November 8, 2013 at 10:45 am (Uncategorized) from Just Thomism
"Plato famously argues in Phaedo that the natural science of his time did not give causes, only conditions or correlated factors of things, while he said that the cause of X is only “X itself”. Whether Plato was right about all the features of the “itselfs” – like their separateness and eternity – is debatable, but the basic point is right, since the point of a systematic investigation into X is to find “the X itself” or “the real X”. Once we find the cause of malaria (a parasite) we call it “the malaria parasite” or just “malaria”, and if a crime gets carried out by a subordinate (like a goon breaking into the Watergate Hotel) then you can’t be said to find “the real criminal” until you find the one who is ultimately responsible for the goon being hired.
And so the structure of all systematic investigation is ordered by the search for the thing itself or the real thing, as opposed to what is only a condition, correlated reality, or subordinate actor or instrument. This is why, on the classical understanding of things, it is very difficult to systematically investigate truth, goodness, or existence without positing something that deserves to be called God."
"Plato famously argues in Phaedo that the natural science of his time did not give causes, only conditions or correlated factors of things, while he said that the cause of X is only “X itself”. Whether Plato was right about all the features of the “itselfs” – like their separateness and eternity – is debatable, but the basic point is right, since the point of a systematic investigation into X is to find “the X itself” or “the real X”. Once we find the cause of malaria (a parasite) we call it “the malaria parasite” or just “malaria”, and if a crime gets carried out by a subordinate (like a goon breaking into the Watergate Hotel) then you can’t be said to find “the real criminal” until you find the one who is ultimately responsible for the goon being hired.
And so the structure of all systematic investigation is ordered by the search for the thing itself or the real thing, as opposed to what is only a condition, correlated reality, or subordinate actor or instrument. This is why, on the classical understanding of things, it is very difficult to systematically investigate truth, goodness, or existence without positing something that deserves to be called God."
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