The Theory Of Act And Potency - 1393 Words

Act and potency and their distinction are an important and fundamental theory in philosophy. It helps approach questions in metaphysics concerning substance, essence, and causation. In this essay, I will be using this theory of act and potency to show how the four causes and the theory relate to each other. Thus, the four causes: formal cause, material cause, efficient cause, and final cause are related to each other and can be explained through the theory and concepts of act and potency. Act and potency are distinct from one another. This distinction is fundamental to Scholastic philosophy. Specifically, the distinction between act and potency is a real distinction which is differences reflected in extra-mental reality†¦show more content†¦Finally, â€Å"act is prior to potency insofar as while there can be nothing that is pure potency there can be something which is pure act. For example, if something were pure potency is would not exist as it would have nothing actual to actualize it.† This concept of pure actuality can then be applied to the concept and existence of God. There are two types of potency: objective or pure or logical potency and subjective or real potency. Objective potencies are things that are possible objects of thought. An example of an objective potency would be a unicorn for there are no such things as unicorns that exist; however, there is a concept of what a unicorn is as we can picture one in our mind and give a description of it. Subjective potencies are what can be thought of and exist in reality. An example of a subjective potency is a pen as it exists physically in reality and we have a notion of what it is in our mind. Real potencies can further be distinguished into active potency and passive potency. Active potency is the capacity to bring about an effect and passive potency is the capacity to be affected. An example of active potency is fire’s capacity to melt rubber, whereas the rubber’s capacit y to be melted is a passive potency. Therefore, Feser says, â€Å"active potency is a power and passive potency is a