The End or Basis of Being - Essay Example

In this article, I support Rufus’ argument that thinking is not a preserve of the intellect. First, I give reasons as to how decisions are made by humans, second, I argue concerning the possibility of thinking becoming the thing thought, and lastly, I evaluate the merits of the two arguments as presented by Rufus. Richard Rufus rejected the premise that we think by the intellect given forms in the way matter is. This standing by Rufus is true in several ways. Firstly as Rufus (4) argues, man is every created thing, and man constitutes a lesser world: thus in his being, man shares with all created things as below: living with plants, existence with stones, sensitive with beasts, thinking with angels, and finally man shares some aspects with God.

This implies that man is a complex creature that shares many aspects with other beings, but yet has some peculiar characteristics make him special; the intellect. Intellect is the part of man lacking in other beings, which presents the difference. As other beings have some degree of knowledge and instincts, so does man share some commonalities with other beings. For example, if a deer escapes an attack by a lion through instincts though it has not sighted the lion, man must use the same instincts to make some decisions in some cases.

This follows that man does not only depend on thinking through intellect, but shares other common modes of thinking with other beings. . Therefore, we do not think by the intellect alone, but use other senses to make decisions that are different and unique from decisions made of intellect. Thinking is a matter of literally becoming the thing thought. Rufus (2) argues that agents are dissimilar at the start; but in the end, after being acted upon, they are similar. This implies that the sensitive part refers to the faculty, and because sensing is being acted upon, it is passive.

At the end, when the sensing has been acted upon, the sensitive will be similar to the active, which is namely the sensible. To understand this, first we have to introduce the idea of potency and actuality. A matchbox is fire in potency. This means that the match box can be acted upon to become fire itself. It has the potency to cause fire. Similarly, when the fire has been caused through the matchbox, it then becomes actuality. Likewise, the human soul is a spirit in potency. Rufus (4) in explaining the nature of man elaborates man shares some common things with God.

God by himself is actuality devoid of any potency. He is the end; implying God cannot be caused to be any other than God himself. Cindering we share some common aspects with God; God cannot be in corporeal nature but is in spirit itself. The soul is related to the spirit and is the aspect that makes humans to have a common aspect with God, which is devoid of other animals or beings. The human soul is therefore in potency that though being the essence of humanity, it has not yet attained the spiritual status; which is the actuality of the soul, in sharing common aspect with God, whom by himself has no matter.

This implies once humans are dead; the soul attains its actuality, and can be related to God, whom is devoid of matter. Rufus (4) in explaining