Xv. Of The Mind And Its Act Of Understanding
XV. OF THE MIND AND ITS ACT OF UNDERSTANDING
(A)
Are there any other powers of knowing in man?
Yes, there is another faculty of knowing and it is man's chief power.
What is this chief power of knowing in man called?
It is called his reason or intellect (LXXIX. 1).
Is reason and intellect one and the same power of knowing in man?
Yes (LXXIX. 8).
Why are these two names given to the same power?
It is because in the act of knowing man sometimes understands at a glance as it were without reasoning whereas at other times he must reason (ibid.).
Is reasoning an act proper to man?
Yes, because of all beings that are, man alone is able to reason, or has need of reasoning.
Is it a perfection in man to be able to reason?
Yes, but it is an imperfection to have need of reasoning.
Why is it a perfection in man to be able to reason?
Because in this wise man can attain to truth; whereas no creature inferior to man, such as animals which are without reason, can do this.
Why is it on the other hand, an imperfection in man to have need of reasoning?
Because in this wise he attains to truth by slow degrees only, and he is thereby liable to err; whereas God and the angels who have no need of reasoning attain to truth straightway without fear of making a mistake.
(B)
What is it to know truth?
To know truth is to know things as they are.
What then is it not to know things as they are?
It is to be in Ignorance or in error.
Is there any difference between being in ignorance and being in error?
Yes, there is a great difference; to be in ignorance is merely not to know things as they are; whereas to be in error is to affirm that a thing is, when it is not, or conversely.
Is it an evil for man to be in error?
Yes, it is a great evil, because man's proper good consists in knowledge of the truth which is the good of his intellect.
Has man a knowledge of the truth at birth?
No, at birth man has no knowledge of the truth; for Ihough he then has an intellect it is in an entirely undeveloped state; its unfolding, necessary for the attainment of truth, awaits the development of the powers of sense which are its handmaids (LXXXIV. 5).
When then does man begin to know truth?
Man begins to know truth when he has attained the use of reason, that is at about the age of seven years.
(C)
Can man know all things by his reason?
No, man cannot know all by his reason adequately, that is if one considers his reason within the limits of natural powers (XII. 4; LXXXVI. 2, 4).
What things can man know by the natural force of reason?
By the natural power of his reason man can know things attainable by his senses and all that these things manifest.
Can man know himself by the natural power of his reason?
Yes, because he himself is a thing attainable by the power of sense, and by the help of other things that fall within the scope of his senses, he is able, by reasoning, come to a knowledge of himself (LXXXVII.).
(D)
Can man know the angels or pure spirits?
Yes, but he can know them only imperfectly.
Why can he know them only imperfectly?
It is because he cannot know them in themselves reason of their nature; for they do not belong to the category of things attainable by sense, which things a the proper object of man's reason (LXXXVIII. I, 2).
(E)
Can man know God in Himself?
No, man cannot know God in Himself by the natur force of his reason, for God is infinite above all things I sense, which alone are the objects proportionate to ti natural power of man's reason (LXXXVIII. 3).
Left then to his natural powers man can know God only imperfectly by his reason?
Yes.
Is it nevertheless a good thing for man to be able to know God only imperfectly by his reason?
Yes. Indeed it is a great perfection for man to know God by his reason however imperfect the knowledge be; because thereby man is lifted up in an eminent degree above the rest of creatures that are devoid of reason; it is moreover owing to the possibility of this knowledge that God has raised man to the sovereign dignity of being child of His grace; in this happy state man's reason flows God as He is in Himself, at first imperfectly by the light of faith, but at length perfectly by the light of glory (XII. 4, Obj. 3, 5, 8, 10, 13).
By the fact that man can be raised to the dignity of becoming a child of God by grace, is he placed on a level with the angels?
Yes. Raised to the dignity of a child of God by grace, man is in some sort on an equal footing with the angels; indeed he can even ascend higher than they in this order of grace, although in the order of nature he always remains inferior to them (CVIII. 8).