132. Habit, Order to Act, and Bodily Dispositions

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Article 3: Does Habit Imply an Order to Act? #

• The central question: whether habit by its nature implies a disposition toward action
• Aristotle’s distinction between potency and act in the soul: the student learning geometry moves from one state of potency (unable to think geometrically) to another state of potency (able to think geometrically but not always doing so)
• The analogy of eyes: having eyes is the first act (the habit or ability); actually seeing is the second act (the operation)
• How habit relates to nature: habit implies order to the nature of a thing, which is itself ordered to operation as its end
• Therefore, habit consequently implies order to act, though not directly as potency/power does

Article 4: Is Habit Necessary? #

• Three conditions required for habit to be necessary in a subject:
  1. Distinction of subject from act: The subject must be in potency to something other than itself
  2. Openness to multiple determinations: The subject must be capable of being determined in many ways, not just one
  3. Composite disposition: Multiple factors must come together to dispose the subject well or badly
• Why God needs no habit: God’s substance is His operation; He is not composed of potency and act
• Why celestial bodies need no habit: Their matter is not in potency to multiple forms; their motion is naturally determined to one way
• Why creatures with rational powers need habits: The intellect and will can operate in diverse ways; they require habits (sciences, virtues) to be well-disposed toward their operations

Article 5: Can There Be Habit in the Body? #

• The distinction: Habit in the body must be understood differently than habit in the soul
• Primary sense (disposition to operation): Bodily habits exist primarily through the soul’s command—the body is disposed to serve the soul’s operations promptly and well
• Secondary sense (disposition to form): Bodily dispositions like health and beauty can be called habitual to the extent they involve multiple factors coming together and relate to the body’s nature
• Natural powers and the body: The body’s natural operations (digestion, growth, reproduction) do not require habits because they are naturally determined to one operation
• Emotional habituation: Unlike brute animals, humans can habituate their emotions and sensitive powers through reason’s command

Key Arguments #

Article 3: Objections and Resolution #

Objection 1: Habit does not imply order to act

• When someone acquires knowledge of geometry, Aristotle says they are in potency but in a different way than before
• The distinction is between first potency (before learning) and second potency (after learning but not exercising)
• This seems to show habit is not ordered to act, but only to potency

Objection 2: Power/ability, not habit, is the principle of act

• The definition of potency includes being a principle of act
• Therefore, potency—not habit—is what implies order to act

Objection 3: Health and similar dispositions are habits but are not said with reference to act

• Health, leanness, and poverty are sometimes called habits
• Yet these are not defined by reference to action

Thomas’s Response: Habit implies order to act in two ways:

• According to the definition of habit itself: Habit implies relation to the nature of a thing, and since nature is ordered to operation as its end, habit consequently implies order to act
• According to the subject in which habit resides: When the subject (like the intellect or will) is itself a power ordered to act, the habit residing in that power principally implies order to act

Article 4: Objections and Resolution #

Objection 1: Form perfects nature; no additional disposition beyond form is needed

• Things are perfected by their forms
• Therefore, habit (a further disposition) seems unnecessary

Objection 2: Natural powers suffice for acts; habit is superfluous

• Powers/abilities are sources of acts without requiring habits
• Therefore, why would reason and will need habits?

Objection 3: Power and habit both relate to good and bad; power alone should suffice

• Just as ability does not always act, neither does habit always act
• Therefore, the existence of powers makes habits unnecessary

Thomas’s Response: Three conditions explain why habit is necessary:

1. The subject must be in potency to something distinct from itself
2. The subject must be in potency to many things in diverse ways (unlike a natural power determined to one operation)
3. Multiple factors must come together to dispose the subject well or badly

These three conditions obtain in creatures with rational powers but not in God or celestial bodies.

