Alcala 1958

out any los s of my ess en tia l prer oga tive s. If som eon e de nies tha t I am an anima l ca­ pable of gr asp ingth e ess enc eof thin gs, my ess enc e ha s dis sol ved in hi s mi nd . I ma y no t hav estr eng that all tim es but I am pos­ ses sed of an imali tyan d rat ion ali ty. Th ey are ess ent ial to me ina smuchas I am su ch a sub sta nce . Is my sub stance a sim ple esse nce or a comp os ite ? Ex pe rie nc e t lls me that ma ny men ex ist , shar ing the nat ure of rati onal an imal. If ess ence me an spur e form, i.e., manne ss, wit hout ref ere nc eto mat ter, how can the re be ma ny men ? The ind ividu al mus t con seq uentl ybe composed of a sub ­ jec t an d the form ma nn ess . Hi s sub stance is com po sedof ma tter and form. Man and all ph ysi ca lbe ing sma nif estcom pos itio nin the ord er of ess en ce. Rea son can not pro ve the exi ste nceof an­ ge ls. 14 Th e ex ist en ce of purely spir itua l cre atures is known thr oug h the lig ht of su­ per nat ural rev elatio n. Enoug h is known abo ut them to ass ure us that the y have no ma tter in the m. Ye t Sa cr ed Scr ipture in­ forms us tha t the re are ma ny angels. To exp lai n the di ffi cu ltypos ed by the se super - nat ura lly rev eal ed fac ts, St. Thomas insi sts tha t the differ en cebe tween one angel and anothe r is not lik e the differ enc ebetween one huma n be ingan d ano the r. Pe ter and Pa ul di ffe r nume ricall y, not sp ec ific all y. Both are rat ion al an imals . One ang el dif­ fer s from ano the ras a brut e dif fer sfrom a man ; and man di ffe rs from brut e spe cifi ­ cal ly as wel l as nu mer ic ally." Wh en we sa y me n ex ist ,we are sta tinga fac t. Wh en I affirm my own exi ste nce ,I am sta tin ga fac t. Is my ess enc e (ra tion al an imal) really dis tin ct from exi ste nc e or no t? To an swerthi s quest ionproperl y,it is imp orta nt to rec all tha t form is rela ted to ma tter as ex ist en ce is rela ted to ess enc e. Si nce many th ing ssha re the form manne ss, 14 Cf. Summa Th eol ogi ca, la Pars, q. 50, a. 1. 15 Op. cit ., Ia Pars, q. 50, a. 4: Con tra Ge nti les , II, 93 ; De Sp iri t. Great., a. 8; Q . de Anirna, a. 3; De Ente et Ess ent ia, c. 5. tial prerogatives. e i l - ing e o gs, e s lved . ave th s - i ality i ality. ial uch st nce. l osite? Experience , i g l i al. ce s , es , t nce , ? i al uently b - es . nce sed . ical i s ifest ition ce. nce - ls.1• ence i l h - ral l ti n. h . e - s l . in lty - l y le ts, as ence e l r ence n i g r. l r rical y, ifically. i al i ls. l - s r a s ; rs ifi- l l erically. 15 , i t. ce, ti g t. e ti al i al) ct ce t er s i ly, t l ence t e. s s , HCf. logica. I l50p. . T t tiles, ; irit. Creal., . m tia,

t

ed

es

I mu st be compos ed of the form ma nness and a sub jec t into wh ich it was rec eiv ed . Si nce many thi ngs have exi ste nc ein com ­ mo n, I mus t be compos edof exi ste nc ean d a sub ject or ess enc e int o wh ich ex ist en ce ha s bee n rec eived. Wh at hol ds true of the ind ivid ualhuma n be in gis true of all ph ysi calbei ng s. If the re are to be ma ny exist ingthi ngs , thi s can be on ly bec aus e exi ste nce ha s been rec eiv ed int o sub jec tiv epot enc ies (es sen ces ) rea lly dis tin ctfrom it. Exi ste nceis mu ltip liedno t by rea son of itself but by reas on of the es­ senc esor sub ject s into wh ich it is rec eiv ed . Si nc e all finite bei ng s are compos ed of ess en ce and exi ste nce , exi ste nce ha s bee n imp res sed upon ess enc e eith er by a be ing in whom no suc h compos itio nex ist sor by a be ing in whom ess enc e is real ly dis tin ct fro m exi ste nc e. If the form er alte rna tive is adm itte d,the ex ist en ceof God is asse rted . If the lat ter altern ative is urg ed, the com pos itionof the sec ond be ingwill dem and explan ati on,as will that of the thir d, fou rth , fift h, etc . If an end les sser ies is urged upo n us, no ne of the bei ng s,taken separa telyor tog eth er,of­ fer s an adequa te exp lan ati onthat anyt hin g ex ist s. We are deali ng wit h an effect tha t ha s no proporti onat ecaus e. Th e one remain ingthi ng to do is to shu t ou r ey es to the fac t that we ex ist . Si nc e th is pro cedure pos tula tes a "reaso n" tha t do es no t exp lai n facts but exp lai ns the m aw ay , we reje ct it. Wh at are we the n to af fir m? God , Sub sist ent Ex istence, Ipsu m Ess e, ex ist s. Wh at is the mo st imp orta nt rea son fo r under sta ndingthe dualism in fin ite be in gs ? Th echain of rea son ingthat be gin swit h the dis tin cti onbetw een mat ter and form as rea l pr inc ipl es ex ist ing on ly in the com po site itsel f (e .g ., ma rb le and sha pe in a sta tu e) lea ds us to the dis cov ery of Hi m Who is In fin ite Sim pli cit y, Ipsum Ess e, the Al ph a an d Omega of all thi ngs . t i i ed. nce - , e nce j e i e ce i . s i ual h n i g ical s. i g , l e ce i ed jective ies e ces) l ct nce l i lied n - es j s i ei ed. e s e ce nce, nce ressed e i g ition e s i g e l i ct nce. tive it ed, ence t . ative , ition d being ation, , t , , . l i s, tely er, - s te ation hing i ts. g onate c e. ing t s t . e i l tes n" in l ins , ? e t , l e, s. i nt tanding it i g ? ing i s i ction l i iples i g l site e ., J1}a le _ tue) ery fi ite licity, l e, a

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