31. The Soul-Spirit Distinction and Interior Sensing

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Soul-Spirit Distinction #

• Soul (anima): The form of the body; possesses powers that are acts of bodily organs, particularly the sensitive powers
• Spirit (pneuma): Those powers of the soul that transcend the body—intellect and will; not reducible to bodily powers
• The soul is not simply a spirit imprisoned in a body, but the very form that animates and makes the body alive
• A person can be “animalis” (soulish/natural) when concentrated on bodily and sensory powers, or “spiritualis” (spiritual) when elevated by God’s Spirit

St. Paul’s Teaching on the Natural vs. Spiritual Man (1 Corinthians 2:14-15) #

• The animalis homo (natural man, Greek: ψυχικός/psychikos) cannot receive spiritual things because he judges by:
  • Sensory images of bodies
  • The letter of the law
  • Philosophical reason alone (derived from sensory knowledge)
• The spiritualis homo (spiritual man) judges all things through:
  • Intellect enlightened by God’s Spirit
  • Will inflamed by God’s love
  • Direct reception of spiritual truth

Mary’s Magnificat as Illustration #

• “My soul magnifies the Lord” (bodily dimension)—refers to her role in bearing the Word made flesh, involving bodily reproductive powers
• “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (immaterial dimension)—refers to intellect and will, the only powers capable of having God himself as their direct object
• Only spirit can directly receive God through the theological virtues: faith (intellect), hope (will), and charity (will)

Aristotle’s Investigation of the Five Senses (De Anima 3.1) #

The Question of Additional Senses #

• Aristotle argues (with probability but not necessity) that there are only five outward senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch
• Touch seems to know all tangible qualities because it pertains to the basic material qualities: hot, cold, wet, dry
• Other senses operate through mediums:
  • Sight: operates through air and water (transparency)
  • Hearing: operates through air
  • Smell: operates through air or water
  • Touch: operates directly (no medium)

The Elemental Basis of Sense Organs #

• Sense organs are composed of only two of the four basic elements:
  • Eye (sight): water (the pupil)
  • Ear (hearing): air
  • Nose (smell): air or water
  • Fire: not characteristic of any specific organ, but common to all (necessary warmth/energy)
  • Earth: not characteristic of any specific organ, though involved in touch
• Since all animals with perfect sensory development have organs made from air and water, we can conclude all senses are possessed by non-defective animals

The Common Sensibles Problem #

• Someone might think there is another outward sense that knows common sensibles (motion, rest, shape, figure, magnitude, number, unity)
• But common sensibles are not the proper object of a separate sense; rather, they are known accidentally through the five senses
• Example: I know the shape of a table through sight (via color boundaries) and through touch (via hardness)
• Unlike sweetness, which is accidental to sight (I can be fooled by sugar’s appearance), shape is not accidental to these senses—it is known through them directly

Key Arguments #

The Language and Translation Problem #

• The Greek word ψυχικός (psychikos) literally means “souled” or “soulish,” not simply “animal”
• Translating it as “animal man” loses the crucial reference to the soul (anima) and can mislead modern readers
• The distinction between ψυχή (psyche—soul) and ζῷον (zoon—animal/life) reflects different semantic fields

The Soul as Form of the Body #

• Thomas Aquinas grounds the distinction in the fundamental definition: the soul is the form of the body
• Because the soul has powers that are acts of bodily organs, a purely spiritual being (like an angel) would not have these powers
• Therefore, calling someone “animalis” means they are concentrated in their judgment and desire on these bodily powers
• This concentration—not the mere possession of bodily powers—characterizes the natural man

Knowledge Through Multiple Senses #

• The same object can be known through different senses in different ways:
  • Shape known through color by sight
  • Shape known through hardness by touch
• This principle demonstrates that knowledge is not enslaved to a single method
• The mind can abstract and distinguish what experience never separates (e.g., shape from color) by having multiple sensory access points
• This extends to faith and reason: the same truth can be known by reason (philosophy) and by faith (theology), though not in the same way

The Problem of Common Sensibles as Accidental #

• If common sensibles were the proper object of a separate sense, they would be accidental to the five senses, like sweetness is accidental to sight
• But we do not experience them that way: shape is essential to both sight and touch in a way that sweetness is not essential to sight
• Therefore, no separate sense organ for common sensibles exists
• This implies an interior power must unify and reflect upon the sensations of all five senses

Important Definitions #

Animalis (Natural/Soulish) #

• One who follows the sensible powers of both knowing (vis apprehensiva) and desiring (vis appetitiva)
• In the cognitive dimension: judges spiritual things by sensory images, literal interpretation of law, or philosophical reasoning alone
• In the appetitive dimension: follows dissolute and lascivious desires, uncontained by the higher powers of spirit
• Represents the human person concentrated on bodily existence

