Metaphysics Short Answers (Midterms)

What is meant by a "transcendental property of being?"

An attribute that can be truly predicated of every real being, precisely insofar as it is a real existent.

Sum up the argument why every being must be one.

Every being must be one, because if not we enter into a reductionist mindset where we are just parts composed of parts. This renders the world as nothingness which is not true because every being experiences the world as a whole.

Analogy of Proper Proportionality: Meaning? Examples? Explain how such an analogous term can be at once literally true of all its analogates yet shifting somewhat in meaning for each, i.e., how it can be so flexible, as a univocal cannot.

It is when the intrinsic similarity between analogates is expressed by a term that is applied to all the analogates in its proper and literal meaning but with a proportional difference in each. An example would be: A mouse knows, a human knows, and an angel knows. As all these subjects "know" their ways of knowing are irreducibly different. The similarity lies on the type of activity common to all, but the difference is the diverse subjects exercising the same kind of activity according to their respective natures.

What is the definition of essential or substantial change?

A transition from one essential mode of real being to another, so that at the end of the change there is another real being entirely from what was present at the beginning.

Explain the difference between "real being" and "mental being?" Examples of each? What is the key criterion for our distinguishing between the two?

A real being is its own intrinsic act of existence outside of an idea, while mental is present not by its own act of existence but only within an idea. Examples for real being are complete beings, or substances, which can be said simply to be a whole entity. Examples for mental beings are past and future, also the content of dreams. The criterion for distinguishing is the ordering of our experience to render it intelligible.

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic unity? Examples? What are the criteria for distinguishing them, e.g., an airplane from a bird? Is the universe as a whole an intrinsic or extrinsic unity? How can you tell?

An intrinsic unity is an unity within the very being of a single real being. An extrinsic unity is a unity not within the being of a single real being. Examples of an intrinsic unity are angels and humans. Examples of an extrinsic unity are an army or a football team. The best way to distinguish between them is to take them apart and see if the parts still work on their own. A plane's engine can still run while not being a part of the plane, whereas a bird cannot continue to live if you remove its head. The universe as a whole is an extrinsic unity. This is known because real beings are still able to act on their own.

Give the definitions of change in general; accidental change; essential or substantial change.

Change in general is a transition from one real mode of being to another. Accidental change is a transition from one real mode of being to another remaining within the same identical being. Essential change is a transition from one real mode of being to another such that the being at the end of the change is no longer the same being but a different one.

What has gone wrong in the two principal misunderstandings of substance: a) substance as static; b) self-identity means immutability?

Substance as static fails to recognize that substance is not static because it is intrinsically orientated toward expressing and fulfilling itself through its operations and relations of giving-receiving with others. Self-identity means immutability fails to recognize that self-identity is not immutable, the active power of self-maintenance in exchange with others shows its mutability.

The Argument: a) Basic data of problem? b) Why must there be a real distinction of co-principles in all beings save perhaps one? c) Nature of this "real metaphysical composition?" d) How best name the components? e) Relation between the two?

The basic problem is that every real being is like every other being in so far as they exist. If there is no difference of co-principles then nothing is distinct. The nature of this is that they are contraries and irreducible one to the other. The components are called principle of similarity and dissimilarity. Both components need each other as if they were "married" and can never exist without the other or it ceases to be a being.

Explain the second role of the substance/accident composition, in addition to self-identity through change.

The second role of the substance/accident composition is to be the unifying center of the many different attributes and properties possessed by one being at any one time, simultaneously. In addition to self-identity through change, a being experiences hot, cold, sad, happy; but these are all accidents in the same substance which doesn't change the self-identity of the being.

How does St. Thomas ground the real similarity between God and creatures, making possible a proper analogy between them?

The similarity is that we are all creatures. God effects us but we do not effect Him. There is a causal /intrinsic relationship between God and us. God knows and humans know but the way in which each knows is different. The difference between the way we know and God knows is not a quantitative difference but a qualitative difference, such that the act of knowing is not the same in dimension.

Explain the two basic principles on which all metaphysics is built? Can the second be reduced to the first?

The two basic principles are principle of non-contradiction and principle of sufficient reason. The principle of non-contradiction lays down the basic law of intelligibility governing all being whatsoever. The principle of sufficient reason is dynamic, enabling the mind to pass from one being to another. The second cannot be reduced to the first.

Explain the fundamental importance of action as the self-manifestation of being if we are to have a "universe?" Could there be at least one completely inactive being?

Through action, real beings manifest or unveil their being and presence to each other. To have a universe is to have a bunch of different beings interacting with one another. If beings didn't relate with each other we wouldn't have a universe. No, there can't be one completely inactive being, because to be a being is to act.

What does it mean that a concept is a "transcendental" one? Why is being such? Why is it said to be at once the "poorest" and the "richest" of all concepts?

Transcendental means ultimate all-inclusive, which expresses the ultimate horizon of reality and everything within it. Being is such because it not only makes up all the parts that make up the being, but also those which put it in common with other beings. It is said to be the "poorest" and "richest" because it mentions nothing particular or determinate about anything while it also signifies implicitly and indeterminately all that there is from the tiniest particle of matter to the infinite fullness of God.

How do these three types of concept differ from each other: univocal, equivocal, analogous? Why is it necessary that the main concepts used in metaphysics be analogous?

Univocal is when the same term is applied to several different subjects or instances according to exactly the same meaning. Equivocal is when the same term is applied to several different subjects according to a completely different meaning in each case. Analogous is a term which lies between the univocal and equivocal. It occurs when the same term is applied to several different subjects according to a meaning that is partly the same and different in each case. It is necessary for concepts to be analogous because the role of such concepts are "bridge terms" that enable us to compare things that are different in kind but are somehow similar.

Analogy of Proportionality: Meaning? Examples?

When a term is predicated of several objects in order to express some proportional similarity between them. An example would be: A worm knows, a human being knows, an angel knows. The similarity isn't directly between two essences or natures, but between their respective activities.