152. Knowledge of Contingent and Future Things

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Knowledge of Contingent Things #

• Contingent vs. Necessary: Contingent things are those that can be and not be (as opposed to necessary things which must be, and impossible things which cannot be)
• Matter and Contingency: Each thing is contingent because of matter; necessity follows upon form
• Dual Knowledge: Contingent things can be known either as contingent (directly by sense) or as containing something of necessity
• Understanding’s Approach: The understanding knows the universal necessary reasons of contingent things, not the contingent things themselves insofar as they are contingent
• Direct vs. Indirect: Contingent things as singulars are known directly by sense; they are known indirectly by understanding through reflection

Knowledge of Future Things #

• Two Modes of Knowledge: Future things can be known either (1) in themselves (only by God) or (2) in their causes (by humans with varying certitude)
• God’s Eternal Now: Future things are not in time; they are present to God in His eternal now outside of time, as the center of a circle is directly opposite every point on the circle
• Knowledge Through Causes: Humans can predict future things by knowing their causes and whether those causes produce effects by necessity or only for the most part
• Certitude Levels: When causes produce effects by necessity (e.g., astronomical eclipses), knowledge is certain; when causes produce effects only for the most part (e.g., weather), knowledge is conjectural
• Alienation from Senses: When the soul is withdrawn from bodily senses (in sleep or mental disturbance), it may receive knowledge of future things through superior causes—either bodily (celestial influences) or spiritual (divine illumination or demonic influence)

Animal Knowledge and Celestial Influence #

• Animal Superiority: Some animals (e.g., crows) seem to know future weather changes better than humans
• Reason for Difference: Brute animals have greater sensitivity to celestial influences because their imagination is not ordered by reason, whereas human reason interferes with direct sensitivity to such influences
• Natural Philosophy Question: This raises the interesting question: why would human understanding, being superior, not give us greater knowledge of future events than animals have?

The Infinite Revisited #

• Infinite in Potency Only: The human understanding knows the infinite only in ability (potency), never in act or in habit
• Successive Knowledge: Understanding acquires knowledge successively, one thought after another; it cannot hold infinite things in mind simultaneously
• Numbers vs. Continuous: Numbers have a “next” number (6 is followed by 7), but continuous quantities have no next point because they are divisible forever
• Thoughts as Discrete: Thoughts are like numbers (discrete), not like continuous lines; there is a next thought with no intermediary stopping points between successive thoughts

Key Arguments #

Against Direct Knowledge of Contingent Things #

• Aristotle teaches that the virtues of understanding (νοῦς), science (ἐπιστήμη), and wisdom (σοφία) concern necessary things, not contingent things
• Things that “sometimes are and sometimes are not” are measured by time
• Understanding abstracts from time and material conditions
• Therefore: Contingent things seem not to be known by understanding

For Indirect Knowledge of Contingent Things #

• Every science resides in the understanding
• Some sciences treat contingent things (moral sciences about human acts; natural sciences about generated and corrupted things)
• Therefore: Understanding has knowledge of contingent things
• Resolution: Understanding knows the universal necessary reasons of contingent things, not the contingent things themselves as contingent

Against Knowledge of Future Things #

• Understandable forms abstract from the here and now (ἀφαίρεσις), so understanding should know future things as well as present things
• Humans alienated from senses (in sleep, mental disturbance) sometimes know future things
• Some animals seem to know future things better than humans

For Knowledge of Future Things Through Causes #

• Sciences can be formed about future things when they are knowable through universal causes (e.g., astronomy predicting eclipses)
• The certitude of such knowledge depends on whether causes produce effects by necessity or only for the most part

Important Definitions #

Contingent Things (ἐνδεχόμενα) #

• Things that can be and not be
• Known directly by sense as singulars
• Known indirectly by understanding through their universal necessary reasons

Necessity and Form (μορφή) #

• Necessity follows upon form (ἐξ ἀνάγκης κατὰ τὸ εἶδος)—those things which follow upon the definition necessarily are in something
• Contingency follows upon matter (ὕλη)—the ability to be and not be pertains to matter
• Matter is the principle of individuation (ἀρχὴ τῆς ἀριθμήσεως)

