Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas and Alfred Whitehead

Metaphysics, the division of philosophy concerned with the nature and origin of ultimate reality, asking the question: How do the fundamentally distinct sorts of entities compose the universe? What is the proper description for the most general traits of these entities? In metaphysic we try to answer these questions and thus investigate the ultimate divisions within the universe. The subjects, such as substance, causality, the nature of being, existence of God and angelic beings, have been under zealous metaphysical speculation for centuries. While considering philosophical problems, metaphysicians operate within a framework of concepts which transcend the interest of particular scientific disciplines and presents knowledge about the universe at a very broad and subtle level. Metaphysics abstracts from matter entirely, thus making this system predominantly theoretical. However, when we contemplate the realities higher than those just on the physical level, we engage ourselves in fulfillment through intellectual powers. St. Thomas Aquinas, a thirteenth-century philosopher and the most influential Catholic theologian, attempted to synthesize Christian belief with a broad range of human knowledge, drawing upon the sources of Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle, as well as Islamic and Jewish scholars. Thus, his great goal was to find the reconciliation of faith with reason. The being which is the subject matter of metaphysics, being as such, is neither the particularized being of the natural sciences, nor the being deprived of genuine logic. It is that which exists that is a real being in all its purity and distinctiveness.

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

The metaphysics of St. Thomas is based on two major principles: essence and existence, and a relationship between these two is a key aspect to understanding his view. Aquinas argued that the life of a living thing is its existence and it renders the form actually existing. All around us are many different types of beings and each of them has its own essence that which makes a thing to be what it is, its whatness. As we gain more knowledge about the world, we become explicitly aware of the whatness of the concrete concepts and we see that there are many whatnesses. There are higher and lower beings in degree: ones that are perfect and fulfilled in their own way and others who have a certain manner of perfection. Regardless of its level of perfection, every substance has its essence which defines it. In this sense every being which the intellect can in any way grasp is called a nature; for a thing is intelligible only by its definition and essence. 1 Every genus is narrowed down into the species by differences that are contained in the meaning of genus. However, no created being is actualized completely or perfectly fulfilled in itself because that can be said only of God. 2 All around us are existing things. We have no doubt that they are as we can perceive them by our senses. They are certainly different, but they exist. Existence is the thatness of things in the fact that they exist, or the isness of things. The concept of being cannot be subtracted from the ways in which it exists. Insofar as it exists we call it a being and insofar as it has an essence it can be refereed to as a thing. It is one because if it were divided it would not be a being but something. 3

1 2

The Pocket Aquinas. Ed. Vernon J. Bourke. P. 153 Class notes April 2, 2004 3 Ibid.

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

According to Aquinas essence and existence are two fundamental ways in which we can look at things. Only through the deep exploration of the relationships between essence and existence of things can we reach knowledge of what a being really is. Similarly to Aristotle, Aquinas believed that soul and body are inseparable, against the prevailing notion of the Neoplatonic notion of the soul as the eternal entity in a temporary bodily existence. From the notions of substance and accident found in different types of predicate which occurs in subject-predicate sentences, Aquinas introduced his theory of categories. For example, in the statement: table is a material object, the predicate of the sentence tells you what kind of a thing something is, or what it is like, where it is, etc. It can also be said that a table is brown, made out of wood, on unintelligible being, etc. All these predicates form categories which describe substance. There are two types of predications those of substance and of accident. On one hand, a predication in the category of substance tells you what kind of a thing a being is: man, animal, material object and so on. On the other hand, a predication of accident tells you what characteristic a being acquired that it is not of its essence. Thomas gives nine categories which describe substance: quantity, quality, relation, place, time, posture, vesture, action and passion. A table itself is a substance, of whom substantial and accidental predications can be made. The major distinction between the substance and accident is that when predicate of substance ceases to exist, a being ceases to exist, but when a predicate of accident ceases to exist, the being changes. Accidents are dependant on substances. Essential being is being in its own right. It may be imperfect and change its qualities by accident but it is still a being.

