91. Order Among Powers of the Soul

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Three Types of Order Among Powers #

1. Order of Nature (Perfectional Order)

   • According to perfection and excellence, not temporal sequence
   • Intellectual powers are naturally before sensory powers; sensory before nutritive
   • Higher powers direct and command lower powers
   • Example: reason commands imagination to form images for contemplation; senses direct the nutritive soul in feeding
   • The more perfect is naturally before the imperfect

2. Order of Generation and Time

   • The reverse of the natural order
   • Develops sequentially in embryonic development
   • Nutritive powers first (cell division, growth), then sensory organs form, finally intellectual powers emerge
   • The imperfect comes first temporally and disposes for the perfect
   • Lower acts dispose the organism for higher acts

3. Order of Objects

   • Among sensory powers specifically
   • The visible (light/color) is naturally prior because it is common to both celestial and terrestrial bodies
   • Audible (sound in air) is prior to odor (which involves a mixture of elements)
   • The visible gives more universal knowledge than other senses

Reason and Will as Paradigm Case #

• Reason naturally precedes will in the order of nature
• The will’s object is “the good as known by reason”
• Reason must first understand something before the will can desire it
• This natural order of reason-then-will reflects the procession in the Trinity: the Son proceeds by understanding from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son by love
• This provides a human image of the Trinity in our own soul structure

Resolution of Objection About Division #

• Objection: Things divided into species from a common genus are together, not ordered (e.g., odd and even numbers)
• Response: Species can be together in one sense (receiving predication of the common genus) yet ordered in another (in their being)
• Example of Numbers: Two is before three in being (you can have two without three, but not vice versa), yet both are equally numbers; they are together in receiving the predication “number”
• Example of Figures: Triangle is before quadrilateral in being (a quadrilateral contains two triangles), but they are together in being rectilineal figures
• Logical vs. Ontological: They are simultaneous as regards logical predication but ordered as regards actual being
• Analogy of Military Hierarchy: Two lieutenants are together under a captain (equally ranked) but both are before sergeants. Yet if one lieutenant is a better commander, he may be put before the other in operational order—same rank but different order of operation

Key Arguments #

Establishing Order Requires Understanding “Before” #

• Multiple senses of “before” in the categories (perfection, time, causality)
• Form is before matter according to order of nature (form is more nature/perfect than matter)
• In human art: shape is before wood as subject (wood is only a work of art in potency until shaped)
• “According to the order of nature” means ordered by perfection or excellence, not temporal sequence

Why Higher Powers Direct Lower Powers #

• Evidence: reason commands imagination; senses command nutritive operations
• Cat refuses spoiled milk through sense of smell, showing senses direct feeding
• Animals use sensory powers to guide what they eat and drink
• Humans use vision, smell, taste to judge food before consuming it
• Higher powers have more universal reach and better judgment

Why Lower Powers Dispose for Higher Powers #

• In order of generation/time, lower powers develop first and prepare the organism
• Lower operations accustom the soul and make it apt for higher operations
• Example: Fine arts (music, literature, visual beauty) dispose the soul for philosophical contemplation
• Shakespeare and beautiful fiction settle the mind and prepare it for the life of reason
• Music education provides discipline that benefits intellectual work

Important Definitions #

Order of Nature (Secundum ordinem naturae) #

• Order according to perfection, excellence, and completeness
• Not the temporal sequence but the ontological priority of the more perfect
• Form is more nature than matter because through form something is actually natural, while matter only has the ability to be natural
• Used to explain why intellectual powers are before sensory powers: they are more perfect and have more universal objects

Order of Generation and Time (Secundum ordinem generationis et temporis) #

• The temporal, sequential order in which powers develop and operate
• In embryonic development, shows the reverse of the natural order
• Lower, more material powers manifest first; higher, more spiritual powers emerge later
• Shows how the imperfect serves as preparation for the perfect

Disposition (Dispositio) #

• When a lower act or power prepares the subject for the exercise of a higher power
• Example: enjoying beautiful music disposes one to enjoy philosophy
• The lower power makes the soul apt and ready for the higher power

Examples & Illustrations #

Leadership and Anger #

• Powerful rulers often have real anger, which they learn to control
• LBJ was famously harsh and demanding with subordinates
• Kennedy similarly demanding with staff
• Shows connection between capacity for anger and leadership ability
• Yet tragedy often results when great men cannot control their anger (Achilles, Coriolanus)
• Comic characters lack this irascible quality (Falstaff indulges but doesn’t command)

Tragic vs. Comic Characters #

• Tragic heroes: more irascible, fearless, lovers of honor (Henry V, Achilles, Coriolanus)
• Comic characters: laughable because of cowardice or indulgence (Falstaff fears being caught with Merry Wives of Windsor)
• Suggests the irascible appetite and fearlessness go with natural leadership

