The Research Of Thomas Aquinas’s Theory Of The Soul

Thomas Aquinas is an important theologian of the Middle Ages as well as a major figure in Scholastic philosophical thoughts. His researches into theology and philosophy made him a mediator between faith and reason. Following the traditions of Platonism, Aquinas accepted the theories of Aristotle and brought reason into theological thinking, wherein his most valuable contributions lie in his meditations and expositions on the subject of man. Aquinas’s theories on man would be the main theme of this thesis, with a special focus on his theory of the soul.This thesis would examine the theory of the soul from four aspects:the constituents and the workings of the different powers of the soul, the nature of the soul of man, the cognitive origins of the soul, and the relationship between the soul and the body. First, when he expounded on the constituents and the powers of the soul, Aquinas drew the conclusion from two aspects. With regard to intellect, he argued that intellect is a power of the soul. The process of man’s cognition, from its latent state to the final realization, also demonstrates the coexistence of two powers in the soul of man, namely the potential intellect and the agent intellect. With regard to desire, Aquinas distinguished between the desire of the senses and the desire of reason, and defined will as the desire of reason. Though he considered the supreme good as seen in God to be the ultimate goal of man’s pursuit, Aquinas also argued for the uncertainty of the choice of will. In his opinion, will doesn’t necessarily submit to the judgment of intellect. Aquinas also discussed the workings of the soul after it departs from the body. At such a time the soul still has the power of understanding, but the working mode of its understanding is utterly different from when the soul was combined with the body, Besides, compared to cognition that comes from perceptual experience, the soul at such a time could only obtain vague and fuzzy knowledge. Second, With regard to the nature of the soul, Aquinas argued that the soul of man is different from that of the God or of the angels, Although the soul doesn’t decay, the multiple functions of man could only be realized when the soul combines with the body. The opinion on the nature of the soul also determined the main theme of Aquinas’s theory of the soul:on the one hand, he emphasized that the soul doesn’t decay after it departs from the body, on the other hand, he considered man as a composite entity made up of the soul and the body. Third, as regards the cognitive origins of the soul, Aquinas held that perceptual experience is the basis of rational knowledge. He stressed the importance of the body, emphasizing that knowledge comes into being because of the senses, which are in turn the consequence of the workings of the composite entity consisting of the soul and the body. Finally, Aquinas explained the relationship between the soul and the body:As man is a composite entity made up of the soul and the body, the soul being the form of the body, and the body, as the individualizing factor for the soul, determines the diversity of the soul.Shown in Aquinas’s theory of the soul is the unique characteristic that faith exists side by side with reason:on the one hand, it is contended that the pursuit for God remains the immovable ultimate fate of man, Which turns out his theory of the soul was still restricted with his faith in God; on the other hand, the objectivity and initiative of the cognition of man are put in the foreground, which is the progressive part of his theory. Moreover, his theory of the soul is of great value to philosophy of mind. In his theory, annotations on and concerns about the philosophical problems of’universal’and ’intentionality’ provide much food for thought for philosophers of his own time and of later generations. And his expositions of the individuality of the soul and the definition of the will are full of original views, making his theory of the soul a rich reservoir for further researches and more in-depth studies.