Full text papers by Alain Contat
Salesianum 87/1, p. 33-73, 2025
The thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas is commonly considered not only as one of the great syntheses... more The thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas is commonly considered not only as one of the great syntheses of Catholic theology, but also as one of the most important metaphysical doctrines in history. This second affirmation nevertheless conceals a series of considerable paradoxes, since the writings of the Aquinate seem to contain notable differences on key points of the philosophia prima, in particular according to whether they are comments on Aristotle or theological works. We draw up an inventory of these apories, and then we present the two ways in which they can be considered. The first is that of the deconstruction or dissolutio, in the line of Michel Foucault; it would claim to draw a statement of incoherence which would reduce to nothing all the Thomassian speculation on the ens inquantum ens. The second, on the other hand, is that of resolutio, for which the diversity of texts manifests complementarities rather than insoluble contradictions. We justify to conclude this last approach, and we expose its implications for the architecture of metaphysics.
Noesis 42, p. 37-77, 2024
À l’intérieur du même créationnisme chrétien et avec le même lexique issu de la tradition aristot... more À l’intérieur du même créationnisme chrétien et avec le même lexique issu de la tradition aristotélicienne, Thomas d’Aquin et Jean Duns Scot ont élaboré des métaphysiques profondément différentes. Nous nous attachons ici à les comparer sur les deux moments capitaux de toute science de l’ens inquantum ens : la constitution de l’étant et son rapport à Dieu. Nous procédons à cet effet en deux étapes. Dans la première, nous analysons en parallèle les deux épistémologies de la métaphysique quant à l’objet spécifique ou subiectum de celle-ci, puis quant à ce que recherche l’investigation de l’étant, c’est-à-dire son quæsitum. Dans la seconde étape, nous examinons la manière dont, pour les deux maîtres médiévaux, l’étant est constitué puis différencié, puis celle dont il dépend d’un premier dans l’ordre de la perfection ontologique. Il apparaît, en conclusion, que si le Docteur angélique et le Docteur subtil ont tous deux un sens très vif de la transcendance divine et de la dépendance de la créature vis-à-vis du Créateur, le premier réussit mieux que le second à objectiver la différence onto-théologique qui relie l’étant fini à Celui dont l’être est infini.
Within the same Christian creationism and with the same lexicon from the Aristotelian tradition, Thomas d'Aquin and John Duns Scotus developed profoundly different metaphysics. We are trying here to compare them on the two capital moments of all science of the ens inquantum ens: the constitution of being and its relation to God. We do this in two steps. In the first, we analyze in parallel the two epistemologies of metaphysics as to the specific object or subject of it, then as to what the investigation of being seeks, that is to say its quæsitum. In the second step, we examine how, for both medieval masters, being is constituted and then differentiated, then that which it depends on a first in the order of ontological perfection. It appears, in conclusion, that if both the angelic Doctor and the subtle Doctor have a very keen sense of the divine transcendence and of the dependence of the creature towards the Creator, the first one succeeds better than the second to objectify the difference ontotheological that connects the finite being to Him whose being is infinite.
Alain Contat e Rafael Pascual (ed.), Il Cogito nel Medioevo. Convegno Internazionale Roma, 13-14 ottobre 2020, Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum - If Press, pp. 227-266., 2024
After other scholars, we examine in this contribution the role of mediation that some Nominales o... more After other scholars, we examine in this contribution the role of mediation that some Nominales of the fourteenth century have exercised in the remote genesis of the Cartesian Cogito and, more widely, in the reversal of the "beginning" of philosophical thought, that Thomas Aquinas caught in the ens primum cognitum, and that Descartes will move in the «dubito – cogito». In the first part, we examine the epistemological status of the "I think" with four authors: the Franciscan Adam of Wodeham (c. 1298 - 1358), the Dominican William Crathorn (fl. 1330), the Cistercian Jean de Mirecourt (fl. ca. 1345), and Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly (ca. 1351 - 1420). In the second part, we analyze the way in which these theologians dissociate, in human knowledge, the appearance of an object and the ontological consistency of the latter, anticipating the hyperbolic Cartesian doubt, so that the first reality surely known is the act of thinking in itself.
in Marco Martorana e Rafael Pascual (ed.), Dante Alighieri nel 700. anniversario della morte. Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Roma 13-15 aprile 2021, Ateneo Regina Apostolorum - IF Press, pp. 107-160, 2023
Questo studio propone un paragone sistematico fra due importanti dottrine medioevali del principa... more Questo studio propone un paragone sistematico fra due importanti dottrine medioevali del principato politico: quella elaborata san Tommaso d’Aquino, sia nelle sue opere teologiche che nel suo commento alla Politica di Aristotele, e quella teorizzata da Dante Alighieri, principalmente nella Monarchia ma anche nel Convivio. I criteri di analisi sono sei: 1. la nozione di natura umana che fondamenta la filosofia politica dei due autori; 2. la finalità e i destinatari del principato politico; 3. la migliore forma di regime politico; 4. gli oggetti che specificano l’agire di chi detiene il principato; 5. l’origine del principato; 6. i rapporti fra principato politico e principato ecclesiastico. L’indagine stessa e la sua conclusione rendono conto della doppia opposizione che riscontriamo fra le due teorie politiche: per l’Aquinate, il principato politico riguarda una città o un regno di estensione comunque delimitata, ed è ulteriormente ordinato al fine soprannaturale proprio della Chiesa; per l’Alighieri, invece, il sommo principato si deve concretizzare in un Imperator che governa tutto l’Orbe, ma il suo fine è agevolare la conquista della beatitudine naturale.
