Alcala 1958

know led ge is int erm edi ate bet wee npur e pot enc y and per fec tact . It is imp orta nt to not e tha t con fus ionis not opp ose dto cer titude, bu t to dis tinc tne ss. For examp le, we can kno w with cer titu de that ma n is an imal, but thi s is con fus ed know led gerat her than dist inc t knowle dge , for it is no t a comple tekno wle dgeof man up to hisult imate dif fer ence, sinc e "anim al" con tai ns "r ati onal"on ly in pot enc y. Th is kind of kn owled ge is imp erfect, for what we des ire is dis tin ct know led ge. 12 It must be rem ember edthat he re we are spe ak ing of int elle ctu al kn ow led ge. Con­ seq uen tly, thi s in no wa y de nie stha t sens e know led ge, wh ich is onl y of the singul ar, pre ced esinte llec tua lkno wle dge ,wh ich is of the un ive rsa l. However , eve n in sen se knowled gewe firs t know thi ngs con fus edl y, as whe n we se e som eth ing mo vin g at a dis tan ceand ca ll it an anima l,but at clos er ran ge we are ab le to per cei ve tha t it is a ma n. In the ord er of causal ity, by "univ ers al" we do no t me an a be ing viewe d under a un ive rsa l or gen era l asp ect , but rath er, a sup erio r be in g ex ert ing a cau sal ity of un ive rsa lsco pe. He nce ,suc h uni ver salsare known last an d with less cer titude, bec ause the y are mos t in act and thereby dispr o­ por tion ate to our inte llec t wh ich mus t pro cee d from pot enc y to act. Ye t this kno wle dge is mo re per fec t, bec ause it is bet ter to ha ve probab lekno wle dgeof mor e noble thi ngs than cer tai n kno wle dge of inf eri orthin gs. It was fai lur e to mak e this dis tin ctio n that cau sed Pla to to po sit his uni ver sal ideas as caus es of all be ing. He hel d uni ver sal sto be ext rin sicas well as int rin sic pri nci ple s of th ing s — sub stance ssepara te and dis tin ct from sen sib le thin gs, yet con­ sti tut ing the sub stance of sen sib le thi ngs 12 " . . . Non habe tur perfe cta scie ntia de re, quou sque perveniat ur ad spec iem spe cial issi - mam ; quia ill e qui scit aliqu id in gene re, nondum hab et perfec tam scien tiam de re." (I n II Metap h., lect . 4, n. 323 ) ledge ediate between y f t . t f ion d t i , i tnes . le, e i al, e ledge t dge, l te l dge i ence, since "animal" ins tio al" l y. i l ge f , ct knowledge. ed ing t al ledge. - tly, i s le ge, i r, c es ll t al l dge, i rsal. r, le ge t edly, as ing i g ce ll l, range l ive man. ity, i ersal" i rsal l , , i r i g i lity i rsal . , sals u i , - ti ate ll t i d y l dge f t, le l dge l i l dge r gs. e ction t l sal e i . als i ic a i ic ciples - h l nce te ct le , - i g h L e le 12" i t i i i- ; i , h., .

by sci encescon sid eri ngthem as prin cipl es, but the y also have a dis tin ct sci ence of thei r ow n; and (2 ) oth ers are not com­ ple te nat ure s in them selv es, bu t are onl y pri nci ple sof nat ure s; the se are con side red onl y by that sci ence wh ich trea ts of the thi ngs of wh ich the y are the pri nci ple s. Just as ther e are common pri nci ple sof ea ch dete rmi nate genus of be in g, so ther e are common pri nci ple sof be ing in gen era l. Th ese ma y be cal led uni ver sal in two wa ys : 11 (1 ) As to pre dic ati on,as whe n we say that "fo rm" is un ive rsa l bec aus e it is pre dic atedof any form wh ateve r;and (2 ) as to cau sality, as whe n Ar isto tle sai d of the sun that it wa s the uni ver sal pri nci ple of all gen era tion . It is of fundam enta limport anc eto mak e thi s dis tin ctio nbec aus eun ive rsa lityof pre­ dic ation is in the log ica l ord er and is con cer ned eith er wit h one an d the same be ing viewe d in dif fer en t wa ys , as whe n we say that heal th is cau sed by the doctor and the arti st, or wit h one th ingpre dic ated of man y, as when we call ma n and hor se ani ma ls. But uni ver sali tyof cau sal ityis in the real order and dea ls wit h be ing s dif fer ingin number , as when Ari stot le sa id that ma n and the sun genera ted man ; man be ing the proper cause, an d the sun the univer sal cau se. In the order of pr ed ica tio nthe uni­ vers al is fir st known and mos t cer tain, but acc ordin gto a kno wle dge that is con fus ed and esse ntia lly imperf ect ina smuchas it is pot enti al and ind ete rmina te. In the orde r of cau sal itythe uni ver salis kno wn last and wit h les s cer titude, yet kn owled geof it is mor e perfect. Th e reas on wh y in the ord er of predica­ tion we know uni ver sal s first is tha t our inte llec t pro cee ds from po ten cy to act . Conseq uen tly, we fir st know a thi ng in a gen era lway and under a cer tai ncon fus ion befor e kno win g it dis tin ctly , fo r con fus ed 11 In de Tr ini tate, q. 5, a. 4, c. ces ering t ci les, ct ; ) - s sel es, ciples o res; re ce i t i ciples. iples i ate i g, ciples l. l sal ways: 1 ) i ation, a i rsal e i ted t r; ) li , i tle sal iple tion. ental ance cti n e i rsality o - i l e viewed in different ways, as when , i te , a ls. sality lity l s ing , t tle ted ; s l se. ic tion - l i~, i g t l dge e i l y ect uch al r inate. s lity sal i , l ge i - sals ll t ds cy . uently, gene l i f ion e i g i clly, ed 11 i itate,

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