13. Substance, Categories, and the Trinity

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Properties of Substance #

• Second property: Substance is not susceptible to more or less (non-quantum)
  • One man is not more a man than another man
  • One dog is not more a dog than another dog
  • Contrasts with quality (one person can be more courageous than another)
  • Applies to the substance itself, not accidents
• Third property: Susceptibility of contraries while remaining one in number
  • Example: Berquist himself can be hot/cold, sick/healthy, good/bad while remaining the same person
  • This property is specific to first substances

Substance vs. Accidents in Definition #

• Definition properly applies to substances, not accidents
• Problem: definition seems to require defining something by reference to what is outside it
  • Health defined as “good condition of the body” — but health is defined by something external to itself
  • This is not definition in the proper sense
• What it is (essence) is found primarily in substance, especially first substances
• Can speak of definition in other genera (virtue, numbers) but not in the same primary way

First and Second Substance #

• Distinction between first substance (individual: “this man”) and second substance (species/genus: “man”)
• This is a division of analogia, not a division of genus into species
• Second substance is said of first substance as species or genus
• Species is more properly substance than genus
• Only second substance (species or genus of substance) is said of individual substances “as regards what it is”

Individuation in Substance vs. Accidents #

• Individual is found per se (primarily) in the genus of substance
• Substance is individuated by itself (per se)
• Accidents are individuated by their subject (which is substance)
  • Example: “this whiteness” in “this subject”
• Two rubber balls: the rubber itself is distinct (different substances), so the spheres are distinct
• Knowledge: your knowledge and my knowledge of the same theorem are distinct because they exist in different minds (different substances)

The Trinity and Hypostasis #

• Hypostasis (ὑπόστασις/hypóstasis) etymologically means “to stand under”
• The hypostasis of the Word is NOT in the genus of substance insofar as it is the hypostasis of divine nature
• BUT the hypostasis of the Word IS in the genus of substance insofar as it is the hypostasis of human nature in Christ
• Hypostasis is ordered to genus or species only through the nature which it has
• Danger of confusion: translating Greek “three hypostases” into Latin “three substances” can sound unorthodox
• The three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are distinguished by relations of procession, not by being three substances
• Real distinction between Father and Son, and between both and Holy Spirit, but they are one God (one divine nature)

Substance as Analogical Term #

• The word “substance” is used analogically, not univocally
• Four senses of substance (from Aristotle’s Categories)
• The distinction of substance is a division of an analogate, not a genus into species
• This is crucial for understanding how “substance” applies differently to first substances, second substances, and God

Logical vs. Metaphysical Perspective #

• Logician: considers things as they are in reason; focuses on predication and universality
  • Sees species and genus as said of individual substance
  • Regards universal as having a kind of secondary substantiality
• First philosopher (metaphysician): considers things as they are beings
  • To be said of a subject (predication) means it is NOT a substance
  • To be in a subject (as accident is in substance) also means it is not a substance proper

Key Arguments #

Why All Men Are Equal #

• Berquist’s classroom example: some men are strong, weak, healthy, sick, prone to anger, different in knowledge
• Yet all men are called equal in the phrase “all men are created equal”
• This equality is justified by the property that one man is not MORE a man than another man
• Equality refers to substantiality, not to accidental qualities

Why Substance Cannot Be Defined as Accident #

• Definition requires the thing defined to be completely expressed through its elements
• Accidents cannot be defined properly because they are defined through reference to substance (their subject)
• Health is always “condition of the body” — external reference makes it not a true definition
• Substances, especially individual substances, can be defined (or at least species/genera can be)

Why the Trinity Uses the Word Hypostasis #

• The persons of Trinity are really distinct from each other
• They are not distinct by being three substances (which would be three gods)
• The word hypostasis (“that which stands under”) is used metaphorically/analogically
  • Just as church “stands under” truth (is the pillar of truth)
  • The persons each have the divine nature “under” them as their nature
• The persons are distinguished by relations of procession, not by division of substance

Why God Uses Secondary Causes #

• Two reasons Thomas Aquinas gives:
  1. To share nobility of causality: Creatures participate in the excellence of being causes, not merely effects
  2. To create beauty of ordered causes: The hierarchical order of causes is itself beautiful; God wants to create this order
• Example: God could create each human directly (as He created Adam) but instead works through parents
• This allows creatures to thank both God and their parents

