65. God's Knowledge of Singular Things

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Problem: God’s Knowledge of Singulars #

• Human understanding operates through two different powers: reason knows universals, sense knows singulars
• God’s understanding is more immaterial than human understanding
• Therefore, the apparent conclusion: God cannot know singular things
• Yet this conclusion seems to contradict divine omniscience and perfection

The Solution: God’s Knowledge as Causality #

• God’s knowledge is fundamentally different from human knowledge in its mode of origin
• Human knowledge is derived from things (a posteriori)
• God’s knowledge causes things (a priori)
• God’s knowledge extends to matter as well as form, because God creates matter itself
• The divine essence is not an abstract universal but a concrete cause of all being

Why Singulars Matter for Divine Knowledge #

• Knowing singulars pertains to perfection, especially practical knowledge
• If practical knowledge fails to descend to singulars, it becomes imperfect
• Examples: military strategy, marriage, artistic application—all require knowledge of the particular

Key Arguments #

Objections Against God Knowing Singulars #

Objection 1: Immateriality Problem

• Divine understanding is more immaterial than human understanding
• Human understanding cannot know singulars (reason is of universals; sense is of singulars)
• Therefore, God cannot know singulars

Objection 2: The Problem of Form Separation

• Only powers that perceive forms not separated from material conditions know singulars
• In God, things are most separated from all materiality
• Therefore, God does not know singular things

Objection 3: The Likeness Problem

• All knowledge requires some likeness between knower and known
• The principle of singularity is matter, which is potency (ability to be acted upon)
• Matter is unlike God, who is pure act (actus purus)
• Therefore, God cannot know singular things

Objection 4: The Problem of Imperfect Knowledge

• Whatever is known not through itself but through another is imperfectly known
• Evil is not known by God through itself (for then evil would be in God)
• Therefore, if evil is known through the good, it is imperfectly known by God
• But God’s knowledge cannot be imperfect
• [Note: This objection actually concerns God’s knowledge of evil, but appears in the discussion]

Thomas’s Resolution #

Core Principle

• All perfections found in creatures pre-exist in God in a higher way
• To know singulars is a perfection (especially for practical knowledge)
• Therefore, it is necessary that God know singulars

The Key Distinction

• Our understanding abstracts the intelligible form from individual material conditions
• The divine understanding is not abstract but concrete and causal
• God’s essence is not immaterial through abstraction but through itself is the cause and beginning of all principles, whether universal or individual

Why God’s Knowledge Extends to Singulars

• God knows things through His own essence, insofar as it is a likeness of all things as the act and beginning of them
• Since God’s power extends to matter (God creates matter), His knowledge must extend to singulars, which are individuated through matter
• God’s knowledge extends according to the mode of His form—the divine essence
• The divine essence is a sufficient principle for knowing all things, not only in the universal but also in the singular

Inadequate Solutions Rejected

• Some say God knows singulars through universal causes (like an astronomer knowing all heavenly motions can predict eclipses)
  • Problem: Universal causes cannot account for individuation through matter
• Some say God knows singulars by applying universal causes to particular effects
  • Problem: Applying something to another presupposes prior knowledge of the particular; application cannot be the reason for knowing particulars

Important Definitions #

Singularity #

• The principle that makes one thing distinct from another of the same species
• In material things: individuated through matter (not through form)
• Matter as subject to extension is the principle allowing multiple things of the same kind

Individual Matter (materia signata) #

• Matter together with the conditions that individuate it
• The reason why multiple chairs can exist of exactly the same form (different wood, location, etc.)
• The principle that requires God’s knowledge to extend beyond universal form

Intelligible Species (εἶδος/species) #

• The form that the mind grasps when understanding something
• In human knowledge: this species is separated from material conditions
• In divine knowledge: the divine essence itself serves this role and is not abstract but causal

Form (μορφή/forma) #

• What Aristotle and Plato agree is “godlike” (divinum)
• Form is act; matter is potency (ability)
• God, being pure act, is more like form than matter

