Various metaphysical notions

Various metaphysical notions
Sku: 80000DTEL40
Archival Number: A8
Author: Lonergan, B.
Language(s): English, Latin
Decade: 1940
Open 80000DTEL40.pdf

Description:
4 pp. in Lonergan's hand treating various metaphysical notions: Relation, substance-accident, change, etc.

Transcription:

A0008

Change, substance, form, matter, etc. Various metaphysical notions.

80000DTL040

[This item is completely handwritten; the numbers might indicate that it is a continuation of A07, Being something]

Transcription by R. Doran

10 Recall Pure Being

Being something

grades of being

11 Substance & accident

Any substance

esse tale simpliciter

changes only w change of nature

Accidents of action and passion

esse tale scdm plus et minus

Absolute only in minimum / absolute zero /absolute ignorance

/ capacity[?] to know

[accidents] are in a category

are not absolute in category because limitation of subject

understand something

bright, loud, cold, hard, etc

Spiritual accidents [not material nor conditioned by matter]

no possibility of numerical expression

for the plus et minus

Material accidents

possibility of plus & minus expressed

numerically - so [?] numerical not

exhaustive

Purely material activity = local motion

passivity = quantity

Time pure quantity is static continuum of purely

Mass numerical differences

empirical

pure local motion is dynamic continuum of

purely numerical differences

change intelligible

empirical

Newton’s first law

Space-time

Material presence is the mutual

possibility of purely material

action & passion

This possibility since material is

scdm plus et minus

Measure of this possibility is interval

Number of objects that mutually stand

at equal interval each to all others

is number of dimensions of space-time

Space-time is material presence of a number

of objects

Dimensionality is a limitation of space-time

12 [?] Relation

esse simpliciter |

scdm plus et minus | absolute

esse tale simpliciter |

tale scdm plus et minus |

α Predicamental esse ad in regard to

rationis: determined by thinking

realis [?]: determining the thinking

founded on esse

esse tale & hoc tale

esse tale scdm plus et minus

empirical e.g.

intelligible space-

time

β Transcendental

What is not being but towards being

Fruit of metaphysical analysis

| existence as such

| essence towards being

| form

↓ matter

Intelligible structure of reality

Change

within species not change of being

genus as being

outside genus e.g. immaterial emergence under material

circumstances

being itself changes

Composition: several beings into one

: several revert[?] to potency

Dissolution: one being into several

potency reverts[?] to act

material being change to material being H2+O-->W

material being changes to immaterial being

impossible ergo transition through being as such

many material beings ---> single form

change substantial A (something absolute)

becomes B (something

absolute)

material being changes form A to form B

1 Cosmic Dialectic of Forms -- potency of matter

2 What changes is material being

3 Problem of compositions dissolutions

Being reduced to potency or changing

spiritual being form emerges vanishes

Agere sequitur esse ergo ens spirituale

Matter not

Agent required that ‘attingit ens ut ens’

Forma infunditur non educitur

l4 Form: nature or intelligible ground for type of limitation of action & passion

Matter: principle of individuation for such a nature

i.e. such a nature: type of action

ergo many [?] such natures

why different? Matter cf 8

Real distinction of Matter & Form

Matter extrinsically intelligible

Form intrinsically intelligible

ergo real distinction

15 Essence: natura haec = matter plus form

intrinsically intelligible

form in itself

matter in form

Existence: empirical cf 2

ergo real distinction

16 Substance esse tale simpliciter

Accident esse tale scdm plus & minus

ergo real distinction

esse absolutum

esse ad

ergo real distinction

So much for main lines [?]