Important Definitions #

Substance (οὐσία/ousía) #

• That which exists in itself, not in another
• First substance: individual existing things (this man, this dog)
• Second substance: species and genus said of first substances (man, animal)
• Not susceptible to more or less in its being a substance
• Capable of receiving contraries while remaining numerically one

Hypostasis (ὑπόστασις/hypóstasis) #

• Etymology: “that which stands under”
• In theology: the individual subject that possesses a nature
• In Trinity: each person has the divine nature; they are three hypostases in one substance (one divine nature)
• Distinguished from mere accidents by being the ultimate subject of predication

Individuation (individuatio) #

• Substance individuates per se (by itself): rubber ball A is distinct from rubber ball B because they are different substances
• Accidents individuate through their subject: this whiteness is distinct from that whiteness because it inheres in different substances

Analogia (Ἀναλογία/Analogía) #

• Proportion or ratio between two things
• The distinction of first and second substance is an analogical division, not a univocal genus-species division
• Allows the same term (substance) to apply in different ways to different things

Examples & Illustrations #

The Two Rubber Balls #

• Demonstrates why individuals in substance are distinct per se, while those in other genera are distinct through substance
• Two identical spheres are distinct because they are in different rubber (different substances)
• Two identical qualities would be distinct only because they inhere in different subjects

Knowledge of a Theorem #

• Two people knowing the same theorem: their knowledge is two distinct knowledges
• Why? Because the knowledge exists in two different minds, which are two different substances
• Knowledge doesn’t exist in itself; it exists in the substance (the mind)

The Church as Pillar of Truth #

• Metaphor showing how one thing can “stand under” another without being identical to it
• Church stands under truth through its teaching and tradition
• Analogous to how persons of Trinity “stand under” divine nature

Adam’s Creation vs. Human Procreation #

• God created Adam directly
• But God creates other humans through parents (secondary causes)
• Shows why secondary causes exist: to share in divine causality and to create order

Notable Quotes #

“Is one man more a man than another man? Well, by man you mean courage, yeah, one man more courage, more, but that’s a quality, right? But in the case of the substance itself, is one man more a man than another man?” — Berquist on the non-quantum nature of substance

“The only way you could say that all men are equal is that one man is not more a man than another man.” — Berquist on human equality

“Hypostasis is not ordered to a genus or a species, except through the nature which it has.” — Thomas Aquinas (cited by Berquist)

“Although universal in particular are found in all genera because we had universal in particular what accident right nevertheless in a special way individual is found in the genus of substance.” — Berquist on individuation

“For the logician considers things according as they are in reason… But the first philosopher, he considers things according as they are beings.” — Thomas Aquinas distinction between logical and metaphysical consideration

Questions Addressed #

Why is substance not susceptible to more or less? #

• Because being a man is not a matter of degree — either something is a man or it is not
• Qualities admit of degree (more or less courage) but the essence does not
• This is essential to understanding what makes something a substance vs. an accident

How can accidents be defined? #

• They cannot be defined properly because definition requires expressing what a thing is through its essential components
• Accidents are always defined through reference to their subject (what they inhere in)
• Health is defined as “good condition of body” — reference to something external
• True definition is found primarily in substances

What is the relationship between first and second substance? #

• Not a simple genus-species relationship but an analogical one
• Second substance (species/genus) is said of first substance
• Species is more properly substance than genus
• First substance is primarily substance; second substance is secondarily so

How can there be three hypostases but one God in the Trinity? #

• The three persons are distinguished by relations of procession (Father generates Son; Holy Spirit proceeds from both)
• They are not distinguished by having three different divine natures (which would make three gods)
• They are really distinct from each other but share one divine nature
• The word “hypostasis” applies analogically, not univocally

Why doesn’t God create everything immediately? #

• God desires secondary causes to exist so creatures can share in the nobility of causality
• The hierarchical order of causes is itself beautiful — it reflects divine wisdom and order
• This explains why humans are born through parents rather than created directly

Historical and Textual Context #

• The discussion follows Aristotle’s Categories, continuing from prior lectures on substance
• Berquist references Thomas Aquinas’s treatment in the Summa Theologiae (Prima Pars) and Scriptum on the Sentences
• The De Potentia is cited for Aquinas’s discussion of Trinity and analogical predication
• References to medieval Latin translations and the difficulties of translating Greek philosophical terms
• The lecture includes Berquist’s personal teaching anecdotes with monks and university students