Aquinas Updated

• For Aquinas, is the soul a body? What main reason does he give? Be able to give his argument. Evaluate, is this argument persuasive? No, the soul is not a body. The soul is the first principle of life. No body can be the first principle of life, as then every body would be the first principle of life. The soul is the principle of activity. In other words, the principal act of the body is the soul; therefore, the soul is not a body but an act of the body.
• For Aquinas, is the soul subsistent? What is his main argument? Evaluate.

  The operation and activity of the soul are nonbodily and subsistent. The soul's operation is understanding and it is achieved through intellect. The intellect is the power by which the soul exercises its activity. The soul encompasses its operation and activity. Both are beyond the body, which means that the soul relies on and maintains itself.
• For Aquinas, are the souls of brute animals subsistent? Evaluate.

  The human soul soul is subsistent as it has an operation of understanding, which is exercised through intellect. The key is that the soul's operation transcends the body, as understanding requires no organ. In animals, however, their soul's operation is sensing, which is bodily. The animal's soul can not be subsistent or self-maintaining, as its operation lies in the body and relies on the body.
• For Aquinas, is the soul identical to the man? Why?

  The soul is part of the human, yet the soul is not identical to the man. Being a part of the human, there are parts of the body that exist beyond the soul. Namely, man physically senses, but the soul does not. This disagreement in capability points to the soul not being identical to man.
• For Aquinas, is the soul composed of matter and form? Why not?

  The soul and its operation of understanding are immaterial. The operation of understanding is transcendent of the material realm, it is beyond the organs of the body. The soul's operation being immaterial and its use of the transcendental activity of intellect makes it subsistent or self-maintaining. This makes it above life and death, and the form and matter which living organisms are composed of.
• For Aquinas, is the human soul incorruptible? Why not? Evaluate.

  Since the soul is subsistent, it is incorruptible. The soul contains its operation of understanding and its activity of intellect, and these parts of the soul can not be separated. Aquinas maintains that the soul supports itself and thus can not be corrupted as it would not have the ability to corrupt itself.
• For Aquinas, is the intellectual principle united to the body as its form? Evaluate.

  The intellectual principle is not united to the body as its form. The intellectual soul is incorruptible, so it could not be united to the corruptible counterpart body.