80. True and False as Contraries: Opposition and Foundation

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

True and False as Contraries vs. Contradictories #

• True and false appear to be opposed as being and non-being (contradictories) but are actually opposed as contraries
• The distinction hinges on understanding opinion vs. abstract statements
• When two people hold opposite opinions (one thinks X is true, another thinks X is false), they are both actively thinking/positing something—this is contrariety
• When considering statements themselves in isolation, “two is half of four” and “two is not half of four” appear contradictory, but the opinions holding these statements are contrary

Three Types of Opposition #

Negation: Places nothing real; determines no subject. Example: “not seeing” or “not sitting”

Privation: Unbeing in a subject naturally apt to have the quality

• Does not simply negate but determines a specific subject
• Example: blindness is not privation in general but specifically the absence of sight in a creature naturally apt to see
• Cannot be said of all things (a chair is not blind; blindness only applies to creatures naturally apt to see)
• Is a real relation to being, not mere non-being

Contrariety: Posits something real and determines a subject in the same genus

• Both contraries are species in the same genus
• Example: black and white are both species of color
• They are furthest apart in a genus but still share a common subject and type of being
• In the will, virtue and vice are contraries: both are real habits in the same faculty

The Nature of Falsity #

• False is not merely the absence of truth but posits something real: a deficient or inadequate grasp of reality
• The false is “that which is not as it is apprehended”—there is actual apprehension, but it does not correspond to reality
• False opinion is contrary to true opinion because both involve thinking; one is not simply lacking what the other has
• Example: A “false Hector” (an actor playing the role) is a “true tragedian”—falsity requires a true foundation

Falsity Founded in Truth #

• Falsity cannot exist independently but must be founded in something true, just as privation is founded in being
• Because true and good are convertible with being and are maximally universal, every false thing must have some true substrate
• Just as every lack is founded in a subject that is being, so every false is founded in something true
• God in Himself has no falsity, but false opinions can exist in human understanding about created things

Divine Truth and Falsity #

• God has no contrary by reason of His simplicity and transcendence of genus
• Falsity is not opposed to God’s being or intellect but only appears in human understanding
• Idols are called “lies” (ψεύδη) not because they are absolutely false, but because false opinions about them are contrary to true opinions about God’s unity
• The opposition of true and false exists in our apprehension, not in God’s reality

Connection to Grades of Life #

• Understanding constitutes a distinct grade of life, higher than mere sensation
• Just as sensation elevates animals above plants, understanding gives a new kind of life
• This connection between understanding and life will be crucial for understanding divine life in Question 18
• Life is fundamentally about being (vivere est esse) and is characterized by self-operation

Key Arguments #

The Objection: True and False as Contradictories #

Argument:

• True is that which is (Augustine); false is that which is not
• Being and non-being are opposed as contradictories, not contraries
• Therefore, true and false are contradictories

Resolution:

• Distinguish between truth in things and truth in understanding
• The truth of a thing is its being; the truth in understanding is what is grasped by the intellect
• Falsity is the apprehension of something as other than it is
• To apprehend something to be and to apprehend it not to be has contrariety in opinion, even though the statements would be contradictory if taken abstractly
• Both actual apprehensions involve real thinking; they are not mere presence and absence

The Objection: Falsity “In” Truth #

Argument:

• One contrary is not in another
• Yet the false Hector (false portrayal) is in the true tragedian (true actor)
• Therefore true and false are not contraries

Resolution:

• Falsity is founded in truth as its subject, just as privation is founded in being
• This is not a violation of the principle that contraries are distinct; rather, it reflects the metaphysical structure of privation
• Because true and good are maximally universal and convertible with being, every lack (every false, every bad) must be in some subject that is
• Analogy: Vice (bad habit) is not in the virtue it opposes but in the same faculty (will, reason) that has the virtue; it requires a real subject to inhere in

The Objection from Divine Transcendence #

Argument:

• Nothing is contrary to God or to the divine substance
• Falsity is opposed to divine truth
• Therefore true and false are not contraries

Resolution:

• Contraries and privative oppositions occur in the same thing (in eodem)
• God considered in Himself has no contrary by reason of His simplicity and transcendence
• But in our understanding and apprehension, false opinion is contrary to true opinion
• Idols are called lies (ψεύδη) because false opinions about them are contrary to true opinions about God’s unity
• The opposition exists in the human intellect, not in God’s being

Important Definitions #

Negation (negatio): A denial that places nothing real and determines no subject; pure absence

