Michał Zembrzuski

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the most important topics addressed by Thomas Aquinas, in which he presented the specificity of human cognition. Therefore, at the very beginning, we answer the question of how Aquinas understood human cognition, and then we present the method by which he presented the cognitive issues. Next, we address specific topics that characterize human cognition, but always in the context of the relationship between sensory and intellectual cognition in order to emphasize the uniqueness of intellectual activities. The theory of sensory and intellectual faculties, as well as the theory of acts and objects of these faculties, will be presented in the next steps. What is unique in Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy is his description of the acts of the human intellect, especially abstraction, but also understanding, judging, and reasoning. Aquinas also very clearly argued for the immateriality of the human intellect, proving on this basis the individual immortality of human beings. However, human cognition does not end with the knowing subject itself but naturally tends to be expressed by the word. Thomas’s theory of human cognition, due to its close connection with a specific conception of human nature, has nothing to do with modern approaches; it is neither skeptical, idealistic, nor subjectivist.

Mieczysław Gogacz w swojej filozofii podkreślał naczelną rolę rozważań metafizycznych po to, aby uczynić z filozofii dziedzinę adekwatną do analizowanej rzeczywistości. Metodologię metafizyki wyznacza spotkany, realnie istniejący byt jednostkowy. To nie zastosowana metoda wywołuje w ludzkim intelekcie skutki, które są wyrażane i porządkowane. To raczej byt składający się z istnienia i istoty, wywołuje w intelekcie „mowę serca”, a więc rozumienia, którymi człowiek ponownie zwraca się do rzeczywistości, by lepiej ją uchwycić. O ile przedmiot wyznacza metodę metafizyki, o tyle zachodzi właściwa relacja poznawania nazywana „mową serca”, która w dalszej kolejności umożliwia tworzenie adekwatnej wiedzy o pryncypiach stanowiących byt. Tylko metafizyka skoncentrowana na ujmowaniu i prezentowaniu istnienia bytu może stać się sposobem obrony realizmu w filozofii.

Thomas Aquinas anthropology is related to the description of human nature, which was established at the beginning, before original sin, as well as taking into account all its effects, and the nature that was united with God. The distinction of two intellects adopted by Aristotle - a potential and active intellect - for Aquinas was helpful in showing the unique character of the knowledge that Adam and Christ had. Adam as the one who was appointed as teacher of people, had perfect knowledge and did not have a potential intellect that would be an unwritten tablet. His potential intellect had the habits of knowledge, by which he had a perfect knowledge of everything that can be embraced in any field of cognition by the power of the first principles of knowledge. The perfection of Christ's knowledge was incomparably greater than knowledge of Adam and every other human being – it was result of unification with the Word, but not the mixing of two natures. Christ had knowledge which have blessed (saved), infused knowledge (resulting from union with the Word) and had experiential knowledge appropriate to age and time. Christ developed in knowledge and wisdom because he grew in human experience.

God’s Knowledge about moment of man’s death in Thomas Aquinas Epistola ad Bernardum and providence in analytical thomism: The aim of the article is to present the most important statement in the last – dictated before his death – letter of Thomas Aquinas to the abbot of Monte Cassino and look at it from the perspective of the most important expression of contemporary analytical thomism. This letter basically resolved questions about the knowledge of God and its infallibility and in particular providence, which would effectively lead to a predetermined moment of human death. The article presents the views of E. Stump, B. Davies, SL Brock, Ch. Hughes, who in the framework of thomistic proposition solved this issue.