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26.12.10

Foundations of Thomistic Philosophy - A.G. Sertillanges, O.P.

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"Outside God and ourselves, an idea is a thing, while a thing, in us and in God, is an idea. At this stage, this will serve as a reasonably accurate resume of Thomism"
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2 comments:

  1. chrisrushlauApril 22, 2016 at 7:11 PM

    I assume by the first "idea" we have the sensory image, since "idea" means literally that which is seen, and by the second "idea" we have the "object of a concept in consciousness" (Karl Rahner), since a sensory image by itself is not an object of anything, so nothing sees it but itself. I'm up to page 19 and I didn't see that quoted sentence. I'm wondering if you read the whole book.

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  2. chrisrushlauApril 22, 2016 at 7:24 PM

    By "outside" I'm understanding "other than", so that all things but God and ourselves are material and thus known materially--via sensations: "an idea is a thing", that is, "sensations understood convey knowledge of material things". When we know ourselves and God, there is no sensation, no materiality, only spirit, which, in our human condition, we can only know by formulas and metaphors: the proper object of interpersonal knowledge is a symbol of the other's spirit, all the more so in knowing God. Or perhaps Sertillanges is shooting the sheet. A lot of it, but he may be doing that to keep up with his hep 1931 contemporary audience.
    If you look at Rahner you find no such persiflage (literally, "whistling"), although some liked to refer to him as the "Atomphysiker", as if he were another Einstein.

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