Preller and Aquinas

Abstract

AGAINST VICTOR PRELLER'S NEO-KANTIAN INTERPRETATION OF THOMAS AQUINAS' PSYCHOLOGY AND EPISTEMOLOGY, THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT AQUINAS ASSENTS TO THE ACTUAL PRESENCE IN MAN OF AN AGENT INTELLECT AND OF IMPRESSED SPECIES AND TO THE INSTRUMENTAL FUNCTION OF PHANTASMS IN INTELLECTION. THIS ASSENT ARISES FROM AN INFERENCE BASED ON HIS VIEWS OF THE HUMAN SOUL AS THE SUBSTANTIAL FORM OF MATTER, OF MATERIAL EXISTENTS AS CONCRETIZED INTELLIGIBILITIES AND AS THE CONTENT-DETERMINING CAUSE OF COGNITION, AND OF COGNITIVE POWERS AS ITS EFFICIENT CAUSE.