Wyniki wyszukiwania - Biblioteka Nauki

1

Problems with the Inseparability of Esse

100%

Piwowarczyk M.

Roczniki Filozoficzne

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2019

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tom 67

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nr 4

117-128

EN

One of the most important theses of Existential Thomism is that contingent things are composed of essence and existence. The thesis is immediately supplemented by a proviso that these components are not parts in the regular sense of the word. Essence and existence are not extended pieces of the thing which can be detached from it. They are inseparable aspects of the thing wherein inseparability is understood as a sort of dependence. In my paper I analyze the thesis of the inseparability of existence. For me this is untenable. I argue that this inseparability blocks up the essential function ascribed by Thomists to existence: the function of making the thing real. Thus to save this function we are forced to export existence to outside the thing. It contradicts our deep belief that existence is the most intimate aspect of the thing. Therefore the Thomistic analysis of existence seems to be invalid.

PL

Jedną z najważniejszych tez tomizmu egzystencjalnego jest, że rzeczy przygodne składają się z istoty i istnienia. Teza ta jest od razu uzupełniana zastrzeżeniem, że nie chodzi tu o części w regularnym sensie. Istota i istnienie nie są rozciągłymi kawałkami rzeczy, które mogą być od niej oddzielone. Są niesamodzielnymi aspektami rzeczy, przy czym niesamodzielność rozumiana jest jako pewien rodzaj zależności. W moim artykule dokonuję analizy tezy o niesamodzielności istnienia. Jest ona dla mnie nie do utrzymania. Argumentuję, że niesamodzielność blokuje istotną funkcję, którą tomiści przypisują istnieniu: funkcję czynienia rzeczy realną. Stąd, aby zachować tę funkcję, zmuszeni jesteśmy do przeniesienia istnienia poza rzecz. Przeczy to naszemu głębokiemu przekonaniu, że istnienie jest najbardziej intymnym aspektem rzeczy. Dlatego tomistyczna analiza istnienia wydaje się być nietrafna.

2

How Save Aquinas’s “Intellectus Essentiae Argument” For The Real Distinction Between Essence And Esse?

84%

Twetten D.

Roczniki Filozoficzne

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2019

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tom 67

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nr 4

129-143

EN

Aquinas’ so-called “Intellectus essentiae Argument” for the distinction between being and essence is notoriously suspect, including among defenders of Aquinas’ distinction. For the paper in this volume, I take as my starting point the recent defense of the argument by Fr. Lawrence Dewan, O.P. Fr. Dewan’s project is unsuccessful. Pointing out some shortcomings in his readings allows me to take up his call to highlight the “formal” or “quidditative side” of Aquinas’ metaphysics, in this case in regards to the proofs of the “real distinction.” Accordingly, the second half of this paper sets forth a way in which the famous “Intellectus essentiae Argument” of De Ente et Essentia 4 can succeed as a proof of the real distinction. Aquinas’ argument presupposes the prior real distinction between essence and supposit or individual substance. Esse is the ontological component that makes true our judgments that substances actually are: Obama exists. By contrast, this “truth-maker” cannot be predicated of humanity, although it is in Obama as really distinct from him. If Aquinas’ reasoning in this most contentious of his proofs can be saved, so, perhaps, can most of his other proofs.

PL

Tak zwany argument intellectus essentiae Akwinaty za realną różnicą między bytem a istotą jest powszechnie podawany w wątpliwość, w tym także w kręgu obrońców tego rozróżnienia Akwinaty. W artykule zawartym w niniejszym tomie za punkt wyjścia biorę ostatnią obronę tego argumentu przez o. Lawrence’a Dewana OP. Projekt o. Dewana kończy się niepowodzeniem. Wskazanie pewnych niedociągnięć w jego twierdzeniach pozwala mi podjąć jego wezwanie do podkreślenia „formalnej” lub „istotnościowej” strony metafizyki Akwinaty, w tym przypadku w odniesieniu do dowodów za „realną różnicą”. Druga część tego artykułu przedstawia, w jaki sposób słynny „argument intellectus essentiae” z De ente et essentia 4 może zostać uznany za dowód realnej róznicy. Argument Akwinaty zakłada wcześniejszą realną różnicę między esencją i suppositum lub pojedynczą substancją. Esse jest składnikiem ontologicznym, który potwierdza nasze osądy, że substancje faktycznie są: Obama istnieje. Z kolei ów „uprawdziwiacz” nie może być przypisany ludzkości, chociaż w Obamie jest tak naprawdę czymś odrębnym od niego. Jeśli rozumowanie Akwinaty w tym najbardziej kontrowersyjnym z jego dowodów może zostać ocalone, być może ocalić można także wiele innych jego dowodów.

