The previous post is here. Chapter 19 That in God there is nothing violent or beside nature Aristotle concludes there is nothing violent or outside of nature in God. From Chapter 19 of SCG For whatever has in itself anything violent of beside nature has something added to itself, since that which belongs to …
10. Summa Contra Gentiles by Thomas Aquinas. Summary Bk1 Chapters 19 Read More »
A week or so ago I urged folks to embrace serfdom. I stand by that. More and more I’m seeing this as a good or even great political tool. Years ago I told a good friend that I wanted to get out of the business world full of its unreasonable demands, inept people, toxic culture, …
The previous post is here. Chapter 17 That in God there is no matter Matter is not a principle of activity because, as Aristotle tells us, efficient and material causes aren’t the same. God being the first efficient cause, he is not matter. Those who hold that matter comes first acknowledge then that natural things …
9. Summa Contra Gentiles by Thomas Aquinas. Summary Bk1 Chapters 17-18 Read More »
We know way too many d***ed people. Through almost the entirety of human history you would be born, live, and die among kin and a few people in your community. Think of 700 years ago. You might know a total of 100 or so people. Meeting new people would be a rarity. A threat, …
A meritocracy implies a hierarchy. From most to least, or some such. To rank people according their “merit” we must know what is meritorious. Meritoriousness must be measured against a notion of the good, which I believe is objective. In business, merit is measured by what? Productivity, nepotistic standing, wokeness, HR mommies? What exactly is …
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The previous post is here. Chapter 14 that to acquire knowledge of God one must use the way of remotion Having proved there is a God what is he? The divine essence in it’s enormity cannot be understood entirely and must be investigated by remotion, which is a process of removing. By learning what God …
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I have a Husqvarna 136 chainsaw that my dad bought in the mid 1990’s. It’s a great saw, plenty of compression, works great, except it’s been hard starting lately. After doing a little troubleshooting I determined that it needs a carburetor kit. I head over to the parts store to find that a new Walbro …
As best I can tell the arguments in chapter 13 are really three. One. Motion is imparted from one body to another. Two. Motion must start somewhere. Three. All of these weird things in the world obey the same laws. These three tell Aquinas that there must be an origin of this. Note that …
7. Summa Contra Gentiles Book 1 chapter 13 comments Read More »
The previous post is here. Chapter 13 Arguments in prof of God’s existence Thomas has already shown that proofs of God’s existence are not futile. He starts then to prove this through Aristotle’s route. 1. Whatever is in motion was set in motion by something else. Whatever moved it either was moved itself …
6. Summa Contra Gentiles By Thomas Aquinas Summary Book 1 Chapter 13 Read More »
One of my best friends is from a genteel suburb here in Oklahoma. It’s one of those places people move to “for the schools.” The average household income there is double what it is in the rest of our state. He was in all the honors stuff, great parents. He had a great upbringing. Stable …