology has as its
object only the conscious or sub-conscious life of human beings (due to Descartes, who made a strong separation
between spirit and matter/dualism of Humans).
From the Material point of view our Objectum Quod is the Human Person (H)From the Formal point of view our Objectum Quod is the Human Soul (S)
Human Person understood as someone with a soul, someone who has a principle of life.
Acts of Human Persons hint to the faculties/powers/capacities (if I speak it indicates a f/p/c of speech) which again
lead to the source (soul) / principle of Human Life.
Task is to study human acts and f/p/c’s in relation to the soul.
The object of investigation is looked at from four different points of view:
Pre-scientific Psychology: It is purely empirical. It is a kind of knowledge of our
behavior that we ourselves acquire without being Psychologists, a knowledge
gained by observation of everyday life; the aim is practical, one cannot live
without these observations, because they help us to orientate, to improve our acts,
to improve our relationships with others. This knowledge is based on individual
observations, it is linked to an individual, it is not scientific because it does not
have a universal aspect.
Literary Psychology: An analysis of characters by writers which goes deeper than the
observation of everyday life, because it creates archetypes of characters. The aim
is not scientific but aesthetic, the character is immersed in a specific situation, so
again no universal aspect.
Scientific Psychology: The point of view taken by most modern Psychologists
Philosophic Psychology: Approach from a philosophical point of view
Careful: The alternative names “empiric” for “scientific” and “rational” for “philosophic” are wrong, because they imply
that scientific psychology creates a statement “a posteriori”, by making reference to experiences, while philosophical
psychology works “a priori” and has no connection to everyday life.
Second Lesson:
- THE NOTES FOR THIS LESSON ARE NOT MINE AND THEREFORE LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT -
Psychology (object of study = man)
What are we studying? A human person seen from the point of view of someone who possesses a soul.
We are studying what is essential for the human person.
We are looking for how are we acting? What can we do?
Actions - power - SOUL
Difference between scientific and philosophy psychology.
Scientific psychology = empirical psychology (MODERN, not correct)
Philosophy psychology = rational psychology (MODERN, not correct)
Empiric - based on experience, experimental
Rational - something based totally on contemplating/thinking
Empiric - absolutely based exclusively on experience a posteriori
Rational - something completely based on thought a priori
The difference between science and philosophy:
EXPERIENCE AND THINKING
Material differences
Both imply experience and reasoning of such experience
Philosophical psychology is predominantly speculative
Philosophy’s methodology has 2 methods:
PhenomenologicalScience of what appears in front of us
Looking for the essence of this, what appears to us
OntologicalLooks at human person as a being
What kind of beings are we?
Aim of philosophical psychology is a theoretical one.
Philosophy of Psychology - old discipline
Scientific Psychology - modern
Both disciplines are studying mobile, corporal being.
How do we act and what capacities for acting do we have?
Scientific psychology tries to understand the human person in all the manifestations of the capacities/characteristics
we have. But it is limited to characteristic accidents. Tries to quantify our actions.
Whereas Philosophical psychology goes a step further. It analyzes acts and powers of human person for a good end -
to arrive to the cause - the first cause (principle).
Science is peripheral in its ambitions.
Philosophical Psychology is much more central - goes to the heart of problem.
Science oftentimes looks at what a person does and not what we are.
Philosophy has a broader regard for the human person.
Philosophical psychology is actually based on public experience; is more observational; more reflective.
This is mainly a course on Thomistic psychology.
History of the term “soul” and its meaning - we can trace its origins (Plato, Aristotle) .
Homer (7th century BC) - human person was unable to perceive itself as totality
Human person was described in two different ways: alive/dead
The terms body and soul were only used when reference was made to dead people.
During someone’s life, there was no distinction made between body/soul. The reality then was one-dimensional (no
distinction made between corporal or spiritual reality) .
