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volume II: Synopsis

Part II: A brief history of dynamics

page 11: Thomas Aquinas

(1224-1274)

Aquinas combined ancient Greek and Medieval science with Christian belief to produce a theological classic, the Summa Theologiae. For me the high point of the Summa is his treatment of the Trinity, the Christian belief that there are three divine Persons in the one God. Aquinas explains that although the relationships of knowledge and love are not real among us, they are real in God. Reading this set me thinking about one God with an unlimited number of personalities, many of which are visible to us, that is, a divine Universe. Aquinas asks "Is there procession in God?" My version of this question is "Does the observable universe emerge within the initial singularity?" Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas, Summa, I, 27, 1: Is there procession in God?, Hawking & Ellis: The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time

Aquinas was a member of the Order of Preachers, founded by Dominic Guzman with the aim of combating 'heretics' on their own intellectual ground. Albert the great (1206-80) Aquinas' teacher, was a man of encyclopaedic knowledge of contemporary science, philosophy and theology. He realized that Christianity needed to be aligned with Aristotelian teachings if it was to maintain its credibility. Aquinas completed this task in the Summa. Aquinas remains the only theologian mentioned by name in Catholic legislation. Dominican Order - Wikipedia, Albertus Magnus - Wikipedia

Christian authors were able to discern three persons in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here they departed from the strict monotheism of the Jewish religion from which Christianity evolved. Each of the persons of the Trinity is assigned a specific role in the salvation of mankind, the Father Creator, the Son the Sacrificial Lamb who redeemed us and the Holy Spirit, who infuses us with knowledge of the ways of God. Trinity - Wikipedia

The existence of the Trinity was formally asserted by the earliest Christian creeds. These documents grapple with the problem of how to reconcile the unity of God with the Trinity of persons. To a large degree, this difficulty was overcome by asserting that it was simply a mystery to be believed. Nicene Creed - Wikipedia

Augustine of Hippo, in his treatise De Trinitate, was among the first to tackle the problem head on hoping to develop a satisfactory explanatory model. Augustine developed the psychological idea implicit in the Gospel of John that the second person of the Trinity is the 'logos' or word of God referred to by the words 'The word was made flesh' John 1:14. Augustine modelled the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as the love between the Father and the Son. Augustine: The Trinity, The Gospel of John

Aquinas went further. He developed his model of God from Aristotle's Metaphysics which culminates with a discussion of the 'unmoved mover' that drives the world. The key idea is that something potentially existent cannot realize itself. It must be brought into being by something already actual. Since we often see potential events becoming real, there must be a purely actual being making this happen. This being, he concludes, we call God. Aristotle - Metaphysics, Thomas Aquinas, Summa, I, 2, 3: Does God Exist?, Unmoved mover - Wikipedia

From this property, that God is pure actuality actus purus, Aquinas derives the traditional attributes of God: simplicity, perfection, goodness, infinity, eternity, unity, omniscience, omnipotence and so on. Although God is eternal, and therefore from our point of view unchanging, Aquinas was able to show that a living God is consistent with the notion of 'pure act'. He then proceeded to develop the doctrine of the Trinity, following Augustine's psychological model.

Aquinas introduces the idea that it is the relationships between the divine persons that distinguishes them. In the world, he says, relationships are accidents, something superficial. In God, however, relationships are substantial or essential, making the the three persons really distinct while they yet remain one God. Aquinas, Summa, I, 28,2: Is relation in God the same as His essence?

Aquinas' model of the Trinity provides a theological starting point for our hypothesis that the Universe is divine. Although Aquinas is bound by Catholic belief to limit the number of persons in the Trinity to three, there is no reason why the model of distinction by relationship should not be extended to any number of persons. Instead of just the three divine persons, we see the divine Universe distinguished by real relationships into all the distinct entities that we see around us. This distinction, however, does not mean that the Universe is neither one nor perfect, any more than the Trinity is believed to reduce the unity or perfection of God in the Christian model.

