109. The Agent Intellect, Universals, and the Danger of Imagination

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Agent Intellect and Abstraction of Universals #

• The agent intellect must be itself one and immaterial to abstract the one universal from many particular images
• The agent intellect is not necessarily the same numerically in all men, but must be the same in kind
• This common power of abstraction explains why all humans share understanding of first principles and axioms

Experience and Memory in Knowledge #

• Aristotle’s account: sensing comes first, then memory (retention of sensations), then experience (gathering many memories of the same thing)
• Experience involves a “stopping” - like soldiers in retreat where one stops and rallies others, images accumulate until something stable emerges
• Experience is more human than merely bestial because it involves bringing together many instances, not just sensing and remembering

The Immaterial Source of Intellectual Light #

• All men share understanding of axioms because of a common immaterial source: the Father of Lights from whom every perfect gift comes
• The agent intellect is compared to light (following Aristotle), not to a separated substance as in Platonic accounts
• Each individual possesses the agent intellect as their own power, yet it is derived from the divine source
• Angels have a greater light of mind than humans, also derived from the Father of Lights

The Problem of the Universal vs. The Class #

• The modern error: substituting classes for universals
• A universal is something one predicated of many (e.g., “man” in all individual men)
• A class is a collection of many individuals or particulars (e.g., “mankind” as a collective term)
• One cannot be a class; one IS a universal. A person is a man (universal), not a mankind (class)
• The whole universal is found in each particular instance, not merely a part as in the sail image

Imagination as Source of Error #

• False imagination is the first cause of error on the side of our knowing powers (Thomas’s teaching)
• We imagine things other than they are, even when they could be imagined
• A fortiori, imagination causes deception when trying to imagine what cannot be imagined (immaterial realities)
• Examples: imagining angels as having bodies, imagining souls as air-like substances, picturing God in bodily terms

The Platonic Sail Problem (Parmenides) #

• Socrates imagines the universal (Man) as a sail covering all individuals
• This leads to confusion: if the universal is like a sail with different parts covering different people, then each person possesses only part of the universal
• But the whole universal is actually present in each particular instance
• This error results from resolving to imagination in understanding the universal

Locke and Berkeley on General Ideas #

• Locke struggles to form a general idea of triangle (equilateral, isosceles, scalene, right-angled, obtuse-angled, acute-angled all at once)
• He concludes it is “all and none” of these things - a contradiction
• His problem: trying to imagine a universal triangle, when any imagined triangle must be a particular triangle
• Berkeley rejects the possibility of general ideas altogether, resolving the problem by denying its solution

Key Arguments #

Why the Agent Intellect Must Be One and Immaterial #

• From the Nature of Abstraction: To separate something one (the universal) from many particulars requires a one power that is immaterial
• From Common Axioms: All humans share understanding of first principles; this requires a common immaterial source
• Not Numerically One in All: While derived from one source (the Father of Lights), each person has their own agent intellect as a power of their soul

Against Reducing the Universal to Imagination #

• The Imagination Problem: Any image is necessarily extended and particular; a universal is neither
• The Collection Error: If we treat universals as collections (classes), we lose the fact that the whole universal is in each particular
• The Platonic Sail Contradiction: A universal cannot be like a sail with parts distributed to different individuals

Why Angels and Immaterial Things Cannot Be Understood Through Imagination #

• The Common Greek Error: “Whatever is must be somewhere” led to thinking angels must occupy space like bodies
• The Bodily Assumption: Because we cannot think without images, and images are extended, we wrongly assume whatever is must be extended
• The Result: Misunderstanding of soul, angels, and God through false imagination

Important Definitions #

Sensus Communis and The Gathering of Images #

• Images do not merely pass through (“in one ear and out the other”) but make a stop (στάσις) within memory
• Similar images accumulate and gather together through repeated sensations
• This accumulation constitutes experience (ἐμπειρία), which is distinctly human

Universal (Universale) #

• Something one that is predicated of many particular instances
• The whole of what is in the universal is found in each particular instance
• Not imaginable as such; grasped only by the intellect through abstraction

Class (Collectio) #

• A collection of many particulars gathered together
• Different from universal in that it is a plurality rather than a unity predicated of many
• More able to be imagined than the universal, but not the true universal

Genus (Prior to Logical Meaning) #

• Two meanings in Aristotle: (1) a multitude descended from one man; (2) the one man from whom a multitude descends
• Neither is the logical meaning, but both have some likeness to it
• Shows the danger of confusing different meanings and the limitations of imagination

