Martinho Moura

This article explores Thomas Aquinas’ concept of causality, as well as his rejection of Democritus’ materialist view — which proposes a linear and mechanical chain of events. Aquinas’ proposal of a hierarchical causality, where all secondary causes depend on the First Cause or God, is also exposed. For Aquinas, causality is not a blind sequence of events, but a dynamic network of ordered interactions. Each being acts within an ontological hierarchy, where there is a first cause that continually sustains the order and existence of the universe. Aquinas distinguishes various degrees of causal autonomy among beings. A stone, with purely passive causality, responds to external forces according to the laws of physics, while an animal, such as a cat, exhibits greater autonomy, guided by its soul that gives it a center of action. The cat’s behavior is more unpredictable than that of the stone, since it is determined by its intrinsic nature. At the top of this hierarchy is the human being. Endowed with reason and will, the human being represents the highest expression of causal autonomy among composite beings. Humans do not act solely by instinct, but have the capacity to deliberate on good and evil and shape their lives based on freely chosen values. This freedom is not absolute, since the human, as a secondary cause, also acts under the design of the First Cause and consciously collaborates with the divine purpose. Causality in Thomas Aquinas is therefore more than a natural explanation of events; it is an ontological relationship that unites all beings with the divine order, with God as the First Cause and source of all being and movement. Humans uniquely integrate matter and spirit in the cosmos and possess a rational and moral capacity that distinguishes them from other living beings. This autonomy allows them to consciously participate in the divine plan and transcend material causality, a view that can be enriched by quantum superposition, which suggests that a being's potential (or capacity to be) is actualized by form, analogous to the actualization process that occurs in the universe according to divine order. Finally, Thomistic philosophy differs from pantheism in asserting that the universe, although unified, does not have an intrinsic self-sufficient purpose, since it depends on the creative will of God. There is an ontological distinction between Creator and creation.

In the Thomist view, human knowledge far surpasses the capacity of any machine. Unlike artificial intelligence (AI) and cameras, that merely capture and process data, the human intellect interprets, organizes, and assigns deep meaning to sensory experiences. Thomas Aquinas emphasizes two essential faculties in this process: the senses, which collect data, and the intellect, which transcends the physical to understand the essence of things. AI follows algorithms, but the human mind is capable of abstract reasoning and discovering metaphysical truths. Thomas Aquinas distinguishes intrinsic and extrinsic unity, in a philosophy that moves away from reductionism (understood as radical materialism). Intrinsic unity — essential to the identity of a being — exists within itself, while extrinsic unity depends on external relations. Thomas Aquinas criticizes Democritus' atomism and emphasizes that the essence of a being cannot be reduced to its material parts. Intrinsic unity is fundamental to the existence and function of a living being (particularly humans), who act as cohesive wholes — form and function are inextricably linked to their essence. Artificial objects do not have an intrinsic unity. Machines can record sensitive data such as colors and shapes, but they cannot discern the meaning and essence of things. True human cognition goes beyond data manipulation; interprets universals, categories and transcendental truths. For Aquinas, human intelligence, as an immaterial faculty, discerns deeper meanings such as beauty and existential meaning; transforms sensitive data into meaningful concepts — a process beyond the reach of machines. Even in its most advanced forms, AI cannot comprehend essences, reflect on universals, or experience self-awareness. AI can simulate intelligence, but it does not have the depth of human cognition, which, for Aquinas, is linked to divine reality. The Thomistic view challenges reductionist views of human intelligence; highlights the uniqueness and complexity of human consciousness. This distinction is relevant in psychology, which seeks to understand cognition, consciousness and being. Psychology benefits from philosophical reflection on human capacities, especially with regard to the role of the intellect and the soul in the perception of reality. In this context, quantum superposition can be interpreted as Aristotelian potentiality. In quantum mechanics (QM), superposition allows particles to exist in multiple states until they are observed. This recalls Aristotle's notion of potentiality as an unrealized capacity. The measurement cancels the superposition, and updates a state of many potentials. This interpretation unites modern physics with classical metaphysics and aligns quantum indeterminacy with Aristotelian principles.

We intend to demonstrate that human perception is better understood when thought from the perspective of Aristotelian-Thomistic Philosophy. After concluding for its existence, Descartes, in the 17th century, concludes that there are ideas that we all possess, such as the idea of “perfection”. This idea cannot result from experience, and it’s God the source of the idea of perfection in us, and the one who guarantees the existence not only of external reality but also of our own correct reasoning. Very far from the God of Thomas Aquinas who is Alpha and Omega, Descartes' god is a god situated and secondary between the subject and reality which, in turn, is guaranteed by God, in a vicious circle between God and the subject. It’s a subjective or logical God, such as Kant's, but not a real God. Reality is, therefore, subjectively intelligible and truth objectively achieved, and the principle of causality is, in this way, subjectively valid. Reality is intelligible not because it’s provided by intelligible forms — by intelligible (and not only sensitive matter) that we, in fact, perceive — but because it is a reality presented by extension that is nothing more than a reflection of the logical-mathematical universe, thought by Modernity and which, with this thinker, is innate to the subject. This is a pure and finished reason. The extensive reality is purged of subjective elements; it is logical-mathematical (therefore, it is thought). It’s a kind of idealism and not realism and which results in a physicalist and materialist view of reality. Materialism, called physicalism in mainstream culture, consists of the idea that there is a world out there that is not experiential. It is material, but the way the word is used here has a strict conceptual definition. Matter is something that can be specifically described by numbers. It's a world without qualities. The world is purely quantitative and, because we are part of this world, we are also quantitative. The entire world of qualities that, deep down, constitutes our reality, is generated, according to materialism, in a not very well specified way and by a brain inside our head. The world outside has no flavors, colors, smells or sounds. We cannot see it because it has no qualities. The best we can do is imagine it as some kind of set of mathematical equations floating in the void.