28. Wisdom's Subject Matter: Substances and Immaterial Causes

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Three Places Immaterial Substances Are Found in Natural Philosophy #

1. The Human Soul: Its operations (understanding, willing) are not tied to the body, indicating it is immaterial
2. The Greater Mind: Found through the principle that similar order in artifacts (caused by human mind) means natural order must be caused by a mind
3. The Unmoved Mover: Discovered through Books 7-8 of the Physics, where moved movers depend ultimately upon an unmoved mover that is not a body

The Central Assumption: How We Know and How Things Are #

Berquist identifies Plato’s core assumption: the truth requires that the way we know be the way things are. This leads Plato to posit:

• Separated Forms: Since we truly know universals in separation from singulars, universals must exist separated from the sensible world
• Mathematical Things: Since we truly know numbers and geometrical figures in separation from sensible matter, mathematical entities must exist separately

The Problem of One or Many Immaterial Substances #

• Anaxagoras: One greater mind only
• Plato: Forms and mathematical things (many)
• Aristotle: Multiple separated substances, but fewer than Plato proposed; speaks of probability rather than certainty
• Thomas Aquinas: Following Scripture, posits many more immaterial substances than Aristotle (presented in Summa Contra Gentiles)

The Question of Unified Knowledge #

If both material and immaterial substances exist:

• Can there be one knowledge (one science) about all substances?
• Or must there be separate sciences: one about material substances (zoology), another about immaterial substances (theology)?

This creates a problem: wisdom was defined as knowledge of all things and of first causes. If wisdom divides into two sciences, then wisdom is not about all things.

Plato’s Answer: The Turn of the Soul #

Following Platonic tradition, Berquist explains that knowing immaterial things requires the soul to turn away from the sensible world:

• At 90 degrees: mathematics (separated from sensible matter but still about the material world)
• At 180 degrees: immaterial things themselves
• Mathematics “purifies the eye of the soul” (following Proclus) to enable contemplation of forms

Berquist connects this to Aristotle’s word τρόπος (tropos)—the way of proceeding—which etymologically means “turning” (English: “turn of mind”).

Saint Paul and Christian Experience #

Berquist notes that Christian teaching somewhat aligns with Plato’s idea when Saint Paul speaks of being “caught up to the third heaven,” describing a turning away from the sensible world to face another direction.

Key Arguments #

The Problem Presented #

The lecture poses a fundamental dilemma:

1. Premise 1: We find immaterial substances through three different ways in natural philosophy
2. Premise 2: Wisdom is knowledge of all things and of first causes
3. Premise 3: Material and immaterial substances appear to require different methods of knowledge (one turns toward sensible things, one turns away)
4. Problem: How can there be one unified wisdom if its subject matter requires opposite directions of inquiry?
5. Further Problem: If there are two wisdoms, then wisdom does not know all things (contradicting its definition)

Aristotle’s Method of Questioning #

Aristotle arranges his inquiry in a logically ordered way:

1. First assumption: Are there immaterial substances at all?
2. Second assumption (granted the first): Are they one or many?
3. Third question: Given immaterial substances exist, can one science know both material and immaterial substances?
4. Fourth problem: If not one science, then wisdom is not about all things—contradiction

Berquist emphasizes: “Not the answer, but a problem. A question, right? Okay? So, here’s two questions then, about wisdom being about substances, right?”

Important Definitions #

Wisdom (σοφία, sapientia) #

Knowledge of all things and of first causes; must concern itself with the fundamental principles and substances of reality, both material and immaterial.

Separated/Immaterial Substance #

A substance that exists without matter; three examples found in natural philosophy: the human soul, the greater mind (νοῦς), and the unmoved mover (ἀκίνητον κινοῦν).

Separated Form (χωριστόν εἶδος, forma separata) #

In Plato’s theory, a universal that exists independently of sensible matter and particular instances; the source of definition and knowledge of particulars.

τρόπος (tropos) #

Greek: “way of proceeding” or “manner”; etymologically means “turning”; indicates the direction or orientation required for different kinds of knowledge.

νοῦς (nous) / Greater Mind #

Aristotle’s term (via Anaxagoras) for an immaterial intelligence responsible for order in nature; not identified with God but recognized as an immaterial cause.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Turn of the Soul (Platonic Image) #

Berquist explains Plato’s metaphor from the Republic:

• One looks at sensible things that are always changing and hardly knowable
• By turning 90 degrees toward mathematics (separated but still connected to material world), the soul is purified
• By turning 180 degrees, the soul faces immaterial forms
• This illustrates the τρόπος (turn) required for different kinds of knowledge

The Difference Between Zoology and Angelology #

Berquist poses: “Would you think there’s the same knowledge of animals, that zoology and the knowledge of angels would belong to the same knowledge?”

This illustrates the problem: if material and immaterial substances require opposite orientations of the mind, how can one unified science encompass both?

Washington Irving’s Mountshoy #

Berquist cites Irving’s use of the phrase “poetic turn of mind” to illustrate how τρόπος (tropos) appears in English as “turn of mind”—a person has a different turn of mind when oriented differently toward reality.

Notable Quotes #

“And therefore its existence is not tied to the body” (Regarding the human soul’s immaterial character)

“And then eventually the dependence of moved movers upon an unmoved mover. And of course the body doesn’t move without being moved itself. So you end up, therefore, with an unmoved mover at the end of the eight books of natural hearing that is not a, what, a body, right?” (On discovering immaterial substances through natural philosophy)

“Do you see a problem? Yeah, that’s what you want to see at this point. Not the answer, but a problem. A question, right?” (Berquist’s pedagogical emphasis on recognizing the problem before solving it)

“If you have to turn away from the material world, and go to this, and look in another direction, huh? Now, if you answer that, which is kind of plausible at first, right?” (On the apparent plausibility but ultimate problem of separating sciences)

Questions Addressed #

First Main Question: Do Immaterial Substances Exist? #

Answer: Yes, for three reasons found in natural philosophy:

• The human soul operates independently of bodily matter
• The order in nature requires a greater mind as cause
• Motion ultimately depends on an unmoved mover

Resolution: Thomas agrees with Anaxagoras and Plato that immaterial substances exist, against purely materialist predecessors.

Second Main Question: If Immaterial Substances Exist, Are There One or Many? #

Answer: Many, according to Thomas and proper philosophy

• Anaxagoras: one greater mind
• Plato: forms and mathematical things (many)
• Aristotle: multiple separated substances (but fewer than Plato)
• Thomas: Many more, for good reasons given in Summa Contra Gentiles

Resolution: The question arises because different philosophers gave different answers based on their principles.

Third Main Question: Can One Science Know Both Material and Immaterial Substances? #

The Dilemma:

• If YES, one wisdom: How can it encompass opposite directions of inquiry?
• If NO, two wisdoms: Then wisdom is not about “all things” (contradicting its definition)

Resolution: The lecture does not provide the answer here; it establishes that a real problem exists requiring further investigation.

Pedagogical Method #

Berquist emphasizes throughout that Aristotle is asking these questions because great thinkers have given different answers. The disagreement itself reveals that genuine philosophical problems exist. Before proposing solutions, students must recognize the difficulty:

“So, here’s two questions then, about wisdom being about substances, right? Is there one wisdom, one reason of knowledge, about all substances, or not?”

Thomas places these questions first because “you have to know what wisdom is about before you can know the way of proceeding in wisdom. And you have to know the way of proceeding in wisdom before you can proceed well, right?”