Alcala 1958

DUALISM in THOMISM By FR. THEODORE TW AR OG ,M.A . Philosop hy Departme nt College for Me n I (9 lll I E , . nt

G OD is in fin itesim pli cit y.Al l thin gs pr oc eedin gfrom Him, how ever, rev ea l ev er -in creasi ng composi ­ tio n. To und ers tan dthe pro found dualism in all thi ngs tha t are not God mak es the me tap hy sic ist 's task les s arduou s and mo re ea sily under sto od. It is the pur pos e of thi s arti cle to sur vey the who le fie ld of be ing, in an attempt to gra sp the du ali sti c stru ctu res of fin ite thi ngs and to vie w them in rela tion to the Inf ini te Be ing . God is infin ite ly sim ple . Th is me ans there is no comp ositio nin Go d; ne ith er that of sub sta ncean d acc ident, matt er an d form , n orthat of ess en ceand exi ste nce . 1 No com positio nex ist sin God, bec aus eHe do es not re ceive pe rfe cti onin the ord ers of act iv­ ity, ess enc eand ex ist en ce .Th ough all oth er bei ng s in thi s me tap hy sic alhie rar chy de­ rive wh ate ver pe rfecti on the y ha ve from God, H is pe rfe cti onis under ive d. The pe rfe ctio ntha t under lies all oth ers, and wit hou twh ich the y are me ani ngl ess ,is exist ence. To ex ist , to stan d outsid e of not hing, be lon gs to God abs olu tely . To suppos e that God had rec eiv ed exi ste nc e woul d lea d us to int rod uc ecom pos itio nin 1 Cf. St. Thomas Aqu inas , Summa Th eol ogica, la Pars , q. 3, a. 2, 4 and 6. G ite licity. l ings e i g f , , l • in ng i- . land es hy icist's t s il tood. e l l i g, listic structur s I it ti i ite . itely l . is o ition ; r I l nce t, , r t of e ence and exi tence. 1 o iti n i , e f ction i - e ence. s hy ical chy - rive whatever perie tion they have from i ction ived. The perfection that underlies all other , t i c ing] , exi tence. To exist, to stand out ide oI i , gs t ly. suppose that God had r ceived exi Lenee uce ition 1 i , logica, I ,

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God . It woul d promptus to ask from whom thi s exi ste ncewas rec eived. But in God thi s is imp oss ibl e. God' s ess enc e is ex istence . God is lp su mEsse , as St. Thomas repe at­ edly rem ind s us . 2 Si nc eGod is the ine xhaust ibl eplenit ude of ex ist en ce we can und erst and howit is po ssi ble for Him to sha re Hi s per fect ionby imparti ng it to ess ences. In doi ng so, He cre ate s finite bei ng s. He draws them ou t of no thi ng , both thei r ess enc e and the ir ex ist en ce .'The cre ative ac t eff ect sthe first com po siti onfound in all creatu res wit hou t ex cep tio n. All finite be ing s have rec eiv ed their exi ste nc e from Sub sist ent Ex ist enc e. 2 Op.cit. , Ia Pars, q. 3, a. 4; I Sen t., dist. 8. q. 4, a. 1, 2; q. 5, a. 2; dist. 34, q. 1, a. 1; II, dist. 1, q. 1, a. 1; Con tra Ge nti les . I, 22, 52: Qq . Disp ., De Pot enti a. q. 7, a. 2: De Spi rit. Creat., a. 1 ; Co mp en d. The ol., c. II ; Opusc . XX XV II, De Quat uor Oppos ., c. 4; De Ent e et Esse ntia ,c. 5. 3"La creat ion n'est pas l'acc essio n a l'ex iste nce act uelle d'une esse nce doue e jusqu alors, et de toute eter nite, d'une cer tain e exis ten ce esse nti- ell e. La creat ion, c'est un comm encem ent ab- so lu; avant qu el lese prod uisit, non seul eme nt la crea ture n'avait pas d'ex isten ce,mais ell e n avait pas d'es sence; ell e n'etait ricn du to ut ; par la cre atio n, ce n'est pas seul eme nt l'ex iste nce qui est produ ite, mais aussi I'esse nce. Par fact e mem e qui attribu e l'ex iste nce a la quid dite ,ecr it le Doc tor Commun is, ce n'est pas seul eme nt l'ex­ iste nce qui est dite creee, c'est auss i la qui ddi te meme, car avant de posse der l'exist ence^cel le-c i n'est rien." Pier re Duhem, Le Sys tem e du Mo nde , vol. 5, p. 506. 91 nce i . s ible. 's / p , i s . 2 e . - e ible de ce and how le f tion ting . t s . ing, e i ence. 3 e li s I ition re t tion. i i ed nce h e t ence. 2Qp. .. : T t. . 1 I. I T \ l t tiles. . 1 ., n ia. it. l . ; end. l., 11 ; . . XVTT. ., ntia. e i c ]'arr ssion n ! nce r uel <· , 'alor.;, i \ i ce . i . i , c'est ent ah- ; , ' l e i i , ~ t _a ; t rn i re, i ,a1 ~ !';,C re : i ait t: ti n, r • t ! istence_ d11i1 , ~ l , r I a -te h re ite. frrit I t i . . t ,- r c . r . •i cl te r rn i-clr I'r r . le-C'i · ' i c , t e 1i nde, \'OI