Psyche - soul (refers to act of breathing)
Soma - body
Vocabulary for living persons:
Melea - members, parts
Hrios - surface, skin (work indicates boundaries between me and external world)
Demas - structure, figure
Fimos - an organ of emotions, sentiments, passion (linked with will/mind/reason)
Frin - an organ of imagination
Soul - translation of latin word ANIMA
Which in itself takes roots from Greek word which means anemos (wind, breath)
Animus
In homer’s time, we see that fimos dies with the person.
At the moment of death, fimos ceases to exist.
In the 6th century BC psyche assumes fimos.
Before Plato another revolution took place.
Dualistic vision (war between body & soul)
Who is responsible for this?
Orphic tradition/movement. Orphism: We do not know well how it came to exist but it’s clear that in the 6h century BC.
Characteristics of Orphism :
- Understanding of human person is identified with the soul (I am identified with a soul)
- Necessity of ascetic practices (mortification)
- Founder (myth) Orpheus
- Orphism doesn’t care for the body
The soul is seen as a divine reality. This is the focal point of Orphic belief. Belongs to the family of God.
Belief in Demon: A voice which tells us what to do/not to do.
Soul is believed to be active when the body is not.
The activity of soul and body do not go together.
The immortal soul is only the human person.
Body imprisons the soul.
Body is grave/prison.
(Difficulties to describe ourselves as a unified being, soul and body were only applied to dead persons, living persons
had lots of terms, mostly used psyche and organs of our conscious acts on the level of our emotions and our body.
Not yet linked with a principle of life as such. Principle of life (soul) only connected to a dead person. Differentiation
between psyche-soul and fimos. Between 6th and 7th century transfer from fimos to soul happened. Orphism religious
movement, introduction of dualistic version of human being: Body bad, soul caught in there: Important characteristics
of this movement
a.) Soul is interpreted as a divine reality in us. Human person has in itself a principle of live of divine origin. Big novelty
that orphic tradition brings.
b.) Soul is contrary to the body, therefore it is truly itself when the body is asleep, because then we do not have power
over our acting. We are dealing here with a concept of the soul where all human dimensions are not part of what is
the soul
c.) Dualist conception of human being. Marked the occidental civilization. Orphism has seen soul as immortal reality
and body as mortal reality. Soul preexists the body and doesn’t stop existing once body dead. Body is negative reality.
Prison and grave of what the human person is, the soul.)
Third Lesson:
Orphic movement had own mythological explanation for contradiction between soul and body. Explanation tries to
explain why there’s good and bad in our live.
According to orphic tradition, orphic theogonists, the human person came to be like this: The main God Zeus had a
son, Dionysius. The divine world was also inhabited by evil gods (Titans e.g.). Titans killed Dionysius and ate him.
Zeus got angry and killed Titans, burned them up with the rest of his beloved son and threw the ashes down to earth.
From these ashes humans came to be. That’s why there is a tendency towards good and evil at the same time,
because we came out of the ashes that are mixture of what is divine and evil. Fall of the soul under the body was
thought of by Orphists as punishment for original sin. Live on earth should consist in an effort to liberation of ourselves
(souls) from body. Soul has ability to liberate itself in ascetic life, against the body, which is the principle of evil in us.
Mortification of the body, of all that belongs to the carnal dimension. Different practices: Participation in different rites,
being a member of a certain type of life with different ascetic rules. One of the rites characteristic for orphic movement
were ceremonies of initiation during which there was an imitation of killing and dismemberment of dyonisus to bring
back memory of what happened in the beginning. Orphic movement with all theoretical explanations of nature has in
itself a very irrational element. Important element of orphic movement is particular kind of live together with magical
rites.
Characteristic to Orphic religion is Mme. Sikorskis theory of the migration of the soul. Notion that soul has many
different incarnations came to philosophy from religion. It was a priest who gave the ideas to philosophers as such.