in S.-T. Bonino e G. Mazzotta (éd.), San Tommaso e la salvezza, [Doctor Communis], Roma, Urbaniana University Press, p. 157-185, 2020
Dans la présente étude, nous examinons le statut ontologique des deux états existentiels de l’hom... more Dans la présente étude, nous examinons le statut ontologique des deux états existentiels de l’homme adulte entre lesquels s’interpose le salut, afin d’en mettre en évidence le rapport à l’actus essendi. Dans une première partie, nous dressons un bilan systématique des acquis théorétiques que nous rencontrons dans le corpus thomisticum pour ce qui concerne la constitution de la personne humaine, l’essence de la grâce, et celle – de type privatif – du péché mortel. Cette dernière étant suffisamment élucidée par l’Aquinate, nous explorons successivement, dans une seconde partie, l’aporie de la grâce sanctifiante : elle est définie, à la suite de la seconde épître de saint Pierre, comme une participation à la nature divine ; en même temps, pourtant, l’Être subsistant ne semble pas participable, ni en tant que subsistant, ni en tant que « spécifiquement » divin. À ce propos, nous présentons les solutions d’Ambroise Gardeil, de Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, de Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo et de Fernando Ocáriz. La discussion de ces quatre thèses nous permet d’élaborer notre propre position, que nous formulons brièvement en conclusion.
In the present study we examine the ontological status of the two existential states of the adult human being in which salvation occurs, in order to emphasize its relation to the actus essendi. The first part deals with the systematic framework of the theoretical achievements which we encounter in the corpus thomisticum in regards to the constitution of the human person, the essence of grace, and the – privative – mortal sin. The latter is amply elucidated by the Aquinate and leads to the successive study, in the second part, of the aporia of sanctifying grace: it will be defined, according to the Second Letter of the Apostle Peter, as participation in the divine nature. Yet, the Subsistent Being does not seem to be able to participate in, neither as subsistent, nor as being “specifically” divine. Therefore we present in this regard the solutions of Ambroise Gardeil, Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, and Fernando Ocáriz. The discussion of these theses leads us to our own resolution, which we propose in the conclusion.
Espíritu 68/158 (2019), pp. 317-336
Dans cette étude, qui fait suite à d'autres travaux sur les convergences et les divergences entre... more Dans cette étude, qui fait suite à d'autres travaux sur les convergences et les divergences entre les thomistes du XXe siècle, nous avons voulu offrir aux lecteurs de la revue Espíritu une brève comparaison structurelle entre la philosophie théorétique de Jacques Maritain et celle de Cornelio Fabro. Notre propos s'articule en deux étapes: 1. la critique du cogito cartésien et de ses avatars postérieurs; 2. l'analyse métaphysique de l'étant. Sous ce dernier rapport, nous expliquons de quelle manière les deux philosophes s'opposent, d'abord quant au statut ontologique et noétique de "l'étant premier connu", ensuite quant aux principes - acte d'être et essence - en lesquels se résout "l'étant en tant qu'étant".
In this study which follows other works on the convergences and divergences between 20th century Thomists, we wanted to offer the readers of Espíritu a brief structural comparison between the theoretical philosophy of Jacques Maritain and that of Cornelio Fabro. Our purpose is articulated in two stages: 1. the critique of the Cartesian cogito and its later vicissitude; 2. the metaphysical analysis of the being. In this last respect, we explain how the two philosophers oppose each other, first as regards the ontological and noetic status of the "ens primum cognitum", then as regards the principles-act of being and essence-in which they resolve themselves "being qua being".
In Matthieu Raffray (ed.), Actus essendi. Saint Thomas d'Aquin et ses interprètes, Paris, Parole et Silence, p. 369-433, 2019
Dans cette étude dédiée à la constitution intégrale de l'étant au sens fort, c'est-à-dire de la s... more Dans cette étude dédiée à la constitution intégrale de l'étant au sens fort, c'est-à-dire de la substance en acte, nous montrons d’abord que les textes de saint Thomas semblent laisser quatre problèmes ouverts :
• En quoi consiste précisément l’esse auquel, selon le Docteur commun, l’étant doit justement d’être un étant ?
• Corrélativement, en quoi consiste alors l’essentia qui reçoit et spécifie l’esse ?
• En vertu de quoi l’étant substantiel subsiste-t-il ?
• Que faut-il comprendre par l’esse superadditum des accidents ?
