57. Act and Ability: Perfection and Causality

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Three Senses of “Before” (Prius) #

• Before in definition: Ability is defined by the act it is an ability toward (e.g., “able to build” is known through the act of building)
• Before in substance/perfection: Form is more substance than matter; act is more substance than ability
• Before in time (with qualification): In individual things, ability precedes act; but simply speaking, act precedes ability (something already in act must cause what comes to be)

Act and Ability in Substance #

• Substance consists of matter and form, but form is more substance
• Matter is substance in ability (δύναμις); form is substance in act (ἐνέργεια)
• What a thing is in ability is different from what it is in act
• Form is that by which a substance is in act

Nature as Intrinsic Cause #

• Nature (φύσις) is an intrinsic beginning and cause of motion and rest
• Both matter and form are natural, but form is more natural
• Active sense: The nature of a tree to grow (something building itself up)
• Passive sense: The nature of wood to burn in fire (something acted upon in a certain way)
• Matter gives natural things the ability to be natural; form actualizes them in being natural

Generation and Perfection #

• What comes later in generation is more perfect (form comes after matter in a house’s construction)
• Matter exists in order for form to be induced
• Ability is always for the sake of act, not vice versa
• The end is always better than what is for the sake of the end

Three Meanings of Perfect (Τέλειος) #

• Having all its parts: A complete meal (appetizer, main course, dessert)
• Having all abilities of its kind: Homer as a complete poet (teaches all other Greeks how to write good plots and characters)
• Having reached its end or purpose: This is the most fundamental sense

Doing (Actio) vs. Making (Factio) #

• In making: The activity is in the thing being made (e.g., building is in the house being built)
• In doing: The activity remains in the agent (e.g., seeing is in the one who sees; thinking is in the one who thinks)
• Making perfects the made, not the maker; any perfection of the maker is accidental
• Teaching is an example: the teacher learns incidentally, not essentially

The Superiority of Act Over Ability #

• Demonstrated through the proportion: eternal things are to corruptible things as act is to ability
• Eternal things have no ability not to be; corruptible things have the ability both to be and not to be
• This makes the superiority manifest when comparing different things (easier to see eternal > corruptible than to distinguish act > ability within a single thing)
• Everything that comes to be moves toward an end (τέλος), and the end is a kind of beginning (ἀρχή)

Necessity, Contingency, and the First Cause #

• The necessary (τὸ ἀναγκαῖον): what is not able not to be
• The possible (τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον): what is able to be and able not to be
• The impossible: what is not able to be
• Necessary things are the first things; if they did not exist, nothing would be
• This leads to Thomas’s third argument: the existence of contingent beings requires a necessary being

Key Arguments #

Why Act is Before Ability in Definition #

• Abilities are known and distinguished only through their corresponding acts
• “The builder is able to build” presupposes understanding what it means to build
• We cannot define ability except by reference to the act it is an ability toward
• Therefore, act must be known (at least implicitly) before ability can be defined

Why Act is Before Ability in Time (Qualified) #

• In individual things: Ability comes first temporally (egg before chicken)
• Simply speaking: Act comes first because what is in act must cause what comes to be from ability
• The principle: “From what is in ability comes to be what is in act, as man from man”
• Example: Water becomes hot not spontaneously, but through contact with something already hot (fire)
• Everything that changes from ability to act does so through the agency of something in act

Why Act is More Perfect Than Ability #

• From generation: What comes later in generation is more perfect; form comes after matter in becoming
• From purpose: Ability exists for the sake of act; the end is better than means
• From comparison of beings: Eternal things (with no ability not to be) are clearly better than corruptible things (with mixed ability and act)
• From manifestation: Teachers show students performing acts, not merely possessing abilities; this reveals what is truly valued
• From the principle of causation: The good is the cause of things being wanted; the end is the type of cause that is the good; therefore, act (as end of ability) is better

Important Definitions #

Nature (φύσις) #

An intrinsic beginning and cause of motion and of rest in that which it is first as such and not by happening. Composed of matter and form but form is more nature, since form actualizes the nature.

Substance (οὐσία/substantia) #

That which a thing fundamentally is. In material substances, composed of matter and form, where form is more substance. Matter is substance in ability; form is substance in act.

Act (ἐνέργεια/actus) #

The actualization or realization of ability. The being in act. Form is act; matter is ability. What is in act is more intelligible simply, though ability may be more knowable to us due to our dependence on sensation.

Ability (δύναμις/potentia) #

Capacity or potentiality. Strictly: one step away from act by one operation (proximate ability). Matter is pure ability; what is in ability is not yet what it can become. Both active ability (capacity to act) and passive ability (capacity to be acted upon).