If we model the universe as a layered communication network, we can see relationship as something established by communication. As in the classical theory of God, this relationship is essential rather than accidental to the network. We can understand this by analogy with our human relationships, all of which are established by communication. Jeffrey Brouwer: Medieval Theories of Relations

When we come to treat this idea in detail, we will see that the idea of differentiation by communication is an essential element of quantum mechanics, our fundamental theory of the Universe. Wojciech Hubert Zurek: Quantum origin of quantum jumps: breaking of unitary symmetry induced by information transfer and the transition from quantum to classical

Aquinas was and is the intellectual love of my life. Getting to know his original writings more than justified a few rather bad years spent in a religious order. Back then I conceived the idea of revising his work in the light of modern science and fifty+ years later I am still on a similar track. Fundación Tomás de Aquino: Corpus Thomisticum

(revised 3 April 2020)

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Further reading

Books

Aquinas, Thomas, and Kenelm Foster, Sylvester Humphries (translators), Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima, Dumb Ox Books 1959 'A translation of William of Moerbeke's latin text of Aristotle's On the Soul (a brilliant little treatise on life written 2300 years ago) together with a latin commentary by the Angelic Doctor Thomas Aquinas. Here is an ancient foundation for the Christian belief in the immortality of the soul.' 
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Aquinas, Thomas, and Richard J. Blackwell, Richard J. Spath, W. Edmund Thirlkel (Translators), Commentary on Aristotle's Physics, Dumb Ox Books 1999 An English translation of Aquinas latin commentary on the William of Moerbecke's translation of Aritotle's Physics. 
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Aquinas, Thomas, and Ralph M. McInerny (Preface), John P. Rowan (Introduction), Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics, Dumb Ox Books 1995 An English translation of Aquinas latin commentary on the William of Moerbecke's translation of Aritotle's Metaphysics. 
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Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica (translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province), Tabor Publishing 1981 'Brother Thomas raised new problems in his teaching, invented a new method, used new systems of proof. To hear him teach a new doctrine, with new arguments, one could not doubt that God, by the irradiation of this new light and by the novelty of this inspiration, gave him the power to teach, by the spoken and written word, new opinions and new knowledge.' (William of Tocco, T's first biographer) 
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Augustine, Saint, and Edmond Hill (Introduction, translation and notes), and John E Rotelle (editor), The Trinity, New City Press 399-419, 1991 Written 399 - 419: De Trinitate is a radical restatement, defence and development of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Augustine's book has served as a foundation for most subsequent work, particularly that of Thomas Aquinas.  
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Haberman, Jacob, Maimonides and Aquinas: A Contemporary Appraisal, KTAV Publishing House 1979  
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Hawking, Steven W, and G F R Ellis, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, Cambridge UP 1975 Preface: Einstein's General Theory of Relativity . . . leads to two remarkable predictions about the universe: first that the final fate of massive stars is to collapse behind an event horizon to form a 'black hole' which will contain a singularity; and secondly that there is a singularity in our past which constitutes, in some sense, a beginning to our universe. Our discussion is principally aimed at developing these two results.' 
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Links

Albertus Magnus - Wikipedia, Albertus Magnus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Albertus Magnus, O.P. (before 1200 – November 15, 1280), also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a Catholic bishop. He was known during his lifetime as doctor universalis and doctor expertus and, late in his life, the term magnus was appended to his name. Scholars such as James A. Weisheipl and Joachim R. Söder have referred to him as the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church honours him as a Doctor of the Church, one of only 35 so honoured.' back

Aquinas 13 (Latin), Summa: I 2 3: Whether God exists?, 'Respondeo dicendum quod Deum esse quinque viis probari potest. Prima autem et manifestior via est, quae sumitur ex parte motus. Certum est enim, et sensu constat, aliqua moveri in hoc mundo. Omne autem quod movetur, ab alio movetur. Nihil enim movetur, nisi secundum quod est in potentia ad illud ad quod movetur, movet autem aliquid secundum quod est actu. Movere enim nihil aliud est quam educere aliquid de potentia in actum, de potentia autem non potest aliquid reduci in actum, nisi per aliquod ens in actu, sicut calidum in actu, ut ignis, facit lignum, quod est calidum in potentia, esse actu calidum, et per hoc movet et alterat ipsum. Non autem est possibile ut idem sit simul in actu et potentia secundum idem, sed solum secundum diversa, quod enim est calidum in actu, non potest simul esse calidum in potentia, sed est simul frigidum in potentia. Impossibile est ergo quod, secundum idem et eodem modo, aliquid sit movens et motum, vel quod moveat seipsum. Omne ergo quod movetur, oportet ab alio moveri. Si ergo id a quo movetur, moveatur, oportet et ipsum ab alio moveri et illud ab alio. Hic autem non est procedere in infinitum, quia sic non esset aliquod primum movens; et per consequens nec aliquod aliud movens, quia moventia secunda non movent nisi per hoc quod sunt mota a primo movente, sicut baculus non movet nisi per hoc quod est motus a manu. Ergo necesse est devenire ad aliquod primum movens, quod a nullo movetur, et hoc omnes intelligunt Deum.' back