Future Things (futura) #

• In themselves (secundum se): Known only by God through His eternal now
• In their causes (in suis causis): Known by humans with varying degrees of certitude depending on the necessity of the causal connection

Examples & Illustrations #

Contingency and Necessity #

• Socrates running: In itself, it is contingent that Socrates runs (he can run or not run); but the relation of running to motion is necessary—if Socrates runs, he must move
• Geometry vs. Natural Philosophy: Geometry has complete necessity because it contains no matter; natural philosophy deals with generated and corrupted things subject to contingency

Knowledge Through Causes #

• Predicting eclipses: Astronomers know future eclipses with certitude because celestial causes produce them by necessity
• Weather prediction: Weathermen make conjectural predictions because atmospheric causes produce effects only for the most part
• Counting students: One doesn’t know in advance the exact number of students in class, but knows what one is looking for (“the number of students in class”) and can discover it by counting—thus directing oneself to 28 without knowing beforehand one was looking for 28

Animal Knowledge of Future Events #

• Crows predicting rain: Animals seem to know future weather changes better than humans because they are more directly sensitive to celestial influences
• Why animals excel: Their imagination is not “ordered by reason” and thus they have direct sensitivity that human reason interferes with

Discrete vs. Continuous #

• Numbers: 6 is followed by 7; there is a definite “next” number
• Lines: There is no “next” point in a line because it is divisible forever; between any two points lies an infinite divisibility
• Thoughts: Like numbers, thoughts are discrete—the next thought follows without intermediary stopping points between them, unlike continuous quantity which cannot be traversed without stopping at intermediate points

Understanding’s Relationship to Time #

• The Latin word “understand” (intelligere, from sub- + legere) relates to “standing”; yet how can understanding grasp something that doesn’t stand still in time?
• Distinction: While contingent things flow in time, the universal form they contain (what it is) stands still; change itself is unchanging knowledge—if things change by becoming other, that definition of change itself never changes

Notable Quotes #

“Contingent things, insofar as they are contingent, are known directly by sense, and only indirectly by the understanding. But the universal necessary reasons of contingent things are known by the understanding.”

“Future things in themselves are not able to be known except by God, whose knowledge is not in time, but in eternity, to which are also present future things.”

“Each thing is contingent because of matter. But necessity follows upon the definition of form.”

“The moments of time are like the points on a circle, and one is before or after another one, right? But the eternal now is outside of time, it’s like the center of the circle. Now the center of the circle is directly opposite each one of these, right? So every moment of time, past, present, and future, are present to God in his eternal now.”

“If thought was continuous, you’d be jumping from point to point, and never completing any line of thought because it would be impossible to.”

“You can know what you don’t know… In order to ask an intelligent question, you have to in some way know what you don’t know.”

Questions Addressed #

Q3: Does the understanding know contingent things? #

• Objections: (1) Understanding concerns necessary things; contingent things are measured by time; understanding abstracts from time
• Answer: Understanding knows contingent things indirectly through their universal necessary reasons, not directly as contingent. When one pays attention to the things themselves (res), some sciences are about contingent things; when one pays attention to the universal definitions (rationes), all sciences concern necessary things

Q4: Does the understanding know future things? #

• Objections: (1) Understanding abstracts from the here and now; (2) Humans alienated from senses know future things; (3) Animals know future things better than humans
• Answer: Future things in themselves are known only by God through His eternal now; humans know future things in their causes with varying certitude depending on whether causes produce effects by necessity or only for the most part. Knowledge when alienated from senses comes through superior causes (bodily or spiritual), not through the understanding’s own power

Connections to Previous Discussions #

• The discussion of how understanding knows singulars indirectly through reflection on its own act connects to earlier teaching on the proper object of understanding being the universal what it is of sensed or imagined things
• The distinction between knowing in potency vs. in act relates to earlier treatment of infinity in questions on divine knowledge
• The treatment of necessity following from form and contingency from matter connects to metaphysical principles established in natural philosophy lectures