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

Aristotle would say that in the statement: the table is brown, its quality of being brown is acquired and it is not being in its own right, but simply the quality of the object that it bears. However, Thomas would add more to this quality, it is not just a characteristic that modifies a being, but this quality can exist in itself, i.e. brownness is a being per se. Aquinas argued that the primary subject for metaphysics is substance (even though it is hidden from our senses), since it alone is being that has existence in itself. Aquinas also divides being as those in potency and act. Act itself in a being cannot be defined, as it can only be seen through the transition of being from one state to another. From the examples such as the relation of a builder to the buildable, of one who is tired to one who is energetic and others alike, we can see what the states of act and potency are. Therefore, potency is spoken of in relation to an act. 4 It is the act of existing itself that fulfils and actualizes a being: For nothing is brought to completion, fulfilled except by its own acteach and every being is in act as a result of having the act of existing. It follows than in every one of the aforesaid substances there is a composition of act and potentiality.5 For Aquinas, God is the only pure actuality itself, whose existence can be proven and conceived through reason on the basis of logical conclusions (such as unmoved mover, efficient causes, order of things in nature, etc.) Finally, in Aquinas metaphysics everything is related to one central type of being which generates the things creating them with their characteristic defects and corruptions. Unquestionably, this central being is God, and from this absolute Being all other beings come into existence and constitute according to its laws and His Divine Plan. Alfred North Whitehead, the British mathematician and philosopher, presents a slightly different or even critical view of the metaphysics of medieval times, and
4 5

An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas. J.F. Anderson, p. 29 Ibid., p.30

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

especially of St. Thomas Aquinas. Whitehead challenges the idea of substance which was emphasized in Western philosophy for ages. Having been a Fellow in Mathematics at Trinity College Whitehead primarily looks at the construction and nature of the world through the lenses of logics and mathematics. Whitehead believes that philosophical statements can only be considered true if they are reduced to logic and mathematics. Consequently, he has developed a comprehensive metaphysical system which has come to be known as process philosophy. In this philosophy, Whitehead attempts to replace the idea of substantial being with the idea of process or organism, thus substituting static descriptions with dynamic ones. In order to see the contrast between St. Thomas and Whitehead we should look first at their approaches to objective reality. The approach of Aquinas is to achieve the very being of each and everything, and the modern approach of Whitehead is to explain everything through mathematical concepts. 6 Similar to Leibnizs theory of monads Whitehead believes that the world is made up of actual entities which are the final reality, there is no going behind actual entities to find anything more real. 7 Even though the universe is composed of different entities, he argues that it is in the nature of things that many enter into a complex unity. Whitehead uses a term concrescence to describe this unity in which the universe is constructed Whitehead rejected the commonly accepted idea initiated by medieval thinkers including St. Thomas, that each being has a simple spatial or temporal location. Instead, he offered his own explanation of looking at beings which was based on his belief that all beings should be understood as fields having both temporal and spational extensions. For
6

Foley, A. Leo. A Critique of Philosophy of Being of Alfred North Whitehead in the Light of Thomistic Philosophy p. 28. 7 Sherburne ed, Process and Reality. Twentieth-Century Philosophy, p. 44

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

instance, it is unachievable to perceive such things as a Euclidean point that has no position, or a line that has length but no breadth. Therefore, it is impossible to picture simple spatial or temporal location. If it were possible, it would be inaccuracy caused by confusing the abstract for the concrete, or in Whiteheads terms, it would involve The Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness. 8 According to Whitehead every being may be understood as made up of a series of events and processes. As a result of this belief, he comes to the conclusion that it is a process rather than a substance that should be taken as the fundamental metaphysical element of the world. However, these elements are not accomplished beings; they are always becoming through the process of creativity. Each monadic creature is a mode of the process of feeling the world, of housing the world in one unit of complex feeling, in every way determinate. Such a unit is an actual occasion; it is the ultimate creature derivative from the creative process. 9 This notion points out the importance of creativity which is derived from the human faculty of free will. In simple words, it is because we have the ability to choose what we want to be and as a result of that we are constantly changing and becoming. This process of becoming makes us existing actual beings. However, Whiteheads idea of constant becoming can be criticized by saying that humans have an essence which cannot be processed or become what it is actually not. Aquinas understood the notion of what makes a being what it is that is the quality that makes a being different from other beings. Whitehead stated that all actual unities are in one complex and that everything is interdependent. However, he fails to take into account the fact that there are things which are opposite to each other and it is impossible for them to be in unity.
8 9

Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/whitehead Ibid., p. 45

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

Contrary to Aquinas, Whitehead argues that there is no substance but rather a relation of beings, which he defines as actual entities - that which exists in space and time. Things are constantly penetrating each other. Prehension is a term which Whitehead uses frequently to describe the essence of things. Everything is related to each other in a way that each being contributes to existence and the fulfillment of other beings. It is through the process of becoming that the things acquire their actual identities. Whitehead holds the view that actual entities relate to one another by methods of prehending or feeling, which stand for grasping and sympathizing. Through these processes, an actual entity can unify itself and acquire knowledge of another being. In bringing together the feelings of separate entities from the past into a unity of feelings in the present, the actual entity reaches satisfaction. At this point, the actual entity perishes and becomes a datum for new instances of concrescence. 10 In Whiteheads view the world is the process. Nature is a relentless course of action in which real individual things come into being, attain their satisfaction, perish and condition the future beyond themselves. The notion of process and existence presuppose each other. For Whitehead, a being can hardly be understood through the composition of form and matter, or having a receptive capacity of higher intellect if we talk about rational beings. It cannot be categorized into levels of existence or certain substance characteristics, of which it can be made known to the human mind. Whitehead does not completely deny the notion that substance as such exists, but he does not like using the term substance because it implies a stable being with specific and clear-cut essential qualities. The reason for his objection for notion of substance is because beings within
10

