Thomistica

Introduction

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In the tradition of Thomistic anthropology, the human soul manifests its rational nature through two principal powers: the intellect, which apprehends truth, and the will, which inclines toward the good. A longstanding debate concerns their relative excellence, particularly between the Scotists and the Thomists. This essay will follow forth from the argument that intellect holds primacy over the will, being more excellent simpliciter (absolutely), though the will may excel secundum quid (relatively) in certain relations, particularly when the object of volition surpasses the soul itself in dignity, as in the love of God exceeding knowledge thereof. This position follows St. Thomas Aquinas's analysis in the Summa Theologiae (I, q. 82, a. 3), where he concludes that "absolutely... the intellect is nobler than the will," while granting relative qualifications. The argument proceeds syllogistically through metaphysical principles concerning the emanation of powers from the soul's essence, their natural order, proofs of the premises, and a response to objections, thereby establishing the intellect's greater perfection in a manner that safeguards the will's indispensable nobility and exalted role in attaining the ultimate terminate.

 

Proximate Powers Excel Distal Ones

 

The major premise of the syllogism states that, among powers flowing from the same essence, that power is more excellent which flows first by nature from that essence and is closer to it. Here, “flow” or “proceeds” does not denote efficient causation in a temporal or physical sense, nor a chronological sequence, but rather an order of natural dependence according to object and act; one power's operation presupposes another's without reciprocal necessity. This metaphysical priority reflects greater participation in the essence's perfection. The soul's essence functions as the principle of perfection for its powers, and greater ontological closeness to this principle entails fuller possession of perfection. What proceeds first in this natural order is, by that very precedence, more proximate and thus more perfect simpliciter. The intellect, as the minor premise will demonstrate, satisfies these criteria relative to the will.

 

Proof of the major premise begins with the axiom that what more closely approaches its principle of perfection participates more fully therein. The essence is precisely that principle for the powers it grounds, endowing them with their formal determinations and teleological orientation. Proximity, therefore, measures perfection: ontological nearness correlates with superior nobility. Two related yet distinct senses of “closeness” operate here. Ontologically, it denotes degree of participation in the essence's immaterial and universal character. Operationally, it refers to mediation in acts; one power's act presupposing another's. These converge in the present case without confusion, as the operational mediation manifests the ontological priority. Furthermore, what flows first from the essence is closer by definition, unmediated by intermediates, establishing absolute precedence among commensurate powers. Thus, among powers flowing from an essence, that which flows first is simply more perfect.

 

The Intellect is More Proximate to the Soul

 

The minor premise affirms that the intellect flows first by nature from the essence of the soul and is closer to it than the will. Every power whose act presupposes another power proceeds from the soul through the mediation of that prior power. The act of the will (volition) presupposes the act of the intellect (intellection), for one cannot will an object without first apprehending it as good. The intellect presents the good under the aspect of truth, enabling the will's inclination. This dependence is asymmetric, as the will does not precondition the intellect's act. What is presupposed is prior by nature, as it supplies the indispensable condition. Thus, the intellect precedes naturally, mediating the will's emanation and enjoying greater proximity to the soul's essence. As Aquinas explains in replying to an objection akin to this order, what precedes absolutely and in the order of nature is more perfect:

 

"...act precedes potentiality. And in this way the intellect precedes the will, as the motive power precedes the thing movable, and as the active precedes the passive; for good which is understood moves the will." (Summa Theologiae I, q. 82, a. 3, ad 2)

 

From these premises follows the conclusion: therefore, the intellect is more excellent than the will. This superiority is absolute, grounded in the intellect's priority and proximity to the soul's essence.

 

Scotus Supposes the Opposite

 

A potential Scotist objection counters that nature proceeds from the imperfect to the perfect; therefore, what is prior in generation is more imperfect. Since the intellect is prior in generation to the will, it follows that the intellect is more imperfect than the will. This objection draws from observable patterns in natural development, where initial stages yield to more refined ones, as sense precedes intellect yet intellect is nobler.

 

The reply to this objection hinges on the distinction that what is prior in generation within the same subject may be more imperfect, as potency precedes act in developmental processes; however, what is prior by nature within the same grade need not be. The intellect and will belong to the same grade as immaterial, rational powers of the soul, both ordered to universal objects: truth for the intellect, good for the will. In this shared dignity, natural priority signifies excellence, not deficiency: the prior grounds and perfects the subsequent. Among things of the same grade, what is prior by nature is more perfect. The intellect's natural precedence, established through mediation, confers superior perfection simpliciter.

 

Aquinas himself addresses this as well:

 

"The superiority of one thing over another can be considered in two ways: 'absolutely' and 'relatively.' ... If therefore the intellect and will be considered with regard to themselves, then the intellect is the higher power. ... For the object of the intellect is more simple and more absolute than the object of the will; since the object of the intellect is the very idea of appetible good; and the appetible good, the idea of which is in the intellect, is the object of the will. Now the more simple and the more abstract a thing is, the nobler and higher it is in itself; and therefore the object of the intellect is higher than the object of the will. Therefore, since the proper nature of a power is in its order to its object, it follows that the intellect in itself and absolutely is higher and nobler than the will." (Summa Theologiae I, q. 82, a. 3, resp.)

 

To forestall misreadings, it must be clarified that this primacy does not render the will less noble absolutely or superfluous. The intellect excels simpliciter, as its object (intelligible being) is simpler, more absolute, and more universal than the good, which the will pursues. Yet secundum quid, the will may surpass in relation to nobler goods:

 

"the love of God is better than the knowledge of God; but, on the contrary, the knowledge of corporeal things is better than the love thereof.” (ST I, q. 82, a. 3)

 

In this, the will unites with the thing as it exists in itself, whereas knowledge conforms the knower to the known. When the good transcends the soul (as with God), the will's act of love achieves a higher union; when the good is inferior (as with material things), intellect prevails even relatively. This nuance preserves the will's exalted role in attaining the ultimate end through charity, while upholding the intellect's foundational dignity.

 

Ad extremum, the intellect's primacy emerges as metaphysically necessary, rooted in the soul's ordered structure. It guides the will toward genuine goods, preventing blind impulse, and illuminates the path to beatitude. This hierarchy creates a harmony that flows as the intellect apprehends and the will embraces, together elevating the person toward divine union. The intellect's guiding excellence invites rigorous cultivation of speculative virtue as the bedrock of moral and spiritual flourishing.

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Article by Caden Chumbley