4 Attributes

METAPHYSIC
S
Ranilo B. Hermida, Ph.D.
Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

THE ATTRIBUTES OF BEING
To be real is to be actively
present to other beings.
Action is the outer face of

being.
Every being also possesses an

inner structure, what
constitutes it as such, and
ONTOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

ONTOLOGICAL
ATTRIBUTES

UNITY OF BEING
inner cohesion of something by
which it constitutes an
undivided whole

To be undivided does not
mean that the being is
indivisible but that the
being in its present state is
actually undivided.

PROOF OF UNITY
If being is not one it would be

nothing.

PROOF OF UNITY
If being is not one it would be

nothing.

To be is to be one and to be
one is to be.
Pure multiplicity is identical

with pure nothingness.
UNITY AS ANALOGOUS
Every being is a unit; every unity is

a being.
As being is analogous, so is unity.
There are various modes of unity

from the unity of pure simplicity
found only in God to the most
complex of unity like
Saint a human
Thomas of Villanova Institute
Just as to be is to exercise the act of
presence, so to be one is to exercise
an inner act of dynamic
self~coherence, a kind of energy of
self~cohesion, which is expressed
proportionately at every level of
being.
UNITY AS DYNAMIC
Unity reveals itself as a positive

energy by which each being holds
its parts together in a dynamic
self-unifying act.
UNITY AS DYNAMIC
Unity reveals itself as a positive

energy by which each being holds
its parts together in a dynamic
self-unifying act.
Divine trinity is the sharing by three
Persons of an identical divine nature
~ the bond of unity is the Holy
Spirit, the mutual act of love
between the Father and the Son.
UNITY OF PERSON

The pursuit of a single
target or skopos gives
unity and integrity to the
life of the person ~
unifying his activities,
establishing hierarchies,
giving coherence and
structure to his many
varied actions such that
each action makes sense.
To be truly one personality or truly
someone, we must unify our multiple
actions and drives under dominant
integrating goals, one great dominant
value or one great love.
Pedro Arrupe, Jesuit Superior
General
Nothing is
more practical
than finding
God, than
falling in Love
in a quite
absolute, final
way.

Pedro Arrupe on Falling in Love
What you are in love with, what seizes
your imagination, will affect
everything. It will decide what will get
you out of bed in the morning, what
you do with your evenings, how you
spend your weekends, what you read,
whom you know, what breaks your
heart, and what amazes you with joy
and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
KINDS OF UNITY
the unity within

the very being
of a single real
being
controls its
actions from a
single center of
action
KINDS OF UNITY
unity between
two or more
distinct
beings, each
with its own
distinct act of
existence and
center of
action Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute
BEING AS TRUE
the intrinsic intelligibility of every

being, as ordered by its very nature,
to be understood by the mind
Oliva Blanchette, Philosophy of
Being
Truth refers to being itself in its

being opened up to intelligence.
To the extent that we know
anything, it is being that we know
~ and the being that we do know
is surely intelligible. Truth is a
property of being as intelligible in
itself.
Truth expresses a relating in
being to intelligence. The
relating presupposes an
intelligence that, in its care,
actively relates to being.
TRUTH AND THE INTELLECT

Oliva Blanchette, Philosophy of
Being
Human understanding is that which
opens up and being that which is
opened. Truth is an identity between
the knowing and the known, a
relating of two sides that mutually
include each other.
Logical truth makes sense only in

relation to ontological truth, and
ontological truth makes sense only
in relation to logical truth.
Being makes itself known as
truth.

Every created being is conformed
to the divine creative idea
according to which God actively
created it and sustains it in being
continually. The divine mind is the
measure of the being of creatures.
Saintand
Norris Clarke, The One Thomas
the of Villanova Institute
Many
The creative mind of God is the
measure of the reality of created
beings.
Saint Camillus College Seminary

The human mind is the measure of artifacts
insofar as they are the result of active thinking.

The human mind is the measure of artifacts
insofar as they are the result of active thinking.
A house is a true creation of the

architect insofar as it conforms
to his design.
THE TRUTH OF EVERY BEING
Truth is said of every being ~

what an existing thing is. No
existing thing can then be
ontologically false because every
existing thing is what it is and
not other than what it is.

