The Soul's Knowledge of Itself According to Saint Thomas Aquinas
Abstract
In all knowledge there are three factors to be considered; the knower, which may be called the subject of know- ledge; the thing known, called the object of knowledge, and the process of knowing. Except in the case of pure sense knowledge, the subject of knowledge must always be an intellect or intelligent substance. Of these, there are, in the first place, those beings called pure intelligences, namely, God and the angels, who are spiritual substances entirely separated from matter and independent of it.Secondly, there is the human soul, which, while being neither a complete substance, nor a pure intelligence, is an intellect capable of knowing. However, because of the nature of the soul as the form of a body, its knowledge is a restricted knowledge, unlike the direct intuition of the pure intelligences.
Subject Area
Philosophy|Philosophy of religion
Recommended Citation
Danahy, Juliana, "The Soul's Knowledge of Itself According to Saint Thomas Aquinas" (1938). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28960410.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28960410