Mme S had a moral meaning/significance, because it was explaining a lot of problems we had in order to explain why
evil happens to innocent people. Theory of Migration of Souls explained that. Because in the present life the soul by
means of the body in which is in incarnated has to suffer for the sins committed in previous life. According to the
Orphics we have in this life to suffer exactly the kind of evil we have committed in the previous life. Not a very good
explanation, because it sets in motion an endless chain of bad deeds.
Reward and suffering in the beyond only in a very restricted sense before. With Orphics we have the new idea that
punishment and reward becomes a destiny for every human person/human soul. Orphics brings a new concept of
death/dying. Who knows if living ones aren’t dead and v.v. Here is the idea that death is natural and good and life is
nothing but an exercise in dying. Living is to learn how to die. (Plato will take on an orphic vision of the soul, but will
get out of determinism). End of 6th century in Greece concept of soul as principle of live was already well-established.
First philosophical tradition which is still of the orphic tradition is Pythagorean school. First philosopher who taught
the doctrine of re-incarnation. Soul is constrained to be reincarnated many times because it has to make up for guilt.
For Pyth re-inc. can happen even in animals. Pyth reformed the Orphs essentially in such a way that it was possible to
live this philosophy properly. Change of God, who is a patron both for Pyth and Orphs. Not Dyonisios but Apollo.
Because Apollo was the God to whom mind and science were consecrated. Very important point. Because difference
between orphism as religion and Pyth school is in the means of purification. Understanding of soul similar, means of
purification different. With the Orphs still by means of ritual celebrations, magical chants etc. In Pyth by means of
science, philosophy as the means of purification of soul. Plato and Sokrates will be followers of that. Soul is immortal
for Pyth, pre-exists the body, continues to exist after bucket kicked, body corruptible, incorruptible soul. Body is prison
for soul, therefore soul has to be purified from it. Up to here in line with Orphs. But then means of purification are
changing. Magical site lost. Purification done mainly by science. Pyth school had precise way of life. Movement where
a group of disciples lived together according to particular rules. How was purification of soul done? Different degrees:
1st degree of purification was concerned with music, because Pyths had concept of universe and soul. They saw the
universe as a harmony of numbers. Soul was understood as a harmony in itself. Cleaning or purification in the first
place had to consist in increasing harmony, so music was chosen. Music as such was first element in all the degrees
of the sciences the disciples of Pyth were learning, because acc. to Pyth it lead to the theory of numbers. Sound
coming out of different numbers. So introductory element to numbers and geometry in itself. Novices in Pyth school
had in the first period to listen in silence, without asking question. Was considered most difficult thing to learn. Having
grasped that, they were allowed to ask questions about music, geometry, arithmetic. Then came the time to study the
whole nature of the cosmos. The speaker was behind a carton, teacher was not seen. Students were just hearing the
voice. In a symbolical way this was an expression of the fact that knowledge is most important (anonymity of
contributor, not who, but what!). Letting doctrines out was forbidden, but one disciple obviously talked. Difference to
Orphs in the means of purification of the soul. For the first time we have a term appearing: theoretical
live/contemplative life. Pyth life sought purification in contemplation of truth.
