The Catholic World, Vol. 20, October 1874‐March 1875 — John Shaqi
The Catholic World, Vol. 20, October 1874‐March 1875Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 20, October 1874‐March 1875
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
Nor can this be a sufficient ground for inferring, as the objection does,
that in such a case the form would be distant from its matter as much as
the sun is from the planets. The form, as such, cannot be considered as a
term of the relation of distance; for, as we have already remarked, there
is no distance without two formal ubications. Now, the form, as such, has
no formal ubication, but is reduced to the predicament _ubi_ only by the
ubication of its own matter. Hence it is impossible rationally to conceive
a distance between the matter and its form, however great may be the
sphere of activity of the material element. When the substantial form is
regarded as a principle of accidental actions, we may indeed consider it,
if not as composed of, at least as equivalent to, a continuous series of
concentric spherical forms overlying one another throughout the whole
range of activity; and we may thus conceive every one of them as
_virtually_ distant from the material centre, its virtual distance being
measured by its radius. But, strictly speaking, the radius measures the
distance between the agent and the patient, not between the agent and its
own power; and, on the other hand, as the imagined series of concentric
sphericities continues uninterruptedly up to the very centre of the
sphere, we can easily perceive that the substantial form, even as a
principle of action, is immediately and intrinsically terminated to its
own matter.
_A third objection._—What conception can we form of an _indefinite_
sphere? For a sphere without a spherical surface is inconceivable. But an
indefinite sphere is a sphere without a spherical surface; for if there
were a surface, there would be a limit; and if there were a limit, the
sphere would not extend indefinitely. It is therefore impossible to
conceive an indefinite sphere of activity.
This objection is easily answered. A sphere without a spherical _form_ is
indeed inconceivable; but it is not necessary that the spherical form
should be a _limiting_ surface, as the objection assumes. We may imagine
an indefinite sphere of matter; that is, a body having a density
continually decreasing in the inverse ratio of the squared distances from
a central point. Its sphericity would consist in the spherical decrease of
its density; which means that the body would be a sphere, not on account
of an exterior spherical limit, but on account of its interior
constitution. Now, what we say of an indefinite sphere of matter applies,
by strict analogy, to an indefinite sphere of power. Only, in passing from
the former to the latter, the word _density_ should be replaced by
_intensity_; for intensity is to power what density is to matter. And thus
an indefinite sphere of power may have its spherical character within
itself without borrowing it from a limiting surface. We may, therefore,
consider this third objection as solved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account