RICE UNIVERSITY THOMAS AQUINAS' DOCTRINE OF ANALOGY A NEW INTERPRETATION by Jacquelyn Ann Zimmerman A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS Houston, Texas May, 1964 ABSTRACT The Thomistic doctrine of analogy is multidimensional and intimately related to Thomas* total metaphysical thought. To grasp its fullest meaning, one must turn to the whole of the Thomistic corpus with the question: what role does analogy play in Thomas* metaphysics? Analogy in the Thomistic sense is both a mode of speech and a basic metaphysical concept, functioning as a mean between two extremes. As a form of speech it enables one to talk about infinite and finite reality while avoiding anthropomorphism and agnosticism. It asserts that when terms are predicated of In¬ finite Being they are used in a sense which is neither precisely the same nor completely different from the sense in which they are predicated of finite things.
As a metaphysical concept "analogy of being" is neither monistic or pluralistic, but says that reality is both one and many, unified within diversity.uinas* system there are two principles which underlie and ground analogy: the doctrine of creation and the principle of potency-act. Creation is an effect of God pre-existing in Him both intellectually and naturally and thus resembling Him in some way. There is neither equivocation nor univocation, for though God is truly Agent and His effects are linked to Him through a real relation of likeness, nevertheless no effect perfectly resembles its cause, and God and world remain essentially diverse. The principle of potency-act is the metaphysical expression of the doctrine of creation.
All Thomistic arguments for creation are based on the principle that God alone is Pure Act and all other things are composed of potency-act. If God is Pure Act in whom essence and the act of existing are identical, it follows that if any other beings exist they depend upon Him and receive their being from Him. Every being, an analogue of God the Pure Act, participates in Him and imitates Him existentially. Existential participation is intrinsically analogical: there is a community of existence, but not of essence.
All four types of analogy in Thomas are properly metaphysical in the sense that they demonstrate and explicate the principle of potency-act and the doctrine of creation. Aquinas is fundamentally concerned to speak of both sides of the God-creature relation, using various modes of analogy in relation to each other and supple¬ menting each other. Analogy of metaphor can speak of God through its use of finite terms: it is man in his most creative and dis¬ tinctive way expressing something of his relation to God. Analogy of attribution and analogy of proper proportionality are used in mutual relation witjj some definite overlap in function.
The analogy of attribution is used in contexts where the supereminence and transcendence of God is carefully guarded, while in cases where the analogy of proportionality is used, the concern is to guard the integrity of creation. Both analogies tell us that a certain perfection, e. love, belongs intrinsically both to God and man and that Love and love are similar. The analogy of attribution, however, tells us that Love belongs first to God, that God is Love, and that man,s lave is always an imperfect imitation of Godts Love.
On the other hand, the analogy of proportionality tells us that there is a similarity between God,s relation to His Love and man1s relation to his, so that though God = Love, yet man also has love fully and in proportion to his being. Both these analogies are necessary for Aq.uinas, whose single aim in using analogy is adequately to account for all aspects of the God-creature relation. ACKNOWIEDGEMENTS I wish to express my deep and sincere gratitude to Professor Louis H. Mackey, whose wise counsel, constant encouragement, profound interest and penetrating criticism made this study possible.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Chapter 1: Interpretations of Thomas1 Doctrine of Analogy 5 III. Chapter 2: The Bole of Analogy in Thomistic Metaphysics 37 1. Potency-Act as the Ground of the Structure of Beality 39 A.
Essence and Existence 44 B. Form and Matter 45 C. Substance and Accident 4-7 2. Potency-Act as the Ground for the Unity-Diversity Concepts 52 A.
Hierarchy of Being 52 B. Potency-Act and the Doctrine of Creation 6l 4. Our Knowledge of God 69 5. Chapter 3• The "Proper" Metaphysical Analogies 78 V.
Bibliography I38 INTRODUCTION The object of this study is to investigate in detail Thomas Aquinas* doctrine of analogy. This undertalcing arose out of the growing belief that a correct understanding of analogy IS import¬ ant for modern philosophy. Such a belief takes into account several factors. First is the modern concern with language and meaning.
Linguistic analysis has presented the question of meaning in terms of verification and has raised serious doubt about the ability of language to speak of other than finite realities. The scope of philosophical language as well as the validity of meta¬ physics itself is at issue. Can finite words be used to speak about transmundane reality and experience? If so, how? In this regard, Aquinas* metaphysical thought is concerned not only with man’s knowledge of Infinite Being, but also with man’s ability to speak about this Being. He asserts that it is valid for man, in terms of his finite, natural language, to speak about infinite and transcendent reality and holds analogy to be the method whereby this can be accomplished.
Analogy, claims Aquinas, is a "mean" which enables man to bridge the gap between finite and infinite on both the metaphysical and epistemological levels. In addition, in a time when theological language is a prime subject in all church scholarly circles, Thomas* assertion that analogy, as a form of speech, enables one to talk about God while avoiding anthropomorphism and agnosticism needs careful examination. - 2 - This certainly is even more necessary in light of the fact that several of the modern day efforts to make religious language meaningful have turned in some manner to the concept of analogy. Karl Barth has the analogja fidei, Rudolf Bultmann speaks of existential analysis plus analogy and Charles Hartshorne wants to speak about God in strict analogy to the human person.
