Each science studies beings in a specific and determinate way. According to Aristotle, metaphysics studies the being in general, leaving aside their particular determinations. [1] Metaphysics thus, studies being qua being and what belongs essentially to it. [2] One of the concerns of metaphysics is what Aristotle termed as substance to indicate what, in fact, has existence in time and space, being subjected to the action of natural laws. Aristotle says:
Get Help With Your Essay
If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
“Clearly, then, the investigation of all things qua things belong to one science. Now in every case a science is concerned mainly with that which is first, both as that on which the others depend, and as that through which the others are named. Accordingly, if this is a substance, it is of substances that the philosopher should possess the principles and causes. [3]
According to Aristotle’s metaphysical account, there is a distinction between what is apprehended by intuition and what is grasped by the intellect, between substance and essence. He says: “Substances are also the parts which are constituents in substances taken in the first sense, which limit these substances and indicate a this, and without which the whole is annihilated. (…) The essence, whose formula is a definition, is also said to be the substance of each thing. The term ‘a substance’, then has two senses: it means the ultimate subject which is not predicated of something else, and also that which is a this and is separable, such being the shape or the form of each thing”. [4] For Aristotle, substances are related to what exist in fact in the world, and about essence it is possible to say that, despite of the fact that it is part of the determination of the being, it has only conceptual existence.
Aquinas adopted some of the presuppositions from Aristotle’s metaphysics in his ontology: such as all other sciences, metaphysics is causal, since it studies the principles through which beings are what they are. [5] Furthermore, Aquinas had to redefine some aspects and terminology of his predecessors in order to create his own metaphysical account. Staring with entia, given in sense experience it should be called “substances”. Each substance forms a complete whole, endowed with a structure that constitutes on ontological unity, or a unity of being. Insofar as a substance can be understood as one and defined, it is given the name “essence”. Essence is only substance insofar as it can be defined, it is what the definition says substance is. This is also a description of reality. [6]
In Aquinas’ study of metaphysical beings, it is possible to assume that they can be analyzed in two distinct ways: as having a determinate form which distinguish themselves; or as existing in a strict sense, called respectively essentialist and existentialist perspectives by F. C. Copleston [7] . Considering the essentialist approach, Aquinas affirms that all beings have an essence which establishes a certain form to these beings:
“Because, ‘a being’ in this sense is divided by the ten categories, essence must mean something common to all the natures trough which different beings are placed in different genera and species, as for example humanity is the essence of man, and so with regard to other things. Because the definition telling what a thing is signifies that by which a thing is located in its genus or species, philosophers have substituted the term ‘quiddity’ for the term essence.” [8]
Considering the second way, the existentialist approach, beings existing in a strict sense, it is possible to realize that “this book” or “this man” are actually part of this world, inserted in space and subjected to the natural and causal laws. Here Aquinas makes a distinction between essence and existence.
Therefore, after looking for reality in the sensible qualities of beings, then in their essences, then in their substances, philosophy had finally realized through Aquinas that true reality is actual essence. [9] Having an essence, means being able to be inserted into a genre and be part of a species through a specific difference. One can note that, given elements actually exist in time and space. Armand Maurer explains that Aquinas intends to expose the meaning of the terms ‘a being’ and ‘an essence’, how being and essence are found in the different orders of reality, and the relation they have to our logical notions of genus, species and difference. [10]
According to Gilson, existence is a condition for being, essence and all that can be studied by metaphysics and the core of reality. In Thomas’ technical language, the term esse means actual existence. It is the way a thing, which he calls res, is a being, an ens. It is to be that makes a certain thing to be a being. Esse is defined by its essence, namely that which the thing is. [11]
Find Out How UKEssays.com Can Help You!
Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs.
View our academic writing services
By essentialism, it is possible to answer the following question: “what something is?” The definition, so states the essence of beings in general. For material substances, essence means the matter form composite subject to perception. Aquinas makes an analogy of the terms essence and existence to what Aristotle had made to the terms potency and act. Thus, the essence is the possibility that something determined to come into existence. By existentialism, the existence, in turn, is the upgrade of essence. This distinction – between essence and existence – as occurs with matter and form, act and potency, it is a logical one. Aquinas says:
Everything that receives something from another is potential with regard to what it receives, and what is received in its actuality. The quiddity or form, therefore, which is the intelligence, must be potential with regard to the being it receives from God, and this being is received as an actuality. [12]
Copleston explains that essence is that which answers the question what a thing is; it is substance considered as definable. It is clear that essence is that which is signified by the definition of a thing. In the case of material things the word essence signifies that which is composed of matter and form. Existence, on the other hand, is the act by which an essence or substance is or has a being. Existence denotes a certain act; for a thing is not said to exist by the fact that it is in potentiality but by the fact that it is in act. Essence is the potential metaphysical component in a thing, while existence is the act by which essence has being. [13]
After having analyzed Aristotles’ and Aquinas concepts on essence and substance, it is possible to realize that Aquinas’ starting point to his metaphysics is Aristotle’s ontology, which is based in the doctrine of “being qua being”, or substance, the primary kind of being. From the distinction between essence and existence, as understood by Aquinas’ predecessors, such as Boethius and Avicenna, Aquinas goes beyond the Aristotelian metaphysics, to show that the final foundation of the ontology is not the substance but existence. Thus, St. Thomas establishes the metaphysical assumptions necessary to built his own metaphysical thought.
1,371 words
Cite This Work
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:
