The ancient world was familiar
with various forms of skepticism and relativism. Skepticism is the view that it is doubtful
whether human beings have knowledge, either in general or in a particular domain. Relativism is the view that what is true is
relative to what people think or believe is true. Truth is nothing other than what
is true for you or true for me. Sound familiar? The human race has always had some people
who voiced these sorts of views. Skepticism and relativism have pervaded various
societies, more or less. In ancient Athens, for example, there were
people known as Sophists, and the Sophists worked diligently to promote skepticism and
relativism among the population. They did so for political purposes. One of the best ways to understand the figures
of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle is to realize that the form of life and thought they took
up and called philosophy was precisely a form of opposition to the Sophists, and at bottom
of form of opposition to skepticism and relativism. In the philosophical tradition
that comes down to us from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, one of the fundamental convictions
is that there is truth. There is eternal truth. Human beings do not invent the truth, but
discover it. Human beings are capable of just that--discovering
and knowing truth. These very points are good news
to us, since human beings are made for truth, and we long to understand it. Skepticism and relativism are really forms
of despair. Contrary to many philosophies of recent centuries,
it is neither realistic acceptance nor courageous in any way to embrace the despair or resign
ourselves to skepticism and relativism and dwell on the darkness they propose. One of the essential features of
human beings is that we are capax veritatis, capable of truth. Thomas Aquinas provides a common sense understanding
of how the formation and development of our knowledge works. First, knowledge begins in the senses. If we did not have sensory experience
of the world around us, our minds would be empty. We do have a wealth of sensory experience
of the world around us. Thomas is confident that our senses tell us
the way the world really is. The same conviction underlies all
the modern empirical sciences. Second, knowledge is more than just sensory
experience. All our experience is potentially intelligible. That means what is given in experience is
able to be brought to light on a higher level, the level of understanding and explanation. Experience is like a treasure chest. It contains many truths of a higher order than experience itself. Third, in addition to experience, human beings
have intelligence or rationality. Intelligence is essentially the ability to
read our experience and bring to light what is intelligible within it. For example, each one of us has
a finite experience of a few particular dogs or cats. From our finite experience of particular dogs
and cats, we're able to understand something of what a dog or a cat essentially is. That is why we feed them differently, for
example. Another example, each of us has
experienced a few triangles or triangle-like things, such as a sketch on a piece of paper
or a rack used in billiards. From out of that experience of a few triangle-like figures, we know something about all triangles as such, a set extending to infinity. We can determine the area of a
given triangle according to a universal formula. Intelligence is precisely this ability to
ask about what things are. To see what they are to some extent, and to
form judgments and reason about what things are, their properties and their causes from
out of what we see of the essences of things. Furthermore, through the act of
intelligence reading experience, we're able to arrive at truths higher than ordinary knowledge
of cats and dogs and triangles. For example, we know that there is truth. For the contradictory opposite assertion--there is no truth--is a self-defeating assertion. Similarly, with the claims that
it is impossible for human beings to grasp any truth, or it is impossible for human language
to communicate truth, rational reflection upon the implications of these statements
reveals that they're self-defeating. Using our intelligence, we can
know that there is truth. It is possible for us to know or at least
grasp truth to some extent. It is possible for us to communicate it through
language. Skeptics and relativists of all ages emphasize
moments of deception in human life and the fact of widespread disagreement between human
beings. They overlook the fact of solid insights into truth that humans have already accomplished. Let's get more specific about how these solid
insights come about. For Thomas Aquinas, our intelligence is a
gift of God. It is not a transitory or passing gift, but
it's built into our very nature as human. Our intelligence has two sides
to it. One side is the potential to understand our experience, and the other side is the active power to understand our experience. Human beings do not start out life fully grown
or developed, but we grow gradually into full flourishing humans. Similarly with our intelligence,
it does not start out in a state of full understanding of things, but starts out with the potential
to understand them. In order for this potential to understand
things to develop, it is necessary for us to experience the world. Experience is not sufficient to
develop our understanding. Because our experience is only potentially
intelligible, we also need an active principle or source that brings to light what things
or the natures of things are. Aquinas thinks that God has endowed all human
beings by nature with the active power to understand our experience in a higher way,
to seek out and discover the natures and causes of things. This inquiry leads all the way up to asking after the ultimate cause and end of reality, God. Aquinas calls this active power agent intellect. He compares it to a light. Just as the light of the sun makes visible
for our eyes the things in the world around us, so too does the light of the agent intellect
make intelligible for our minds the natures and causes of the things around us in the
world. We need to make two qualifications. First, the power of agent intellect is finite. Human beings can know and understand the truth up to a point in a limited way. Perhaps it's best to say we can catch a glimpse of the truth of things. Since the power of our agent intellect
is finite, we are in no way omniscient or able to be omniscient or comprehend all things. We must humbly accept the gift of a finite
light and use it with awareness of our limits. Second, for Aquinas, the light of our reason comes from God. The very light of our reason is
a reflection of the eternal light of God himself. Reason is a first or original form of participation
in the divine light. In his gracious love for us, God gives us
more and additional light. For example, he gives us the light of faith
and the Spirits gifts of understanding and knowledge and wisdom. For Aquinas, all light and all
knowledge and all understanding, even in the natural order, comes ultimately from God. It is important to point this out, since one
of the principle characteristics of enlightenment philosophy is to deny any essential connection
between reason and God, and suppress the awareness of our constant metaphysical and moral dependency
on God in the project of coming to know and understand the truth. For readings, podcasts, and more videos like this, go to Aquinas101.com. While you're there, be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas. And don't forget to like and share with your friends, because it matters what you think!