Examples & Illustrations #

The Soldier Stopping in Retreat (Aristotle, Homer) #

• Troops are retreating from the enemy; one soldier stops and takes a stand
• This encourages others to stop and join him, forming a rally point
• Illustrates how one sensation (image) stops in memory, then another similar image stops, accumulating until experience forms
• Shows the transition from mere sensing to experience through gathering many instances

Memorizing Shakespeare: The Importance of Patience #

• When memorizing a sonnet, one should learn a few lines, wait until they settle in memory, then add more
• Rushing through causes earlier lines to be forgotten before later ones are learned
• Analogous to reading Thomas’s arguments: read one argument slowly, let it settle, then proceed to the next
• Demonstrates that understanding requires time and patience, not rapid consumption

Samuel Johnson’s Photographic Memory #

• Johnson was given a long poem to memorize as a boy; he read it once and recited it from memory perfectly
• Such memories are rare; most people require the slower method of accumulation
• Illustrates exceptional cases but does not negate the common mode of learning

The Politician Using Prompt Cards #

• A manager for Roosevelt had prompt cards listing names so he could address people by name
• Created the impression of genuine memory and personal connection
• Shows the practical need for external aids when one lacks photographic memory

Church as Collection vs. Universal #

• Expression “we are a church” is misleading (though for other reasons too)
• One is not a church; one is a member of the church
• “Mankind” refers to the collection of all men, not the universal predicate “man”
• One can say “I am a Catholic” or “I am a Christian,” but not “I am a Christianity”

C.S. Lewis and False Imagination of Places #

• Lewis visited a part of England he had never seen and found it unlike what he imagined
• His uncle challenged him: “You had to imagine it some way”
• We constantly imagine places, people, and situations other than they are without real reason
• Demonstrates the pervasiveness of imaginative error even regarding things that could be properly imagined

Berquist’s Personal Reflections on Graduated Expectations #

• In high school, imagined college would be wonderful; it was not as imagined
• In college, imagined graduate school would be concentrated on interesting things; it was not
• In graduate school, imagined teaching would involve constant interesting conversations at noon; reality differed
• Shows that even conscious reflection does not prevent us from imagining futures other than they will be

Notable Quotes #

“And this belongs to the acting of one understanding insofar as it is… immaterial. So you have to have something one here in comparison to the many images.”

• Expresses the core principle: the agent intellect must be one and immaterial to abstract universals from particulars

“Experience is something, in a sense, a bringing together many memories of the same thing.”

• Defines experience as distinctly human because it involves gathering and unifying many particular instances

“The whole of this thing is [found] in each one of you, right? So you can’t imagine like a sail where… we’re all covered, but each of us is only under one part of the sail.”

• Critiques the Platonic sail image and shows why imagination fails to capture the universal

“The universal is something one set of many… While the class is… the collection of many individuals.”

• Clarifies the critical distinction modern logicians miss between universal and class

“The world of imagination is a great source of error… [especially when] you try to imagine that which cannot be imagined.”

• Identifies imagination as the root of philosophical error, especially regarding immaterial realities

Questions Addressed #

Why Must the Agent Intellect Be One and Immaterial? #

• Question: How can many particular images yield one universal concept?
• Answer: Only an immaterial, one power (the agent intellect) can abstract the one from the many
• Implication: This power is not numerically the same in all humans, but the same in kind

How Do All Humans Share Understanding of First Principles? #

• Question: If the agent intellect differs in each person, how do all humans know axioms?
• Answer: All are derived from one immaterial source - the Father of Lights - from whom every perfect gift comes
• Theological Dimension: The common understanding reflects a higher unity in the divine illumination

What Is the Difference Between Understanding a Universal and a Class? #

• Question: Are universals and classes the same thing?
• Answer: No. The universal is one predicate found wholly in each particular; the class is a collection of particulars
• Error: Modern logic often substitutes class for universal, losing the essential nature of universality

Why Do Modern Thinkers Fail to Understand Universals? #

• Question: Why do philosophers like Locke and Berkeley struggle with general ideas?
• Answer: They attempt to imagine universals, but universals are not imaginable; any imagined triangle is particular
• Root Cause: Resolving understanding to imagination rather than distinguishing the two

How Should One Approach the Works of Thomas Aquinas? #

• Question: How should students read Thomas’s arguments?
• Answer: Slowly and carefully; read one argument, let it settle in mind, then proceed to the next
• Principle: Understanding requires patience and the accumulation of thoughts, not rapid consumption

What Is the Danger Regarding Angels and Immaterial Beings? #

• Question: Why do we tend to imagine angels and souls as bodily things?
• Answer: Because we cannot think without images, and images are necessarily extended; this leads us to falsely imagine immaterial things as bodies
• Consequence: Misunderstanding of theology, metaphysics, and the nature of intellect and soul