Aquinas, Summa, I, 27, 1, Is there procession in God?, 'As God is above all things, we should understand what is said of God, not according to the mode of the lowest creatures, namely bodies, but from the similitude of the highest creatures, the intellectual substances; while even the similitudes derived from these fall short in the representation of divine objects. Procession, therefore, is not to be understood from what it is in bodies, either according to local movement or by way of a cause proceeding forth to its exterior effect, as, for instance, like heat from the agent to the thing made hot. Rather it is to be understood by way of an intelligible emanation, for example, of the intelligible word which proceeds from the speaker, yet remains in him. In that sense the Catholic Faith understands procession as existing in God.' back

Aquinas, Summa, I, 28, 2, Is relation in God the same as His essence?, 'Now whatever has accidental existence in creatures, when considered as transferred to God, has a substantial existence, for there is no accident in God, since all in Him is His essence. . . .' back

Aristotle - Metaphysics, Internet Classics Archive | Metaphysics by Aristotle, 'ALL men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight. For not only with a view to action, but even when we are not going to do anything, we prefer seeing (one might say) to everything else. The reason is that this, most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light many differences between things. ' [960a22 sqq] back

Catholic Church - Wikipedia, Dominican Order - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum), after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III (1216-27) on 22 December 1216 in France. Membership in the Order includes friars, congregations of active sisters, and lay persons affiliated with the order (formerly known as tertiaries, now Lay or Secular Dominicans).' back

Creed - Wikipedia, Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'A creed, confession, symbol, or statement of faith is a statement of the shared beliefs of a religious community. Creeds are not intended to be comprehensive, but to be a summary of core beliefs. The term "creed" can also refer to a person's political or social beliefs, or is sometimes used to mean religious affiliation.' back

Dominican Order - Wikipedia, Dominican Order - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, postnominal abbreviation OP), also known as the Dominican Order, is a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Dominic of Caleruega in France, approved by Pope Honorius III via the Papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. . . .Founded to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages. The order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians and philosophers.' back

Fundación Tomás de Aquino, Corpus Thomisticum, The Corpus Thomisticum project aims to provide scholars with a set of instruments of research on Thomas Aquinas, freely available via Internet. It has five parts: • A full edition of the complete works of St. Thomas according, where possible, to the best critical texts. • A bibliography covering all the studies on Aquinas and his doctrine, from the 13th century through our days. • An index of the main tools of Thomistic research, and the edition of the most important among them. • A database management system, implemented to search, compare, and sort words, phrases, quotations, similitudes, correlations, and statistical information. • A digital edition of the main manuscripts of Aquinas' works. back

Fundación Tomás de Aquino, Corpus Thomisticum: Summa I, 3 (Proemium) , Quaestio 3 Prooemium Cognito de aliquo an sit, inquirendum restat quomodo sit, ut sciatur de eo quid sit. Sed quia de Deo scire non possumus quid sit, sed quid non sit, non possumus considerare de Deo quomodo sit, sed potius quomodo non sit. Primo ergo considerandum est quomodo non sit; secundo, quomodo a nobis cognoscatur; tertio, quomodo nominetur. Potest autem ostendi de Deo quomodo non sit, removendo ab eo ea quae ei non conveniunt, utpote compositionem, motum, et alia huiusmodi. Primo ergo inquiratur de simplicitate ipsius, per quam removetur ab eo compositio. Et quia simplicia in rebus corporalibus sunt imperfecta et partes, secundo inquiretur de perfectione ipsius; tertio, de infinitate eius; quarto, de immutabilitate; quinto, de unitate. Circa primum quaeruntur octo. Primo, utrum Deus sit corpus. Secundo, utrum sit in eo compositio formae et materiae. Tertio, utrum sit in eo compositio quidditatis, sive essentiae, vel naturae, et subiecti. Quarto, utrum sit in eo compositio quae est ex essentia et esse. Quinto, utrum sit in eo compositio generis et differentiae. Sexto, utrum sit in eo compositio subiecti et accidentis. Septimo, utrum sit quocumque modo compositus, vel totaliter simplex. Octavo, utrum veniat in compositionem cum aliis. back

