70. Dialectic, Quotations, and the Learning of Philosophy

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Dialectic and Probable Opinions #

• Dialectic is reasoning from probable opinions (opiniones probabiles)
• Probable opinions are defined by Aristotle as:
  • Opinions held by all people, or most people
  • Opinions of those learned in an art or science regarding matters of that art
  • Opinions of the most famous and illustrious thinkers
• Thomas uses quotations from great authorities (Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom, Peter Lombard) partly to establish dialectical premises
• The dialectical method allows philosophy to proceed from what is commonly accepted toward deeper understanding

The Psychology of Learning and Belief #

• Before genuine knowledge, humans tend to believe minds they judge superior to their own
• Authorities like Augustine and Thomas appeal both:
  • From the standpoint of necessity of human belief (we must rely on better minds)
  • From the standpoint of probability (a great authority’s opinion is highly probable)
• Even the greatest scientists recognize this: Heisenberg repeatedly returned to his formative conversations with Niels Bohr
• Great minds are not afraid to learn from other great minds; they seek originality through dialogue, not isolation

The Assimilation of Knowledge: The Digestive Analogy #

• Initial stage: When first learning, what the teacher says appears as foreign, not yet one’s own thought
• Assimilation process: Through thinking about and digesting the teaching, it gradually becomes one’s own understanding
• Aristotle’s example: Food is initially unlike the body; through digestion, it becomes like the body (flesh becomes flesh, not carrot)
• Final stage: Once assimilated, one holds the truth even apart from the authority—it has become reasoned knowledge (scientia)
• Example: Berquist now holds the Pythagorean theorem (Proposition 47 on the passions) because he has assimilated it, not merely memorized it

Philosophy as Discursive Thinking-Out #

• Philosophy is thinking out things, not merely thinking about them
• Stages of philosophical knowledge:
  1. First, think about motion, place, time, etc. (initial consideration)
  2. Gradually, think out what these things are (develop definitions)
  3. Think out distinctions and definitions (dialectical clarification)
  4. Finally, think out conclusions (reasoned knowledge)
• All these stages are ordered: beginning, middle, end—forming a unified process of understanding

The Structure of Knowing Powers Through Their Objects #

• A fundamental principle: diverse powers have diverse objects; diverse objects necessitate diverse acts
• In knowing, we proceed from objects → acts → powers
• Example: Seeing and hearing are different because color and sound are different objects
• The human mind is discursive: it reasons from objects to acts, and from acts to powers
• Just as in nature, diversity of genus follows diversity of matter’s potency, and diversity of species follows diversity of form

Application to the Imitative Arts #

• The arts are distinguished first by what they imitate (the subject matter—primary distinction, like matter)
• Second by in what they imitate (the medium—like form in the same matter)
• Third by how they imitate (the manner—specific differences)
• Carpenter’s art: more fundamental distinction is by material (wood vs. metal) than by product (chair vs. table)
• Similarly, music represents emotions through harmony and rhythm; painting through line and color; drama through words

Key Arguments #

Why Quotations from Great Authorities Are Philosophically Necessary #

1. Dialectic requires proceeding from probable opinions
2. Probable opinions are those of the learned and famous in their respective fields
3. Therefore, citing Augustine, Thomas, and other great minds provides dialectical premises
4. This is not merely rhetorical decoration but essential to the method of philosophy as Thomas practices it
5. Even Einstein and Heisenberg relied on dialogue with great minds (Einstein’s thought on theoretical physics; Heisenberg’s development of quantum theory through conversation with Bohr)

The Transition from Authority to Reasoned Knowledge #

1. All humans begin by believing superior minds
2. Through assimilation (like digestion), belief becomes understanding
3. Once understood, the truth is held even without reference to authority
4. This explains why Thomas both cites authorities and gives demonstrations—he’s moving the student from probable opinion through understanding to scientific knowledge
5. The highest stage of learning is when one no longer depends on the authority’s name but grasps the truth itself

Important Definitions #

Dialectic (διαλεκτική) #

• Reasoning from probable opinions, not from demonstrations (which proceed from necessary principles)
• Serves as a preparation for and means of discovering scientific knowledge

Probable Opinion (ὄψις εἰκός) #

• An opinion held by the wise, the many, or the illustrious
• Not demonstratively certain, but rationally compelling because of its source

Assimilation (digestio in the learning analogy) #

• The process by which a foreign doctrine becomes integrated into one’s own understanding
• Analogous to biological digestion: what was external becomes internal; what was unlike becomes like one’s own nature
• The marker of true learning is when one can hold a truth without the supporting authority

