by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
On 378 Basil of Caesarea preached a homily known as “On the Words Give heed to Thyself, where he proposes a pastoral and moral reflection on the words of Deuteronomy 9, 15 Πρόσεχε σεαυτῶ, and he focused on the importance of attention to progress in virtue and avoid sin.
In this paper, after examine the central issues of the homily, I intend to prove that St. Basil, in his reflection on the precept “Give heed to yourself”, does not only discuss the moral sphere in order to the practice of the Christian virtues, but also refers to the psychological dominion, since he endows the attention with a therapeutic nature and, consequently, it must be useful and necessary not only for the spiritual health of the person but also for their health and psychological well-being.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
Aristotle distinguishes in Book IX of Metaphysics two kinds of acts: on the one hand the processes, that take place in time and are not perfect; on the other hand the perfect activities, in which the end is the activity itself and therefore do not require a temporary process for its realization. In this way Aristotle says that living is a perfect activity. Now, it is clear that life is composed of biological processes that require time. In this article I try to clarify how the processes can be part of a perfect activity and for this reason I try to clarify the role of the soul as a form that gives order to matter, which is developed in processes.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
Karl Rahner, in his famous work Geist in Welt (1939), tries to establish, from his Metaphysics of Knowledge (Erkenntnismetaphysik), the metaphysical foundations of the Freedom of the Spirit (Freiheit des Geistes). According to Rahner, appealing to Saint Thomas Aquinas, the metaphysical root of freedom lies in the independence of the spirit (consciousness) from sensitive matter, because of its anticipated orientation (Vorgriff) towards being in general (Sein überhaupt).
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
In this article we try to clarify St. Thomas’ assertion that we know in first truth and show that this reference to first truth is necessary for the ultimate foundation of science.
An attentive analysis of the question of truth will allow us to go back to first truth as the foundation of all truth and, from there, show in what sense the truth of our understanding depends on it. Thus, it will be justified that, in order to account for our science, this reference to first truth is necessary.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
This article aims to analyze the notion of “humanism” according to the definition of Cornelio Fabro, especially in his work L’Anima. Along with this analysis, we also study the general situation of the terms of the debate that arise from the definition, as well as the method used by Fabro to explain the development of the concept in question throughout history. In a second moment the three first models presented by the author of reference are approached: that of Classical Antiquity, that of the Middle Ages and that of the Renaissance.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
The aim of this article is to offer a metaphysical analysis of the notion of intellectual desire in Thomas Aquinas. Intellectual desire is studied from its origin in the esse of the personal subject to its full development in the “love of friendship”. It is shown that the intellectual appetite consists of a singular faculty, that is, distinct from the intellect. In addition, the intellective desire is rooted, like the intellect, in the esse of the subject, of which it can be considered as an “expansion” or “distension”; it also examines the “relative” superiority of love in the interpersonal relationship; it is considered the radical ordering of intellectual desire to “happiness”, which is also, ultimately, an ordination to God; and finally, it is exposed that, from Aquinas’ point of view, man’s “happiness” is impossible without the “coming out of oneself” implied in the “love of friendship”.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
St. Thomas considers the writings of the Fathers as directly related to Scripture since these were composed under the guiding influence of the same Holy Spirit. There exists therefore a continuity of thought between the Fathers as representatives of the authority of the Apostles and the Bible.1 For this reason, one would do well to recognize how deeply St. Thomas draw upon the thought of the Fathers. In this contribution we will present the main themes within the writings of the Alexandrian and Cappadocian Fathers that have influenced St. Thomas’s own thought.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
In this study which follows other works on the convergences and divergences between 20th century Thomists, we wanted to offer the readers of Espíritu a brief structural comparison between the theoretical philosophy of Jacques Maritain and that of Cornelio Fabro. Our purpose is articulated in two stages: 1. the critique of the Cartesian cogito and its later vicissitude; 2. the metaphysical analysis of the being. In this last respect, we explain how the two philosophers oppose each other, first as regards the ontological and noetic status of the “ens primum cognitum”, then as regards the principles – act of being and essence – in which they resolve themselves “being qua being”.
by Revista Espíritu | 158-2019
The present issue of Revista Espiritu collects several articles of very different themes; therefore, it could be considered a miscellaneous number. Among these articles we would like, however, to highlight some. The first of these is the one of the well-known philosopher Alain Contat, which offers us an interesting work on the Thomism of Maritain heard by Cornelius Fabro. With thanks and appreciation, we also publish an unpublished work of Fr. Leo Elders, recently deceased. This publication is thus a posthumous recognition of one of the great diffusers of Thomistic thought of the last century and who was also a contributor to our magazine.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
In the 13th century, the question of divine science focused on the problem of its extension, that is, on the justification of divine omniscience. Because of the principle that God knows creatures by knowing himself as their cause, all agree to recognize a link between the extension of divine science and that of divine causality. However, since the inherent effect of divine causality is being, only the Thomas conception of being as an intensive act, “act of acts”, allows the universality of divine causality and, consequently, omniscience to be founded on account of it.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
The text proceeds from the analysis of the correlation between the idea of rationality and the affirmation-negation of God. Therefore it considers the epistemological premises of modern atheism, identified in the unfolding of the principle of immanence. It subsequently goes on to examine both the political atheism of modernity and that of post-modernity. The first, presents itself vividly in the theory of the State as the arbiter of justice and injustice, as of good and evil, while the latter is expressed as an active, positive or deconstructive negation of being (of politics) in its determinacy. On these assumptions, atheism coincides with the anti-ontology of politics, and this is resolved in the post-ontology. Such “immanentization” vacates order in organization and power in effectiveness.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
The point of arrival for each of the quia demonstrative ways is the fruit of solidly founded scientific reasoning. Each is made to coincide in re with “this all men speak of as God”. We think that there is a human and epistemological space, which is still empty and must be filled by an appropriate Philosophy of Religion. This philosophy must possess a proper and exclusive object, which would be, according to our hypothesis, “this all men speak of as God”: not “God” considered in his existence or nature, but rather in his mysterious “presence” and “action” in each conscience, in every conscience, and in every kind of conscience.