Examples & Illustrations #

The Astronomer Problem #

• An astronomer knowing all universal motions of the heavens can predict future eclipses
• But this does not suffice for knowing singulars as singular
• Reason: Singulars obtain forms and powers from universal causes, but are individuated through individual matter
• Shows the inadequacy of reducing God’s knowledge to causal laws

The Christmas Cookie Example #

• A grandmother stamps out many identical Christmas tree cookies from dough
• The form is the same in each (the metal stamp shape)
• What allows multitude of the same form is matter (different portions of dough)
• Illustrates that individuation requires matter, not just universal form

The Artist and the House #

• If a human artist created not just the form of a house but also produced the matter, the artist’s knowledge would extend to all particular aspects
• God, unlike human artisans, creates both form and matter
• Therefore, God’s knowledge must extend to singulars
• Shows how causality of matter-and-form determines the scope of knowledge

The Military Strategy Example #

• MacArthur’s famous Inchon Landing during the Korean War was based on observing the Japanese use of the same location in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War
• Practical knowledge requires descending to singular facts: particular tides, terrain, possibilities of that specific location
• Individual things like sun position or higher ground can determine battle outcome
• Demonstrates why perfect practical knowledge requires knowledge of singulars

The Marriage Example #

• Two couples, both seemingly well-matched, would have resulted in chaos if husbands and wives were switched
• Each person needs the particular complement of the specific other person
• To marry well, one must know this individual, not just what a man or woman is
• Shows why practical knowledge at its best descends to singular knowledge

The Science Fiction Movie Example #

• An extraterrestrial takes over a man’s body the day before his wedding
• The bride writes to her mother: “John doesn’t seem at all like the man I married”
• Illustrates how knowledge of the universal (he is a man) differs from knowledge of the singular

Notable Quotes #

“All perfections found in creatures, right, pre-exist in God in some higher way, huh? But to know singulars pertains to our perfection, right? Especially perfection of our, what, practical knowledge, huh? Whence it is necessary that God know, what, singulars, huh?”

“[Our understanding] separates the understandable form from the individuating principles. Hence, the form of our understanding cannot be a likeness of the individual principles. But the understandable form of the divine understanding, which is the divine essence, is not immaterial by abstraction. But through itself, right, it is the beginning or source or cause of all the principles, right, which enter into the composition of the thing. Whether they be principles of the species these are principles of the individual.”

“If God’s knowledge is practically now to descend to the singular, it would be very imperfect, huh?”

“[An] objection is overlooking… the important difference… The objection is trying to transpose our way of knowing into God, and that’s putting it back to the horse.”

Questions Addressed #

How can God know singulars if His understanding is immaterial? #

• Resolution: God’s immateriality is not the result of abstraction (as human immateriality is) but is His very nature. His essence is not an abstract form but the concrete cause of all things, including their individual material principles. God knows singulars not by separating from matter but by being the source of matter itself.

Why isn’t knowledge of universal causes sufficient for knowing singulars? #

• Resolution: While universal causes (like natural laws) determine many aspects of singular things, the principle of individuation—matter itself—cannot be derived from universal causes alone. Each individual matter is distinct, and God must know both the universal causes and the individual matter to know the singular.

How does God’s knowledge differ from human knowledge of singulars? #

• Resolution: Human knowledge of singulars comes through sense and imagination, which apprehend things in their material conditions. God’s knowledge comes through His essence as the cause of both form and matter. Humans know singulars by abstracting from universal form; God knows singulars by knowing the source of all principles, universal and individual.

Why is perfect practical knowledge impossible without knowledge of singulars? #

• Resolution: Practical knowledge aims at action on particular things. Knowing universal principles is insufficient—one must know the specific circumstances, conditions, and individuals involved. Parenting, military strategy, marriage, and governance all require descending to knowledge of the singular.

Can we know our own ignorance? #

• Resolution: We can know our ignorance in some way, but not perfectly. To truly know what we are ignorant of, we would need to know it, in which case we would not be ignorant. The blessed who see God as He is understand our ignorance of God better than we do, because they know what they see and therefore understand what we miss.