157. The Human Soul's Knowledge of Immaterial Substances

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Question of Knowing Immaterial Substances #

• Whether the human soul can understand immaterial substances (angels) in its present earthly life
• The relationship between knowledge of material things and knowledge of immaterial things
• How to reconcile apparent contradictions in what we can know

Augustine’s Position on Self-Knowledge as Gateway #

• The mind gains knowledge of immaterial things through knowledge of itself
• Knowledge of one’s own understanding soul is foundational to knowing that immaterial substances (angels) understand
• Understanding the immateriality and understanding of our own soul opens knowledge of the immaterial world
• Study of the human soul stands at the horizon between material and immaterial worlds

The Problem of “Like Knowing Like” #

• Objection: The human mind is immaterial and thus more like immaterial things than material things; therefore it should know immaterial things better than material things
• Issue: The mind understands material things but this seems to contradict the principle that like knows like
• Response: The principle requires not mere similarity of nature but actual presence of the thing known as a form in the knower

The Brightness Paradox #

• Things most sensible (brightest light) actually corrupt sensation rather than enhance it
• By contrast, things most intelligible (immaterial substances, God) do not corrupt understanding but rather illuminate it
• Yet our understanding of these things is severely limited—Aristotle compares our soul to the bat’s eye in daylight
• The paradox: What is most understandable does not make us understand best; rather our understanding is weak precisely regarding what is most intelligible

The Progression from Known to Knowable #

• All education moves from what is more known to us toward what is more knowable in itself
• What is more perfect is less known to us at first; what is imperfect is more accessible
• This applies to bodily training, taste development, aesthetic appreciation, and intellectual knowledge
• In intellectual development: material things are more known to us; immaterial things are more knowable in themselves

Key Arguments #

The Physical Training Analogy #

• A person who can do 5 push-ups benefits more from doing 5 than from doing 20
• Yet 20 push-ups is objectively more productive of strength
• Application: What produces knowledge for us differs from what is most understandable in itself

The Taste Development Analogy #

• A child prefers soda pop to wine
• Yet wine is objectively more tasty—it has more flavor to appreciate
• As taste develops through education, one’s preferences reverse
• The undeveloped palate finds what is less tasty to us more enjoyable than what is more tasty in itself

The Musical Appreciation Analogy #

• A child prefers a march to Mozart
• Mozart contains more to be understood, heard, and appreciated
• Yet initially the simpler march is more known to the child
• After education in music, Mozart is recognized as superior

The Principle of Educational Development #

• Every form of education develops potency toward act
• Therefore education necessarily proceeds from the imperfect to the perfect
• What is imperfectly known comes before what is perfectly known
• This is why material things (imperfectly intelligible) are more known to us than immaterial things (more perfectly intelligible)

Important Definitions #

Immaterial Substances #

• Beings whose nature does not depend on matter for existence or understanding
• Include angels and God
• Not named as such in philosophy but called “separated substances” (substances separated from matter)
• Named “angels” in theology because of their role as messengers in Scripture
• Are more real than material things

The Problem of Angelology in Modern Thought #

• Even among Catholics, angels are “fuzzy” in thinking
• Many people conflate immateriality with non-existence or mere imagination
• There is a tendency to think “whatever it is must be a body”
• Angels are more real than human beings, though difficult for us to comprehend

Examples & Illustrations #

The Frangelico Angels #

• Fra Angelico’s paintings represent angels as impressive creatures
• The most suitable artistic representation of immaterial beings
• Shows that while angels have no bodies, they can be represented through art
• Angels traditionally depicted with wings in Christian art

Knowledge of the Blackboard #

• If I know the length and width of a blackboard, my knowledge of these dimensions governs what I can say about the area
• The known (length and width) rules what I can determine about the unknown (area)
• Illustrates how reason rules itself through separation of what is known from what is unknown

Wine and Soda Pop #

• Father refused to fill the refrigerator with soda pop despite having means to do so
• In maturity, wine is far more tasty than soda pop
• Red wine is more tasty in itself than white wine, though beginners prefer white
• Cold soda pop tastes like nothing compared to properly cellared wine
• Shows progression from less to more refined understanding

The Guardian Angel Analogy (Referenced) #

• A teacher compared an angel’s understanding of human choice to a human’s understanding of an earthworm’s decision
• Illustrates the vast disparity between angelic and human intellects

Scripture and the Soul #

• Some passages in Scripture speak of God as having a soul, though this is largely metaphorical
• Shows how even Scripture uses language drawn from human experience to speak of the divine

Notable Quotes #

“The mind itself, just as it gathers through the senses of the body knowledge of bodily things, so through itself, it gains a knowledge of the bodiless things.” — Augustine (cited by Thomas)

“Like is known by like, but the human mind is more like immaterial things than material things, since the mind itself is immaterial.” — Objection cited from Augustine

“Our soul is to the things that are most understandable, meaning God and the angels, like the eyes of the bat are to the light of day.” — Aristotle (as cited by Berquist)

“Therefore, those things which are most understandable are also most understandable for us.” — The apparent conclusion from the brightness argument

“In the beginning, we don’t love God at all. We love other things, right? And then we have difficulty getting these things or misfortunes in our life. And then we turn to God for help.” — St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the stages of love of God

Questions Addressed #

Can the human soul understand immaterial substances in this life? #

• Answer: Only imperfectly and indirectly, not through themselves or as they are in themselves
• Knowledge comes through reasoning from material effects, negating materiality, and understanding immaterial substances as causes
• Direct, intuitive understanding of immaterial substances is not possible in our present condition

Why does the principle “like knows like” not guarantee we know immaterial things? #

• Answer: The principle requires not mere similarity of nature but the actual presence of the known thing as a form actualized in the knower
• The possible intellect is actualized by likenesses of material things derived from sensible experience
• We lack innate likenesses of immaterial substances

Why are the most intelligible things (God and angels) hardest for us to know? #

• Answer: Because we begin in potency and develop toward act; our natural orientation is toward material things
• What is most perfect and most understandable in itself is least known to us in our current state
• This parallels all forms of education where the less perfect or less refined is more accessible initially

How does the problem of immaterial knowledge relate to our condition as human beings? #

• Answer: Humans are strange creatures—neither purely material (like beasts) nor purely immaterial (like angels)
• Our soul is the form of an actual body but has operations (understanding) that rise above the body
• This intermediate nature means we naturally know material things but must reason toward knowledge of immaterial things

Why do people often deny or minimize the reality of angels? #

• Answer: Pride and the tendency to think that whatever exists must be bodily
• Without understanding the immateriality and understanding of one’s own soul, the existence of immaterial understanding beings becomes incomprehensible
• This represents a failure to “know thyself” in the Socratic sense