I vaguely remember a previous thread where (most) Catholic posters said Descartes’ substance dualism is nothing like Thomas and the Church. It seems to me that Thomas is more a property dualist who, simply and sanely, says that the properties of minds cannot be reduced to matter, thus avoiding the rather superficial folk myths of supernatural thingamajigs.
Catholicism is not like a dualist who, simply and sanely, says that the properties of minds cannot be reduced to matter. Though I can understand that concept which comes from a non-dualism position, i.e., that human nature is only material/physical.
This reminds me that I finally figured out a kind of answer to your comments about actualities and potentialities in regard to the spiritual soul. (Is my memory close to being accurate?) While this is Thomistic philosophy, the nitty-gritty is that the American population under the age of 59 or so, is not familiar with scholastic philosophy (method) and certainly actual and potential are not every day terms in their vocabulary. There are a few posters who quote from Aquinas, but that does not mean that everyone is really understanding how to use philosophical terminology. Thus, it is no wonder that you were concerned about the response.
The Catholic use of “dualism” in comparison with the popular understanding of dualism is that yes, the spiritual soul and the anatomy made of matter are completely different natures in reality. Cartesian extreme dualism is that these two natures are separated in humans. Doesn’t either Descartes or a follower locate the spiritual in some kind of gland – or is that an urban myth?
Locating the spiritual in a bit of anatomy is actually separating its influence from the anatomy as a whole. This is similar to the mind emerging from the material brain. Both Descartes and some interpreters of science are actually eliminating the complete union of spiritual and material in a person. Catholicism teaches is that it is the union per se which results in one single human nature.
Looking at the Design of a human person, one can say that Descartes’ view of different natures, spirit and matter, does describe the human species. However, Catholicism holds that the two natures are not separate because they are an unique unification which results in one person with a single nature. Therefore, Catholism can say that it is possible for
moderate dualism to describe human natures.
One normally does not hear the term
moderate dualism on CAF because most, not all, Catholics have enough problems with the spiritual soul and modern biology and genetics.
What is amazing is how the little used term
moderate dualism plays out in the Design of the person.
Blessings,
granny
“The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?”
From the poem “
Christmas” by George Herbert
