Glossary
GLOSSARY
a posteriori. Literally, “from the latter”; this is inductive reasoning that moves from the effect to cause, that is, from a specific instance to a general principle. In Aquinas, this applies to proofs of the existence of God that begin with creation and then reason back to a first cause or first mover.
a priori. Literally, “from the former”; this is deductive reasoning that moves from cause to effect, that is, from a general principle to a specific instance. This is the way that Anselm developed his ontological proof of God’s existence, moving from the idea of God to the existence of God.
a se. The idea that God is self-existent and completely independent. This term was used in medieval theology and philosophy to imply that God is absolutely supreme over all other beings.
accident. A property of a thing that is not part of the essence of the thing. An accident is something that can be lost or added without the thing ceasing to be what it was before. Aristotle divided accidents into these categories: quantity, action, quality, space, time, and relation.
ad intra. Literally, “internal, inward, toward the inside”; when referring to God, this describes who he is in himself.
ad extra. Literally, “external, outward, toward the outside”; when referring to God, this describes who he is as he reveals himself in history and in his works.
analogia entis. Literally, “analogy of being”; the assumption that there is a likeness between finite and infinite being. It is the basis for a posteriori proofs of the existence of God and is part of the discussion of the divine attributes.
analogy of intrinsic attribution. For Aquinas, God’s essence and his existence are identical. However, in creation this is not the case. Therefore, the analogy between God and creation cannot be one of proportionality (i.e., God is more of a particular thing than creation). For Thomas, the basis of the analogy between God and man is not proportionality but causality. Because the definition of potential existence is that which makes a thing what it is, that which is of the essence of a thing must be possessed fully by that thing. It follows, then, for Aquinas, that existence is not intrinsic to created being and therefore must be caused by one in whom essence and existence are identical.
analogy of proper proportionality. The metaphysical notion designed to articulate the fact that being itself cannot be seen, but is “perceived” in each thing in proportion to its essence. A thing is said to “be” in proportion to its nature. Thus, the being of a man is in some sense similar to, and in some sense dissimilar to, the being of a rock. There is, then, an analogy of proper proportionality between the rock and the man.
apophatic theology. Theology done by way of negation, saying what God is not, rather than what he is.
archetypal knowledge. God’s own knowledge of himself and his works, from which creaturely, ectypal knowledge of God is drawn.
being. The basic or primary element in a thing; the thing’s nature, or that without which it could not be what it is; essence.
Cambridge property. A property that is extrinsic to God’s one will, thus having no intrinsic effect on his simple nature.
cause. Aristotelian philosophy recognizes four kinds of causation:
demonstration. For Thomas, syllogistic reasoning that proceeds from immediate principles, either straightway or through middles.
divine simplicity. The doctrine that God is not made up of parts; he is metaphysically not composite.
duplex veritatis modus. Literally, “double ways of truth”; the theory that something can be true in two ways: the first (in methodological order) includes all that can be known about God by natural reason; the second includes those divine things that can be known only by revelation. It is possible for something to be true in philosophy but false in theology, or false in philosophy but true in theology.
ectypal knowledge. The creaturely knowledge of God and his works.
esse. Literally, “to be”; the act of existing; any given thing must have an essence (“whatness”) and an existence (esse). E.g., a human must have both humanity (the essence of a human) and actual existence (esse).
essence. That which is basic or primary in a thing; the thing’s nature, or that without which it could not be what it is.
foundationalism. An epistemological structure in which certain immediate, or basic, propositions are affirmed as “foundational” to our knowledge; other propositions, in order to be believed, must first be demonstrated on the basis of those foundational propositions. According to foundationalism, foundational beliefs are propositions that are either common, intuitive, and immediate or inferred from immediate propositions.
genus. A class of things that share the same character, but divide into different subclasses or species.
id quod est. Literally, “that which is”; essence or nature. For Thomas, God’s id quod est (essence, nature) and his esse (being, existence) are one.
immediate propositions. Propositions that are grounded metaphysically. According to Scott MacDonald, “Immediate propositions, then, are capable of being known by virtue of themselves and are, therefore, proper objects of non-derivative knowledge. But their actually being known by virtue of themselves requires that one be acquainted with the facts expressed by those propositions, which requires that one conceive the terms of those propositions.”
ipsum esse subsistens. Literally, “subsistent being itself.” According to Thomas, God is the only being in which there is perfect union between essence and existence. The separation of essence and existence is unnecessary because God exists in and of himself.
kinds or modes of knowledge. For Thomas, there are three kinds or modes of knowledge:
metaphysics. Originally a title for those books of Aristotle that came after the Physics. It came to be understood as the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles (i.e., concepts such as being, knowing, identity, time, and space).
natural reason. The reasoning capacity of all people apart from grace or special revelation.
necessary existence. The existence of a thing that is independent of the existence of other things. That is, if nothing else existed, it would still exist.
pactum salutis. Literally, “covenant of redemption”; in Reformed theology, this is the pretemporal, intra-Trinitarian agreement between the persons of the Trinity concerning the covenant of grace and its ratification in and through the work of the incarnate Son.
praeambula fidei. Literally, “preambles of faith”; the philosophical principles thought to be necessary, foundational, or preparatory for the rationality of the Christian faith.
principia. Fundamental principles, connected to Aristotle’s notion of arche (beginning, origin, foundation, or source).
principium cognoscendi. Literally, “foundation of knowledge.” Reformed theology recognizes two sources that are principia cognoscendi: the internum, i.e., the Holy Spirit, and the externum, i.e., Scripture.
principium essendi. Literally, “foundation of existence”; for Thomas, arguments for God’s existence and what sort of God exists. Reformed theology argues that this refers to God.
quinque viae. Literally, “the five ways”; Thomas’s ways of demonstrating the existence of God:
realism. The view that universals do indeed exist. However, for Thomas, universals exist in the mind. These universals have their foundation in the existence of particulars.
self-evidence. For Thomas, it is important to distinguish between a proposition that is self-evident in itself (per se) and one that is self-evident to us. He defines a self-evident proposition as one in which the predicate is, in some essential sense, contained in the subject. Thomas’s example is “Man is an animal,” since the notion of “animal” is necessarily included in that of “man.”
sententia. Literally, “sentence, sense, meaning”; the term can indicate a sentence or conclusion concerning an issue, judgment, decision, or opinion about something. Also a series of words or a discourse having a particular meaning or significance.
teleology. The notion that things are moving toward a particular end.
Thomism. The modified Aristotelianism of Thomas Aquinas and its development particularly in the Roman Catholic tradition.
transcendental notion. The necessary precondition or the one attribute/characteristic that is common to all things.