Spiritualis (Spiritual) #

• One whose intellect (understanding) is enlightened by God’s Spirit and whose will is inflamed by God’s love
• Subject to God’s Spirit and faithfully knows spiritual things
• Lives a rectified life with the Spirit of God
• Can receive and judge spiritual things
• Represents the human person elevated by grace

Common Sensibles (κοινὰ αἰσθητά) #

• Objects of sensation that are known by more than one sense, not by any single sense exclusively:
  • Motion (κίνησις)
  • Rest (στάσις)
  • Shape/Figure (σχῆμα)
  • Magnitude/Size (μέγεθος)
  • Number (ἀριθμός)
  • Unity/Continuity (ἕν)
• Distinguished from proper sensibles (color for sight, sound for hearing, etc.)

Proper Sensibles #

• Objects known by only one sense:
  • Sight: color
  • Hearing: sound
  • Smell: odor
  • Taste: flavor
  • Touch: tangible qualities (hot, cold, wet, dry)

Medium (μέσον) #

• The element through which a sense operates:
  • Air and water are transparent and serve as mediums for sight and hearing
  • Touch operates without a medium (direct contact)

Examples & Illustrations #

Sugar and Salt #

• Both appear white to the eye (same color)
• One tastes sweet, the other tastes salty (different tastes)
• We clearly distinguish between white-and-sweet and white-and-salty
• No single exterior sense knows both color and taste, yet we unify these sensations
• Shows the necessity of an interior power beyond the five senses

The Shape of the Table #

• The eye knows the shape through the boundaries of color (where the green stops)
• The hand knows the shape through the hardness and surface texture
• Unlike sweetness (which is accidental to sight), shape is not accidental but known through both senses appropriately
• Demonstrates how the same object can be known in different ways through different senses

The Chocolate Cake #

• One looks at a richly decorated cake in a French bakery and thinks “that looks sweet”
• But this is not the eye’s proper knowledge; it’s accidental guessing based on memory
• If salt were secretly placed in the sugar bowl, the eye would be completely deceived
• Shows that sweetness is accidentally known by sight, unlike shape

The Mole with Eyes #

• Even the mole, which lives underground and appears eyeless, actually has eyes beneath its skin
• This shows that even defective animals retain all the senses
• Suggests that if no other bodily element existed to serve as a sense organ, no sense would be missing

Language and Custom #

• English seems like the natural way of speaking to native speakers
• One cannot separate “language” from “English” without learning another language
• Only by encountering French, German, or other languages does one realize what is peculiar about English idioms
• Similarly, the mind cannot separate concepts never separated in experience without multiple perspectives
• Travel broadens the mind by providing alternative experiences

King Lear and Cordelia #

• The phrase “She’s dead, dead is earth” illustrates the association of death with the element earth
• Fire is associated with life and spirit (“give up the ghost,” “give up the air”)
• Water is associated with life but not typically with the soul
• Earth is what remains and returns after death—“dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return”

Questions Addressed #

How should we translate ψυχικός? #

• Not simply as “animal man” but as “soulish man” or “natural man” to preserve the reference to anima (soul)
• The Greek term explicitly refers to the soul, not to animal nature generally

Why does Paul call the man who rejects spiritual truth “soulish” (animalis)? #

• Thomas answers by returning to the definition of soul as the form of the body
• Because this man is concentrated on bodily powers, he is called “soulish”—one who follows the sensitive powers
• If he had only immaterial powers (intellect and will), he would be a pure spirit like an angel
• The concentration on bodily powers defines him as animalis

How can we distinguish different sensible qualities when no single sense knows both? #

• Example: we distinguish red from sweet, though sight knows red but not sweet, and taste knows sweet but not red
• This requires an interior power that receives impressions from multiple senses
• This interior power must be more immaterial than the exterior senses
• It is called the “common sense” (sensus communis)

Can the same object be known in different ways? #

• Yes: shape can be known by sight (through color) and by touch (through hardness)
• This shows knowledge is not univocal but admits of different modes
• Extends to the principle that faith and reason can both know the same truth differently
• Same truth, different ways of knowing

Are there more than five senses? #

• Aristotle argues there are not—though his argument is probable rather than necessary
• All sense organs are made from air and water, all animals have access to these mediums, therefore all senses are had by perfect animals
• The common sensibles are not the proper object of a sixth sense
• But there must be interior powers (not exterior senses) that unify the five senses

Notable Quotes #

“The soul is the form of the body. Whence, those powers are property of the soul, which are the acts of bodily organs, namely the sensitive powers.” — Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:14

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” — Mary, Magnificat (Luke 1:46-47), interpreted to distinguish bodily from immaterial powers

“Those men, therefore, are called animalis, who follow these powers… the knowing or grasping power and the desiring power.” — Thomas Aquinas, on who is called animalis