Alcala 1958

upon ma tter . Mixe d per fec tions, on the con tra ry, imply a com pos ition of mat ter and form in their ver y mak e-up . Th ey are sec onda ryforms imp res sed upo n sec ond ary ma tter. Remo vema tter , and the y cea se to ex ist . Bo dil y shap e off er s an exc ell en tex­ ample . Remove quant ity, in wh ich it in­ her es, and bo dil y sha pe bec omes unin tel­ lig ib le. Ph ys ica l be ings are composed in the orders of exist en ce ,ess enc e and ac tiv ity . Si nce the y are fur the st remove d from the Di vi ne Simpl ici ty ,it is no won der the y con tai n su ch inh ere nt lim ita tions, an in­ trinsi c du ali sm in eve ry one of the three orders of bein g. We ha ve de sce nd ed from Di vin e Sim ­ pli cit yto huma ncom po sit ion .How are we to ascend to tha t ine ffa ble Un ity which is Ipsum Es se? Our asc ent be gin s wit h the fac ts of expe rienc e, the fam ilia rreali tie sof ev eryd aylif e. To star t the jou rne yby deny­ ing the fac ts of exp eri encecu ts us of f from the thi ngs to be expla ine d. I was sho rt a yea r ag o; I am tall tod ay. I wa s fat a month ag o; I am not fat tod ay. Short nes san d fat nes s com e and go , but I rem ain . Th er e is a com positio nof form an d sub jec t in me . Wh ere as tall nes s ex ist s in me, I do no t ex ist in som ething els e. 15 I am a com po siteof sub stance and ac cid en ts. But wha t am / ? Youth fuln ess ,stre ngt h, res our cef uln essma y be denie dof me with ­ 13 "En eff et, les phen omen es que nous perc evons existen t ou n'e xist ent pas dans un su jet; si non, ils exi sten t en eux-memes et done ils sont en realite des sub sta nce s;si oui , ce suje t exi ste en lui-m eme ou dan s un autre , mais en ce dern ier cas , il faut arriv er enf in a un suje t qui exi ste en soi, a une sub stan ceexi sta nte :car jamais des phen ome nes, de s acc ide ntsne saura ient par leu r reun ion con stitu er que lque chos e d'ex istan t en soi , puis que, a la diff ere nce par exemp le des fus ilsmis en fais cea ux,des enfa nts ass is en rond sur les gen oux les uns des autre s, ils n'ont na- ture llem ent auc une apti tude meme partiel le a se tenir , a exi ste r seu ls. Ce raiso nnement nous obl ige don e a formuler un prin cipe premi er, celui de sub sta nce , quideco ule nece ssair emen t du pri ncip e d'id ent ite et s'en once ain si: 'To ut phe- nomene ex ige un etr e qui exi ste en soi , tout chan gement sup pos e un suje t qui dem eur e.'" H. Col lin, Man uel de Ph ilos oph icTh om isle , vol. 1, pp. 125-12 6. tions, ry, ition . ry f s essed upon ry t . ve , . e s t e - l . tity, - es, ily es t l- le. sical i gs ence, e i ity. t st e licity, i t tions, - c lis g. ed e - y sition. ble l se s ts rience, il r r ties ay . y - t ience i ed. ; . ; . nes s e , i . e i i n j t . as s s i e.13 o ite e ts. I fulnes , h, cefulness - 13 , es t t t o j t; ils existent en eux-memes et done ii ont en it' l nces; s , c i a l ce nte: i nes, ts i !c i er t , , re le ils ux, i I , ll e t le , r l . e t i i , st nce, qui l e e t du e tite N ' si: ' e e.'" , l il ophie T iste, . f

Hi s will with resp ect to the annih ilat ed thi ng . The refo re,sa ys the ob jec tor ,God is not alw ay scre ati ng . Bu t cre ati ngpu ts no pe rfecti onin God . It con fer sperfec tion upo n the thi ng be ing cre ate d. Wh ythen doe s God cr ea te? He cre ate s to communic ateHi s goo dness, not to rec eiv e it. 12 In all ess enc es tha t rec eiv e ex ist en ce, whethe r simple or com pos ite,we ha vesub­ sta nces perfec ted by ac cid en ts. An ang el's inte llec t and will do not con stit ute its es­ sen ce. Th eyare per fec tions of its sub stance , as are its tho ugh ts an d vo liti ons. Si nce ma tter doe s not ent er int o the ess ent ialcon­ stit uti on of an an ge l, none of the acc ide nts rec eiv edor pro duc edby it inv olv esmat ter. No ne of them is a mi xe d per fec tio n, i.e ., mi xe d wit h mat ter. We ma y con clu detha t an an ge l, tho ugh sim ple in the ord er of es­ sen ce, ma nif est scom positio nin the ord ers of ex ist en ceand ac tiv ity . Ph ys ica lbe ing s are substa nce stha t re­ ce iv e and pro duc e ac cid en ts. In rec eiv ing ex ist en ce, the ir mat ter rec eiv es form; the com pos iteof mat ter and form, or sub stance , in turn rec eiv esacc ide nta lpe rfe cti on s(th e fir st of wh ich is qu an tit y) an d produc es acc ide nts . All fou r kin ds of mo bil e be ing rec eiv e quant ity, but the acc ide nts they pro duc e dep end upon the rel ati vepe rfe cti onof their sub stan tial form s. Th us a mi ner al con­ trac ts and exp ands, a plant gr ow s and a bea st pro duc essensat ion .Man alo ne thin ks an d wills. All pro duce mi xe d per fec tio ns. Man alo ne pos its form al per fec tio ns, the opera tionsof thi nk ingand wi lli ng . Formal acc ide nts are purely spi ritu al in nat ure , ha vin g no int rin sic dep end enc e 12 "Wespeak of the act of crea tion ,a phrase that , on acco unt of the asso ciat ion of the word 'act' with the acti ons of creat ures, may perh aps seem to sug gest an act that is not con tinu ous ,but that is one out of a suc cess ionof action s. . . (It is obvi ous tha t) cre ativ e act is not of this kind (be cau se). . . it is not hin gels e than the eter nal wil l of God diff usi ng its own good ness . It is ther efor e, in itse lf, not suc cess ive, but etern al." Mo dern Tho mis tic Ph ilos oph y, vol. 2, p. 335. il ted . f re, t , G s ting. ting on . s ti t d. hy te t s nicate , t i e 12 es i e e ce, r l ite, ve - te e ts. ' ll t te - . f tions of stance, ts o s. ial - t t tio l, ts i ed ed l es . f tion, ., . de l, l - , ifests iti n ce a ti ity. ical s nces - e e e ts. i ing e ce, i es form; site o , nce, i es tal f ctions t i tity) es i nts. i e g i e tity, ts e tive ction tial s. al - t d , s ces ion. and wills. All produce mixed perf tions. l f tions, operations of thinking and willing. nts al , g i sic ence 12 " e ( ti , ion , ous, b ion s . {It t) i e e) . g l g . e, ive, l. istic il ophy, m

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