33. Circumstances of Human Acts: Definition and Nature

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• The Definition of Circumstance: That which stands around something, existing outside the very substance of the act but nevertheless touching or pertaining to it in some way
• Circumstances as Accidents: The complex relationship between circumstances and the Aristotelian category of accident
• Etymology from Place: How the term “circumstance” derives from spatial/locative language and is transferred analogously to human acts
• Linguistic Transference: The principle that names are signs of things understood, and thus naming proceeds according to how intellect proceeds from more known to less known things

Key Arguments #

Objection 1 (from Cicero) #

• Claim: Cicero says circumstances give strength to arguments through substance (definition, genus, species), not accidents
• Implication: Therefore, circumstances are not accidents of human acts

Objection 2 (from the nature of accident) #

• Claim: Proper to accident is that it exists in something as a subject; but circumstances stand around something, appearing external
• Implication: Therefore, circumstances are not accidents

Objection 3 (logical problem) #

• Claim: An accident of an accident seems impossible; yet human acts themselves are certain accidents, so circumstances cannot be accidents of acts

Thomas’s Resolution #

Distinction on “Accident”: Something is called an accident in two ways:

1. Primary sense: As white is in Socrates as a subject
2. Secondary sense: As two accidents exist together in the same subject (e.g., whiteness and musicianship both in Socrates, without one being in the other)

Application to Circumstances: Circumstances are accidents of acts in the secondary sense—they exist together with the act in the same subject, pertaining to it without residing in it as a subject.

On Cicero’s Argument: Speech gains strength from circumstances secondarily, after gaining it from the substance of the act. Circumstances augment or diminish the argument as secondary factors.

Important Definitions #

Circumstance (Circumstantia) #

That which stands around an act, existing outside its substance but nevertheless attaining to the act in some way; accidents of acts existing together with the act in the same subject.

Translatio Nominis #

The carrying over of a name from one domain to another; in this case, from spatial/locative language to describe conditions surrounding human acts. Distinguished from metaphor in that metaphor carries over the name but not the meaning, while translatio nominis carries over the meaning but not necessarily the name in the same form.

Contraria (Contraries) #

Species or particular forms that are furthest apart within a genus; used as an example of how spatial distance language transfers to other domains (e.g., white and black in the genus of color; virtue and vice in the genus of habit).

Examples & Illustrations #

• White and Musician in Socrates: Two accidents existing together in one subject without one being in the other, illustrating how circumstances relate to acts
• Color and Surface: An example of ordered accident relations where a body receives color by means of its surface, showing degrees of dependence
• Killing vs. Parricide: How circumstance (that the victim is one’s father) makes an act morally worse
• Theft: How circumstances like the value of the object stolen or the motivation affect the moral character
• The Cement Truck Story: A husband discovers his wife’s infidelity (fancy convertible outside house indicates a lover), backs up his cement truck, and empties cement into the convertible. When sued, the judge dismissed the case as justified—illustrating how circumstances (infidelity, humiliation) affect moral judgment
• Oedipus Example: Killing one’s father and marrying one’s mother were involuntary due to ignorance of the circumstances; in Oedipus at Colonus, he is forgiven and taken to the gods

Notable Quotes #

“A circumstance is that to which speech adds authority and strength to an argument.” — Cicero, Rhetoric

“It is necessary that according to the proceeding of our intellectual knowledge, there be also a proceeding and naming.” — Thomas Aquinas (on how naming follows knowledge)

“From those things which are according to place, local, proceeds the name of distance to all contraries.” — Thomas Aquinas (on transference of spatial language)

Questions Addressed #

Are circumstances truly accidents of acts? #

Resolution: Yes, but in a secondary sense. They are not in the act as a subject, but they exist together with the act in the same subject (like whiteness and musicianship in Socrates).

Why does Cicero’s argument fail? #

Resolution: Cicero is correct that speech gains strength from the substance of an act; however, circumstances give strength secondarily, after the substance has already provided strength. This does not exclude them from being accidents.

How do we justify calling circumstances “accidents” when they seem to stand outside acts? #

Resolution: The spatial language of “standing around” derives from places; names pertaining to place are transferred to signify other conditions. Circumstances are called accidents because they exist together with acts in the same subject, just as two accidents can exist together in one subject.

Methodological Notes #

• Principle of Linguistic Transference: Thomas employs the principle that names follow the order of knowledge. Since bodies circumscribed in place are most known to us, locative language is transferred to describe conditions in other domains.
• Distinction Between Substances and Accidents: The lecture carefully maintains the Aristotelian distinction while showing how accidents themselves can relate to one another in ordered ways.
• Moral Relevance: Throughout, there is emphasis on why understanding circumstances matters for moral evaluation—circumstances modify the moral character of acts without changing their substance.