Still in the 6th cent there appears a spiritualistic movement (improper use of term) in regard to comprehension of the
soul. A group of the first philosophers were called naturalists: “What is the first principle (archae)? From where do all
things come?” Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus = Water, Apeiron (infinite and indefinite reality), Air, Fire
(best image that speaks about constant movement). Asking about first causes different answers were given. Answers
are linked to the answers they gave to what is the soul. Soul understood as animating, governing and sustaining our
life. For each of the first philosophers the soul was linked to their element. Soul is internal principle of movement,
prime mover of our live, a principle of movement. They could not speak of immortality of souls, because our principle
of live was just part of a universal principle of live as such. Immortality of soul is always in impersonal terms. On
naturalistic basis it was impossible to conceive an immortal soul, neither a soul in the Orphic tradition. The only one,
who was slightly inclined toward Orphism is Heraclitus (Movement: pantha rhe, tantum fluit). Expresses some
thoughts going beyond his three predecessors. However he identified the nature of the soul with the nature of the
archae (fire). By means of the soul in us is preserved the divine fire. Soul as such is fire. The dryer the soul is, the
more perfect it is, because it is opposed to water. Humidity terminates the soul (Drunkards). Pantha rhe also goes for
the soul: Soul is fire: Has a permanent tendency to escape from us, comes from outside the body, in order to
conserve, we have to breathe, because fire enters us by breathing and leaves us this way. Now we have the simple
elements, which come from the archae. Such an element is not a unity in itself. Naturalistic way of thinking, but still
there’s an Orph influence, because he speaks about/uses words like “death of the soul, extension to infinity”. “Death
of soul” makes no sense if we refer to a bodily element. He tries to speak about something that does not involve
space or extension. When he speaks about such a soul and its life he uses Orph terms. “Life of the mortal one (body)
is the death of immortal one (soul) and v.v.” Heraclitus believed also in some kind of immortality of the soul including
punishment and reward after death.
Parmenides: (Metaphysics, Onthology) For him the main problem is the problem of being as such. Created a certain
crisis important for us. Indication for two different categories of man. Those who are asleep and those who are awake.
Means: Sleepers walk like in a dream, follow the common opinion about reality. People awake follow the path of truth.
Those who are asleep follow an obedience that is wrong. 3 Mistakes of sleepers: Mixing together being and not-being.
Multiplicity of beings, many different things around us. Qualitative differences in the reality around us.
Movement/change/becoming: All that is wrong according to Parmi. Because to him only being exists. Being is, non-
being is not. Being and thinking. When we think we think about being, cannot think about non-being. To think means
to be and v.v.
With him the being is understood in univocal way without its many modalities. He affirms purely abherent: multiplicity
of beings (numerical diversity), qualitative differences and movement. His being is one, unique being. That’s why no
multiplicity. Being is not qualitatively differentiated, it is identical in itself, there is only one unique being identical to
Look at I, q 18.3 if you have the time, see what are the elements in virtue of which St. Thomas is making a division of
all living reality in three dimensions.
Twelfth Lesson
The nature of the soul, its essence, in Thomas:
We see an independence of Thomas from Aristotle and also a difference. Thomas follows closely, but always retains
his independence. Already the presentation of the problem is different from Aristotle, because Thomas does not follow
the ascending order of Aristotle. Aristotle speaks about vegetative, sensual and rational soul and treats them equally.
Thomas looks at the problem from the Christian point of view and therefore starts his discussion with the notion that
the soul is spiritual and created. The discussion goes immediately to “What is the human soul?” not “What are the
different kinds of souls?”.
Question 75: “What belongs to the essence of the human soul?” Seven important questions
Is the soul a body or not?
Is the human soul a subsistent reality?
Is the animal’s?
What is the composition of the human person (soul and body)?
Is the soul composed of matter and form? Is it simple?
Is it corruptible?
Is the human soul of the same kind as the souls of the angels?
Answer: The soul is a material, substantial, simple reality.
Definition of soul in Thomas in the 1st article of question 75:
Premise: Looking for the nature of the soul we have to presume that the soul is defined as the 1st principle of life. We
call living things animated = “Having a soul”; things that do not live inanimate = “Having no soul”. Smart, because no-
one would object to the division of things into animate and inanimate. And the soul is, what makes the difference! So
the soul is connecting us with life, is the principle of life.
What do we mean by life?
Two different points yet compatible points of view: Metaphysical and scientific
Metaphysical: Abstract definition. Life as such is an abstract term. Life is an act of being typical of the living things (from vegetative to human). What do we do? We live! Life is an abstract term coming from an act of life. Life is
a specifial act of being proper to a group of beings. The act of being is proper also to non-animate beings. Whatever
exists has an act of being.