.Baird, Forrest ed Twentieth-Century Philosophy. Prentice Hall, 2000, p. 43

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

the universe exchange their qualities and become something which they were not before. Ultimately, there is substance, but it is closely tied with relation to other beings and it cannot be thought of independently. For example, when I think of a bottle of water which I see in front of me, it is impossible to conceive the substance of the bottle of water, as its components, such as the water inside, the plastic surface, the fluidity, etc and relations of these components to each other come to my mind. As a result, I do not think of a bottle of water as bottle of water, but as the relation of its components to each other and a change which occurs when it is acting or being acted upon by another being. Therefore, relationship of one being to another and a process of becoming through creativity are key concepts for understanding the notion of being in Whiteheads metaphysics. Now, for both St. Thomas Aquinas and Dr. Whitehead the notion of higher being, specifically God, was seen as the absolute and pure actuality from which everything comes. God is the final cause of all things because God possesses fullness and actualization of what is partial in individual actual entities. In his Process and Reality, Whitehead states that the things which are temporal arise by their participation in the things which are eternal. 11 In a way it is similar to Thomistic view of participation in being and the idea of final cause. According to Whiteheads philosophy on God, there are two ways for a human understanding of Gods nature: first, Gods primordial nature that defines God as nontemporal entity; and, second, Gods consequent nature, that is, the physical prehension by God of the actualities of the evolving universe. 12 Gods role is to unify constantly the unfolding of the universe, continually luring and offering perfection for
Foley, A. Leo. A Critique of Philosophy of Being of Alfred North Whitehead in the Light of Thomistic Philosophy, p. 69 12 Twentieth-Century Philosophy. ed. Baird, Forrest. Prentice Hall, 2000, p. 43
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Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

things. In God there are eternal ideas which are not present in the material, temporal world. The things which are temporal come into existence through their participation in the things which are eternal. 13 For Aquinas, God is the highest form of existence and Gods essence is His existence. He gives a deeper analysis of Gods nature by providing numerous facts which can be attributed to God, such as possessing all perfection in His pure act of existing, eternal, pure actuality, prime mover, all-knowing, etc. In conclusion, both St. Thomas Aquinas and Whitehead hold some common views on the notion of God and being, as they both agree that God is the highest, central perfect substance which cannot be trespassed upon by His creatures, that is, other lower beings. However, the major difference between Whitehead and Aquinas is that the former made a very strenuous attempt in explaining order in diversity by giving each being its actual existential qualities which contribute to the great order of the universe. Aquinas saw the universe as composed of distinct substances whose existence was directed by God. Aquinass substance and Whiteheads actual entity have similar characteristic of existing and both of these notions talk about a being. But according to Whitehead, being is not what it is at a preset moment because it is constantly in the process of becoming and is in relation to other beings. Aquinas gives a more abstract metaphysical account for being and argues that it is composed of form and matter. However, Aquinas idea of motion is not the same as Whiteheads idea of process of becoming because the latter takes relation and interconnection of things into account.

13

Contemporary Philosophy class notes.

Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

Whitehead had a slightly different approach to expressing his notions of God and being which was based on mathematical and scientific influences. In the final outcome, he came up with a summary of the philosophy of the universe similar to the Christian in which the multitude of actual entities are drops of existence caused by God who endlessly directs and enriches the process.

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Andriy Tsintsiruk 2/14/2006

Ph 402 Metaphysics Dr. Albrecht

Bibliography: Anderson, F. James. An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas. Regnery Gateway, 1953. Baird, E. Forrest ed., Twentieth-Century Philosophy. Prentice Hall, 2000.

Bourke, Vernon J ed. The Pocket Aquinas. Washington Square Press, 1960.

Christian, W. William. An Interpretation of Whiteheads Metaphysics. Yale University Press, 1959

Foley, A. Leo. A Critique of Philosophy of Being of Alfred North Whitehead in the Light of Thomistic Philosophy, CUA Press: Washington, D.C., 1946.

Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/whitehead. Whitehead, N. Alfred. Adventures of Ideas. The Free Press: New York, 1933.

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