69. The Incorruptibility of the Human Soul

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Two Modes of Corruption #

• Per se (through itself): A thing ceases to be through its own nature (e.g., a dog dies)
• Per accidens (through something else): A thing ceases to be because something else ceases to be (e.g., the spherical shape ceases when the rubber ball is destroyed)
• Only subsistent things (things having being by themselves) can be corrupted per se; accidents and forms in matter are corrupted per accidens

Why the Soul Cannot Be Corrupted Per Accidens #

• The soul was established in Article 2 to be subsistent—having being by itself, not merely in the body
• A subsisting thing cannot be corrupted per accidens, only per se
• This eliminates one possible mode of the soul’s corruption

Why the Soul Cannot Be Corrupted Per Se: The Form and Being Argument #

• Central principle: “It is manifest that that which belongs to something, secundum se, is inseparable from it”
• Existence (esse) belongs to form as such (per se), as the principle by which something has being
• What belongs to something per se cannot be separated from it
• A subsisting form has being by itself; therefore being cannot be separated from it
• Conclusion: A subsisting form cannot cease to be
• Thomas illustrates this with mathematical examples: two cannot fail to be a number; a triangle cannot fail to have interior angles equal to two right angles

Distinction Between Material and Immaterial Substances #

• Material substances (composite of matter and form): Can lose their form and be corrupted because matter has passive potency to another form
• Immaterial substances (form only): Have no passive potency; their form exhausts all their actuality
• The human soul, being form only, has no potency to cease to be

The Soul’s Subsistence Despite Dependence on Imagination #

• The soul requires images to understand while in the body, but this is its mode of operation in union with the body, not a dependence of its essence on the body
• The act of understanding itself is immaterial, even though it uses material images
• When separated from the body, the soul will understand differently (as angels do) but will still understand

Contrariety and Corruption #

• Corruption naturally proceeds from contrariety (wet becomes dry, health becomes sickness)
• In the understanding soul, contraries are not contrary: understanding virtue and understanding vice are not opposed in the intellect
• The definition of virtue does not contradict the definition of vice; understanding one helps understand the other
• Since the soul lacks the contrariety necessary for corruption, it cannot be corrupted

Key Arguments #

The Argument from Subsistence and Corruption Modes #

1. A subsisting thing can only be corrupted per se (by ceasing to be itself), not per accidens (through something else ceasing to be)
2. The human soul is subsisting (having operations not in the body)
3. Therefore, the soul can only be corrupted per se, if at all
4. But a subsisting form cannot cease to be per se (see argument below)
5. Therefore, the human soul is incorruptible

The Argument from Form and Being #

1. Existence belongs to form as such (form is that by which something has being)
2. What belongs to something as such is inseparable from it
3. A subsisting form has being by itself
4. Therefore, being is inseparable from a subsisting form
5. Therefore, a subsisting form cannot cease to be

Comparison with Creatures Composed of Matter and Form #

• Material things: Form completes only part of matter’s potency; matter remains in potency to other forms; therefore corruption occurs when form is lost
• Immaterial substances: The form exhausts all potency; there is no “more potency” for it to lose; therefore it cannot be corrupted

Important Definitions #

Subsistence (Subsistentia) #

• Having being by oneself, not merely in another
• The human soul is subsistent because it has operations (understanding and willing) that transcend the body and matter

Corruption (Corruptio) #

• Per se: A thing ceases to exist through its own nature
• Per accidens: A thing ceases to exist because something else to which it belongs ceases to exist

Form (Forma) and Actuality (Actus) #

• That by which something has being and is what it is
• In composed substances, form is the principle of actuality
• A subsisting form is a form that has being by itself (the soul, angels)
• Greek word used: ἐντελέχεια (entelekeia)—literally “having its end within itself”

Potency/Ability (Potentia) #

• Passive potency: The ability to receive a form or to not be; present in matter and allows for corruption
• Active potency: The power to act or produce something
• Forms only, having no matter, lack passive potency to not be