3

Gaven Kerr, O.P., On Creation With Its Philosophical Corollaries

84%

Burrell D.

Roczniki Filozoficzne

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2019

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tom 67

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nr 4

145-146

EN

Author endorses the study by Gaven Kerr, O.P., for the way it shows the centrality of Aquinas’ metaphysics of creation: showcasing the ‘real distinction’ between esse and essentia, followed by Aquinas’ unique treatment of each, as well as a deep consideration of esse tantum. At the end he states the ‘proof’ which Gaven Kerr has articulated so deftly reflects the manner in which the Creator ‘appears’ in creation, thereby ‘showing’ what cannot be ‘said’ (Wittgenstein).

PL

Autor z przekonaniem pochwala studium Gavena Kerra OP za sposób, w jaki pokazuje ono centralność metafizyki stworzenia u Akwinaty: ukazanie „realnej różnicy” między esse i essentia, a następnie unikatowe potraktowanie każdego z nich, jak też głębokie rozważenie esse tantum. Na koniec stwierdza, że „dowód”, który sformułował Gaven Kerr, zręcznie odzwierciedla sposób, w jaki Stwórca „pojawia się” w stworzeniu, a tym samym „pokazuje” to, czego nie da się powiedzieć (Wittgenstein).

4

Grammaticalization and verbal structures (the case of analytic perfect)

71%

Načeva-Marvanová M.

Linguistica Pragensia

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2010

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tom 20

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nr 1

37-47

EN

The understanding of the grammaticalization process used today is quite diverse; nevertheless it presents a great step forward in contemporary linguistics and offers almost universal criteria for its description. The grammaticalization of the analytic verbal structures and especially of Perfect tense was first observed by the pioneers of the modern grammaticalization theory (A. Meillet, J. Kuryłowicz) and had since become the subject of systematic investigation. One of the constituents of the European linguistic area (ELA) is the ability to form analytical verbal constructions and verbal tenses – in the case of the Perfects predominantly as a bi-auxiliary habere/esse type, or as a mono-auxiliary habere type and esse type. The West Slavic habere Perfect constructions in Czech with their three main types show, thanks to the extensive data well documented by the Czech National Corpus, some rather unique innovations, as e.g. the shift from the object type agreement of the n-/t-participle to a subject-type agreement.

5

Problem źródeł Tomaszowej koncepcji esse jako aktu bytu

67%

Andrzejuk A.

Rocznik Tomistyczny

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2016

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tom 5

173-187

EN

While expressing his innovative theory of existence (esse) as an act of being in many his texts Thomas Aqunas recalls different historical sources to support his thesis: Aristotle’s views, Arabic philosophers’ depictions, mainly of Avicenna, Boethius’ distinction entia quo od entia quod and some theses of Liber de causis. In earlier subject literature, mainly Gilson’s influence (in Poland it was under Krąpiec’s influence) adopted a view about religious inspirations of Thomas’ thesis and that the only philosophical way to his thesis is an analysis of Avicenna’s depictions which are contained mainly in work De ente et essentia. Every other Thomas’recalls should be treated as some earlier ploy for a protection against possible reservations. The first statement which arises during the analysis of historical sources which Thomas refer to expressing his theory of existence (esse) as an act of being is ascertaining that reasoning is a crucial argument to accept esse as an act of being. It should be emphasized that in his theory of esse Thomas Aquinas does not refer to argument of Revelation. The result is that Thomas expressed this thesis only in a philosophical area within the analysis of structure of real being. The attitudes which are recalled sometimes are used by Thomas Aquinas as a background or context by which he states his view. Recalled statements sometimes are a reference to the authority. It seems that the erudition recalled by Thomas in a matter which is interesting for us appears in a different aspects. That is why it should be make a fuss of that the issue of existence (esse) did not appear with Thomas Aquinas’ metaphysics or Avicenna’s metaphysics. It seems that it was on the contrary: the issue of existence (esse) was worrying Plato and earlier philosophers, Aristotle, and Neoplatonists, Boethius and Arabic philosophers. So Thomas’ thesis about existence (esse) as an act of being is a result of the analysis of the issue which is existed in the history of philosophy

6

Author’s Response To Contributors

67%

Kerr G.

