Single Idea 22170

[catalogued under 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding]

Full Idea

Our imagination and senses grasp only the outer properties of things, not their natures. ...Understanding, however, grasps the very substance and nature of things, so that what is represented in understanding is a likeness of thing's very essence.

Gist of Idea

Senses grasp external properties, but the understanding grasps the essential natures of things

Source

Thomas Aquinas (Quodlibeta [1267], 8.2.2)

Book Reference

McDermott,Timothy: 'Aquinas: how to read' [Granta 2007], p.20


A Reaction

This is exactly the picture I endorse for modern science. Explanation is the path to understanding, and that must venture beyond immediate experience.