Scientific: Properly speaking we cannot give a definition for life, because what is proper to the positive sciences is
not so much the study of life in itself as an abstract act, but the operations of being that are proper to life. The vital
operations are examined and expressed in mathematical formulas. From this point of view, the biological sciences
give only reduced information in regard to what life is, because they study not “the life” but the vital operations, by
means of which we can detect life. Definition of vital operations: Self-regulated chemical processes on the molecular
scale of the organism that preserves through time and generations a genetic continuity.
Self-regulated chemical processes on the molecular scale: In order to speak about the living beings, the first thing
characterizing them is the fact that they are a center of constant chemical reactions. The reactions are of a particular
kind. They do not happen on a microscopic scale, but on the molecular scale, which is impossible to see without
special instruments. Also, such chemical reactions are happening under conditions, which are distant from equilibrium
and they can not be reduced to the laws of neutrons. They are happening on the basis of feedback, not action-
reaction. Means: If we join two cylinders with gases, which have their own characteristics and temperatures, we know
that the result is another kind of gas with a temperature resulting from the two previous ones. It is an equilibrium
between the first initial stages. The result is a particular state of equilibrium, stability. Initial conditions were different.
The third state is a stability of the system. We have identical temperature. The stability is a stability of the maximum
disorder, because we have complete disorder of the initial gases, we do not know which is what. We have another
reality representing a condition of a molecular chaos. Such a situation of living in equilibrium with this what is joined
with us, is something which is not proper to life. Chemical processes proper to life take place in a state distant from
equilibrium. It is true that living beings are the physical systems capable of exchanging energy with the proper
environment. Yet the exchange of energy with the environment happens in such a way that the living organism is able
to retain its own stability without passing to the state of equilibrium with the proper environment, i.e.: average
temperature. The living organism has the ability to maintain stability during the exchange of energy. The living
organism maintains a maximum of inner order. Death of the individual means the state of thermodynamic equilibrium,
loosing the capacity of keeping yourself in a stable condition.
This stability implies a presence of a system of self-regulation, because the stability is only possible because life is
characterized by a process of self-regulation of the chemical processes. The exchange of the energy between living
organism and environment does not happen in terms of action-reaction. Self-regulation is linked to complex
structures, which are supposed to maintain the individual, the reproduction, the species. The self-regulating process
consists in a hierarchy pf processes inside the living organism. Some parts of the higher level of the organism check
operation of lower levels of the organism. That’s why we speak of organism, because where the higher level controls
the lower, the lower elements become tools for a good used by a higher element. Tool = Organ. Organism is exactly
this coordinated being, having a capacity of self-regulation. The organs regulate the functions of cells, which become
the tools of the organs, the cells regulate the molecular stuff in the cells themselves. So one becomes the tool of
operation for others = Organism.
This process goes in two ways. The organs do not only regulate, but v.v. There is a mutual interaction on the different
levels of organization of the totality. It is kind of a circular reaction, not linear, or a kind of retroaction. Life from this
point of view is characterized by this particular important sophisticated capacity of self-regulation. The vital operations
are the self-regulated processes of the molecular scale to stabilize individual and species. The self-regulation-capacity
is replaced by a notion of the capacity to perform an immanent act.
From a metaphysical point of view (in comparison to the scientific point of view):
Life is a transcendent perfection of an act of being, proper to certain beings, which are by their essence able to
determine levels of proper behavior. Life is an act of being proper to those beings with the capacity of partial or total
self-determination, or beings capable to perform immanent acts, or of those things able to move themselves. Living
beings are those physical (and spiritual) substances manifesting intrinsic finality. We can see this in the actions they
perform, because they are able to modify their behavior in view of satisfaction of determined aims. This is a capacity
of changing behavior in order to reach a determined aim. This can be done in conscious or unconscious way. Not
each living organism performs such processes of self-determination in a conscious way. There is a significant
difference in what way such self-determination happens in sub-human beings and in the human person. With the vital
acts, the first finality is surviving, reproduction, retaining the continuity of the individual existence and the existence of
the species. In the sub-human kingdoms, these aims occupy the highest pace in the natural aims. All other finalities
are subordinated or instrumental to these aims. The intermediate aims/ends can always change place without the
awareness of the animal. For example: Animals have a fear of fire, because it is dangerous and deadly. But there also
is the natural drive to satisfy hunger, because it helps to survive. An animal would not try to overcome the barrier of
fire to get food. But when the hunger becomes a deadly threat, the main aim becomes life, so the hierarchy of
operations changes and the animal might jump through fire to get a snack.
