The human person , created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual ( CCC 362 ). The term " soul " often refers to human LIFE or the entire human PERSON. But it also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image: " soul " signifies the SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE in man ( CCC 363 ).
Futher, the unity of the soul and the body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the " form " ( substantial form ) of the body, because it is through the spiritual soul that the body made from matter becomes a living human body. Man the PERSON is a composit of spirit and matter, a single nature composed of body and soul (CCC365 )…
St. Thomas deals with the human soul and its principles ( intellect and will ) in S.T. Part 1, Ques 75-102. A very short summary from the 24 Thomistic Theses approved by Pope Leo XIII is belos.
- On the other hand, the human soul subsists of itself. When it can be infused into a sufficiently disposed subject, it is created by God. By its very nature, it is incorruptible and immortal.[15]
- This rational soul is united to the body in such a manner that it is the only substantial form of the body. By virtue of his soul a man is a man, an animal, a living thing, a body, a substance and a being. Therefore the soul gives man every essential degree of perfection; moreover, it gives the body a share in the act of being whereby it itself exists.[16]
- From the human soul there naturally issue forth powers pertaining to two orders, the organic and the non-organic. The organic powers, among which are the senses, have the composite as their subject. The non-organic powers have the soul alone as their subject. Hence, the intellect is a power intrinsically independent of any bodily organ.[17]
- Intellectuality necessarily follows upon immateriality, and furthermore, in such manner that the father the distance from matter, the higher the degree of intellectuality. Any being is the adequate object of understanding in general. But in the present state of union of soul and body, quiddities abstracted from the material conditions of individuality are the proper object of the human intellect.[18]
- Therefore, we receive knowledge from sensible things. But since sensible things are not actually intelligible, in addition to the intellect, which formally understands, an active power must be acknowledged in the soul, which power abstracts intelligible likeness or species from sense images in the imagination.[19]
- Through these intelligible likenesses or species we directly know universals, i.e., the natures of things. We attain to singulars by our senses, and also by our intellect, when it beholds the sense images. But we ascend to knowledge of spiritual things by analogy.[20]
- The will does not precede the intellect but follows upon it. The will necessarily desires that which is presented to it as a good in every respect satisfying the appetite. But it freely chooses among the many goods that are presented to it as desirable according to a changeable judgment or evaluation. Consequently, the choice follows the final practical judgment. But the will is the cause of it being the final one.[21]
Thus Thomas teaches that the intellect and will of man are not dependent upon the brain. Their proper operations are purely non-material and intellectual. Of course the soul does use the body to gather and process and store information and it governs and directs the body in all its functions since it is the life force of the body. This process begins with the senses gathering the data to be sorted and organized. This is all opposed to modern " scientific " notions of man - which have not and cannot be proven. There is also a terminology problem. I would much prefer to use the terms intellect and will in preference to " mind, " since the latter is a popular concept adopted from science and tends to associated with the material organ we know as brain. Or if you prefer we can use " intellect " alone, understanding that " will " is also a part of man’s intellectual operation.
" Self " then would be the awarness we have through the mind reflecting on its operations and its awarness that our bodily sensations/intellect/understanding/willing/remembering is done by us as a single entity or Person. So it would be incorrect to separate ourselves into body and soul - as Descartes did. For all the reasons above.
I think one of the problems today is the " popularzation " of certain esoteric philosophies originating with the " Age of Enlightment, " which lead no where, there is nothing more suited to creating mass confusion than the " herd " instinct to follow after an " enlightened " pied piper.
Last edited by Linusthe2nd; Jan 15, '13 at 9:28 pm. Reason: addition