Ensuite, nous examinons trois grandes solutions qui furent proposées au cours du XXe siècle, et qui constituent autant de configurations systématiques de l’étant :
1. celle de Tomas Týn, qui reprend et approfondit les thèses des commentateurs dominicains et que nous proposons de nommer « configuration duale » ;
2. celle de Johann Baptist Lotz, qui élabore, à la suite de Joseph Maréchal et en dialogue avec Kant et Heidegger, ce qu'il convient de caractériser comme « configuration transcendantale » ;
3. et celle de Cornelio Fabro, qui oppose aux deux précédentes ce que nous appellerons « configuration intensive ».
Enfin, nous expliquons comment ces trois analyses se rattachent aux trois significations par soi de l’ens-esse que l’Aquinate reprend d’Aristote, c'est-à-dire l'être considéré successivement comme contenu de la chose (1), comme copule et horizon du jugement vrai (2), comme actualité de l'étant (3). Pour conclure, nous exposons brièvement pourquoi la troisième solution nous paraît être la seule compatible avec l'esprit et la lettre des textes thomasiens.
This study intends to present, analyse and evaluate the fairly divergent interpretations elaborat... more This study intends to present, analyse and evaluate the fairly divergent interpretations elaborated by experts studying St. Thomas, from the 1930s onwards, with regard to his doctrine of analogy, particularly in the transcendental context of the question
of God. With this purpose in mind, it proceeds in three stages. In the first place, we offer an inventory of the successive positions adopted by St. Thomas on this matter, from the Scriptum to the Summa theologiae. Secondly, we study the theories of analogy of Maurilio
Texeira-Leite Penido, Johann Baptist Metz and Cornelio Fabro, highlighting the very close link between these theories and the respective ontologies of these authors. In this way, we bring out the connection between the way each author understands the Thomasian esse and the way his thought reflects upon analogy. In the third place, we outline the development of the historiographical reconstructions of the problem which have emerged in the time from the end of the Second World War up to our own days. This brief reconstruction provides us with criteria of judgment to undertake a historical and a theoretical evaluation of the three positions investigated in the second part.
Key words: the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas, the metaphysics of being, analogy, analogy of proportionality and analogy of reference, theological discourse, Maurílio Teixeira-Leite Penido, Johann Baptist Lotz, Cornelio Fabro, George Peter Klubertanz, Bernard Montagnes.
Alain CONTAT, «Un’analisi del segno linguistico nella prospettiva di san Tommaso d’Aquino», in Al... more Alain CONTAT, «Un’analisi del segno linguistico nella prospettiva di san Tommaso d’Aquino», in Alain CONTAT (ED.), Miscellanea in onore di Marco Arosio, [Ricerche di storia della filosofia e teologia medioevali, 6], If Press – Ateneo Pontifio Regina Apostolorum, Roma 2017, pp. 173-206.
Dans cette étude, nous entendons analyser le triangle sémiotique aristotélicien à la lumière des écrits et surtout des principes de saint Thomas d’Aquin. Notre propos s’articule en trois parties. Dans la première, nous problématisons le célèbre passage du Peri Hermeneias 16 a 3-8, en soulevant huit apories au sujet du signe linguistique et des instances en lesquelles il s’inscrit, puis nous dressons l’inventaire de quelques lieux thomasiens particulièrement intéressants à cet égard. Dans la deuxième partie, nous discutons trois préalables nécessaires à l’analyse du signe linguistique, soit : 1. la typologie de la relation, en vue de clarifier les rapports entre le signifiant et le signifié mental, puis entre celui-ci et l’objet extra-mental ; 2. la notion d’instrument, afin de déterminer le rôle exact du signifiant oral ou écrit dans la compréhension de sa signification ; 3. les types de sensibles et de synthèses sensorielles, pour expliciter les phases de l’interprétation du signe perçu. Pour finir, nous résolvons dans la troisième partie les apories exposées dans la première, et nous concluons nos investigations par une définition analytique di signe linguistique. En même temps que nous reconstruisons, au long de ce travail, la sémiotique fondamentale de Thomas d’Aquin, nous montrons en quoi elle diffère de celle de Ferdinand de Saussure.
In questo studio, intendiamo analizzare il triangolo semiotico aristotelico, alla luce degli scritti e soprattutto dei principi di san Tommaso d’Aquino. Il nostro discorso si articola in tre parti. Nella prima, problematizziamo il celebre brano del Peri Hemeneias 16 a 3-8, sollevando otto aporie a proposito del segno linguistico e della rete di rapporti in cui esso si iscrive, poi facciamo un breve inventario dei luogi tommasiani maggiormente rilevanti al riguardo. Nella seconda parte, discutiamo tre preliminari necessari per l’analisi del segno linguistico, cioè: 1. la tipologia della relazione, al fine di chiarire i rapporti fra il significante ed il significanto mentale, poi fra questo ultimo e l’oggetto extra-mentale; 2. la nozione di strumento, in vista di determinare il ruolo esatto del significante orale o scritto nella comprensione della sua significazione; 3. i tipi di sensibili e di sintesi sensoriali, per esplicitare la fasi dell’interpretazione del segno percepito. Per finire, risolviamo nella terza parte le aporie esposte nella prima, e concludiamo le nostre investigazioni con una definizione analitica del segno linguistico. Mentre ricostruiamo, nel corso di questo lavoro, la semiotica fondamentale di Tommaso d’Aquino, mostriamo in quale modo essa differisce da quella di Ferdinand de Saussure.
