Aquinas’s Participation Argument for the Real Distinction between esse and essentia

Milidrag, Predrag (2016) Aquinas’s Participation Argument for the Real Distinction between esse and essentia. Filozofska istraživanja, 36 (3). pp. 561-579. ISSN 0351-4706 eISSN 1848-2309

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Abstract

The article analyzes Aquinas’s participation argument for the real distinction between esse and essentia using his Expositio libri Boetii De hebdomadibus. The article defends the view that in order to prove the real distinction one has to assume or prove the existence of ipsum esse subsistens, i.e. God. In the first chapter Aquinas’ interpretation of Boethius’s texts is expounded against the background of the rational distinction between the notions of esse and essentia, and the abstract and the concrete way of signifying. The second chapter points to Aquinas’s reinterpretation of Boethius’s term forma essendi as actus essendi. The third chapter is dedicated to the argument for the real distinction against the background of simplicity and unicity of ipsum esse subsistens, to Thomas’s critique of Platonic forms, as well as to the necessity for the proof for the existence of ipsum esse subsistens as a condition for the proof for the real distinction. In conclusion the whole argument from the Expositio libri Boetii De hebdomadibus is summarized.

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