Article 5: Objections and Resolution #

Objection 1: Bodily actions are natural and not subject to will; therefore no habit in body

• Habit is what someone does when willing to do it
• Bodily operations (like digestion) happen naturally without an act of will

Objection 2: All bodily dispositions are easily changeable; habit is difficult to change

• Therefore, no bodily disposition can be a true habit

Objection 3: Bodily dispositions are subject to alteration (third species of quality), which contradicts habit

• Habit is the first species of quality, ordered to nature
• Alteration is a different species, not compatible with habit

Thomas’s Response: Distinguish two senses of habit in the body:

• Disposition to operation: Habits exist in the body secondarily, insofar as the body is conditioned to serve the soul’s operations promptly and well
• Disposition to form: Health and beauty are called habitual dispositions because they involve multiple factors coming together (not just a single simple quality) and relate to the body’s nature

Important Definitions #

Habit (habitus): A quality disposing a subject well or badly toward its nature and/or operation, characterized by being difficult to change

Order to act (ordo ad actum): A relation whereby something (nature, habit, power) is directed toward action as its end or perfection

First act (actus primus): The state of having a power or ability—for example, the geometer has the ability to think geometrically even when not actually thinking

Second act (actus secundus): The actual exercise of a power—the geometer is actually thinking about geometry

Disposition (dispositio): An imperfect quality that can be easily lost, standing between potency and perfect habit

Nature (natura): The principle of operation in a thing; that which a thing is ordered toward in its operations

Examples & Illustrations #

The Geometer #

• A student beginning geometry is in potency to understanding geometry (first potency)
• After learning geometry, the student has the habit/science of geometry (second potency)—capable of thinking geometrically but not always doing so
• When actually working through geometric proofs, the student is in second act
• This illustrates the progression and distinction between potency and habit and between habit and operation

Eyes and Vision #

• Having eyes is the first act—the ability to see
• Actually seeing is the second act—the operation
• When sleeping, one has eyes (first act) but is not seeing (not in second act)
• This parallels how one has a habit of geometry without constantly exercising it

Geometry and Perimeter vs. Area #

• An uneducated person might think that more perimeter means more area (like the ancient real estate dealers)
• But Euclid’s Theorem 5 (Book 2) shows a square has more area than an oblong with the same perimeter
• Example: 5 × 5 = 25, but 2 × 10 = 20, yet 2 + 10 = 12 > 5 + 5 = 10
• Without the habit of geometric knowledge, one’s imagination leads to error
• With the habit acquired through studying Euclid, one’s mind is properly disposed toward understanding these truths

Tangent Line to Circle #

• The uneducated imagination suggests that if a line touches a circle at one point, space must exist between the line and circle above that point
• Therefore, one imagines it possible to draw another line between them
• But Euclid’s Theorem 3 (Book 3) proves this is impossible
• Proper geometric habituation corrects the errors of unformed imagination

Health in the Body #

• Health involves multiple factors coming together (balance of hot/cold, wet/dry)
• It is difficult to change relative to bodily dispositions
• It is called a habitual disposition because it involves this composite ordering
• Yet health ultimately relates to the body’s suitability for the soul’s operations

Natural Powers #

• The digestive power is naturally determined to one operation: digestion
• No habit is needed because the power is not open to diverse operations
• The reproductive power does not produce dogs, cats, or horses—it is determined to producing human offspring
• These natural determinations require no habitual disposition

Rational Powers #

• Reason can think about many different subjects and in many different ways
• The will can choose good or evil
• Therefore, reason requires habits (sciences) and the will requires habits (virtues) to be well-disposed
• Without such habits, reason and will are insufficiently determined toward their proper operations

Notable Quotes #

“Habit is that by which something is done when there is need to do it.” — Augustine (cited by Thomas)

“Nature not being able to be more than one thing.” — Shakespeare (cited by Berquist, on the determinacy of natural operations)

“From fairest creatures we desire increase, that thereby beauty’s rose might never die.” — Shakespeare (on beauty’s order to reproduction)

“I am eternally grateful to Euclid.” — Berquist (on the transformative power of acquiring geometric habits)

Questions Addressed #

Does habit necessarily imply an order to action? #

Resolution: Yes, habit implies order to act both directly (through its definition as ordering toward nature, which is itself ordered to operation) and indirectly (through the subject in which it resides, especially when that subject is a power ordered to operation).

Is habit necessary for creatures? #

Resolution: Yes, for creatures whose nature is composed of potency and act, whose powers are open to many operations, and which require multiple factors to be well-disposed. God, whose substance is His operation, needs no habit. Celestial bodies, whose matter is not in potency to multiple forms, need no habit. But rational creatures require habits to perfect their rational powers.

Can bodily dispositions be true habits? #

Resolution: Yes, but in a secondary way. Primarily, habits exist in the soul. In the body, dispositions like health and beauty are called habitual because they involve multiple factors and dispose the body to serve the soul’s operations, or because they involve composite relations to the body’s nature.