Interview: On Being as First Known

St. Thomas Aquinas presents in the corpus of his work (at, e.g., De veritate q.1, a.1, Summa Theologiae Ia-IIae, q.94, a.2, and In Metaphysicorum, lib.4, lec.3, n.605) the claim that what the intellect first conceives is being and that the intellect further resolves all conceptions into being.

Illud autem quod primo intellectus concipit quasi notissimum, et in quod conceptiones omnes resolvit, est ens, ut Avicenna dicit in principio suae metaphysicae. Unde oportet quod omnes aliae conceptiones intellectus accipiantur ex additione ad ens.

But that which the intellect first conceives as the most familiar, and into which it resolves all conceptions, is being, as Avicenna says at the beginning of his metaphysics. Hence it is necessary that all other conceptions of the intellect be taken from addition to being.

Thomas Aquinas 1256-59: De Veritate q.1, a.1

But while the claim is presented repeatedly in his works, and has antecedents in the writings of Avicenna and Aristotle, it nevertheless is given only a passing and cursory treatment in Aquinas’—never delving too deeply into what is meant by the claim.  This led to the task of later Thomists, both medieval and modern, to try and give various readings and accounts of what is meant by this claim. In this episode interview, we were joined with Dr. Brian Kemple to discuss traditional readings of ens primum cognitum, in figures such as Thomas Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, and 20^th century readings given by figures such as Etienne Gilson and Jacques Maritain, and draw out some of the shortcomings of their given readings.  Furthermore, we discussed Dr. Kemple’s own approach and reading of ens primum cognitum, the possible parallels that could be made in the domain of ens morale, the being of relations and relata, cognition-dependent being in our everyday world of experience, the twofold via resolutionis in Aquinas, issues on the problem of evil, and Heideggerian phenomenological parallels that could be made with Aquinas’ thoughts on cognition and being.

In addition, Dr. Kemple recommended several resources for those who would want to learn more and explore on their own at the end of the interview.