Roczniki Filozoficzne

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2019

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tom 67

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nr 4

147-169

EN

The text represents the author’s responses to the contributors who have addressed issues in my 2015 book, Aquinas’s Way to God: The Proof in De Ente et Essentia, published by Oxford University Press.

PL

Tekst zawiera odpowiedzi na kwestie poruszane przez autorów, którzy podjęli się dyskusji na temat problemów zawartych w mojej książce Aquinas’s Way to God: The Proof in De Ente et Essentia, wydanej w 2015 r. przez Oxford University Press.

7

Le concept de l'eternité du temps dans le "Liber de causis"

67%

Prokop M. P.

Rocznik Tomistyczny

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2015

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tom 4

27-37

PL

Księga o przyczynach była w Średniowieczu podręcznikiem filozofii na uniwersytetach europejskich. Zachowało się ponad 200 kopii. Każdy znaczący uczony łaciński pisał komentarz do tego traktatu, nawet jeszcze w Renesansie. Także dzisiaj organizowane są kolokwia, na których dyskutuje się zagadnienia poruszane w tej księdze. Periodycznie historycy filozofii usiłują wskazać imię autora i miejsce powstania. Współcześnie Cristina d’Ancona Costa sugeruje, że może to być uczeń al-Kindiego z Bagdadu z IX w., natomiast A. Pattin utrzymuje, że autorem jest Ibn Dawud z Toledo z XI w. Ciekawe dlaczego żaden z arabizujących historyków nie zadał sobie pytania, jak to się stało, że Commentator (Awerroes +1198) nie sporządził komentarza do tego tekstu, który w jego czasach był tłumaczony z arabskiego na łacinę w Toledo przez Gerarda z Kremony (†1187), skoro arabski oryginał przypisywał autorstwo Arystotelesowi, jako pracę o czystym dobru (Kitab Aristutalis fi iydah al-hair al-mahd = Liber Aristotelis de expositione bonitatis purae)? Wiele pytań pozostaje bez odpowiedzi, chociaż dziś większość historyków opowiada się za bagdackim pochodzeniem anonima. Zagadnienie wieczności i czasu, temat niniejszego artykułu, anonim łączy z podziałem „esse” na proste, które posiada każda, materialna rzecz znajdująca się w czasie oraz na hierarchicznie uporządkowane „esse superius”: to, które jest wieczne i identyczne z inteligencją; następnie to, które jest ponad wiecznością jako Pierwsza Przyczyna oraz to, które jest na horyzoncie wieczności i czasu, a jest nim dusza stwarzająca czas. Chociaż Anonim posługuję się metodą apofatyczną opisującą hierarchię bytów w odniesieniu do Pierwszej Przyczyny, będącej poza wiecznością i czasem, przez co idzie drogą z „Elementów teologii” Proklosa, niemniej posługuje się także terminologią Arystotelesa np. w określeniu pojęcia czasu. Ten traktat wpisuje się w arabską tradycję łączenia neoplatonizmu z arystotelizmem oraz monoteizmu, gdzie Pierwsza Przyczyna stwarza byty bezpośrednio, ale także za pośrednictwem przyczyn drugich (wyjątkiem wśród filozofów jest Ibn Tufayl † 1185, dla którego jedyną przyczyną sprawczą jest Bóg). Natomiast niezgodnie z arabską tradycją jest przypisanie Przyczynie Pierwszej atrybutu „czysty” (arab. al-hair), które to określenie nie występuje w kanonie 99 imion bożych.