In the human being the capacity of change is present, but additionally we have an awareness of natural goals. We
also have a freedom that the animals do not have. We can know our natural goals and we are free in one way or the
other to achieve goals. We might even sacrifice our own life in order to safe the life of someone else and do this
consciously.
In the living beings there are different levels of how we can determine our own behavior. Thomas speaks about
different levels of life, using the principle of immanence or self-regulation. In order to determine the levels of life and
their perfection, we have to look at three different components of acts and see what kind of influence we can have on
them. The three components of an immanent action: In the first place the end (towards which we move) moves the
agent, the principle agent is that which acts through its form (the principle of movement), and sometimes … does not
more than execute the action.
Beginning from the lowest level up to the highest, the ability to being moved by itself is growing. On the first level of
live the determination of self-regulation can only be exercised in reference to doing or not doing something, not in
regard to the form in which it is done, not in regards to the end toward such an act is directed. -> Vegetative forms of
life.
On the second level we find a higher level of self-determination, because animals can determine both the execution of
the vital act (doing or not doing) and the form of doing it, but not the proper goals -> Animal forms of life. Animals can
apprehend by sensorial perception and can thus change the form of the way in which they behave. But they cannot
change the purpose of the vital operations.
On the third level of life self-determination can be exercised in regard to the purpose as well. We have different
degrees of immanence. Once we have a process of self-regulation only in regard to the executive acts, we speak
about vegetative life, add the form of the execution and you have sensorial, animal life; finally when self-regulation
can be exercised in regard to the end, we have human life.
These three levels of life are characterized by certain things, about which Thomas speaks.
Third level is characterized by that the ends are known and voluntarily chosen. We have a consciousness of the goals
and we can voluntarily change them. This capacity of knowing the goals and the proper behavior and choosing them
in a free way makes that a particular object becomes an intentional goal, something towards which we tend in a
knowing and voluntary way. They become values for us. Such a goal, knowingly pursued, will define the form and
execution of our acts. From this point if view this kind of behavior is determined by the fact that we have intellectual
capacities and will. We are able to know the forms of the other realities.
Second level is given to those beings by nature. It cannot be chosen in voluntary and conscious way. But it can be
changed unconsciously, involuntarily. The goal is instinctively pursued. Feelings of pain modify the form and the
execution of acts. The modification of the behavior can be done in virtue of sensorial knowledge, through which the
animals receive the forms of the other beings.
First level beings cannot be enriched in its form or nature like that. They have an innate natural goal, involuntarily and
unconsciously present. They cannot change the way they behave. They can only influence in regard to performing or
not performing an act.
So Thomas means a certain degree of the capacity to perform immanent acts, a capacity for partial or total self-
regulation, when he talks about living beings.
About the soul:
First from the notion of the soul in general: “It belongs to the nature of the soul to be the form of the body.”
Secondly not in general but in specific: “We can say that it is an intellectual or rational reality.”
General notion can be applied to plants and animals, too. Specifically it is only applicable to human beings.
Speaking about the human soul, he indicates one important characteristic. Essentially the human soul is immaterial. This means on the one hand incorporeal and on the other hand subsistent. Incorporeal means that it is not a body,
not a material element but a formal element in whatever is alive. Immaterial also means subsistent, not intrinsically
dependent on the body. It is able to exist independently from the material component, from the body. So it is not a
form in the sense that Aristotle meant. Because the act of being belongs to the soul.
