Comprehension at the Crossroads of Philosophy and Theology. The Case of Mastri and Belluto’s Disputationes in De anima (1643)
(2018) Studia Neoaristotelica — Vol. 15, n° 1, p. 39-93 (2018)
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- When discussing comprehension in their Disputationes in De anima, Mastri and Belluto focus on three key issues: (1) They discuss whether comprehension of an object must only grasp what is “formally” in the object, or whether it must also grasp what is “virtually” and “eminently” in the object (as effects in a cause). Contrary to a standard position held in Jesuit scholasticism (and by the Scotist Theodor Smising) they opt for what we could call the formal containment model (as distinct from the virtual containment model). (2) Given that comprehension is only concerned with what is formally contained in the object, it is necessary to decide whether comprehension grasps everything that is formally contained in the object, or (as some Scotists hold) only its intrinsic and essential predicates. Mastri and Belluto opt for an all-embracing formal containment model, one that allows for comprehension of the Trinitarian persons in God’s essence. That everything formally contained in the object, both essentials and notionals, be grasped is their first criterion for comprehension. (3) Mastri and Belluto furthermore discuss whether a second criterion for comprehension is required, one that highlights the “commensurate” or “adequate” relationship between the comprehending subject and the comprehended object. Mastri and Belluto think that such a criterion is indispensable, since otherwise it is impossible to explain why some creatures, both Christ and the Blessed in heaven, view everything in God, yet do not comprehend Him. Comprehension for them is concerned with everything that is formally contained in an object, but in a way that is commensurate to the intelligibility of the object.
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Andersen, C. (2018). Comprehension at the Crossroads of Philosophy and Theology. The Case of Mastri and Belluto’s Disputationes in De anima (1643). Studia Neoaristotelica, 15(1), 39-93. https://doi.org/10.5840/studneoar20181512 (Original work published 2018)