FALSE GOLD

FALSE FRIEND

FALSE BEING
To say that every being is true does not
mean that no being is false. What gives
rise to truth in the intellect can also
give rise to falsehood. What is meant to
disclose being can also leave it
undisclosed. Truth is rooted in being,
not just in our intellect, and only being
can give rise to truth.
Oliva Blanchette, Philosophy of Being

FALSE GOLD
The falsehood refers to the external appearance

that disagrees with its real nature and is likely to
induce a wrong appraisal.

FALSE FRIEND
The falsehood pertains to certain

kinds of behavior that fall short of
the expectation.
The Blind Men and the Elephant
JOHN GODFREY SAXE

The Blind Men and the
Elephant
It was six men of
Indostan
To learning much
inclined,
Who went to see the
Elephant
(Though all of them were
blind),
That each by
observation
Might satisfy his mind.
TheFirstapproached the
Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and
sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
God bless me! but
Saint Thomas theInstitute
of Villanova
TheSecond, feeling of the
tusk,
Cried, Ho, what have we
here,
So very round and smooth
and sharp?
To me 'tis
Saint mighty clearInstitute
Thomas of Villanova
TheThirdapproached the
animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his
hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
I see, Saint
quoth he,
Thomas theInstitute
of Villanova
TheFourthreached out an
eager hand,
And felt about the knee
What most this wondrous
beast is like
Is mighty plain, quoth he:
Tis clear enoughSaintthe Elephant
TheFifth, who chanced to
touch the ear,
Said: Een the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles
most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel Saint
of an Elephant
TheSixthno sooner had
begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging
tail
That fell within his scope,
I see, Saint
quoth he,
Thomas theInstitute
of Villanova
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the
right,
And all were in the wrong!

Is truth plural?

QUINTUS AURELIUS MEMMIUS EUSEBIUS
SYMMACHUS
Uno itenere non potest perveniri ad

tam grande secretum.
THE HEART OF SO GREAT A MYSTERY CANNOT BE
REACHED BY TRAVELLING ONE ROAD ONLY.
Aurelius Symmachus
Is truth relative?

Is truth relative?
The truth proper to relative

orders is relative.
When people speak of truth

as relative they do not mean
to speak of all truths simply
but of the truth of their
expressions.
ONTOLOGICAL TRUTH
said of beings primarily but

may also be applied in an
analogous and extended
sense to the parts or actions
of the being
ONTOLOGICAL TRUTH

Essence is the formal reason
of the nature of a being.
Essences are apt to engender necessary

truth ~ true and certain knowledge in
the mind.
Events are happenings in the form of
action of things or of free agents.
They are contingent.

Events are happenings in the form of
action of things or of free agents.
They are contingent.
Once they have taken place in reality, they

cannot not have taken place anymore. They
acquire the necessity of the existential order.
PHYSICAL PROPOSITIONS
propositions expressing the
ways and workings of nature or
of natural agents

The egg will hatch into a chick.

Physical propositions are

necessary and true based on
the constancy of nature in
following a definite course of
action provided that natural
agents are not interfered with
in their natural course of action.

Physical propositions are not absolutely
necessary and admit exceptions in
particular instances due to the
interference of other natural agents or
the action of the Author of Nature.

MORAL PROPOSITIONS
express the mores or
customary ways of human
beings

MORAL PROPOSITIONS
A mother cares for her child.

Moral propositions are true
only in the general sense and
in the majority of instances
but not in every particular
instance.

Individual persons in particular instances
may freely deviate from the usual manner
of acting of human beings.