EN

In the Middle Ages Liber de causis was a textbook of philosophy in European universities. It remained more than 200 copies. Every significant Latin scholar wrote a comment to this treaty, in the Renaissance too. Also today colloquia are organized which picked up the issues discussed in this book. Historians of philosophy periodically try to identify the author’s name and a place of its origin. Nowadays Cristina d’Ancona Costa suggests that it may be a student of Al-Kindi from Baghdad who lived in ninth century. A. Pattin maintains that this author Ibn Dawud from Toledo who lived in eleventh century. In that days this text was translated from Arabic into Latin in Toledo by Gerard of Cremona (+1187). Is why it is interesting that no one from among historians did not ask himself how did it happen that Commentator (Averroes +1198) did not write a comment to this text as Arabic the original ascribed the authorship to Aristotle as a work about pure good (Aristutalis Kitab fi al-hair iydah al-Mahd = Liber de Aristotelis Exposition bonitatis pura). Many questions remain unanswered, although today most historians declare in favour of Baghdad’s origin of Anonymous Person. The issue of eternity and time, the topic of this article, Anonymous Person connects with the classification of ‘esse’ for simple that has each, material thing located in time and the second one – hierarchically organized ‘esse superius’ which is eternal and identical with intelligence; next that which is beyond eternity as the First Cause; and thatwhich is on the horizon of eternity and time, and it is the soul which creates time. Although Anonymous Person used the method of apophatic which describes the hierarchy of beings in relation to the First Cause, who is beyond eternity and time – that goes by way of the Elements of Theology by Proclus – but he also uses the terminology of Aristotle, eg. in determining the concept of time. This treaty is a part of the Arabic tradition of connecting Neoplatonism with Aristotelianism and monotheism in which The First Cause creates beings directly but also through secondary causes (with the exception of Ibn Tufayl +1185 – according to him the only causative is God). Whereas ascribing the attribute of ‘pure’ (al-hair) to The First Cause is contradict Arabic tradition. This term is not included in the canon of 99 names of God.

8

Istnienie pierwszym aktem bytu

67%

Andrzejuk A.

Rocznik Tomistyczny

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2017

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tom 6

13-25

EN

From the perspective of existential Thomism, and following Aristotle’s philosophy of being (metaphysics) as the nucleus and keystone of the whole philosophy, seeking there the most important claims of St. Thomas, the article asks the three following questions: 1) What is the novum of Thomistic metaphysics? 2) What was Thomas’ way of thinking that led him to formulate the thesis that existence is the act of being? 3) Would anyone else have discovered the uniqueness of existence if Thomas Aquinas had not done it? The answers to these questions were formulated in reference to Gilson’s views and his concept of the history of philosophy and to the study of the concept of being in the texts of Thomas Aquinas and the historical sources of that concept. 1) Thomas proposed a new understanding of the structure of being, in which existence is the act that makes essence real and constitutes being’s potency, together making a real individual being. Thus, Thomas formulated a new existential theory of being, overcoming the limitations of Aristotle’s theory, and consistently explaining the issue related to esse (a problem that Avicenna and his followers - Parisian theologians of the 13th century could not solve). 2) Thomas Aquinas - with the help of Avicenna’s metaphysics - outdistances Aristotle’s essentialism, perceiving being as composed of existence and essence. Then, examining thoroughly the proposition of the Arab philosopher, he sees there inconsistency of attributing the position of accident to existence. According to Avicenna the element of being considered as the cause of the reality of being became - at the same time, as the accident - an unimportant component of essence. That is why Thomas Aquinas recognized that existence is the act of everything that makes essence, which transcended Avicenna’s theory, and thus he formulated his own existential version of the metaphysics of being. 3) It seems that nobody else but Thomas Aquinas would have put up a thesis that existence is the first act of being. And what would have been if Thomas Aquinas had not done it? It is hard to say as we have no historical data to let us discuss it. Similarly, it is impossible to answer this question even assuming Gilson’s thesis that the detailed claims of a given philosophy are the conclusion of the set of principles adopted at the beginning because Thomas did not have such a set of principles as at the starting point he modified the principles of Aristotle and Avicenna. Would someone else have made the same modifications, thus creating a “Thomistic” set of principles? The history of philosophy analyzes the things that actually happened and left their mark; it has no interest in things that did not take place and leave any trace. This could be an area for historical and philosophical fantasy, if it ever exists, but we try to stay in the field of the history of philosophy.

9

The Analytical Thomist And The Paradoxical Aquinas: Some Reflections On Kerr’s Aquinas’s Way To God

67%

Knasas J. F. X.

Roczniki Filozoficzne

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2019

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tom 67

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nr 4

71-88

EN

My article critically evaluates five key claims in Kerr’s interpretation of Aquinas’s De Ente et Essentia, ch. 4, proof for God. The claims are: (1) the absolutely considered essence is a second intention, or cognitional being; (2) à la John Wippel, the real distinction between essence and existence is known before the proof; (3) contra David Twetten, Aristotelian form is not self-actuating and so requires actus essendi; (4) the De Ente proof for God uses the Principle of Sufficient Reason; (5) an infinite regress must be eliminated before concluding to God. This author wonders if these questionable claims are traceable to the mindset of analytic philosophy which values precision and discreteness and so can fail to appreciate crucial paradoxes in Aquinas’s metaphysics.

