The Thomistic Institute What Happens To The Soul After Death | Father Ambrose Little, O.P.
Aug 16, 2023
In this podcast, Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P. discusses St. Thomas' understanding of the soul's survival after death. He explores the technical definition of 'person' and explains the concept of potency using the example of water. The chapter delves into the essence of souls, hylomorphism, and the unique nature of the intellect. Fr. Little also explores the concept of death as the separation of soul from body and discusses the limitations of the separated intellect. He emphasizes the importance of the resurrection of the body for fully flourishing human personhood.
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Not Dualism: Why A Body Implies A Soul
- Hylomorphism differs from substance or property dualism because the soul makes the body what it is rather than being a separate entity.
- A human body necessarily includes a soul; zombies (bodies without minds) are impossible on this view.
Intellect Is Immaterial Among Bodily Powers
- Many soul-powers require bodily organs (sensation, nutrition) while the intellect's object is universal and immaterial.
- The intellect can grasp universals and so does not need a physical realizer to perform its proper act.
Images As Instruments For Understanding
- The intellect uses sensory images (phantasms) as instruments to abstract universals, so bodily imagination aids thought.
- Images provide particular raw material which the intellect abstracts into immaterial universal forms.