In this paper, we study the relationship between the metaphysic of participation and the hermeneu... more In this paper, we study the relationship between the metaphysic of participation and the hermeneutic of Vatican II. In the first part, we propose an outline of the metaphysical notion of participation according to Thomas Aquinas and Cornelio Fabro, on both transcendental and predicamental levels. In the second one, we investigate the three most important novelties of the Council under the light of the participation, helping us with the theology of Charles Journet: at first and in detail, the ecclesiological implications of the subsistit (Lumen Gentium, 8); secondly and shortly, the collegiality; thirdly and also shortly, the religious freedom. In the last and concluding part, we show how the hermeneutic of continuity is founded upon the participation, and how the hermeneutic of discontinuity implies the rejection of the participation.
Our study must be quoted in this way:
Alain CONTAT, « La métaphysique de la participation, instrument pour une herméneutique sapientielle de Vatican II », Nova et Vetera 91/2 (2016), p. 95-124.
Questo studio va citato così:
Alain CONTAT, «Una ipotesi sulla scienza dei trascendentali come p... more Questo studio va citato così:
Alain CONTAT, «Una ipotesi sulla scienza dei trascendentali come passiones entis secondo san Tommaso d’Aquino», in Alain CONTAT, Carmelo PANDOLFI, Rafael PASCUAL (ed.), I trascendentali e il trascendentale, percorsi teoretici e storici, [Ricerche di storia della filosofia e teologia medioevali, 3], Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum – IF Press, Roma 2016, pp. 59-104.
Si tratta della versione originale in lingua italiana di un articolo uscito prima, per ragioni tecniche, in lingua inglese:
Alain CONTAT, «A Hypothesis about the Science of the Transcendentals as Passiones Entis according to Saint Thomas Aquinas», in Alpha Omega 17/2 (2014), pp. 213-266.
Lo scopo è di risolvere due quesiti attorno alla dottrina tommasiana delle proprietà dell’ente: a) se e come i trascendentali sono l’oggetto di una scienza, nel senso preciso che questo termine ha nell’epistemologia dell’Aquinate, mentre loro si distinguono dal loro subiectum mediante una mera additio rationis; b) in quale modo i trascendentali si ricollegano all’atto di essere che ne è il fondamento ontologico.
This paper offers an historical and doctrinal presentation to the second french translation of Co... more This paper offers an historical and doctrinal presentation to the second french translation of Cornelio Fabro's masterpiece on Participation and Causality according to St. Thomas Aquinas. We divided it in three parts: 1. the invention of the "esse"; 2. the "diremption", that is the diffusion of the "esse"; 3. a comparison between the metaphysical positions of Fabro with them of Maritain and Gilson.
The quotation of our paper is: Alain CONTAT, "Fabro et l'être intensif", in Cornelio FABRO, "Participation et causalité selon S. Thomas d'Aquin", Paris, Parole et Silence, 2015, p. XV-LXXX.
In this study, we have sought to establish if and how the metaphysics of participation can offer ... more In this study, we have sought to establish if and how the metaphysics of participation can offer a valid instrument for the “hermeneutics of reform in continuity”, which Pope Benedict XVI encouraged for a correct understanding of Vatican II. Using the ontology of Cornelio Fabro and the ecclesiology of Charles Journet as inspiration, we have studied and organized under this light five great novelties of the Council: 1. the “subsistence” of the Church of Christ in the Catholic Church, which alone has the totality of the means of salvation, refers to “ecclesiality per essentiam”; 2. The presence of “elements of sanctification” beyond the visible limits of the Catholic Church manifests the reality of an “ecclesiality per participationem”; 3. the “strains of truth”, at work in the non-Christian communities and denominations are interpreted as means that manifest the participability of the human condition to Christic Revelation; 4. civil liberty in religious matters, results from the transcendence of the human person with respect to the State in this sphere; 5. the existence of a twofold subject of supreme magisterial and jurisdictional power in the Church, constitutes a very particular case of univocal participation in the same perfection.