PL

Artykuł krytycznie ocenia pięć kluczowych twierdzeń w interpretacji De ente et essentia (rozdz. IV, dowód na istnienie Boga), jakie proponuje Kerr. Twierdzenia te są następujące: 1) istota rozpatrywana sama w sobie jest wtórną intencją lub bytem poznającym; 2) twierdzenie à la John Wippel—realną różnicę między istotą oraz istnieniem poznajemy przed dowodem; 3) wbrew Davidowi Twettenowi Arystotelesowska forma nie jest samoaktualizująca się, domaga się zatem actus essendi; 4) dowód na istnienie Boga z De ente stosuje zasadę racji dostatecznej; 5) należy odrzucić nieskończony regres przed dojściem do istnienia Boga. Autor zastanawia się, czy wątpliwe twierdzenia związane są z nastawieniem filozofii analitycznej, która preferuje precyzję i tendencję do wyodrębniania, a zatem może nie doceniać istotne paradoksy metafizyki Akwinaty.

10

MARITAIN AND AQUINAS ON OUR DISCOVERY OF BEING

59%

Wippel J. F.

Studia Gilsoniana

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2014

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tom 3

415-443

EN

The author presents and compares Maritain’s and Aquinas’s accounts of our discovery (1) of being as existing; and (2) of being as being (ens inquantum ens or the subject of metaphysics). He finds that especially in his final discussion of how one discovers being as being, Maritain’s account suffers greatly from the absence of any appeal to Aquinas’s negative judgment of separation and also from the omission of reference to the role of judgments of existence in one’s discovery of a premetaphysical notion of being. Wippel finds no evidence in Aquinas’s texts for Maritain’s defense of an intuition of being or of existence.

11

THOMAS AQUINAS’ PHILOSOPHY OF BEING AS THE BASIS FOR WOJTYŁA’S CONCEPT AND COGNITION OF HUMAN PERSON

48%

Jałocho-Palicka M.

Studia Gilsoniana

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2014

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tom 3

127-153

XX

The article makes a claim that Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy of being plays a fundamental role in Karol Wojtyła’s concept of person presented in his major anthropological work Osoba i czyn (known in English as The Acting person). Aquinas discovered that every being is composed of existence (being, esse) and essence (essentia). Wojtyła builds his philosophy of personhood within this framework of esse (being, existence) and essentia (essence). The moral and rational essence of human person, according to Wojtyła, is best revealed by specifically human, free and conscious, actions. That is why Wojtyła analyzes human person through his actions and discovers such essential structures of human reason and free will as self-cognition, self-knowledge, self-owning, self-ruling which make the ontic basis for selfgovernance. The immediate ground for Wojtyła’s analysis of person through his actions is the act and potency theory, developed by Aristotle and redefined by Thomas Aquinas in the light of the composition of being from esse and essentia. Every act reveals a correlated potency which otherwise would remain hidden and unknown. Potency-act theory characterizes not only two real states of every being, but also it is the adequate tool to describe every being’s becoming. It is not becoming out of nothingness, but on the ground and within the limits of already existing potency. A specifically human action (actus humanus) discloses a specifically human potency-essence. Through his actions a man becomes good or bad as a man, depending on the moral quality of the actions. All these insights into man’s essence presented by Wojtyła emphasize the absolute primacy of a man’s existence (being, esse) over his actions and over his becoming. Being (esse) precedes acting and becoming. Without being (esse) there would be no acting and no becoming (operari sequitur esse—first something must exist and only then it can act). Thus, as a contingent being, a man does not owe his existence to himself but to the Absolute Being (Ipsum Esse); and his human dignity stems, first of all, from his being, not from his doing.

12

Primo Cadit in Intellectu Ens: Gilson, Maritain, and Aquinas on Knowing Being

48%

Hayden E.

Studia Gilsoniana

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2020

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tom 9

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nr 1

33-62

EN

The author compares the views of Étienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, and Thomas Aquinas on the order in our knowledge of being. While Gilson and Maritain maintain that esse and the actus essendi are what are first known, Aquinas maintains consistently that it is the existent thing or the ens itself that is first known. The paper proceeds by first laying out the positions of Gilson and Maritain as evidenced in their respective works Being and Some Philosophers and Existence and the Existent. Then, it manifests what in their positions is correct and in what they err. And finally, it argues that ens is the first thing known by appealing to the proper object of the intellect, the order between the acts of the intellect, and the intellect’s mode of procedure. In the course of these arguments, the primary authoritative sources used are the works of Aquinas.

