Folia Theologica 12. (2001)
Tibor Rászlai: Aquinas ont the Infallibilty of the Intellect
132 T. RASZLAI "It is manifest that knowing something comprised of many, yet without having a proper awareness of each of those of which it is comprised, is knowing something with a certain confusion. And one can know not only the whole universal (in which parts are contained potentially) but also the integral whole in this way: for in each case the whole can be known with a certain confusion, that is, without knowing the parts distinctly."29 ' Thus, our initial grasp of an essence is sufficient to have an idea, to identify individuals of that essence and make competent judgments about them. And, indeed, such judgments issue in scientia imperfecta, imperfect scientific knowledge. Yet, one is unable to state what all the essential properties are. In his commentary on the Posterior Analytics, Aquinas states that in imperfect scientific knowledge, although the whole of the essence is not apprehended, something of it is, as, for example, "if we grasp that human being is on the basis of the fact that human being is rational, while not yet knowing the other attributes which complete the essence of human being."30 31 When one has a grasp of some part of the essence in this way, one grasps the essence partially and is in potency to a full apprehension. It is important for us to appreciate, what the imperfect idea is not. It is not, for some essential attribute, the idea of whatever has that attribute. In the case of thunder, for instance, the claim is not: 1. The definition of 'thunder' is "any noise in the clouds". This would not be an idea of thunder at all, for, as Thomas says, "not every noise in the clouds is thunder". If the cognitive grasp in question is to be the idea of thunder, then it must be an idea of property being a noise in the clouds as part of a yet-to-be-discovered essence. This would involve a presupposition that there is some essence yet to be discovered, and some way in which that essence is signified. The idea must be expressed by: 2. The definition of 'thunder' is "a certain sort of noise in the clouds" /quaedam sonam in nubibus/. 29 ST I., q. 85., a. 3. c 30 In libros Posteriorum Analyticorum, III., XI., 475. 31 Ibid.