Being/Existence (Esse) #

• The actuality by which something is
• Belongs to form as such; therefore inseparable from subsisting form

Examples & Illustrations #

The Rubber Ball and Spherical Shape #

• The spherical shape does not come to be from the rubber, nor is it created from nothing
• It comes to be per accidens when the rubber ball is shaped
• When the rubber ball is destroyed or reshaped, the spherical shape ceases per accidens
• This illustrates how accidents and non-subsistent forms are corrupted through the corruption of that which bears them

Health and Sickness in Body vs. Understanding #

• In the body: Health and sickness are contraries; the body cannot be both healthy and sick simultaneously
• In the understanding: The definition of virtue and the definition of vice are not contrary; understanding one actually helps understand the other
• This shows that the understanding soul is not subject to the laws of material contrariety

The Eye and Color #

• The eye sees color, but the act of seeing is in the eye, not in the colored object
• The eye requires the colored object but is not itself dependent on the object for its existence
• The color is not the organ of sight
• Similarly, the soul understands through imagination, but the act of understanding is in the soul, not in the image
• The image may disappear, but this does not mean the soul ceases to be

Material Substances vs. Celestial Bodies #

• Material substances on earth are composed of matter with passive potency to other forms; therefore they can be corrupted
• Aristotle thought celestial bodies (sun, moon, stars) are incorruptible because they show no diminishment
• This is reasonable because the time required for their corruption may exceed human lifespans
• They would be incorruptible because they lack matter subject to contrariety
• Thomas notes this may explain apparent incorruptibility: the process is simply much slower than we perceive

Questions Addressed #

First Objection: Man and Beast Have the Same Beginning and Process; Therefore the Same End? #

• Problem: Genesis says both are made from earth; both breathe; Scripture says “one is the dissolution of men and of beasts”
• Reply: The beginning and process are alike only regarding the body. The soul of beasts is produced from bodily power (the material potency of the body); the human soul is created by God. The dissolution of the body is common to all animals, but the soul’s incorruptibility is unique to humans because only the human soul is subsistent

Second Objection: What Is Created from Nothing Can Return to Nothing? #

• Problem: The Book of Wisdom says we are born from nothing; the soul is created; therefore it can cease to be
• Reply: Creation involves only God’s active power to produce from nothing, not passive potency in the creature. A creature’s corruptibility comes from having passive potency (ability not to be), which the soul lacks. The soul, being form only, has no passive potency to cease to be. The fact that God created it from nothing does not give it the ability to return to nothing

Third Objection: If the Soul Cannot Understand Without Images, How Can It Exist Without the Body? #

• Problem: Understanding requires images; images are in the body; therefore the soul cannot exist without the body
• Reply: The soul’s dependence on imagination is its mode of understanding while in the body, not a dependence of the soul’s existence on the body. The act of understanding is immaterial even in this life. When separated from the body, the soul will understand differently (as angels understand without images) but will still understand. The image is the object understood, not the organ of understanding

Fourth Objection: How Can the Soul Be Form Only Without Being Pure Act and Infinite? #

• Problem: Only what is form only is pure act; only God is pure act and infinite; therefore if the soul is form only, it cannot be limited and created
• Reply: Every created form participates in being from God; being is limited by the capacity of what receives it. Only God is pure act and infinite. In understanding substances (angels and the separated soul), there is composition not of matter and form, but of form and existence (esse). The soul is form but not pure act, because its existence is participated and received, not identical with its essence. It is “what is” receiving participation in “to be”

Notable Quotes #

“It is manifest that that which belongs to something, secundum se, is inseparable from it.” — Thomas Aquinas, demonstrating the fundamental principle that what belongs to something as such cannot be separated from it. Illustrates that two cannot fail to be a number, and existence cannot fail to belong to form.

“In one way, per se… in another way, per accidens.” — Thomas’s crucial distinction that establishes why only subsistent things can be corrupted per se, while accidents and non-subsistent forms are corrupted per accidens through the corruption of that which bears them.