L'analyse de l'étant et le constitutif de la personne dans le thomisme du xx e siècle
Esse, essentia, ordo. Verso una metafisica della partecipazione operativa Alain Contat Non c' è d... more Esse, essentia, ordo. Verso una metafisica della partecipazione operativa Alain Contat Non c' è discepolo dell' Aquinate che non sappia che l'ultima resolutio metafisica dell'ente sbocca su haec sublimis veritas: l'essenza di Dio è il suo essere, il che poi implica che, in ogni ente creato, l'essenza è altra dell'essere. Tutte le sintesi teologiche dell' Angelico, e non solo loro, contengono infatti una dimostrazione articolata di queste due tesi architettoniche, e ne esplorano successivamente le conseguenze necessarie. 1 Fra quest'ultime, il filosofo interessato dal problema dell'agire viene colpito da quelle che riguardano lo statuto ontologico del bene. Tre sono le tappe seguite da Tommaso a questo proposito, nella prospettiva sapienziale che fa contemplare l'ente dall'alto: a. In Dio, l'identità di essenza e di essere fa sì che pure l'essere e la bontà coincidono. In effetti, l'essere buono, per ogni cosa, significa essere in atto; ora Dio non è solo il massimo ente in atto, ma è il suo proprio atto di essere per essenza: perciò Dio non solo è buono, ma è la bontà ed è la sua bontà. 2 b. Coerentemente con la tesi precedente, la composizione reale di essenza e di essere nell'ente per partecipazione richiede ch'esso ______ Artículo recibido el 13 de noviembre de 2011 y aceptado para su publicación el 15 de febrero de 2012.
Nei due numeri che Giovanni Paolo II dedica esplicitamente, nell'enciclica Fides et ratio, alla f... more Nei due numeri che Giovanni Paolo II dedica esplicitamente, nell'enciclica Fides et ratio, alla figura dell'Aquinate, incontriamo un elogio teoretico: «la sua è veramente la filosofia dell'essere e non del semplice apparire» 1 , preceduto da un elogio storico: «per il rapporto dialogico che egli seppe instaurare con il pensiero arabo ed ebraico del suo tempo» (FR, 43), vale a dire, con i pensatori non cristiani del suo evo storico. In un altro segmento dell'enciclica, il nucleo della filosofia dell'essere indispensabile all'intellectus fidei viene sintetizzato in questi termini: 11
This study presents the significant differences between some of the greatest
twentieth-century Th... more This study presents the significant differences between some of the greatest
twentieth-century Thomists regarding what they consider to be the key to Thomistic
metaphysics; namely, the real composition of essence and the act of being in created
substance and the consequent ontological difference between ens and its esse. Four
philosophers are studied in chronological order: Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Cornelio
Fabro and Marie-Dominique Philippe. Their respective positions are systematically analyzed
––––––––––
80 Di recente, un tentativo di rilettura di Metafisica Z alla luce dell’actus essendi è stato
proposto da M. BALMÈS, Pour un plein accès à l’acte d’être avec Thomas d’Aquin et Aristote,
Réenraciner le De ente et essentia, prolonger la Métaphysique, L’Harmattan, Paris 2003.
L’Autore si iscrive nella linea di Marie-Dominique Philippe, di cui fu discepolo.
81 Sulle dottrine non scritte, cf. il classico volume di G. REALE, Per una nuova
interpretazione di Platone, Rilettura della metafisica dei grandi dialoghi alla luce delle
«Dottrine non scritte», Vita e Pensiero, Milano 1995. Per un primo raffronto con la
problematica del presente studio, si veda il c. 7 della IIa parte, 214-227, nonché il c. 14 della
IIIa parte, 435-453. Quella che potrebbe essere la «differenza ontologica» platonica, in questa
ottica, viene descritta così a p. 225: «È questo il nocciolo della protologia platonica: l’essere è
prodotto da due principi originari, e quindi è una sintesi, un misto di unità e molteplicità, di
determinante e indeterminato, di limitante e illimitato. E su questo tema Platone si spingerà
addirittura a presentare uno scorcio negli scritti, in particolare nel Filebo» (i corsivi sono del
Reale). Il lavoro che auspichiamio è già stato iniziato negli studi di CRISTINA D’ANCONA
COSTA, “La doctrine néoplatonicienne de l’être entre l’antiquité tardive et le moyen-âge. Le
Liber de Causis par rapport à ses sources”, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 59
(1992) 41-85, nonché di Giovanni VENTIMIGLIA, Differenza e contraddizione, Il problema
dell’essere in Tommaso d’Aquino: esse, diversum, contradictio, Vita e Pensiero, Milano 1997,
pp. 62-82.
Alain Contat
250
according to four criteria: 1) the epistemological locus of the ontological difference within
the third theoretical science; 2) the exact “nature” of essence and esse and their mutual
relationship; 3) the consequences which this position poses regarding the problem of the
subsistence of the suppositum and the problem of accidental esse; 4) and finally the judgment
made by each author on the relationship between the ontological difference in St. Thomas and
the Socratic metaphysics of Plato and Aristotle.
Two opposing “figures” of the relationship between essence and the act of being emerge: 1)
Gilson and Fabro – despite their disagreements on other points – consider essence by itself
and in se as the measure of the act of being by way of potency, meaning that it does not enjoy
any actuality until it is actuated by its act of being. 2) Maritain and Philippe, on the other
hand, in accordance with the Dominican Thomism of Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, hold
that essence is a formal act, the specifying actuality of which does not owe anything to the act
of being, which has the exclusive role of making the essence exist.
Prof. Contat concludes his extensive inquiry explaining why the first “figure” is the only one
that fully agrees with St. Thomas’s texts and principles, and invites scholars to delve more
deeply into the four series of problems from a historical and speculative point of view..
