Some Notes on Being and Predication

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVI,EW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORS: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS OF THE PROVINCE oF ST. JosEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington 17, D. C. VoL. XXII JULY, 1959 No.8 801\fE NOTES ON BEING AND PREDICATION RCENTLY the nature of the so-called existential proposition has been the object of renewed discussion among logicians as well as metaphysicians. I say " renewed " because, as is recognized by at least some contemporary disputants , the problems involved have long been recognized. It is not surprising, then, that Thomists should feel moved to bring to the attention of others the thought of St. Thomas on existential propositions. Indeed those who profess to see in the metaphysics of St. Thomas a kind of existentialism have been especially drawn to his views on this matter and purport to find in his remarks a basis for some rather startling statements about the concept of being. In this paper I propose to consider some of the relevant passages in St. Thomas as well as an influential existential interpretation of them. I take it that this consideration will lay bare a number of historical inaccuracies and doctrinal flaws in "Thomistic Existentialism." 315 316 RALPH M. MCINERNY 1. The Existential Proposition It is not surprising that it is in his commentary on Aristotle's De lnterpretatione that St. Thomas speaks of what is called the existential proposition. In the course of a comparison of enunciations which include an" infinite noun," Aristotle distinguishes those in which is is predicated as tertium adiacens from others in which it is not.1 Is is a tertium when it attaches to a noun or verb, e. g., "Socrates is just." Opposed to such enunciations are others, e. g., "Socrates is." In the latter kind, is is the principal predicate. In "Socrates is just," is is not the principal predicate but, together with just, forms one predicate. With regard to the first [i. e., that when the verb " is " is used as a third element in the sentence, there can be positive and negative propositions of two sorts], two things must be understood. The first of these is the meaning of his [Aristotle's] statement, 'Is is predicated as a third element (tertium adiacens) .' To understand this one must consider that the verb is is sometimes predicated in an enunciation according to itself, as when it is stated, Socrates is-by which we intend to signify no more than that Socrates exists in reality (in rerum natura). But sometimes is is not predicated per se as though the principle predicate, but as though conjoined to the principle predicate in order to connect it to the subject, as when it is stated, Socrates is white, it is not the intention of the one speaking to assert Socrates to be in reality, but to attribute whiteness to him through the intermediary of this verb is. And therefore in such cases is is predicated as adjacent to the principle predicate.2 1 De lnterpretatione. 10, 19b 19-~~: "When the verb 'is' is used as a third element (tertium adiacens) in the sentence, there can be positive and negative propositions of hvo sorts. Thus in the sentence ' man is just ' the verb is used as a third element, call it verb or noun, which you will." (Oxford translation.) 2 In 11 Periherm., lect. 8, n. ~: "Circa primum duo oportet intelligere: primo quidem, quid est hoc quod dicit, 'est tertium adiacens praedicatur.' Ad cuius evidentiam considerandum est quod hoc verbum est quandoque in enuniciatione praedicatur secundum se; ut cum dicitur, ' Socrates est,' per quod nihil aliud intendimus significare, quam quod Socrates sit in rerum natura. Quandoque vero non praedicatur per se, quasi principale praedicatum, sed quasi conjunctum principali praedicato ad connectendum ipsum subiecto; sicut cum dicitur, 'Socrates est albus,' non est intentio loquentis ut asserat Socratem esse in rerum natura, sed ut SOME NOTES ON BEING AND PREDICATION 317 From this passage it is clear that in "Socrates is," is is the predicate; the existential proposition, like any other simple enunciation, is composed of a noun and a verb, a subject and a predicate. In propositions in which is is a tertium adiacens there...