Discursive Thinking (cogitatio) #

• The characteristically human mode of intellectual operation: reasoning from one thing to another
• Distinguished from intuitive understanding (characteristic of angels and God)
• Operates by thinking out definitions, distinctions, and then conclusions

Examples & Illustrations #

Einstein and Theoretical Physics #

• In 1905, Einstein published three papers, each worthy of a Nobel Prize
• Yet he received the Nobel Prize for the photoelectric effect, not the more revolutionary special relativity (because relativity was too difficult to understand)
• Einstein stated: “A scientific theory is freely imagined; it is not reasoned”—showing that great scientific minds rely on creative imagination, not pure deduction
• This exemplifies how even the greatest minds operate through probable opinion and dialogue, then move to certainty

Heisenberg and Bohr #

• Heisenberg, as a young student, attended Bohr’s lectures (the “Bohr Festival”)
• When Heisenberg posed an objection, Bohr responded, then invited him for a walk to discuss atomic theory further
• Heisenberg repeatedly referenced this single conversation throughout his life as transformative
• Demonstrates how a great mind (Bohr, recognized as understanding the atom best) influences another great mind through dialogue

Wolfgang Pauli and Bohr #

• Similarly, Pauli regarded Bohr as a formative influence, almost like a “father figure”
• Shows that even among the greatest minds of the 20th century, reliance on dialogue with greater minds was normal and expected

The Boston Blackout and the Zoo #

• A restaurant, unable to serve meat during a blackout, donated it to the zoo
• Berquist uses this to illustrate how animals (even great cats) will fight over a sensible good when difficulty arises in obtaining it
• Connects to Aristotle’s observation that animals fight over food and sex precisely because difficulty or scarcity creates competition

Professional Athletes and Difficulty #

• When athletes face genuine difficulty in winning (injury risk, formidable opponents), they enter into the emotional realm of the irascible
• The difficulty of a quarterback being knocked out of a game illustrates how a bad that is difficult to overcome provokes anger and retaliation

The Pipsqueak in the Bar #

• A physically small person confronting a larger aggressor shows boldness (audacia) in the face of difficult odds
• The contrast with a famous Lebanese fighter who merely opened his coat to show weapons (causing the aggressor to flee) illustrates how perception of capability affects irascible emotions
• Shows that boldness or fear depend not on objective difficulty alone, but on one’s judgment about overcoming it

David and Goliath #

• Goliath approaches with confidence (audacia) in his ability to overcome
• David approaches with boldness (audacia) despite the apparent difficulty
• Both exhibit the same irascible passion but with different grounds

Questions Addressed #

Q1: Why does Thomas include so many quotations from Church Fathers? #

Answer: Part of it serves the dialectical method, which must proceed from probable opinions. The greatest minds (Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom) provide such probable premises. But also, such quotations appeal to the necessity of human belief—we naturally trust minds we judge superior to our own. Finally, they invite students to think: the quotation should make one stop and think, eventually assimilating the truth into one’s own understanding.

Q2: When does belief in an authority become genuine knowledge? #

Answer: Through assimilation. Initially, the teacher’s words are foreign to the student’s mind. Through sustained thinking and digestion, the doctrine becomes integrated into one’s understanding. Finally, one holds the truth as one’s own reasoned knowledge (scientia), independent of the authority’s name. The learner has moved from probable opinion to scientific understanding.

Q3: How should philosophy proceed—from objects, acts, or powers? #

Answer: The human mind proceeds discursively: from objects → to acts → to understanding of powers. We observe the diversity of objects (color vs. sound); this shows us the diversity of acts (seeing vs. hearing); from this we understand the diversity of powers. This parallels natural philosophy, where diversity of matter explains diversity of genus, and diversity of form explains diversity of species.

Notable Quotes #

“The opinions of all men, or of most men, or of the men who are learned in some art or science when speaking of the matters of that art or science.” — Aristotle (on the definition of probable opinions, cited by Berquist)

“When you first learn, you see the teacher’s thoughts as his thoughts, not your thoughts. But the more you think about it, the more you start to understand it, and then it becomes your thought.” — Thomas Aquinas (cited by Berquist on the assimilation of learning)

“In the beginning [food] is unlike you, but when you get through digesting it, it’s like you.” — Aristotle (on digestion, applied by Berquist to learning; from the cited passage)

“A scientific theory is freely imagined. It’s not reasonable.” — Albert Einstein (cited by Berquist on the imaginative basis of theoretical science)

“[Bohr] was known as the man who understood the atom better than anybody in the world.” — Characterization of Niels Bohr (cited by Berquist from Heisenberg’s reflections)