abarnhar
February 26th 2003, 01:54 PM
Hello all!
I've been doing a little work in Aquinas and particularly in his understanding of 'being.' I have concluded that he has three froms of essence for beings:
1. Existence - God
2. Immaterial - Angels
3. Material - Everything else
My problem is that purely mental beings (i.e., unicorns) don't really fit into this scheme. They have no material substance, but at the same time, it seems counterintuitive to Aquinas' Christian background to place them under immaterial with angels (since angels for Aquinas have the ability to take on matter).
Any help?
I've been doing a little work in Aquinas and particularly in his understanding of 'being.' I have concluded that he has three froms of essence for beings:
1. Existence - God
2. Immaterial - Angels
3. Material - Everything else
My problem is that purely mental beings (i.e., unicorns) don't really fit into this scheme. They have no material substance, but at the same time, it seems counterintuitive to Aquinas' Christian background to place them under immaterial with angels (since angels for Aquinas have the ability to take on matter).
Any help?