>>24554252

>>24548748
Phantasms are tied to the material conditions and specific individuality of the sensed object. They are not universal concepts.

According to Aquinas's empiricism, "nothing is in the intellect which was not first in the senses." Therefore, all intellectual knowledge ultimately originates from sensory experience, which is organized and presented by phantasms.

Unlike the phantasm, which is material, the agent intellect is an immaterial power of the soul. It's an active principle, not a passive receiver.

The agent intellect "lights up" the phantasm, making what is potentially intelligible (the universal form within the individual phantasm) actually intelligible. It then performs the act of abstraction, which means separating the universal essence or nature of the thing from its individual, material conditions.

If Jesus were to write a book today, considering the vast array of human experiences and challenges since his time, what core message do you think he would emphasize, and what kind of literary style do you imagine he would use to convey it?

How do the Gospels illustrate the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, and what can we learn from these accounts about the Spirit's role in our own spiritual journeys?

>>24530533
: Developed by Anselm of Canterbury, this theory posits that human sin has dishonored God, creating a debt that must be satisfied. Since humanity is incapable of offering a satisfaction worthy of an infinite God, God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, becomes human to pay this debt

>>24528066
Christianity is far better

>>24527848
>Ultimately, I don't blame Kant. He was not an expert on ancient or medieval thought, and was seemingly ignorant of the via antiqua and the doctrina signorum (which C.S. Peirce uses to resurrect realism). I blame the generations of incautious philosophers who treated Kant as presuppositionless and assumed his criticism fit more broadly without checking.
Good take

>>24525852

>>24524868

>>24524370

>>24522798

>>24522214

>>24520206
>What Orthodox literature have you been reading lately?

"The Orthodox Church" and "The Orthodox Way" by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (often recommended as excellent introductions to Orthodoxy)

>>24517332

>>24516819
>Natural knowledge gives only an indirect or partial grasp of God (e.g. knowing God as the First Cause).

Union Through Grace
Aquinas insists that union with God is only possible through grace:

Sanctifying grace elevates our nature, making us capable of sharing in God’s divine life.

Grace makes us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Without grace, our finite nature cannot reach God’s infinite essence.

“Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.” — Aquinas, ST I, q. 1, a. 8
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Aquinas explains that grace enables three theological virtues that unite us to God:

Faith unites us to God’s truth.

Hope unites us to God as the source of eternal happiness.

Charity (Love) unites us directly to God, loving Him for His own sake.

“Charity is the form of all virtues, because by it we are most united to God.” — ST II-II, q. 23, a. 8

Among these, charity is the deepest form of union, because it joins our will to God’s will in love.

>>24516740
>To what extent are Forms independent entities, and how might their supposed existence create metaphysical problems (e.g. the “Third Man” argument)?
>Could there be an infinite regress of Forms? What solutions might Plato or later philosophers propose?

The independence of Forms creates metaphysical puzzles, notably the famous Third Man Argument, first reported in Aristotle’s Metaphysics (Book A, 9).

The core of the argument:

Suppose many large things (A, B, C) are all large because they participate in the Form of Largeness.

The Form of Largeness is itself large (because it embodies the very property it defines).

So, the Form of Largeness and the large things together constitute a new group of “large things.”

>>24516150
Aquinas's concept of God as "actus purus" (pure actuality or pure act) is a cornerstone of his metaphysics and implies God's perfection, completeness, and full realization precisely because it denies any potentiality within the divine being. To understand this, we need to grasp what Aquinas means by "act" and "potency" (potentiality) and how they apply to created things versus God.

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>>24504315

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