The actuality of the understanding and of the indeterminate love that the soul has for itself and for God

Abstract:

In the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, saint Thomas affirms that the soul always understands itself and God in an indeterminate way and that an indeterminate love follows this knowledge. To comprehend these affirmations in coherence with the rest of Aquinas’ philosophy, the sentence has to be read in line with what has been affirmed in De Veritate, q. 10, a. 8: distinguishing between an existential knowledge and an essential knowledge. The knowledge that the soul always has of itself and of God is in the order of the act of being not of the essence and that’s why this indeterminate character doesn’t entail potentiality.

Key words:

Existential knowledge, image of God, agent intellect, indeterminate love.