This lesson was fairly straightforward as I analyzed the different logical forms of enunciations, their oppositions, etc. However, as I proceeded toward the end of the chapter, the following question came to my mind: “Is there not a universally assumed universal enunciation that is logical and true?” I stopped what I was doing and attempted to abstract in different ways to find my own example. However, it seemed like the moment I put the term “every”, or “all” in front of the subject, the logical coherence, of what I was about to assert with respect to the theoretical predicate, fell apart in pieces. I tried many different things: “Every cloud is grey. False, some clouds are white.”, “Every bird flies. False, some birds can’t fly.”, “Every star gives light. False, some stars are dead.”, and it went on, and on. Finally, I came to the only thing I could think of, “all demons are evil”. I took to this to the tutor, who responded, “evil is the privation of something originally good; therefore, demons were once angels, created for good, who then deprived themselves of their originally good nature. This is a nuanced inquiry that belongs to St. Thomas Aquinas rather than Aristotle.”
I responded: “Then, there is no universally assumed universal enunciation that is true. It’s impossible to demonstrate an example, and nothing works.” The tutor answered:
“That is not true, for example: all men are mortal.”
This is true, all men are indeed mortal. Then it hit me, I suddenly realized that this whole time, I was trying to universally assume particulars to universals, which is obviously irrational; because, if something is particular, then surely it can be assumed that what is particular is infinite in potentiality. So, then my mind switched to inductive abstractions, and I saw the difference: “Every man is a substance. True.”, “Every tree is a living body. True.”, “Every intellect, and every angel is incorporeal. True, and true.”
“A wise heart shall acquire knowledge: and the ear of the wise seeketh instruction.” – Proverbs 18:15
In XC, with Sts. Sebastian, Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great & Bartolo Longo,
Eddie