Privation (privatio): Unbeing in a subject naturally apt to have the quality; has a relation to being through its subject

Contrariety (contrarietate): Opposition of species in the same genus; both posit something real; furthest apart in a genus

Contradiction (contradictio): Opposition of affirmation and negation where one must be true and the other false; includes being/non-being

True (verum): In things, truth is the being of the thing; in understanding, truth is the adequate grasp of a thing as it is

False (falsum): That which is not as it is apprehended; an inadequate or deficient grasp that does not correspond to reality

Life (vita): Fundamentally, the being of a living thing; secondarily, the operation of living things. Graded by the type of operation: vegetation, sensation, understanding

Examples & Illustrations #

The False Hector: An actor (true tragedian) portraying Hector falsely. The falsity depends on the truth of the actor’s skill; falsity is not independent but founded in truth.

Contradictory vs. Contrary Statements in Logic:

• Singular: “Socrates is an animal” and “Socrates is not an animal” are contradictories (one must be true, one false)
• Universal: “Every man is an animal” and “No man is an animal” are contraries (both could be false; they seem furthest apart)
• Particulars: “Some man is an animal” and “Some man is not an animal” might both be true (they are not contradictories)

Contradictory vs. Contrary Opinions:

• “I don’t think that [two is half of four]” vs. “I think that [two is NOT half of four]"—the second is a contrary opinion because it posits actual thinking
• “I think that every man is an animal” vs. “I think that no man is an animal”—these opinions are contrary because both involve active thinking that posits something

Everyday Language and Contrariety: When asked “Did we pass?” and the professor answers “Some of you passed,” students infer the opposite (some failed), though the statement technically says nothing about the rest. This shows how we naturally interpret contraries.

The Nine Choirs of Angels: Either everyone thinks there are nine choirs or doesn’t think that (contradictory). But not everyone thinks either that there ARE nine choirs or that there ARE NOT nine choirs (some have no opinion). This illustrates the difference between contradictory opposition (exhaustive) and contrary opposition (which allows middle ground).

Notable Quotes #

“To apprehend something to be and not to be has contrariety, as the philosopher proves in the second book of the Perihermeneus.”

“Just as every lack is founded in a subject that is being, so everything bad is founded in something good, and everything false in something true.”

“The false is that which is not as it is apprehended.”

“So if one man thinks the soul is immortal, another man thinks the soul is not immortal, their thinking is contrary. Because they’re both thinking something, okay? So one is not just lacking the thinking of the other, but he’s thinking something other.”

“The false Hector… is a true tragedian.”

Questions Addressed #

Are True and False Contradictories or Contraries? #

Question: Given that true is being and false is non-being, aren’t they opposed as contradictories?

Resolution:

• At the level of abstract statements, yes, they appear contradictory
• But at the level of opinions and apprehensions, they are contraries because both involve active thinking that posits something
• Falsity is not mere absence but a real (though deficient) grasp of things
• Therefore true and false are contraries, not contradictories

How Can Falsity Be “In” Truth if Contraries Are Distinct? #

Question: If contraries are distinct and one is not in the other, how can the false Hector be in the true tragedian?

Resolution:

• Falsity is founded in truth as its subject, just as privation is founded in being
• This is the nature of privative oppositions: they require a subject of being
• Because being and truth are maximally universal, every absence (falsity, badness) must inhere in some being
• Analogy: Vice is not in virtue but in the same faculty; it requires a real subject to exist at all

Is Falsity Opposed to God? #

Question: God has no contraries; yet falsity seems opposed to divine truth. How is this possible?

Resolution:

• Contraries and privations occur in the same subject
• God in Himself has no contrary; His simplicity and transcendence exclude contrariety
• But in our understanding, false opinions are contrary to true opinions
• Idols are called lies because false opinions about them are contrary to true opinions about God’s unity
• The opposition exists in the human intellect, not in divine reality itself

Why Discuss Divine Life in Connection with Understanding? #

Question: Why is life appropriately discussed after understanding and before willing in the Summa Theologiae (though the Summa Contra Gentiles discusses it after both)?

Resolution:

• Understanding constitutes a higher grade of life than sensation
• Just as grades of life are distinguished by the highest operation (vegetation, sensation, understanding), understanding marks a distinct level of life
• Divine life, like human life, is fundamentally tied to understanding—life is characterized by self-operation and knowledge
• This is why truth and life are coupled in Christ’s words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”
• Understanding is more fundamental than willing (will follows understanding), so it makes sense pedagogically to address life after understanding