Metaphysics Midterm

According to Clarke, metaphysics consists in the study of?

Being qua being

According to Clarke, what are the 2 great guiding principles of metaphysical inquiry?

The Law of Non-Contradiction (LNC) and the Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR)

According to Clarke (pg. 34), ‘being’ means?

‘That which is’ (ie actually exists in the real order)

According to Clarke, what is the difference between ‘real being’ and ‘mental being’?

Real Being: that which is present by its own intrinsic act of existence outside of an idea.

Mental Being: that which is present not by its own act of existence but only within an idea

According to Clarke, why is being transcendental?

Because it it “signifies all that is” and “outside of this lies ‘nothing’ or nothingness”

List and define the transcendentals.

• being: all inclusive, poorest and richest

• one: inner cohesion, undivided whole, separate from every other

• true: ontological truth in things, ordered by nature)

• good: ontological good, intrinsically valuable, fulfillment of will

List and define 3 ways that words can signify.

Univocal: using a term in the exact same way

Equivocal: same term has different meanings/unrelated meanings

Analogous: “occurs when the same term is applied to several different subjects according to a meaning that is partly the same, partly different in each case” (ex. strength of argument and strength of muscles)

What distinguishes analogy of proportionality from analogy of proper proportionality?

• Analogy of proportionality: found when a term is predicated of several subjects in order to express some proportional similarity between them; similarity is between their respective activities

• Analogy of proper proportionality: similarity expressed by a term applied to all in proper and literal meaning, but with a proportional difference found in each

Define the transcendental ‘one’ or ‘unity’.

“One = that which is undivided in itself and divided from every other”

What distinguishes intrinsic from extrinsic unity?

Intrinsic Unity: one individual separate from all others

Extrinsic Unity: a collection of intrinsic unities

According to Clarke, what metaphysical co-principles explain the similarity and dissimilarity between finite ‘real beings’?

Existence (similarity) and essence (dissimilarity)

In what sense does Clarke maintain that the second principle (from immediately above) ‘limits’ the first principle?

Essence limits existence in the sense that all beings cannot contain the fullness of existence (except for God), otherwise all would be the same. Essence limits existence by negating certain aspects of existence and particularizing each act of existence.

According to Clarke, the metaphysical co-principles ‘form and matter’ distinguish what?

• Form distinguishes the kind of being; not the outer visible form but the inner form which constitutes the essence of the being and is similar in all members of a species. Acts to form the universal abstract concept of the common nature of things

• Matter distinguishes beings from one another by acting as a unified structure to contain the form, and by its nature as being unable to occupy two different spaces at once.

Why does Clarke maintain that ‘matter’ limits ‘form’?

because it pins it down so it can only be and operate here in the material world, while purely spiritual beings are not constricted in this way

Is ‘form-matter’ an adequate explanation for individuation? Please explain.

yes because it follows the explanation the in order to be individuated we must first start out in a unique material form (matter), and as we live our lives and make our own decisions, etc our form is unique to us and works continue to individuate us from any other.

What distinguishes ‘accidental’ from ‘substantial’ change?

Substantial change: involves the total passing away of a substance of creation of an entirely new substance.

Accidental change: involves a change made to an existing substance. The substance is still the same core being before and after the change.

What role have the metaphysical co-principles ‘act’ and ‘potency’ in the reality of change?

‘Act’ is essential in the reality of change because it signifies “the actual here and now state of a being”, which is necessary in order to measure the change that a substance undergoes.

‘Potency’ is essential in the reality of change because it acts as a “principle of continuity” which holds “together the earlier and the later stages without a total rupture in continuity”, which is vital in the change of a substance.

Can there be ‘potency’ apart from ‘actuality’? Please explain.

No, because potency is “only the capacity for some actuality” and thus would not exist without the actuality.

• pure potency would dissolve into nothingness. it is “only the capacity for some actuality'“

The metaphysical co-principles ‘substance’ and ‘accident’ can explain what kind of change?

• Accidental (non-substantial change)

• Substance is “what undergoes change” and accident is “the change occurring in the substance”

List Aristotle’s 10 categories.

1. Quantity

2. Quality

3. When

4. Where

5. Relation

6. Posture

7. Passivity

8. Activity

9. Habit (clothing)

10. Substance

Should ‘system’ be listed as a new category of being? Please explain.

I believe it could be helpful for ‘system’ to be added as a new category of being, as it references those ‘new unities’ that arise and are entirely unique with their own characteristics that go beyond.

How can the metaphysical co-principles ‘form and matter’ be employed to explain essential change? Please explain.

in essential change, matter remains the same and forms replace each other

What problem does the doctrine of ‘unicity of substantial form’ seek to answer? Please explain.

the problem of ensuring the unity of real natures, by stating that there can only be one essential form at one time in one real nature

What is ‘formless matter’? Please explain.

the ultimate non formal quantitatively extended “stuff” that underlies and supports all forms in our material world, which has no form of its own

What does Clarke classify as the ‘Static Structures’ of finite beings?

Form/Matter and Existence/Essence

What does Clarke classify as the ‘Dynamic Structures’ of finite being?

Potency/Act, Substance/Accident, and formless matter/form

How are the static and dynamic compositions synthesized beneath a new use of act/potency? Please explain.

They are synthesized beneath a new use of act/potency in that they are all shown as modes of potency in their respective roles, and it explains how each composition contains a type of limiting potency which contains and limits the compositions as a whole.

Why does the new act/potency distinction show that the community of finite being is thoroughly structured by participation? Please explain.

bc it shows that the whole universe reveals itself as endlessly different proportions of act and potency from pure potency down to the lowest levels through different modes of limited participation