60. God's Knowledge: Science, Immateriality, and Self-Understanding

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Nature of Knowledge (Scientia) in God #

• Scientia (reasoned-out knowledge, episteme in Greek) is exemplified by geometry and is always a habit in creatures
• Science as knowledge of conclusions caused by premises—this structure cannot exist in God as first cause
• God cannot possess knowledge as a habit because he is pure act, with no potentiality
• The distinction between universal and particular knowledge applies to creatures but not to God, who transcends this division

Immateriality as the Root and Measure of Knowledge #

• Immateriality is the fundamental condition for knowing; greater immateriality = greater capacity for knowledge
• The knower receives the form of another thing while retaining its own form (the eye receives the colors and shapes of objects without being materially changed)
• Forms have greater amplitude and extension when separated from matter
• God, at the summit of immateriality, must be at the summit of knowledge
• Plants lack knowledge due to their materiality; senses receive forms without matter; understanding is even more immaterial than sensation

God’s Understanding of Himself #

• God understands himself through himself (per se), not through understanding other things first
• In God, the understanding (subject), the understood (object), and that by which he understands (form) are all identical
• God is pure act with no potentiality, so the understandable form is his very substance
• Unlike creatures who must first know external things before reflecting on themselves, God’s self-knowledge is primary
• Angels also understand themselves through themselves, but only God knows everything through knowing himself

Key Arguments #

Against Knowledge (Scientia) in God #

1. Science is a habit; God cannot have habits because he is pure act (act-potency distinction from Book IX of Metaphysics)
2. Science is knowledge of conclusions caused by premises; nothing is caused in God since he is the first cause
3. Science is either universal or particular; God transcends this distinction

For Knowledge in God (Resolution) #

• Perfections descending from God to creatures exist in God in a higher way (as his substance, not accidents)
• When transferring creature-names to God, drop what pertains to imperfection, retain what is perfect
• Example: In the definition of demonstration (“a syllogism making us know the cause”), drop the syllogizing and making-known, keep the knowing-the-cause-perfectly
• The soul is “in some way all things” because sensible forms are received in senses and natures in understanding
• God’s simple knowledge encompasses what we divide into: understanding, science, wisdom, counsel, and prudence

Against God Understanding Himself #

1. From the Book of Causes: Knowing one’s essence requires returning to one’s essence; God doesn’t move or go outside himself, so he cannot return to himself
2. Understanding is a kind of suffering/undergoing and motion; nothing is moved or perfected by itself
3. Our understanding understands itself only insofar as it understands other things; God should follow the same pattern

For God Understanding Himself (Resolution) #

• God understands himself through himself because he is pure act with no potentiality
• In operations remaining in the agent (understanding, sensing), the object is in the agent itself
• The principle: “sensible in act is sense in act; understandable in act is understanding in act”
• The understandable form of the divine mind is the divine understanding itself
• If God understood by some form other than himself, his substance would be in potency to that form, contradicting pure actuality
• To “return to one’s own essence” means “to subsist in itself”—a form perfecting matter is poured out upon matter, but insofar as it has being in itself, it returns to itself. God, subsisting per se, most of all returns to and knows his essence.

On the Distinction Between Undergoing and Motion #

• The Latin word pascio (and Greek paschein) originally means suffering/undergoing, but is used equivocally
• In understanding and sensing, there is a kind of undergoing that is not destructive motion but the completion of an action
• Nothing is moved or undergoes destruction by itself, but understanding perfects rather than destroys

Important Definitions #

Scientia (Science, Reasoned-Out Knowledge) #

Knowledge of conclusions derived from premises; in creatures it is a habit between potency and act. In God, it is his pure actuality. Cannot exist as a habit in God because God is pure act.

Immateriality (Immaterialitas) #

Freedom from matter; the root and measure of knowledge. The degree of immateriality determines the degree of knowledge. God, supremely immaterial, is supremely knowing.

Per se subsistent (Per se subsistens) #

Existing in and through itself. Only knowing powers that are per se subsistent (like intellect and God) know themselves. Knowing powers dependent on bodily organs (like senses) do not know themselves.

Pure Act (Actus Purus) #

Having no potentiality whatsoever; the foundational divine attribute enabling God’s simplicity, immutability, and knowledge. Established in the treatise on God’s simplicity (Questions 3-11).

Understandable Form (Species Intelligibilis) #

The form by which something is known. In creatures, this form is distinct from the substance of the understander. In God, the understandable form is identical to his substance.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Eye Receiving Forms #

The eye receives the shapes and colors of objects (the statue, the clock, your head, the glass, the book) while retaining its own shape. The eye is not literally shaped like these objects but receives their forms immaterially. This illustrates how a knower can have the forms of many things without being materially changed.

Material vs. Immaterial Reception #

When you go into the ocean or shower, your body receives the temperature as its own (material reception) and gradually adjusts. You cease to sense the temperature as acutely after adjustment because matter receives things as material. Contrast this with sense powers, which receive forms without matter and maintain acute sensation.

The Statue in the Eye #

When you look at a statue, the shape of the statue is in your eye, but your eye does not become a statue. Some ancient Greek thinkers thought the shape was literally in the eye, but this is confused—the form is received immaterially, as evidenced by looking in someone’s eye and seeing the reflection of yourself (you can see what is in their eye).

Plants vs. Animals vs. Intellect #

Plants: lack knowledge due to materiality. Senses: receive forms without matter (recognize your friend by color and shape, but no material pieces of bone or flesh are chiseled into your brain). Understanding: even more separated from matter and not mixed with it, which is why it can know universals.

Subsistence and Self-Knowledge #

A form perfecting matter is poured out upon the matter; insofar as it has being in itself, it comes back to itself. The soul has being not only in the body (evidenced by the immateriality of understanding universals). Only per se subsistent knowing powers (intellect in creatures, God) know themselves; powers dependent on bodily organs (senses) do not.

Notable Quotes #

“The soul is in some way all things because all sensible forms are received in the senses and the natures of things are received in the understanding.” — Aristotle, De Anima III, cited by Berquist

“Immateriality is the reason that something is knowing, and according to the way of being immaterial is the way of knowing.” — Berquist’s exposition of Aristotle

“To return to one’s own essence is nothing other than a thing to subsist in itself.” — Thomas Aquinas, from the lecture text

“Know thyself” (Gnothi Seauton) — Inscription of the Temple at Delphi, attributed to the Seven Wise Men of Greece (including Thales and Solon), discussed as addressed specifically to humans and their reason

Questions Addressed #

Article 1: Does God Possess Knowledge (Scientia)? #

Objections: Science is a habit and God has no habits; science is knowledge of conclusions and nothing is caused in God; science is universal or particular and God transcends this division.

Resolution: Yes, God possesses knowledge most perfectly. Knowledge requires immateriality; God is supremely immaterial; therefore God is supremely knowing. Perfections descending to creatures exist in God in a higher way—not as habits or accidents but as his pure substance. When transferring creature-names to God, drop imperfections and retain what is perfect.

Article 2: What Does God Primarily Know? #

Objections: From the Book of Causes—knowing one’s essence requires returning to it, which God does not do; understanding is a kind of undergoing, and nothing is perfected by itself; our understanding knows itself only through knowing other things, so God should be similar.

Resolution: God primarily understands himself through himself. God understands himself because he is pure act with no potentiality. In operations remaining in the agent (understanding), the object is in the agent. The understandable form of the divine mind is the divine understanding itself. Unlike creatures who know themselves by first knowing external things, God’s self-knowledge is primary and foundational.