This study presents the significant differences between some of the greatest
twentieth-century Th... more This study presents the significant differences between some of the greatest
twentieth-century Thomists regarding what they consider to be the key to Thomistic
metaphysics; namely, the real composition of essence and the act of being in created
substance and the consequent ontological difference between ens and its esse. Four
philosophers are studied in chronological order: Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Cornelio
Fabro and Marie-Dominique Philippe. Their respective positions are systematically analyzed
according to four criteria: 1) the epistemological locus of the ontological difference within
the third theoretical science; 2) the exact “nature” of essence and esse and their mutual
relationship; 3) the consequences which this position poses regarding the problem of the
subsistence of the suppositum and the problem of accidental esse; 4) and finally the judgment
made by each author on the relationship between the ontological difference in St. Thomas and
the Socratic metaphysics of Plato and Aristotle.
Two opposing “figures” of the relationship between essence and the act of being emerge: 1)
Gilson and Fabro – despite their disagreements on other points – consider essence by itself
and in se as the measure of the act of being by way of potency, meaning that it does not enjoy
any actuality until it is actuated by its act of being. 2) Maritain and Philippe, on the other
hand, in accordance with the Dominican Thomism of Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, hold
that essence is a formal act, the specifying actuality of which does not owe anything to the act
of being, which has the exclusive role of making the essence exist.
Prof. Contat concludes his extensive inquiry explaining why the first “figure” is the only one
that fully agrees with St. Thomas’s texts and principles, and invites scholars to delve more
deeply into the four series of problems from a historical and speculative point of view...
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Full text papers by Alain Contat
Within the same Christian creationism and with the same lexicon from the Aristotelian tradition, Thomas d'Aquin and John Duns Scotus developed profoundly different metaphysics. We are trying here to compare them on the two capital moments of all science of the ens inquantum ens: the constitution of being and its relation to God. We do this in two steps. In the first, we analyze in parallel the two epistemologies of metaphysics as to the specific object or subject of it, then as to what the investigation of being seeks, that is to say its quæsitum. In the second step, we examine how, for both medieval masters, being is constituted and then differentiated, then that which it depends on a first in the order of ontological perfection. It appears, in conclusion, that if both the angelic Doctor and the subtle Doctor have a very keen sense of the divine transcendence and of the dependence of the creature towards the Creator, the first one succeeds better than the second to objectify the difference ontotheological that connects the finite being to Him whose being is infinite.
In the present study we examine the ontological status of the two existential states of the adult human being in which salvation occurs, in order to emphasize its relation to the actus essendi. The first part deals with the systematic framework of the theoretical achievements which we encounter in the corpus thomisticum in regards to the constitution of the human person, the essence of grace, and the – privative – mortal sin. The latter is amply elucidated by the Aquinate and leads to the successive study, in the second part, of the aporia of sanctifying grace: it will be defined, according to the Second Letter of the Apostle Peter, as participation in the divine nature. Yet, the Subsistent Being does not seem to be able to participate in, neither as subsistent, nor as being “specifically” divine. Therefore we present in this regard the solutions of Ambroise Gardeil, Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, and Fernando Ocáriz. The discussion of these theses leads us to our own resolution, which we propose in the conclusion.
In this study which follows other works on the convergences and divergences between 20th century Thomists, we wanted to offer the readers of Espíritu a brief structural comparison between the theoretical philosophy of Jacques Maritain and that of Cornelio Fabro. Our purpose is articulated in two stages: 1. the critique of the Cartesian cogito and its later vicissitude; 2. the metaphysical analysis of the being. In this last respect, we explain how the two philosophers oppose each other, first as regards the ontological and noetic status of the "ens primum cognitum", then as regards the principles-act of being and essence-in which they resolve themselves "being qua being".
• En quoi consiste précisément l’esse auquel, selon le Docteur commun, l’étant doit justement d’être un étant ?
• Corrélativement, en quoi consiste alors l’essentia qui reçoit et spécifie l’esse ?
• En vertu de quoi l’étant substantiel subsiste-t-il ?
• Que faut-il comprendre par l’esse superadditum des accidents ?
Ensuite, nous examinons trois grandes solutions qui furent proposées au cours du XXe siècle, et qui constituent autant de configurations systématiques de l’étant :
1. celle de Tomas Týn, qui reprend et approfondit les thèses des commentateurs dominicains et que nous proposons de nommer « configuration duale » ;
2. celle de Johann Baptist Lotz, qui élabore, à la suite de Joseph Maréchal et en dialogue avec Kant et Heidegger, ce qu'il convient de caractériser comme « configuration transcendantale » ;
3. et celle de Cornelio Fabro, qui oppose aux deux précédentes ce que nous appellerons « configuration intensive ».