Jeffrey Brouwer (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Medieval Theories of Relations, 'The purpose of this entry is to provide a systematic introduction to medieval views about the nature and ontological status of relations. Given the current state of our knowledge of medieval philosophy, especially with regard to relations, it is not possible to discuss all the nuances of even the best-known medieval philosophers' views. In what follows, therefore, we shall restrict our aim to identifying and describing (a) the main types of position that were developed during the Middle Ages, and (b) the most important considerations that shaped their development.' back

John, Gospel of John, '14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.' back

Nicene Creed - Wikipedia, Nicene Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Nicene Creed (Greek: Σύμβολον τῆς Νίκαιας, Latin: Symbolum Nicaenum) is the profession of faith or creed that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It forms the mainstream definition of Christianity for most Christians. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea (present day Iznik in Turkey) by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325. The Nicene Creed has been normative for the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox churches, the Anglican Communion, and the great majority of Protestant denominations.' back

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas: The medieval theological classic online : 'Because the doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but also to instruct beginners (according to the Apostle: As unto little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat -- 1 Cor. 3:1-2), we purpose in this book to treat of whatever belongs to the Christian religion, in such a way as may tend to the instruction of beginners. We have considered that students in this doctrine have not seldom been hampered by what they have found written by other authors, partly on account of the multiplication of useless questions, articles, and arguments, partly also because those things that are needful for them to know are not taught according to the order of the subject matter, but according as the plan of the book might require, or the occasion of the argument offer, partly, too, because frequent repetition brought weariness and confusion to the minds of readers.' back

Thomas Aquinas, Summa, I, 2, 3, Does God exist?, 'I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways. The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. . . . ' back

Trinity - Wikipedia, Trinity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (from Latin trinitas "triad", from trinus "threefold") defines God as three consubstantial persons, expressions, or hypostases: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit; "one God in three persons". The three persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature" homoousios). In this context, a "nature" is what one is, while a "person" is who one is.' back

Unmoved mover - Wikipedia, Unmoved mover - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' The unmoved mover (Ancient Greek: ὃ οὐ κινούμενον κινεῖ, romanized: ho ou kinoúmenon kineî, lit. 'that which moves without being moved'] or prime mover (Latin: primum movens) is a concept advanced by Aristotle as a primary cause (or first uncaused cause) or "mover" of all the motion in the universe. As is implicit in the name, the unmoved mover moves other things, but is not itself moved by any prior action. In Book 12 (Greek: Λ) of his Metaphysics, Aristotle describes the unmoved mover as being perfectly beautiful, indivisible, and contemplating only the perfect contemplation: self-contemplation. He equates this concept also with the active intellect. This Aristotelian concept had its roots in cosmological speculations of the earliest Greek pre-Socratic philosophers and became highly influential and widely drawn upon in medieval philosophy and theology. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, elaborated on the unmoved mover in the Quinque viae. ' back

Wojciech Hubert Zurek, Quantum origin of quantum jumps: breaking of unitary symmetry induced by information transfer and the transition from quantum to classical, 'Submitted on 17 Mar 2007 (v1), last revised 18 Mar 2008 (this version, v3)) "Measurements transfer information about a system to the apparatus, and then further on -- to observers and (often inadvertently) to the environment. I show that even imperfect copying essential in such situations restricts possible unperturbed outcomes to an orthogonal subset of all possible states of the system, thus breaking the unitary symmetry of its Hilbert space implied by the quantum superposition principle. Preferred outcome states emerge as a result. They provide framework for the ``wavepacket collapse'', designating terminal points of quantum jumps, and defining the measured observable by specifying its eigenstates. In quantum Darwinism, they are the progenitors of multiple copies spread throughout the environment -- the fittest quantum states that not only survive decoherence, but subvert it into carrying information about them -- into becoming a witness.' back

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