FINAL EXAM
Question: What is philosophical philosophy? Where does the term come from and what are the Formal and Material objects of it?
Answer: **Philosophical Psychology is a natural science, which is speculative**Philosophical Psychology seeks a metaphysical understanding of the human person, both in its essence and its powers, acts and habits. **Psychology is part of natural philosophy and focuses on the soul and its relation to the body. Investigates the problems of life.**The term for philosophical psychology originates from the Greek psyche (soul) and logos (reason/the study of). **Etymologically, it indicates “something which is thrown in front of something.” **It is the study of the soul and has the living person as its material object. **Philosophical Psychology has the essence of the human person as its formal object.
Question: What is the nature of the human being in the Orphic Tradition?
Answer:
**The Orphics believed that when Dionysius was killed in battle with the Titans that Zeus burned them and scattered their ashes over the earth. **It is from these ashes that man took their form. **The Orphics also held that the mortal body was a prison and that the soul was continually seeking to return to the Divine. **The human soul is of Divine origin and can leave the body and exists before and after the body. **Human person was the principle called “soul” not the body. (Soul fell into the body) **Dualistic conception of the human being. Means the human being is composed of 2 opposite elements. Soul, incorruptible and corruptible body. **The Orphics further thought that the soul and the conscious were two different parts. **Their reasoning for this separation was that when the body slept that the conscious did too. **The soul, however, was liberated when the body slept. **Overall, the Orphics thought that life was a preparation for death and so they struggled to liberate the soul through ascetics.**Soul aso called “demon” in positive sense. Inner voice. (Socrates had a very strong inner voice.)**Orphism believed in transmigration - Metampsychosis.**Not from religion do we learn about re-incarnation, but from this philosophy.
Plato wrote **The soul had to come back for what we had done during this life. Live through what we had done to someone else. **In early Greek thinking (before 6th cent.), we already saw the idea of paying back errors or receiving a reward,**Saw sin as penalty - some imperfection.
Question: What are the similarities and differences in the conception of the human person according to the Sophists and Socrates?
Answer:**Socrates used many of the logical ticks that the Sophists developed to pursue the truth. **Socrates wanted his students to obtain a genuine self-knowledge and actively pursue truth, justice and life. **He wanted them to see the illusions of the world, instead of create them like the Sophists. Socrates, further, held that the unexamined life was not worth living.**Socrates believed that the soul was identified with the conscious and that it was the source of all of our moral acts. **The measure for the soul was God and those evils committed by a person are done so out of ignorance. **The perfect soul is gained by virtue as formed by science and knowledge. **It is the soul, as such, that makes use of the body and rules it.
**The Sophists were "philosophers" that taught for a fee. **They often focused on the most popular topics and, with the young politicians, taught them how to sway a crowd to their view and prove any proof. **It is apparent that the truth for the Sophists was not one of the highest priorities. **For the Sophists the measure of everything is the human person. This notion is developed in Phaedo (relativism), Gorgias (Ethics of Situaiton) and Phaedrus (utilitarianism) as well as the idea that reality is just an appearance. **Overall, the Sophists thought that the world had no aim or direction.**Socrates. Sometimes mistaken as a Sophists because of his way of questioning. **He would ask questions, like ‘what is justice’. Made himself look stupid which ffrightened others. **For Socrates, aim was not success, but research of truth. **Sophist and Socrates: both have reflection on human being. Sophists made conclusions about man without considering essence of man.**Socrates considers essence: What is a man? Human person is the soul (anima).
Question: Discuss the immortality of the soul and its proofs in Plato.