Enfin, nous expliquons comment ces trois analyses se rattachent aux trois significations par soi de l’ens-esse que l’Aquinate reprend d’Aristote, c'est-à-dire l'être considéré successivement comme contenu de la chose (1), comme copule et horizon du jugement vrai (2), comme actualité de l'étant (3). Pour conclure, nous exposons brièvement pourquoi la troisième solution nous paraît être la seule compatible avec l'esprit et la lettre des textes thomasiens.
of God. With this purpose in mind, it proceeds in three stages. In the first place, we offer an inventory of the successive positions adopted by St. Thomas on this matter, from the Scriptum to the Summa theologiae. Secondly, we study the theories of analogy of Maurilio
Texeira-Leite Penido, Johann Baptist Metz and Cornelio Fabro, highlighting the very close link between these theories and the respective ontologies of these authors. In this way, we bring out the connection between the way each author understands the Thomasian esse and the way his thought reflects upon analogy. In the third place, we outline the development of the historiographical reconstructions of the problem which have emerged in the time from the end of the Second World War up to our own days. This brief reconstruction provides us with criteria of judgment to undertake a historical and a theoretical evaluation of the three positions investigated in the second part.
Key words: the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas, the metaphysics of being, analogy, analogy of proportionality and analogy of reference, theological discourse, Maurílio Teixeira-Leite Penido, Johann Baptist Lotz, Cornelio Fabro, George Peter Klubertanz, Bernard Montagnes.
Dans cette étude, nous entendons analyser le triangle sémiotique aristotélicien à la lumière des écrits et surtout des principes de saint Thomas d’Aquin. Notre propos s’articule en trois parties. Dans la première, nous problématisons le célèbre passage du Peri Hermeneias 16 a 3-8, en soulevant huit apories au sujet du signe linguistique et des instances en lesquelles il s’inscrit, puis nous dressons l’inventaire de quelques lieux thomasiens particulièrement intéressants à cet égard. Dans la deuxième partie, nous discutons trois préalables nécessaires à l’analyse du signe linguistique, soit : 1. la typologie de la relation, en vue de clarifier les rapports entre le signifiant et le signifié mental, puis entre celui-ci et l’objet extra-mental ; 2. la notion d’instrument, afin de déterminer le rôle exact du signifiant oral ou écrit dans la compréhension de sa signification ; 3. les types de sensibles et de synthèses sensorielles, pour expliciter les phases de l’interprétation du signe perçu. Pour finir, nous résolvons dans la troisième partie les apories exposées dans la première, et nous concluons nos investigations par une définition analytique di signe linguistique. En même temps que nous reconstruisons, au long de ce travail, la sémiotique fondamentale de Thomas d’Aquin, nous montrons en quoi elle diffère de celle de Ferdinand de Saussure.
In questo studio, intendiamo analizzare il triangolo semiotico aristotelico, alla luce degli scritti e soprattutto dei principi di san Tommaso d’Aquino. Il nostro discorso si articola in tre parti. Nella prima, problematizziamo il celebre brano del Peri Hemeneias 16 a 3-8, sollevando otto aporie a proposito del segno linguistico e della rete di rapporti in cui esso si iscrive, poi facciamo un breve inventario dei luogi tommasiani maggiormente rilevanti al riguardo. Nella seconda parte, discutiamo tre preliminari necessari per l’analisi del segno linguistico, cioè: 1. la tipologia della relazione, al fine di chiarire i rapporti fra il significante ed il significanto mentale, poi fra questo ultimo e l’oggetto extra-mentale; 2. la nozione di strumento, in vista di determinare il ruolo esatto del significante orale o scritto nella comprensione della sua significazione; 3. i tipi di sensibili e di sintesi sensoriali, per esplicitare la fasi dell’interpretazione del segno percepito. Per finire, risolviamo nella terza parte le aporie esposte nella prima, e concludiamo le nostre investigazioni con una definizione analitica del segno linguistico. Mentre ricostruiamo, nel corso di questo lavoro, la semiotica fondamentale di Tommaso d’Aquino, mostriamo in quale modo essa differisce da quella di Ferdinand de Saussure.
Our study must be quoted in this way:
Alain CONTAT, « La métaphysique de la participation, instrument pour une herméneutique sapientielle de Vatican II », Nova et Vetera 91/2 (2016), p. 95-124.
Alain CONTAT, «Una ipotesi sulla scienza dei trascendentali come passiones entis secondo san Tommaso d’Aquino», in Alain CONTAT, Carmelo PANDOLFI, Rafael PASCUAL (ed.), I trascendentali e il trascendentale, percorsi teoretici e storici, [Ricerche di storia della filosofia e teologia medioevali, 3], Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum – IF Press, Roma 2016, pp. 59-104.
Si tratta della versione originale in lingua italiana di un articolo uscito prima, per ragioni tecniche, in lingua inglese:
Alain CONTAT, «A Hypothesis about the Science of the Transcendentals as Passiones Entis according to Saint Thomas Aquinas», in Alpha Omega 17/2 (2014), pp. 213-266.
Lo scopo è di risolvere due quesiti attorno alla dottrina tommasiana delle proprietà dell’ente: a) se e come i trascendentali sono l’oggetto di una scienza, nel senso preciso che questo termine ha nell’epistemologia dell’Aquinate, mentre loro si distinguono dal loro subiectum mediante una mera additio rationis; b) in quale modo i trascendentali si ricollegano all’atto di essere che ne è il fondamento ontologico.