End (τέλος/finis) #

That for the sake of which something is or is done. The end is a type of beginning (ἀρχή), first in intention though last in execution. The end is always better than what is for the sake of it.

The Good (τὸ ἀγαθόν/bonum) #

What all things aim toward. Not good because desired, but desired because good. The cause of being desired. Identified with the end as a type of cause. Being as such is good; the bad is fundamentally non-being or lack.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Harassed Mother #

Child asks why a tree grows but a stone doesn’t when both receive the same sun, rain, and soil. The mother answers: “It’s the nature of the tree to grow; it’s not the nature of the stone.” This illustrates:

• Nature as something intrinsic and internal
• Active sense: the tree building itself up
• When the child asks why a log burns but a stone doesn’t in fire: passive sense of nature—what enables the log to be acted upon by fire

Building and Defects #

When a product is used, defects may be discovered (e.g., Detroit road-testing reveals wheel defects). The user commands the maker to correct the design. The maker commands those who prepare materials. This shows:

• The use (end) commands the form
• The form commands the matter
• Each level exists for the sake of what comes after it in the chain of causation

German Aircraft and the Korean War #

Americans and Russians captured German aircraft plans after WWII. When pilots encountered them over Korea, American pilots thought they were being attacked by their own planes—the designs were identical. Yet the user (pilot) discovered defects in combat that the original designer might not have known. This illustrates how use commands design.

Learning Geometry #

When acquiring geometry, one doesn’t store knowledge and forget it. Rather, when you think back on it, you can think about the theory more easily because you retain something of the demonstration. Studying geometry is a cycle: go through it once, reach the end, and start again.

Homer as Complete Poet #

Homer is a complete (τέλειος) poet because he taught all other Greeks how to write a good plot. His characters are very perfect; his words are very good. By contrast, Dickens had trouble writing plots and thus was not a complete poet. This illustrates the second meaning of perfect: having all the abilities of one’s kind.

Dryden’s Judgment of Fletcher and Shakespeare #

When Dryden was young, more plays of Fletcher were performed than Shakespeare’s, but Dryden realized Shakespeare was much better. Dryden said Fletcher was “just a limb of Shakespeare, like an arm or a leg.” This illustrates:

• The relation of part to whole (matter to form)
• Fletcher has some of a poet’s abilities but not all; like a man missing a limb
• Shakespeare has the whole ability of the playwright

The Fast-Food Counter #

A person behind the counter harassed by customers making endless demands. Like the concupiscible appetite making endless demands on reason:

• Reason (like the worker) runs around trying to satisfy them
• The demands are like French fries being consumed by eating customers
• Something infinite about the appetite means it can never be fully satisfied
• This illustrates how disorder in appetite creates chaos

Questions Addressed #

How Can Ability Be Prior in Time if Act is Better? #

Resolution through distinction: In individual things, ability is prior temporally (the egg precedes the chicken). But simply speaking, act is prior even in time, because what comes to be in act must be caused by something already in act. The chicken that laid the egg was already in act. What changes from ability to act does so always through something in act.

Why Should Act Be Better Than Ability if They’re Always Together in Creatures? #

Answer: While act and ability always mix in creatures, the comparison becomes clearer when looking at:

• Pure act (God) versus mixed act-ability (creatures): eternal things with no ability not to be are clearly better than corruptible things
• The eternal things are to corruptible things as act is to ability—this makes the truth obvious
• Thus act must be more perfect and better than ability

Does Making Perfect the Maker? #

Answer: No. Making perfects the made, not the maker. Marx errs in thinking man perfects himself through making. The perfection of the product belongs essentially to making; any perfection of the maker is accidental.

• Example: Making McDonald’s hamburgers day after day perfects the hamburgers, not the maker
• Teaching is similar: the teacher learns incidentally (not essentially) when teaching
• A teacher learning what he teaches is not yet fully a teacher insofar as he doesn’t yet know it

Why Is Understanding Words Necessary for Wisdom? #

Answer: “If a man understands the words he uses, he is wise.” Conversely, if he doesn’t understand the words, he is not wise. Example: David Hume does not understand the word “nature” despite using it—he cannot sort out its multiple meanings. Modern philosophers often use words inappropriately and thus lack wisdom. Understanding the meanings of words is fundamental to being wise, though wisdom consists in more than that.

Notable Quotes #

“Form is more nature than matter” (Aristotle) “Act is before ability simply, but not simply in some way, ability is before act” (Aristotle) “From what is in ability comes to be what is in act, as man from man” (Aristotle) “The end is better than what is for the sake of the end” (Principle central to the lecture) “If a man understands the words he uses, he is wise” (Berquist, citing Aristotle)