CONTINGENT
PROPOSITIONS
propositions expressing in the
present tense events or
features that are liable to
change or are actually subject
to change

CONTINGENT
PROPOSITIONS
It is sunny today.
The truth of contingent propositions
endures as long as the proposition
agrees with reality or as long as the
event or the eventual feature
expressed has not changed.
BEING AS GOOD

BEING AS GOOD
The good is that which is or can be

the object of any positive act of
valuing.
The good is the being itself that is
valued or called good and not
something else.
The good is that which is or can be

the object of any positive act of
valuing.
NATURE OF GOODNESS
Is something
good because
we seek it?
Do we seek
something
because it is
good?
Is the good a purely subjective aspect
that we confer on a thing precisely by
our seeking it, without it being at all
objectively grounded in the thing sought
itself?
Baruch Spinoza
Things are good
precisely because we
seek them.
There are no objective

values in things; value is a
purely subjective property
conferred on things.
SUBJECTIVE ASPECT
It is true that nothing can be

called good except in relation to a
subject valuing it.
OBJECTIVE ASPECT
It is also true that there is a basis

in the object itself why it is valued
by a subject.

The proper understanding of good
should include the objective and
subjective poles.

The good is that which is valuable to
a subject, meaning, it possesses
some positive quality or perfection
that renders it apt or worthy to be
valued.
The good cannot be purely
subjective.

GOOD AND BEING
The good as an attribute of being is said

of being inasmuch as it is endowed with
ontological perfection and therefore apt
to be desired.
KINDS OF GOOD
MORAL GOOD
proper to the human act as conforming to the
moral norm of what ought to be done here
and now by a free and responsible person
ONTOLOGICAL GOOD
that which is valuable or perfective of
someone in the existential order, regardless
of whether it should be sought now or not
ONTOLOGICAL GOOD
that which is valuable or perfective of
someone in the existential order, regardless
of whether it should be sought now or not
ONTOLOGICAL GOOD

INTRINSIC GOOD
valued for
itself,
being in
itself good
GOOD AND TRUTH
Ontological good and truth

refer to one and the same
objectiveSaint
thing.
GOOD AND TRUTH
Good and truth are related with

regard to the rational faculties
involved.
GOOD AND
The love TRUTH
of the will follows the
knowledge of the intellect.
Ignoti nulla cupido.

THERE CAN BE NO DESIRE OF SOMETHING UNKNOWN.
Nil volitum quin praecognitum

NOTHING IS WILLED WHICH IS NOT PREVIOUSLY
KNOWN.

KNOWING AND LOVING

Norris Clarke, The One and the Many
Loving is extraverted while knowing is

introverted. Knowledge draws its object
into its own mental level. Love draws
the lover out towards the object of his
love We draw up to our own level
whatever we know that is below us; we
draw down what is above us. Love
draws us down to what is below us, up
to what is above us.

It is better to love God than to
know Him, better to know
sinful things than to love
them.
THE GROUND OF THE GOOD
the nature of
the being as
dynamic
center of
action, with
natural
potentialities,
and oriented
towards
Saint its
THE GROUND OF THE GOOD
the degree of
participation of
the being in
the perfection
of esse in
relation to the
Ipsum Esse,
the source of
all beings Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute
TRANSCENDENTAL CHARACTER
Every being, inasmuch
as it is a being, is in some
way perfect; because
every actuality is a kind
of perfection. But, what
is perfect entails the idea
of desirable or good.
Hence, it follows that
every being, as such, is
good.
Summa Theologica

VARIOUS OPINIONS

God looked upon all that He had made,
and behold, it was very good.

Saint Augustine, The Love of God
All things were

made good, but
not being made
perfectly good,
are liable to
corruption: All
things that exist,
therefore, seeing
that the Creator
of them all isSaint Thomas of Villanova Institute
Saint Augustine, The Love of God
Because they
are not, like
their Creator,
supremely and
unchangeably
good, their
good may be
diminished and
increased.

ARGUMENT
Every being insofar as it exists is a
participation, no matter how limited, in
the great central perfection of the
universe, the act of existence, the source
of all perfection or good. It is an image of
the infinite plenitude of all goodness
from which all existence ultimately
comes. As such every positive bit of it
has its own perfection through and
through.

EVIL AND BEING
The presence of evil in the world

is clearly a significant and
undeniable element of human
experience. Evil in one form of
another has touched each one and
all of us.

