Alcala 1958

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Th ey abo und in all fou r cat ego rie sof cor ­ poreal sub stan ces. Th ere are many ind ivi du alswit hin ea ch of the phi loso phi cal spe cie s bec ause by reason of the spec ific form itself ind ivi ­ dua ls are the same, not dif fer ent . Be cau se the form rec eive d into mat ter is ord ered to thi s qua ntit y rath er than to the oth er, an ind ivi dualari ses wit hin the spe cie s, dif fer ­ ing from anot her mem ber of the same cla ss of be ing s. Wh erea s the seco nd order of be ing, the orde r of essenc e,rev eals no com­ po sit ion in the angel ic essenc e, it ma nifest s com positio nof mat ter and form in eve ry physi cal be ing , whe ther min era l, plant, bea st or man himsel f. It should be noted tha t the dependenc e of form upon matter is int rin sic in the min ­ eral, plan t and bea st. Howev er,in ma n, form dep end s upo n ma tter onl y ex tri ns i- ca lly , bec ause man 's sou l is capabl e of pro­ du cin g ope rati ons pro per to a spirit ua l pr incipl e. The human sou l is not neg a­ tiv ely but po siti vely imma ter ial. W ith ou t mat te r,the soul of a ma n ca n ex is t; no t so the sou l of a beast. An ex ist ing ess enc e, if a sub stance ,ha s the virtue of ex ist ing in itse lf, not in an­ oth er as in a sub ject of inhere nce . Mor e­ over, it is cap abl e of be ing per fec ted by ac cid en ts. Sin ce the ac tiv ity of the Di vi ne Be ing is not real ly dis tin ct from the prin ­ cip le of that act ivi ty, no com positio n of sub sta nc eand acc ide nts exi sts in Go d. To asse rt the con tra ry wou ld me an tha t God could rec eive the perfec tion pro per to ac cid en ts.Reas on tells us that sin ce a ma n's fac ult iesare not alw ays in act, the y cann ot be ident ifi edwith his soul, wh ich is al wa ys in act with resp ect to the body tha t it in­ forms . But to suppos e tha t the ab sol utely pure Ac t has fac ult ies tha t are some tim es no t in act is to int rod uce compos itio nin God . Bu t som eone ma y say that wh en God cre ate s He exe rci ses His wi ll; and tha t wh en He ann ihil ate s He stops ex er cis ing ries • ces. i als l ical i s ifi i i- l , e t. se tity i al i s, - s. s i , e, l - i lic e, i s iti n c l , l, f. e of i sic - . owever, , s si- ll , ' l e • i g tio s to l i i le. l - l el terial. out tter, f ist; l i e, l nce, i lf, - t nce. - , le g f ted ents. ity e g ct • l i\' ty iti n h l nce t . r i ti t . ltie t ified w ys - . e tely ltie ti e l uce ition . e i e ilate l ci ing i

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same sp ec ies , bu t nume ric allydis tinct spe­ cific al ly . Ea ch an ge l con stit ute s a speci es of its own and po sse sse s un lim ite d per fec­ tion wi thi n that sp ec ies . 9 Si nce all be ings in the corp oreal wor ld are com po sedof ma tte rand form, thei r es­ sen ces are no t sim ple , but compos ed. Spe­ cif ica lly , ind ivi du al ph ysi ca l be ing s fal l int o one of the se fou r ca teg or ies :minera l, plan t, bea st, ma n. The sub sta nti al, or firs t, form of the mat ter may be ino rg an ic,as in mi nerals ; or endowe d wit h lif e, as in plan ts and hig he r forms . Th e form of lif e ma y no t inc lud e the pe rfe cti onof sen se per cep tion , as in pla nt s; or it ma y inc lud e it, as in brut es. Th e sou l mayno t giv e the bei ng the power to gra sp the ess enceof th ings ;or it ma y conf er thi s sup rem e per fec tion ,as it doe s upo n man alo ne . Man alone has the power to thin k and ac t rat ion ally . The highe rform, it wil l beobs erv ed,con ­ tain s the lower forms virt ual ly, not for­ ma lly. Man has on ly on e sou l by me ans of whi ch he walk s, hea rs an d thi nks. 10 In all ph ysi cal be in gs we fin d compos i­ tion of ess en ceand of exi ste nc e. Th ey are all ess ent ial lycom pos edof matte r and form. Sin ce firs t forms dra wn from the pot enc y of mat ter are eit her ino rga nic or or ganic or sen sit ive ,wh ere as the sou l or firs t form inf use d int o ma tter is rati ona l, fou r typ es of ph ysi ca l be ing s res ult : minera l, pla nt, bru te, ma n. Th ese var iou s spe cie s are proper lycal led ph ilo sop hic alspe cie s 11 bas ed as the y are upo n ess ent ial dif fer enc esbe­ twee n cor por eal sub stance s. Bea sts ma y be subd ivi de d into air , wat er and land anim als . But thes e spe cie s are base d upo n ac cid ental dif fer ences. Th ey envisage bea sts as rela ted to the ir imm edi­ ate sur rou ndings. Con sequen tly they are not philos oph ica l but sc ien tif ic sp ec ies. 9 Summa Th eol ogica, la Par s, q. 50, a. 4. l0 Oi) . cit.. Ia Pars, q. 76, a. 4. 11 This dist inc tion is occ asio nally restric ted to the orga nic world . Cf. F. Palmes , Psy chologi a, pp. 767-768. ies, rical y al y. l tes es s es u li ited p f - that species. l sed , - l , e . - l y, i al ical s l ories: l, t, , . ntial, t, anic, a l ; d , r s. e f ction tio , t ; e . l ay n ce gs; e f tio , . i al y. r , l e , - l y, - ll . l ich he w ks, hears and s. 1 ical i gs i- ce ce. ial y ed . r t nic i itive, as l, t es ical s lt: l, , t , . i s pecies are p l il s hical i s h ial ences - eal l s. ivided al . i s are tal ence . t i- r nding . e tly l o hical tific ies. logica, I , 1 00,,. cit.. Ta a is tio rr si nal y rt j!;a . , l ia,

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