[4.10.2] St Bonaventure on Ontological Truth

A. L. KomáromiLeave a comment

St Bonaventure ( the “Seraphic Doctor”, 1217 – 1274 AD), in the work Commentary on the Sentences of Lombard, presents a theory of ontological truth (see also [4.8]):

  • God created all things, so the whole universe existentially depends on God.
  • Ontological truth is “the indivision of act and potency,” taken in a hylomorphic context (see [1.3.5] and [4.9.2])
  • Since we don’t have a perfect indivision of the potency and act in creatures, they present a combination of created truth and falsity.
  • Because it has perfect unity, God presents no indivision and admixture, so he is the highest, uncreated truth.

Bonaventure’s model of ontological truth is presented in the following OntoUML diagram:

Bonaventure on ontological truth
CLASSDESCRIPTIONRELATIONS
GodGod creates the creatures.
“If, however, truth is understood as that which admits no admixture, then only God is truth, for God is pure indivision or unity. In Him alone is there perfect imitation of unity, and pure expression with distinction”		creates Creature
CreatureAll creatures are created by God.
“All creatures are partial actualizations of truth.”
NatureNature (or essence) is the combunation of form and matter that make a creature what it fundamentally is, and without which it loses its identity.
“All creatures are true to the extent that they actualize the potential perfections of their natures, and they are false to the extent that they fail to do so, because ontological truth is ‘the indivision of act and potency.’ […] From rocks to angels, all creatures are true to the extent that the potencies of their “existence” given by matter are realized through the perfection of their “being” through form.”		mandatory part of Creature
FormForm is that which makes some matter which is potentially a Creature actually a Creature.
“Matter gives independent existence (existere) to form, while form gives the act of being (essendi actum) to matter.”		characterizes Nature
ActAct, is a change what realizes fulfillment of a possibility.relates Form with Nature
Matter“Matter gives independent existence (existere) to form, while form gives the act of being (essendi actum) to matter.”contained by Nature
PotencyPotency is a “possibility” that a thing can have.relates Matter with Nature
(MeasureOf)IndivisionMeasure of indivision of act and potency.Relates Potency with Act
Falsity“All creatures are true to the extent that they actualize the potential perfections of their natures, and they are false to the extent that they fail to do so”charaterizes (MeasureOf)Indivision
CreatedTruth“All creatures are true [created truth] to the extent that they actualize the potential perfections of their natures, and they are false to the extent that they fail to do so, because ontological truth is ‘the indivision of act and potency.’ So ‘in a creature there is indivision combined with difference between act and potency. […]
truth is an ‘indivision’ between potency and act within a creature; the more it fulfills its nature, the truer it is.”		descendant of Truth; characterizes (MeasureOf)Indivision
UncreatedTruthGod’s unity is the uncreated truth. “In Him alone is there perfect imitation of unity, and pure expression with distinction”descendant of Truth
OntologicalTruthOntological truth is ‘the indivision of act and potency.’

Sources

  • All citations from: Noone, Tim and R. E. Houser, “Saint Bonaventure“, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
  • Noone, Tim, “Truth, Creation, and Intelligibility in Anselm, Grosseteste, and Bonaventure”

First published: 17/12/2020

[4.10.1] St Bonaventure on Creatures as God’s Signs

A. L. Komáromi1 Comment

St Bonaventure (the “Seraphic Doctor”, 1217 – 1274 AD), in the work Commentary on the Sentences of Lombard, writes about the ways how all created things signifies God:

  • God created all things, so the whole universe existentially depends on God.
  • All creatures act in the role of signs which point to God; these signs can be of four types.
  • Based on their properties, all creatures signify God as shadows and vestiges; more than that, rational creatures signify it as images and similitudes.
  • Rational creatures (humans, angels) have the power to look to these signs, which leads them to God. This way rational creatures “have God as their ultimate object, whereas all creatures have God as their Cause”.

Bonaventure’s model of creatures as God’s signs is pictured in the following OntoUML diagram:

Bonaventure on creations as signs of God

ClassRationalCreatureClassDescriptionRelations
GodGod creates the creatures whose existence depends on him.creates Creature; provides divine grace to RationalCreature
Creature“All creatures, from rocks to angels, are signs in the sense of shadows and traces of God, for they all bear a relation of causal dependency upon God as their source; but only rational creatures can have the divine as an object of their activities and, for that reason, can conform themselves to the divine will and become likenesses of God.”
PropertyCreatures can be vestiges or shadows based on properties which point to God.characterizes Creature
Shadow“a creature is called a shadow based on its properties which point to God in some type of causality in an indeterminate way.”role of Creature; is Sign
Vestige“a creature is called a vestige based on properties which point to God as triple cause–efficient, formal, and final cause; for example, the properties: one, true, and good.”role of Creature; is Sign
RationalCreature“[…] only rational creatures can have the divine as an object of their activities and, for that reason, can conform themselves to the divine will and become likenesses of God.”subkind of Creature; observes Sign
RationalPowerRational powercharacterizes RationalCreature; subkind of Property
Image“Bonaventure posits […] higher types of semiosis pertinent solely to rational creatures, which are ‘images’ (imago) pointing to the First Principle through its properly rational powers which have their source and highest object in God”role of RationalCreature; is Sign
Likeness“In addition, Bonaventure posits […] higher types of semiosis pertinent solely to rational creatures, which are […] ‘likenesses’ (similitudo) of God to the extent that they are recipients of divine grace and conform themselves to the divine will.” role of RationalCreature; is Sign
Sign“Bonaventure’s semiotics distinguishes four sorts of signs [wich are shadow, vestige, image, similitude...]
All creatures, from rocks to angels, are signs in the sense of shadows and traces of God, for they all bear a relation of causal dependency upon God as their source; but only rational creatures can have the divine as an object of their activities and, for that reason, can conform themselves to the divine will and become likenesses of God.”		points to God

Sources

  • All citations from: Noone, Tim and R. E. Houser, “Saint Bonaventure“, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

First published: 10/12/2020