51. The Word of God, Wisdom of Nature, and the Soul's Immortality

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Word of God and Scripture #

• The Bible is fundamentally about the Word of God (the Son of God) made flesh
• The Word of God becomes human language, parallel to how the Word became flesh
• The Second Vatican Council affirms the primacy of the Gospels as chief witnesses to the words and deeds of the Word of God made man

The Wisdom of Nature and Natural Philosophy #

• Natural philosophy can be called the “wisdom of nature” (σοφία τῆς φύσεως)
• Wisdom involves speaking truth and acting in accordance with nature (following Heraclitus)
• In the wisdom of nature, we listen to the wisdom that nature itself gives us through its operations

Reproduction and the Striving for Immortality #

• Both Plato and Aristotle observed that plants and animals reproduce to achieve a kind of immortality
• Since individual organisms cannot be immortal, they achieve continuity of their kind through reproduction
• Shakespeare’s sonnets reflect this philosophical principle, urging marriage and procreation as participation in the continuation of form

The Immortality of the Soul #

• The third book of Aristotle’s De Anima investigates reason as distinct from sensation
• Reason (νοῦς) is not a body, unlike the organs of sense (eye, ear, brain)
• Because reason can understand universals—things that are immaterial—the soul itself must be immaterial
• The soul’s immaterial operations prove it has an existence not entirely dependent on the body
• Descartes’s cogito ergo sum reflects this: if the soul can do something (think) not in the body, then its existence is not entirely in the body

The Soul’s Origin and Union with the Body #

• The human soul does not come from parents (unlike plant and animal souls)
• The human soul is created by God individually for each body
• Each soul is uniquely fitted to its own body and cannot leave that body to inhabit another
• The body comes from God through parents; the immortal soul comes directly from God

God’s Self-Knowledge and Knowledge of All Things #

• God knows nothing except through knowing himself
• God’s knowledge is primarily knowledge of himself; secondarily, knowledge of what he has
• This illustrates the intimate connection between knowledge of reason and reason itself
• Reason is that which defines reason—reason knows itself through understanding what reason is

Multiple Senses of Key Terms #

• “Being” (ens) and “cause” (αἰτία) have multiple senses that must be carefully distinguished
• “Before” (πρό) has at least four senses in Aristotle: temporal, spatial, causal, and those related to causality
• The connection between different senses shows how one pair can have different causal relationships

The Four Causes and Their Application #

• Material cause: The matter/parts from which something is made
• Formal cause: The form or structure that unites parts
• Efficient cause: The maker or mover that produces something
• Final cause: The end or purpose for which something is made
• Two things can be causes of each other in different senses of cause

Learning and Knowing #

• Learning comes before knowing as an efficient cause (learning produces knowledge)
• Knowing comes before learning as a final cause (knowing is the end for which we learn)
• These demonstrate the same pair having opposite temporal priority depending on which type of cause is considered

Matter and Form #

• Form is the cause of matter being actually something (wood becoming a table or chair)
• Matter sustains form—form cannot exist apart from matter
• Neither can exist without the other; both are causes of each other
• The shape of the chair cannot be separated from the wood and transferred elsewhere

The Premises and Conclusion in Syllogism #

• Premises are causes of the conclusion in multiple senses:
  • Material cause: Premises are the parts from which the conclusion is constructed
  • Formal cause: The middle term unites the extremes (A to C through B)
  • Efficient cause: The reasoning process produces the conclusion
  • Final cause: The conclusion is the end or purpose of the reasoning
• The middle term “really unites” the extremes but is not itself part of the conclusion (as the carpenter is not part of the chair)

The Penance and Infusion of Grace #

• Something can come “before” another in one type of cause while coming “after” in a more fundamental sense
• In the question of whether penance precedes the infusion of grace:
  • Penance may precede grace as material cause (disposing the will)
  • Grace precedes as final cause (grace is the end toward which penance aims)
  • The end is the “cause of causes”—it is prior in the most fundamental sense

Key Arguments #

The Immateriality of the Soul #

1. Reason understands universals (immaterial things)
2. Only immaterial powers can operate on immaterial objects
3. Therefore, reason must be an immaterial power
4. Since reason is the soul’s operation, the soul itself must be immaterial
5. An immaterial power cannot depend entirely on the body for its existence
6. Therefore, the soul is immortal

The Multiplicity of Causal Relationships #

1. Different types of causality can create opposite orders of priority
2. Learning and knowing demonstrate this: learning causes knowing (efficient), but knowing is why we learn (final)
3. This shows that “before” and “after” are not univocal terms
4. Understanding requires distinguishing which type of cause one means when discussing priority

Important Definitions #

Wisdom (σοφία/sapientia) #

• The knowledge of causes, especially first causes
• Encompasses knowledge of being and unity, as well as truth and good
• Can refer to knowledge of nature (natural philosophy) or to first philosophy (metaphysics)