13

The Existential Metaphysics of the Person. Part 2: Esse Personale and the Metaphysical Turn

42%

Gudaniec A.

Studia Gilsoniana

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2021

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tom 10

|

nr 4

829-846

EN

Against the background of the model of the metaphysics of the person (presented in the article “The Existential Metaphysics of the Person. Part 1: The Classical Concept of the Person and the Metaphysical Theory of Esse,” Studia Gilsoniana 10, no. 2) which was initiated by Thomas Aquinas and developed in the Lublin Philosophical School, this paper focuses on the attempt to show the philosophical breakthrough that the concept of personal existence can bring, and points out the most important theoretical consequences of adopting this theory in metaphysics. It outlines the elements of a new metaphysics of the person, based on the concept of personal existence, and hypothesizes about the metaphysical turn this concept could make. The investigations undertaken in the paper lead to the conclusion that not all inferences have yet been drawn from the concept of esse personale, and that the entire depth of the metaphysics of existence has not yet been explored.

14

Problem istnienia w "Komentarzu" Tomasza z Akwinu do "Liber de causis"

42%

Andrzejuk A.

Rocznik Tomistyczny

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2015

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tom 4

39-61

EN

The first of these ‘layers’ is hellenistic Neoplatonism of Proclus which is specifically deepened in Aquinas expositio by referring to ‘Stoichéiosis Theologiké’. The second ‘layer’ is monotheistic and creationist neoplatonism of the author of The Book which is sometimes corrected by Thomas Aquinas through depictions of Pseudo-Dionysius. The third and clearly separated doctrinal ‘layer’ of lecture is veritas rerum in which should be seek Aquinas’ views. In this perspective it is easier to unravel terminological difficulties which are in Thomas Aquinas’ text. It seems that many technical terms, such as esse, essentia, existentia, even substantia and ens should be ‘read’ in the ‘layer’ perspective which they located in. The article analyze first of the issue of esse. If we consider this ‘layered’ construction Commentary of Thomas Aquinas recognizing that in veritatis rerum there are the Aquinas own views, without difficulty we will find in it the most important thesis of his own metaphysics: about being as an arrangement from esse, about the esse and essentia, about essentia as an arrangement form and some type of potency, about God as a Ipsum Esse Subsistens, about creation as a giving esse.

15

The Person in Relation: An Analysis of Great Catholic Education via Thomistic Personalism

42%

Salisbury M.

Studia Gilsoniana

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2018

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tom 7

|

nr 2

263-291

EN

The author shows the usefulness of the philosophy of Thomistic personalism in determining the type of education most beneficial to the human person’s highest development by building on St. Thomas Aquinas’s idea of personal relation according to both the first act-esse and the second act-operari. Because the richness of this philosophy involves the use of Thomistic metaphysics and metaethics, anthropology, political philosophy, phenomenology and aesthetics and is meant to be applied (as in Pope St. John Paul II’s theology of the body), the author helps discover a unique and fitting tool by which Catholic education may be considered and planned for based on what is most fundamental to the human person’s reality—the act of his existence and subsequent personalistic act, according to truth and love. The author also presents a selection of real applications included in such an approach to the person in relation.

16

The Existential Metaphysics of the Person. Part 1: The Classical Concept of the Person and the Metaphysical Theory of Esse

42%

Gudaniec A.

Studia Gilsoniana

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2021

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tom 10

|

nr 2

277-292

EN

The article is the first part of a brief presentation of a research project aimed at introducing the concept of the existential metaphysics of the person—a contribution to classical anthropology based on so-called existential metaphysics. Firstly, it discusses the roots of this concept in the light of the classical concept of person and of the philosophical thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. In particular, it discusses Aquinas’s significant achievement in combining the philosophical-theological concept of the person with the metaphysical theory of existence as an act of being (esse ut actus essendi). Secondly, it presents the theoretical model of the metaphysics of the person, developed in the Lublin Philosophical School in Poland, as a modernized version of Aquinas’s concept. The particular core of this theory is the concept of personal existence (esse personale), opening the way for new ground-breaking interpretations.