Answer:***Plato develped six proofs for the immortality of the soul, four of which come from Phaedo and the other two which come from the Republic and Phaedrus. →The first proof, to begin with, is that contraries are produced from opposite contraries, ie. light and darkness and darkness and light. In this way, there is life and death and death and life. →Secondly, the soul pre-existed and is immortal. We have a knowledge of things before we were born. We could only know these things from our past existence. Detractors held that this only proved that the soul pre-existed, not that it was also immortal. →Thirdly, similar knows similar. The nature of the soul is similar to God. It understands things that are not seen, ie. ideas and forms. These things cannot decay and so neither can the soul. Detractors said that this proved that the soul was immortal, but they said that it wears out. →Fourth, contigent being participates in absolute being. The soul is life and life cannot admit the principle of death, it excludes it. Therefore, the soul is immortal and can't wear out. →Fifth, the soul cannot be destroyed by anything internal or by an eternal evil touching us. For example, those who have ignorance or drunkenness can live a long time in spite of being evil and, yet, the soul is not destroyed by whatever is in it that is externally bad. →Lastly, the soul is the source of movement, the principle movement of the body is the soul and it is self-moving. The soul, therefore, cannot stop moving. **Overall, the problem with this argument is that there is no real proof of the immortality of the soul.
Question: Tripartition of the soul in Plato and Aristotle: explain the fundament of each divisions and its characteristics.
Answer:**Plato has three distinct souls that are found within all people.
→They are the rational soul (intellect/mind) Discerns what is right/wrong; true/false and in charge of making decisions. For Plato this soul is immortal: charioteer w/two mortal horses → and the irrational soul, which is divided into two parts,
a. irascible soul: heart and the desires.b. concupisible soul: found in the bowels and is the passions
**Our feelings are mostly deferred in the face of rational pursuits, especially to achieve a degree **concupisible souls, one of which is good and the other that is bad.
**Aristotle believed that each person had parts of each soul. **He held that the soul is formal, efficient and the final cause of the existence of an organism. **Aristotle developed the vegetative, sensible and rational souls.
→The vegetative soul deals with nutrition, reproduction and growth. →The sensible soul is found in animals (and perhaps plants) and accounts for their perception of features of their surroundings and move in response to this stimuli. →The rational soul is in human beings and permits representation and thought
Question: How did Aquinas describe the soul? Questions 75 through 77? Indicate and explain essential characteristics of the soul in St. Thomas.
Answer:St. Thomas believed that the soul is immaterial and is the 1st principle by which we live. It is the form of the body and is capable of existing by itself. The nature, powers and acts of the soul all work in harmony with the body and require the body to operate. The proper action, thus, of the soul is life and so the body itself rquires the soul to operate it. Importantly, the soul does not contain matter but it distinguishes between living and non-living beings. There is also no way to destroy the soul.
Question: What are the genera of the powers to each power of the soul? What are the acts proper to all those species? What are the objects proper to all those powers? Indicate the nature and division of the powers of the soul in St. Thomas.
Answer:
St. Thomas developed three ways to distinguish powers: →1) orders, grades of cosmic life; (vegetative, sensitive, rational powers)→2) genders, divisions in orders; and →3) species, division within genders.
The orders of the soul are the vegatative, sensative and rational powers. The vegatative power of the soul, in terms of gender, has the object of the body and acts to give life to the body. The vegatative power is the lowest dignity of the three powers of the soul and has the acts of nutrition, reproduction and growth.
The sensative power apprehends through the five senses and provides data to the brain to figure out the specifics and the bigger picture of things. The powers are taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight. When things enter through the senses they don't lose their individual material make up. Sight is the highest act of the sensative power because it can apprehend the object without changing it or loosing its material properties. The internal power coming from this is the imagination and makes the transition to the highest power of the soul. The four internal operations of the sensative power are 1) common sense, 2) imagination, 3) discrimination and 4) memory. Together these form the passive intellect. The intellect is the highest power of the soul. It is made up of the possible intellect and agent intellect, which is memory intellection and reasoning. It is in this power that man is like unto God. The degree of intellect, thus, is in direct proportion to its knowledge of the Universal Being.