Human soul

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

• The soul is the form of the body-it informs the body to act
• The soul as a vivifying principle
• The soul as the act of the body
• The soul as the principle of all acts

Question 2

Arguments of when the soul vivifies the body

Answer 2

Some time after conception
At conception
Irrationality/rationality- some say after some years, given proofs of rationality
Conclusion: The soul vivifies the body
At conception

Question 3

Arguments of whether the soul is a body

Answer 3

The soul is a body (Localization; existence of inorganic beings)
The soul is not a body
The human soul cannot exist without the body
The human soul can exist without the body

Question 4

Powers of the human soul

Answer 4

Intellect- Personal knowledge

Will- Personal choice; Love

Question 5

Intellect

Answer 5

Origin is from two words: intus-legere meaning to read into. The intellect is capacity to know through abstraction.
The intellect abstracts-forms universal concepts different from particular.
The process of abstraction is bereft of matter. The abstract concept of computer in my mind does not have the physical properties of a computer- the concept is immaterial. The same concept can be applied to another item with the same properties for instance a laptop or a main server can be called a computer.

Question 6

Will

Answer 6

The will is capacity to choose
Will is the faculty that inclines us to make choices. The object of the will is the good in general and not particular. This issue will be discussed in the topic of human will.

Question 7

Is the soul immortal?

Answer 7

Immortality means corruptibility. This can occur due to three causes:

• Action of the contrary
• Corruption of the subject/dividing
• Defect of the cause

Question 8

Action of the contrary

Answer 8

An opposite is a contrary force. The opposite of the statement all men are good is man is not good. An opposite force can cause something to stop existing.
If we use the argument of a contrary force on the soul, we realize that the soul, which is act does not have an opposite force.
Therefore we can say that it is impossible for the soul to stop being a soul because of a contrary(opposite) force

Question 9

Corruption of the subject/dividing

Answer 9

Material objects can be destroyed by dividing. I can destroy a computer by hammering it into small pieces using a heavy object, hence the computer stops being a computer.
The soul is immaterial and therefore cannot be corrupted by dividing it

Question 10

Defect of the cause

Answer 10

Something can corrupt if the cause stops. A human living person becomes a corpse once the first cause stops vivifying the body. This happens when the soul(the cause of life) separates from the body. This can happen to the body but not the soul, since the soul is the first act of the body.

Can the creator of the soul die?
If the Creator stops supporting the soul, the soul will not corrupt but move to inexistence. But this will not happen because the Creator is pure act without potency (cannot fail), and the soul which is not a body can subsist without a body. Hence one can say that the soul is immortal. It continues to exist after death.