A second factor involved in the undertaking of this study is the question of the "Christian truth" and its relation to modern day thought and structures of meaning. How can the Christian kerygma he translated into meaningful terms for this day and age? Thomas Aquinas represents an unique attempt to translate the Christian message for the time. The choice of his day was to reject Aristotelianism in the name of a dogmatic Platonism or seize the newly emerging viewpoint as a means for expounding the Christian message. The statement Aquinas forged made it possible to speak the language of a world rapidly becoming accustomed to the Aristotelian mode of thought.
From the viewpoint of an adequate understanding of the Christian faith, Aquinas* translation has several interesting features. First, as will be demonstrated in this thesis, the doctrine of creation is the root concept of his system. He attempts to deal with the ontological question of how the God who has acted in history is related to ultimate reality? The proofs of God*s existence are, in some sense, asking how it is possible to believe in the God of the Christian proclamation in light of in¬ creasing knowledge of the structure of reality as described by Aristotle. Aquinas answers this question in terms of causality.
- 3 - Secondly,, Aquinas is concerned with the problem of transcendence- immanence and, as will be shown in the thesis, he tries by using the various modes of analogy in inter-relation to do justice to both God and creature. Third, in relation to the Hebrew-Christian emphasis on God as acting, Aquinas has built his thought upon the understanding of God as Pure Act and as the ground and sustainer of all action. Aquinas, -/in, his, metaphysical thought and especially in his doctrine of,.analogy*'does represent an unique translation of the .4,'cV' v ^ Christian‘ke'ry^aa'foH'-man in his secular environment. It must be recognized, however, that the structure he forged is a com¬ bination of Aristotle and Plato and represents a certain meta¬ physical stance.
It is evident, then, that a better understanding of Thomistic metaphysics is important to this era of Protestant- Catholic dialogue when the Homan philosophical and theological foundations are being challenged by the comprehensive world-views of men like Karl Barth and Paul Tillich. This is especially true also in that one must finally ask the question: "if a metaphysical framework is necessary to the interpretation and communication of the Christian message, which one does justice to the modern secular environment and yet safeguards the integrity of the Christian kerygma? In this regard, the importance of analogy for Thomas1 philosophy cannot be underestimated, for as Cajetan and others have asserted, anyone who wishes to deal adequately with Thomas1 metaphysics must search out an answer to the important question: "What is Thomas1 doctrine of analogy?" - k - It is for these reasons, then, that this detailed study of Thomastic analogy was undertaken. The task must, however, be acknowledged from the beginning to be a difficult one, for though Thomas dealt with analogy in almost every one of his works and ±t a variety of contexts, he never wrote a general treatise on analogy. In addition, though there has been an endless variety of subsequent scholarly work on the subject, the issues have not been clarified.
Indeed, even today aspects of Thomas* doctrine of analogy are being debated among both Catholic and non-Catholic scholars. It is hoped that this treatment of analogy will at least present a new perspective on the issue by affirming, in contrast to most Thomistic treatments of analogy, that the problem of the proper metaphysical analogy is an improper query. In fact, it will be asserted that within the Thomistic scheme all forms of analogy must, in some manner, be considered properly metaphysical. With this objective in mind, the study will begin with a review of the theories of other thinkers such as Cajetan, Suarez and contemporaries like Hampus Lyttkens and KLubertanz.
The second chapter will deal primarily with the role of analogy in Thomistic metaphysics and will seek to explicate in detail the metaphysical principle which is its ontological ground. The final chapter will present Thomas1 doctrine of analogy from the viewpoint of this in¬ vestigation. Its main thesis will be that, for Aquinas, analogy is a basic metaphysical tool, one grounded upon the principle of potency- act and the doctrine of creation, and used by him in numerous ways to solve a complexity of problems. - 5 - THOMAS AQUINAS1 DOCTRINE OF ANALOGY: A NEW INTEKPEETATION Let us start with a review of the theories of other thinkers; for the proofs of a theory are difficulties for the contrary theory.
Besides, those who have first heard the pleas of our adversaries will he more likely to credit the assertions we are going to make. Aristotle, On the Heavens, translated by J. Interpretations of Thomas* Doctrine of Analogy The proper beginning of this study is with the traditional inter¬ pretation of Thomas' doctrine of analogy, explicated primarily in the 1 De Nomi.nnm Analogia of Thomas de Vio, Cardinal Cajetan. In this account, analogy 2 signifies a certain likeness in difference.
It is a mean between the two extremes of pure equivocation, which is mere like¬ ness in name or homonymity, and univocation, which is perfect likeness in meaning or conceptual identity. 3 For Cajetan, there are only three modes of analogy: ^ inequality, attribution, and proportionality. These correspond to Aquinas* division in the Sentences: 5 analogia secundum esse et non secundum intentionem, et non secundum esse, and secundum intentionem et secundum esse. Thomas De Vio, Cardinalis Caietanus, Scripta Philosophica.
3* De Nominum Analogia, P.