PALABRAS CLAVE:
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
This paper presents the Aristotelian conception of the eternal and unmovable substance, first mover of the world, as the supreme God in his theology. Starting with the common concept of “a god” and the demonstrations of its existence in the Physics and the Metaphysics, the problem of the kind of causality it exerts is examined. It is sustained that both types of causality are implied, that is, efficient and final. After completing its characterization in accord with Metaphysics XII, some problems which are still open to debate among the interpreters of Aristotle, are briefly indicated.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
Examination of the arguments that St Thomas Aquinas gives to support the non-existence of God, which are contained in the Summa Theologiae. The first argument relies on the existence of evil; the second rests on the self-sufficiency of the world and of freedom.
Texts are introduced, and the fact that this arguments are a historical novelty with no located records is shown.
The two atheistic Thomistic arguments are studied. Regarding the first one, the author shows the sense given by Duns Scotus and by the great commentators (Cayetano, Báñez and John of St Thomas). Regarding the second one, the nexus with the atheistic modern discussions and with the concept of autonomy is shown.
The work is concluded with the draft of a general theory of atheistic arguments and their main classification.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
This article exposes and explains Alvin Plantinga’s objections against the traditional doctrine of divine simplicity, with a special focus on the objection based on the incompatibility between divine simplicity and the free character of the act of creation. The article analyses and weighs different responses to this objection coming from the Classical Theistic perspective of Thomas Aquinas: a) the impugnation of possible worlds semantics; b) the distinction between absolute and hypothetical necessity; c) the denial of God’s trans-world identity; d) the extrinsic character of God’s relational properties. A nuanced version of this last response is proposed and defended.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
This article aims to show the relationship between the entitative and the intelligible in Saint Thomas Aquinas’ thought in the light of Francisco Canals. We will expose how in Aquinas the entitative and the intelligible differ just in virtue of the finitude of the being. The different grades of intelligibility derived from the ontological perfection of being will be examined: the human soul, the separate substances and God. Following Canals, the argumentation will lead to identify self intellection with the presence of the act to itself, overcoming the paradigm of subject-object opposition. Finally, some considerations in relation to human knowledge are posed.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
Saint Thomas Aquinas is a Magister in Sacra Pagina. The spiritual understanding of the mystery of God is one of those concepts that Saint Thomas has formed from the reading of Sacred Scripture, particularly of Saint Paul and Saint John. It is precisely the adjective “spiritual” which in qualifying the understanding of the mystery of God gives it its peculiar meaning. With this adjective, saint Thomas qualifies this knowledge as the salvific knowledge that really introduces men into salvation and perfection. It is opposed to other knowledges that do not open to the salvific revelation of God and that are qualified as carnal or literal. Concretely the Aquinate, following Saint Paul, considers the knowledge of the reason that is closed or a faith that does not open to the fullness of revelation as a carnal knowledge. The spiritual intelligence in Saint Thomas can highlight not-so-well-known aspects of his thought and serve to illuminate some current issues such as contemporary biblical hermeneutics.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
The problem of analogy has occupied much of the thomistic discussion in the second half of the last century. Going directly into the various positions would exceed the limits of an article; however, in a reflective and proactive exercise, we would like to expose (from the contributions of Cajetan and Canals to the thought of Aquinas) a justification and the basis of the analogy of proportionality as an adequate tool to establish a discourse on God that ends metaphysical work.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
Divine freedom, according to Aquinas, should be considered not only in the line of the specification that constitutes free will, but in the dimension of the exercise of freedom in general. According to this twofold aspect of freedom (duplex volitio), as “immanence of the end” and as “diffusive self-possession”, we must necessarily claim a free term of love in God. Because of the free and immanent diffusivity of its goodness, whose personal character we know by revelation, the freedom of the creative act is guaranteed. This free diffusivity is shared by man, in the natural inclination toward the good, as a kind of “super-liberty” and as the foundation of the formal freedom proper to his free will.
by Revista Espíritu | 157-2019
The concept of imago Dei plays a fundamental role in the christian conception of human being. Saint Augustine’s conception of the mind, held in De Trinitate was determinant to the theorization of this subject throughout the Middle Ages. Indeed, this work exerted a capital influence on the way in which Thomas Aquinas understood this same topic. In this article, we explain the interpretation of the fundamental Augustinian concepts that intervene in Aquinas’ explanation of the mind as the image of God, such as those of likeness and image, those of mind, knowledge and love, those of memory, intelligence and will, as well as those of “dicens”, word and love. Through them, the human mind and its operations are conceived as a privileged reference to speak of God as Trinity, from the application of analogy. Just as in the human mind there is habitual presence to oneself (memory/dicense), from which comes, by intellectual means, a word in which one expresses one’s own nature, and, through this one, a love of self proceeds by way of will, which is a new way of affective presence of oneself, in God, from the Father, perfect as a subsisting being, the Word and Love proceed.