The quotation of our paper is: Alain CONTAT, "Fabro et l'être intensif", in Cornelio FABRO, "Participation et causalité selon S. Thomas d'Aquin", Paris, Parole et Silence, 2015, p. XV-LXXX.
twentieth-century Thomists regarding what they consider to be the key to Thomistic
metaphysics; namely, the real composition of essence and the act of being in created
substance and the consequent ontological difference between ens and its esse. Four
philosophers are studied in chronological order: Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Cornelio
Fabro and Marie-Dominique Philippe. Their respective positions are systematically analyzed
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80 Di recente, un tentativo di rilettura di Metafisica Z alla luce dell’actus essendi è stato
proposto da M. BALMÈS, Pour un plein accès à l’acte d’être avec Thomas d’Aquin et Aristote,
Réenraciner le De ente et essentia, prolonger la Métaphysique, L’Harmattan, Paris 2003.
L’Autore si iscrive nella linea di Marie-Dominique Philippe, di cui fu discepolo.
81 Sulle dottrine non scritte, cf. il classico volume di G. REALE, Per una nuova
interpretazione di Platone, Rilettura della metafisica dei grandi dialoghi alla luce delle
«Dottrine non scritte», Vita e Pensiero, Milano 1995. Per un primo raffronto con la
problematica del presente studio, si veda il c. 7 della IIa parte, 214-227, nonché il c. 14 della
IIIa parte, 435-453. Quella che potrebbe essere la «differenza ontologica» platonica, in questa
ottica, viene descritta così a p. 225: «È questo il nocciolo della protologia platonica: l’essere è
prodotto da due principi originari, e quindi è una sintesi, un misto di unità e molteplicità, di
determinante e indeterminato, di limitante e illimitato. E su questo tema Platone si spingerà
addirittura a presentare uno scorcio negli scritti, in particolare nel Filebo» (i corsivi sono del
Reale). Il lavoro che auspichiamio è già stato iniziato negli studi di CRISTINA D’ANCONA
COSTA, “La doctrine néoplatonicienne de l’être entre l’antiquité tardive et le moyen-âge. Le
Liber de Causis par rapport à ses sources”, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 59
(1992) 41-85, nonché di Giovanni VENTIMIGLIA, Differenza e contraddizione, Il problema
dell’essere in Tommaso d’Aquino: esse, diversum, contradictio, Vita e Pensiero, Milano 1997,
pp. 62-82.
Alain Contat
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according to four criteria: 1) the epistemological locus of the ontological difference within
the third theoretical science; 2) the exact “nature” of essence and esse and their mutual
relationship; 3) the consequences which this position poses regarding the problem of the
subsistence of the suppositum and the problem of accidental esse; 4) and finally the judgment
made by each author on the relationship between the ontological difference in St. Thomas and
the Socratic metaphysics of Plato and Aristotle.
Two opposing “figures” of the relationship between essence and the act of being emerge: 1)
Gilson and Fabro – despite their disagreements on other points – consider essence by itself
and in se as the measure of the act of being by way of potency, meaning that it does not enjoy
any actuality until it is actuated by its act of being. 2) Maritain and Philippe, on the other
hand, in accordance with the Dominican Thomism of Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, hold
that essence is a formal act, the specifying actuality of which does not owe anything to the act
of being, which has the exclusive role of making the essence exist.
Prof. Contat concludes his extensive inquiry explaining why the first “figure” is the only one
that fully agrees with St. Thomas’s texts and principles, and invites scholars to delve more
deeply into the four series of problems from a historical and speculative point of view..
twentieth-century Thomists regarding what they consider to be the key to Thomistic
metaphysics; namely, the real composition of essence and the act of being in created
substance and the consequent ontological difference between ens and its esse. Four
philosophers are studied in chronological order: Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Cornelio
Fabro and Marie-Dominique Philippe. Their respective positions are systematically analyzed
according to four criteria: 1) the epistemological locus of the ontological difference within
the third theoretical science; 2) the exact “nature” of essence and esse and their mutual
relationship; 3) the consequences which this position poses regarding the problem of the
subsistence of the suppositum and the problem of accidental esse; 4) and finally the judgment
made by each author on the relationship between the ontological difference in St. Thomas and
the Socratic metaphysics of Plato and Aristotle.
Two opposing “figures” of the relationship between essence and the act of being emerge: 1)
Gilson and Fabro – despite their disagreements on other points – consider essence by itself
and in se as the measure of the act of being by way of potency, meaning that it does not enjoy
any actuality until it is actuated by its act of being. 2) Maritain and Philippe, on the other
hand, in accordance with the Dominican Thomism of Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, hold
that essence is a formal act, the specifying actuality of which does not owe anything to the act
of being, which has the exclusive role of making the essence exist.
Prof. Contat concludes his extensive inquiry explaining why the first “figure” is the only one
that fully agrees with St. Thomas’s texts and principles, and invites scholars to delve more
deeply into the four series of problems from a historical and speculative point of view...