GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
a posteriori. From the latter. From the effects of something. A proof is called a posteriori when a cause is proved by effects. This is an inductive proof.
a priori. From the former. From the cause of something. A proof is called a priori when effects are proved by the cause. This is a deductive proof.
absolute. Not having any relation to anything else, independent.
adequate cause. Something from which alone the effect proceeds; it establishes the being of the effect perfectly.
adjunct. Anything added to something else that is not part of its essence. An adjunct is really distinguished from its subject, even if it is proper to the subject. While adjuncts are often accidents (such as wisdom in a man), they also can be substances (such as wine in a bottle).
accident. An incidental property of a thing. That which affects something and is outside its essence. For example, “whiteness” is an accident of a whitewashed wall, not of its substance. See: substance.
argument from negative authority. An argument from the lack of authority, or an argument from silence. In historical matters, such arguments are not strong. See Commonplace XXVIII, On Marriage, § 18.
argument from nondistributed to distributed. A fallacious argument that moves from what is unspecified to what is specified. The seventeenth-century philosopher Johannes Micraelius says that “distributive particles” are words such as “none, all, some.” These words tell us specifically what part of a set is being discussed (Micraelius, s.v. Enunciatio).
argument from particular to general. An argument that attempts to show from one or a few instances that all other instances are the same, similar, or alike; the practice of generalizing from individual instances. While arguments taken from one or few particulars are not strong, inductive arguments with a large data set can in certain cases be valid.
comedy. A story presenting a conflict that ends happily. Not necessarily humorous.
comparatively speaking. Speaking of a thing as it is compared to something else. See: simply speaking.
efficient cause. That through which something is accomplished or made and on which the result depends.
end. Aim, purpose, goal. An end is the cause for which a doer acts or that for whose sake something happens.
final cause. See end.
form. That which completes another thing or determines it or through which it operates. “Form” is that which gives the being of a thing. For example, the form of fire is what gives to fire the being of fire or makes it what it is.
form, external and accidental. Any accident or attribute, with respect to the subject, which inheres in it. For example, whiteness is an external form, or an accident, of snow.
form, internal and essential. That which constitutes an entire thing and is called “formational and of nature” and is contradistinct from matter.
immediate principle. A principle that is not able to be proved syllogistically by a middle term.
instrumental cause. Also called a “secondary cause” or “organic cause.” In producing an effect, the instrumental cause makes a specific contribution, but it operates only in virtue of motion or power given it from the principal cause. See: principal cause.
material. Matter, the potential and determinable part of a composite, i.e., that from which something arises or of which it consists. The second cause—natural, internal, and essential—from which bodies are made and consist.
principal cause. Also called a “primary cause.” In producing an effect, the principal cause is not an instrument of some cause that is higher or more primary in its class or genus. See: instrumental cause.
simply speaking. Speaking of a thing as considered in and of itself. See: comparatively speaking.
subordinates. Noncontradictory things or propositions of which one is contained under the other. For example, Gerhard says that the Holy Spirit and the water of Baptism are related to each other as subordinates in the giving of salvation, not as opposites. The water of Baptism is a means by which the Holy Spirit gives salvation, and thus the one does not rule out the other in the giving of salvation (Commonplace XXIII, On Holy Baptism, § 104). See also Commonplace XXX, On the Resurrection of the Dead, § 101.
substance. A being subsisting of itself. A concrete reality, that which exists. See: accident.
syncategorema. A word that can only be stated in connection with other words or concepts. For example, “all” must be joined with a noun in order to form a complete concept.
thing (res). Thing, matter, affair, event, fact, occurrence, deed. Its counterpart is a “sign,” that which points to the “thing.” Cf. Augustine, On Christian Teaching 1.2
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Altenstaig, Joannes, and Joannes Tytz. Lexicon Theologicum. Cologne: Petrus Henningius, 1619; repr., Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1974.
Deferrari, Roy J. A Lexicon of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1948-49.
Gracia, Jorge J. E., and Douglas Davis. The Metaphysics of Good and Evil According to Suárez: Metaphysical Disputations X and XI and Selected Passages from Disputation XXIII and other Works. Munich: Philosophia, 1989.
Meisner, Balthasar. Philosophia sobria, Hoc est: Pia consideratio quaestionum philosophicarum, in controversiis theologicis, quas Calviniani moverunt Orthodoxis, subinde occurrentium. Wittenberg: Johannes Richter, 1614.
Micraelius, Johann. Lexicon philosophicum terminorum philosophis usitatorum: Ordine alphabetico sic digestorum, ut inde facile liceat cognosse, praesertim si tam Latinus, quam Graecus index praemissus non negligatur. Editio Secunda ab ipso Authore correcta & aucta, cum novis novorum terminorum & vocabulorum indicibus. [Electronic edition]. Stetini: Mamphrasius, 1661. PURL: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/201-29-quod/start.htm
Muller, Richard A. A Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985.
Scherzer, Johann Adam. Vade mecum sive Manuale philosophicum. Leipzig: Christian Kirchner, 1675; repr., Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1996.
Schütz, Ludwig. Thomas-Lexikon: Sammlung, Übersetzung und Erklärung der in sämtlichen Werken des h. Thomas von Aquin vorkommenden Kunstausdrücke und wissenschaftliche Aussprüche. 2nd rev. ed. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1957.
Signoriello, Nuntio. Lexicon peripateticum philosophico-theologicum, in quo scholasticorum distinctiones et effata praecipua explicantur. Editio novissima. Naples: Apud officinam Bibliothecae Catholicae Scriptorum, 1893.