The Soul (ψυχή/anima) #

• The principle of life and operation in living things
• In humans, includes operations (understanding) that are immaterial and therefore not dependent on the body
• Uniquely fitted to each individual body and cannot migrate to another

Efficient Cause (αἰτία κατὰ τὸ κινοῦν) #

• The agent or maker that produces change or brings something into being
• Distinct from material, formal, and final causes
• In learning, the teacher is the efficient cause of knowledge

Final Cause (αἰτία κατὰ τὸ τέλος) #

• The end, purpose, or goal for which something is done
• Described as “the cause of causes” since it directs the efficient cause
• In learning, knowledge (knowing something) is the final cause

Examples & Illustrations #

Shakespeare’s Sonnets #

• Used to demonstrate the philosophical principle that organisms seek immortality through reproduction
• “When thou art old and see thy blood warm when thou feels the cold”—urging procreation as participation in eternal form
• Reflects the Aristotelian understanding that mortality drives the impulse to perpetuate kind

Personal Anecdote: Family and Vocation #

• Berquist recounts how his father wanted him to have a better life than he (factory work) had
• A friend’s son was sent to Cambridge but “punked out” in his first year because he wasn’t suited for it
• Illustrates how parents sometimes err by imposing their vision of success rather than recognizing their child’s actual nature and aptitudes
• Shows the practical importance of understanding natural inclinations and limitations

Matter and Form: The Chair and Table #

• A table made of wood is wood in potential becoming wood in act as a table through form
• A chair made of the same wood becomes actually a chair through form
• The shape of the chair cannot exist separately from the wood and be transferred elsewhere
• Demonstrates the inseparability of matter and form while showing form as the actualizing principle

Learning and Knowing: The Example of School #

• “You go to school to learn, but for the ultimate purpose it’s to know something”
• Learning is the process; knowing is the goal
• Learning makes you know (efficient causality)
• Knowing is why you learn (final causality)

Marriage and Mutual Choice #

• The consent of husband and wife is what causes them to be married
• What marries them is the mutual choice, not emotions
• Each chooses the other as husband/wife
• To be unfaithful is to be false to one’s own choice

Shakespeare’s Macbeth Couplet Applied #

• “Fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air”
• The line can be understood as presenting the two mistaken judgments about good and bad
• Fog represents defect of mind; filthy air represents corruption of will

Notable Quotes #

“The wisdom of nature is about the wisdom of nature… the wisdom of nature is the wisdom about nature.” — Berquist, discussing the distinction between natural philosophy and the objects it studies

“Wisdom is to speak the truth and to act in accordance with nature.” — Heraclitus, cited by Berquist

“God knows nothing else except by knowing himself.” — Aquinas/Aristotle, cited by Berquist on divine knowledge

“Reason is that which defines reason… the knowledge of reason is a knowledge that reason has.” — Berquist, on the reflexive nature of reason knowing itself

“In a sense you know him and gate you know really wanted to be over here… kind of immortality… kind of continuation.” — Berquist, on procreation as striving for immortality

“The end is the cause of causes.” — Thomas Aquinas, cited by Berquist on why final cause is the most fundamental

Questions Addressed #

How is the Word of God related to human language? #

• The Word of God becoming flesh parallels the Word of God being expressed in human language
• Scripture presents this double meaning: the Son is the Word made flesh; human words are the Word made intelligible to us

How does the soul’s capacity for understanding universals prove its immortality? #

• Universal concepts (non-material objects) can only be grasped by non-material powers
• The soul’s operation of understanding is immaterial
• Therefore the soul cannot depend entirely on the body and must be immortal

Can two things be causes of each other? #

• Yes, in different senses of cause
• Matter and form cause each other: form actualizes matter; matter sustains form
• Learning and knowing: learning produces knowing (efficient); knowing is why we learn (final)
• Understanding requires specifying which type of causality is being invoked

How can something be “before” and “after” simultaneously? #

• “Before” and “after” are not univocal but have multiple senses
• Penance may be “before” grace materially (disposing the will) but “after” grace formally (as ordered by grace)
• The distinction of causal types resolves the apparent contradiction

Why does each human soul fit uniquely to its body? #

• The soul is created individually by God for each body
• This unique fitting prevents the soul from leaving one body to inhabit another
• Demonstrates the particular and inseparable union of form to matter in human beings

Connections #

To Earlier Discussions #

• Builds on understanding of wisdom and natural philosophy
• Applies the concept of multiple meanings (equivocation) to key philosophical terms
• Uses distinctions of causes to resolve apparent contradictions

To Theological Implications #

• The immortality of the soul supports belief in eternal life and resurrection
• God’s self-knowledge demonstrates infinite intellection
• The unique union of soul and body clarifies the nature of human personhood

To Later Topics #

• Sets foundation for understanding separated substances (angels)
• Prepares for discussion of divine causality and creation
• Establishes the immaterial character of the intellect as basis for metaphysical understanding