Alcala 1958

In ha vin g rec eiv ed ex ist en ce, the y are cle arl y and irre voc abl ydis tin gu ish ed from Him Wh o has no t rec eiv ed ex ist en ce, be­ cause He is Ex iste nceIts elf. Now wha t do we me an by es senc e?Aris ­ totl e defines it as the wh atn ess of a be ing. 4 Th e ess enc e of a tree is tha t by wh ich a tree is a tree and no t a ma n. In hi s Ph ilo sop hy of Be ing, Fr. He nri Ren ard, S. J., rem ark s: "E xis ten ce,or 'to be ,' can not , it is true, be de fin ed ,for def in- i g i ed ence, l ably i guished i ed e ce, - nce lf. ce? - as t es i g. 4 e i . il. hy f i g, , , rks: xistence, e , , ,

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and the no tio n of a hundred ex ist ingdol­ lars , as Kant him sel fma int ain s. 6 Un les s a be in g is dis cov ere d whose es­ senc e is ex ist en ce,ex ist en cemus t be oth er than ess en ce, en tering int o compo siti on with it. 7 In God , tha t by wh ich He is what He is, is tha t by wh ich He exi sts . Th e same can­ not be sai d of any fin ite be ing . Th e fir st and gre ate st ord er of be ing known natu r­ all y, the ord er of ex ist en ce,rev eal scons um­ ma te ide nti ty of ess enc e an d exi ste nc e in God . It un ba resthe du al ismof essenc e and ex ist en ce as re ally di sti nct pri nci ple s in ev er yex ist ing fin ite th in g. Th e ess ences to wh ich God commu nic ate s ex ist en ce , in ord er to dif fu se His good ­ ne ss, 8 are no t all sim ple ; some ma nif est com po siti on . Si nc e an gel s are ess ent ial ly pure spi rit s,the y have no mat ter in their ess ent ial con stit uti on . Th eir ess enc es are pur e forms, no t lim ite dby an y mat ter into wh ich the y can be rec eiv ed . Hence an ge ls can not be ind ivi du atedby matte r rela ted to a de sig na tedqu an tity . Th ey can dif fer from eac h oth er on ly by reas on of a spe­ ci fic dif fer en cein the ir form s. Conse que ntl y,St . Thomas insi sts tha t an­ ge ls are not nume ric allydis tinct wit hin the 6 K ri ti kder Rei nen Ve rnu nft , Die Trans zende n- tale Dia lekt ik,II, 3, (4 ). 7 St. Thomas wri tes : "Hi s visis , patet quomodo esse ntia invenitu r in diver sis. Invenitur autem trip lex modu s hahe ndi esse ntiam in sub stan tiis: (a ) Aliq uid eni m est, sicu t Deus, cuj us esse ntia est ipsum suum esse; et ideo inven iuntu r aliq ui philog ophi dic entes quod Deus non habe t essen ­ tiam: quia ess ent iaeju s non est aliud quam esse eju s . . . (b ) Secun do modo inven itur esse ntia in sub stan tiis creatis inte llect ual ibus,in quib us est aliu d ess e quam esse ntia ipsarum , quamvis esse ntia sit sin e ma teri a; unde esse earum non est abso lutum , sed recep tum, et ideo limitatu m et finit um ad cap acit atem natura e rec ipie nti s: sed natu ra vel qui dditas earum est abso luta ,non rece pta in aliq ua mate ria . . . (c ) Ter tio modo esse ntia inve nitu r in sub stan tiis composi tis ex mate ria et forma, in quib us et esse est recep­ tum et fini tum , propt er quod et ab alio ess e hab ent : et iterum natura vel quid dita s earum rece pta est in mat eria sign ata." De Ent e et Ess ent ia, c. 6. 8 C f. H. Dag neau x, Lecons de Me tap hysiqu e, pp. 362-363. , imself i tains. 6 l ss i g red - e ence, e ce ce, i sition .7 , i i . - it i . st i - , e ce, r ls - ity e nce . res lis f e and i e ce ct iples y i i g i it i g. i nicates e ce, se i - s , t le; ifest sition. e ls ial y s irits, ial i ution. es s, i i ed. ls i ated ted tity. l - ence s. uently, . as - rically i 6 itik n/t, n n• ik, ). 7 tes: , essentia invenit c sis. l s b i t ti s: ) i l i r i i t c - ia s . ) do t ti s ll alibus, s , ia; cl r , , l te l c i i ntis: l i l , i .. ) ti i r t ti s itis i , - l t , l t: it c i tia, 8 f. O x, ta hysique,

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FR. TWAR OG itio n req uir es int ell igi bil ity ,bu t int elli gi- bil ty demand sess ence. No r ar e we abl e to conc eiv e'to be' str ictl y, ex cept as an actu­ ati on of the ess ence. We can sa y, how ever, that the 'to be' is tha t by which som ething is or exist s;and tha t while the ess en cetell s us what a th ing is, ex ist en cetell s us whet her it is ." ' If a cha racter isti cdoe s no t be lon gto an ess enc e,it mus t ente rinto com po sit ionwit h it. Ex iste nce do es not per tai n to ess en ce. Th ere is no dif fer encein con cep tbet wee n the notio nof a hun dre dno n-e xistingdoll ars 4 Meta ph ysi ca, 1017a. 'p .50. ires el igibility, l igi- bilty demands essence. Nor are we able to eive ' i tly, t - ce. , , ' t i s; ce i ce s hether ' ct ristic s l g e, t r sition i nce t i ce. ence t n d - xisting 4 ysica, 'P• .

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