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Why does God allow evil in His
world?
Is God willing to prevent evil, but

not able?
THEN GOD IS IMPOTENT.
Is God able to prevent evil, but not

willing?
THEN GOD IS MALEVOLENT.
Is God both able and willing to

preventSaint
evil?
NATURE OF EVIL

NATURE OF EVIL

METAPHYSICS OF EVIL
Evil is not a positive being or

mode of being.
Evil is not simply a negation of
good or absence of perfection.
The remotion of good, taken

negatively, does not have the reason of
evil; other-wise, it would follow that
anything would be bad simply because
it does not have the good of another
thing, e.g., a man would be bad, simply
because he does not have the speed of
a gazelle, or the strength of a lion.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
Evil is the absence of some good or being that
should be present; it is the privation of some
good that is due or commensurate to a being.

The privation of the good can
be in the form of either:

Evil is essentially a parasite on the
good.
Pure evil is a contradiction in terms: if

there is nothing positive which lacks
something, neither can there be evil.
Evil is always evil for and in
something good or positive.
There can be no objective
privation without a subject:
in the case of an actual loss,
without a subject that is
actually being deprived of a
commensurate good; and in
the case of a lack, without a
subject from which the
commensurate good is
wanting.
KINDS OF EVIL

KINDS OF EVIL

KINDS OF EVIL

THE CAUSE OF EVIL
Evil can result from the defect of

power in the agent or some defect
or obstacle on the material worked.
QUASI PER-SE CAUSE OF
EVIL
one privation or deficiency that is

relevant to another privation; one
evil resulting into another evil; one
vice giving rise to another vice
QUASI PER-ACCIDENS CAUSE OF EVIL
an agent that causes damage or

harm in another, as an accidental
result, by comparison to its nature
and the natural role of its powers
THE CAUSE OF EVIL
Evil can result from the fact that the

cause, in pursuing or producing one
positive effect or good thereby excludes
from being some other higher good which
should be present.
We always do some good in
whatever we do. We never do
evil positively. When we do one
good rather than another, we
may be excluding from being
another higher good, and if this
latter good should be there, then
evil results. If the choice of the
lower good is done deliberately
then it becomes moral evil.

EVIL AND GOD

God tolerates rather than
allows evil in the world.

The present state and course of nature
are not the original ones designed and
established by God.
The present world is the aftermath
after the original plan of God was
disrupted by the insubordination of
the first humans and their refusal to
cooperate with His grand design.
GENERAL PRINCIPLE
A wise and good governor does

not, and should not, eliminate
altogether all evils, if by doing
so, he would eliminate greater
goods or benefits from his
subjects.

A wise and good governor does not,
and should not, eliminate altogether
all evils, if by doing so, he would
eliminate greater goods or benefits
from his subjects.

THE BEST POSSIBLE WORLD
It belongs to the best agent to produce an
effect that is best in the totality; although
not that each part should be simply bestfor
the perfection of an animal would be done
away with if every part had the excellence of
the eye.God constituted the whole
universe best according to the manner of
the creation.And soof all taken together
it is said: God saw everything that he had
made, and they were very good.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

BEING AND BEAUTY
id quod visum placet

THAT WHICH PLEASES WHEN
BEHELD
Thomas Aquinas

ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY

Beauty signifies a certain
wholeness or integrity.

Beauty refers to an overall
harmony.

Beauty is the splendor or
radiance that shines forth from
the being.

4 Attributes

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METAPHYSIC

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Action is the outer face of

Every being also possesses an

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

If being is not one it would be

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

If being is not one it would be

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Pure multiplicity is identical

Every being is a unit; every unity is

As being is analogous, so is unity.

There are various modes of unity

Unity reveals itself as a positive

Unity reveals itself as a positive

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

the unity within

the intrinsic intelligibility of every

Truth refers to being itself in its

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Logical truth makes sense only in

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Camillus College Seminary

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

A house is a true creation of the

Truth is said of every being ~

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Oliva Blanchette, Philosophy of Being

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

The falsehood refers to the external appearance

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

The falsehood pertains to certain

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Uno itenere non potest perveniri ad

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

The truth proper to relative

When people speak of truth

said of beings primarily but

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Essences are apt to engender necessary

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Once they have taken place in reality, they

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

The egg will hatch into a chick.

Physical propositions are

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

A mother cares for her child.

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

Saint Thomas of Villanova Institute

The good is that which is or can be

The good is that which is or can be

There are no objective