Classical Theism, Philosophy, and Religion Forum / The Divisions of Act and Potency from Feser's Scholastic Metaphysics

**Posted by iwpoe** 8/13/2015 10:07 am

I've adapted pp 38 - 41 of Edward Feser's Schoolastic Metaphysics A Contemporary Introduction with mindmapping software because, at least for me, the distinctions were hard to keep up with just reading them and not charting them.

You can get it in the mindmapping software here:

https://www.mindmeister.com/571430811/the-divisions-of-act-and-potency

And as a .png here:

http://imgur.com/T2TfBKf

Ed's book is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Scholastic-Metaphysics-Contemporary-Introduction-Scholasticae/dp/3868385444

**Posted by DanielCC** 8/13/2015 12:56 pm

That is indeed quite a useful diagram (I was surprised since I've never found diagrammatic mediums very useful for illustrating philosophical issues). Very helpful for highlighting the Active Potency aspect.

If we're on the subject of a diagrams this blog post contains some nicely developed Porphyrian Trees for the category of Substance. Notice how they've chosen to deviate from the traditional tripartite and split the Sensitive Soul into two distinct types, one that fits with how we traditionally understood that notion and the other for creatures that possess sensitive responses but lack phenomenal consciousness.

Substances and Porphyrian trees

**Posted by iwpoe** 8/13/2015 5:34 pm

I've basically only found diagrams useful in logic, category systems, the presentation of systematic metaphysics, and the presentation of the structure of long philosophical books (Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, for instance). When I started reading the divisions and felt like I was getting a jumble of names, I knew that it was time to start charting.

Basically if you need to keep a whole chain of things in mind at once, get a diagram. I've always thought that the medievals were better than us at handling these kinds of systematic works because they practiced the Ars Memoria, which as far as I can tell amounts to something like spatial diagramming in the mind rather than on paper. They could memorize the whole Bible in that way, which is quite impressive. Most people don't know that Aquinas could recall all of his sources on demand, or so I've been told.

Last edited by iwpoe (8/13/2015 5:40 pm)