Sensory Powers Directing Feeding #

• Cat refuses spoiled milk: the sensory power (smell) prevents bad feeding
• Cat attracted by smell of meat or wine glass: senses guide appetite
• Humans similarly: we judge food by appearance, smell, and taste before eating
• Shows senses naturally directing the nutritive soul

Fine Arts Disposing for Philosophy #

• Reading Shakespeare as a freshman disposed Berquist for the philosophical life
• Beautiful music (Mozart, Baroque) gradually elevates taste and discipline
• Fine arts satisfy curiosity about human life and meaning, settling the soul
• Person who has read Shakespeare has traveled through human experience and is ready to settle down to study
• Compared to gradual ascent: dinner → music room → library → philosophy → theology
• Each level makes the next level more intelligible and desirable

Mozart vs. Baroque Music #

• Baroque music can be enjoyed in background (works as accompaniment)
• Mozart demands active attention; you must really listen to Mozart
• Requires discipline and education in listening
• Shows how higher powers require more engagement and effort

The Problem of Wasted Evening #

• Watching a stupid TV story: trapped either way
• If you watch to completion: wasting time on trash
• If you turn it off early: left with curiosity and dissatisfaction
• Better not to turn on the TV at all
• Shows how lower pleasures (sensory) can trap and frustrate when not ordered to higher goods

Numbers and Order #

• Two is before three in being: can have two without three, not vice versa
• Two is before four: you need two before you have four
• Yet both are equally “numbers” in the logical sense
• Shows how things can be “together” logically but “ordered” ontologically

Figures and Order #

• Triangle is inside quadrilateral: two triangles form a quadrilateral
• In being, triangle is before quadrilateral
• Yet both are rectilineal figures and in that sense together
• Quadrilateral is a more complex figure but built from simpler figures

Military Hierarchy #

• Two lieutenants under a captain: both equally ranked, so “together” in hierarchy
• Yet both are before sergeants in command structure
• Captain can assign one lieutenant to lead (operational order) while both remain equal in rank
• Shows same rank can have different order of operation depending on context

Notable Quotes #

“The great poets represent the great men, right? The men who rule cities or rule armies, right? As being, what? A more irascible, huh? Not a mild person.”

“The sense of powers in this order are before the powers of the, what? Feeding soul, right? You can see that, huh? You know, you give the cat sometimes milk and the milk’s been in the refrigerator too long and it’s spoiled, right? And the cat won’t drink it, huh?”

“The higher powers, in that sense, what? Are before, in the sense of a ruler, directing, right? But according to the second order, the order of generation and time, it’s just the reverse, huh?”

“So the higher powers, in that sense, what? Are before, in the sense of a ruler, directing, right? But according to the second order, the order of generation and time, it’s just the reverse, huh?”

“The fewer men, he says, the greater the glory, you know?” (Henry V at Agincourt, illustrating the tragic hero’s love of honor)

Questions Addressed #

How can things that are “together” in one sense be ordered in another sense? #

• Q: When we divide a genus (like number) into species (odd and even), aren’t they all together, not ordered?
• A: Yes, they are together in receiving the predication of the common genus, but they can still be ordered in their being. Two comes before three in being (one can exist without the other not), even though both are equally numbers.

How do we understand “before and after” among powers? #

• Q: What does it mean to say one power is “before” another when they don’t have temporal sequence?
• A: There are multiple senses of “before”: temporal, logical, and according to nature/perfection. When we say intellectual powers are before sensory powers, we mean they are more perfect and naturally direct the lower powers, not that they exist first in time.

Why do higher powers direct lower if they develop later in time? #

• Q: If sensory powers develop before intellectual powers in the embryo, how can intellectual powers direct them?
• A: The direction is according to natural order (perfection), not temporal order. Once the higher powers are present, they naturally take the commanding role. In development, the lower powers lay the foundation; once mature, the higher powers rule.

How can lower powers dispose for higher if they are imperfect? #

• Q: What is it about the imperfect lower acts that enables them to prepare for the perfect higher acts?
• A: The lower power, when rightly used and ordered, habituates and acustoms the soul to receive the higher power. Beauty in music and literature familiarizes the soul with truth and goodness in a sensible way, making it apt for intellectual contemplation of truth itself.

What is the relationship between the order of powers and the structure of the Trinity? #

• A: The natural order of reason before will in the human soul reflects the procession of the Trinity: the Son proceeds by understanding from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds by love from both Father and Son. Human reason and will constitute an image of this divine procession in our own soul.