Cognition

Available on-demand

Can we perceive the spiritual realm with our physical minds? Listen in to a dialogue examining how the human intellect navigates its material limitations to grasp immaterial truths. Understanding these cognitive structures is a strategic necessity for anyone seeking to reconcile the tangible world of experience with the firm convictions of spiritual life. Grasp the intricate ways St. Thomas Aquinas defines human understanding. Navigate through sensory barriers to envision the certitude of faith.

The comprehensive and systematic character of Thomas Aquinas’ thought has for centuries informed inquiry into questions of human dignity, freedom, economic development, work, poverty, the environment, and other issues of global significance. Celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Aquinas, exploring the ongoing importance of his thought to contemporary cultural, philosophical, and theological discussions. In gathering many of the most accomplished contemporary scholars of Aquinas’ thought from throughout the world working on themes in Ethics, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Anthropology, Political Theory, Christology, Trinitarian Theology, Sacramental Theology and Ecclesiology, among others, this series promotes fruitful interchange of diverse perspectives on the importance of Aquinas in the world today.

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Reconciling the downward gaze of the embodied mind with the firm assent of spiritual faith requires a sophisticated understanding of how humans process reality. This synthesis is vital for the modern thinker, as it defines the intersection where human biology meets divine revelation. At the Aquinas at 800 conference, Professors Therese Cory and Luca Tuninetti provided a comprehensive look at how St. Thomas Aquinas navigated these complexities, offering a narrative that moves from the constraints of our physical nature to the heights of spiritual certainty.

Professor Therese Cory opened the discussion by addressing the weakness of the embodied mind. She posed a fundamental puzzle: while we are surrounded by a material world, we lack a natural, direct experience of immaterial beings like angels. According to Aquinas, this is not a result of sin, but an intrinsic feature of our embodied state. Human cognition operates by turning to fantasms—the sensory images derived from material objects. This downward turn acts as a cognitive shield; our intellect is so attuned to the frequency of the senses that it cannot naturally perceive the immaterial. Cory provided strategic nuance by noting that this abstraction from the senses can be seen in everyday life, such as the intense academic focus that renders a scholar oblivious to their surroundings, or in the tragic cognitive unplugging seen in dementia. These cases highlight that our intellectual life is inextricably bound to the physical integrity of the brain’s ability to provide fantasms.

A crucial revelation in Cory’s analysis involves the separated soul—the state of the soul after death. While the soul naturally knows from below through the body, it is also capable of knowing from above in an Angelic-style manner. However, once separated, the human soul receives too much data for its specific nature. Because our intellectual light is less intense than an angel’s, receiving these direct Exemplar-like species results in a confused knowledge—a cognitive state filled with static because the receiver is not properly tuned for such a high-intensity signal. This underscores why embodiment, despite its limitations, is actually a mercy that allows us to focus on the material world proper to our nature.

Transitioning to the nature of belief, Professor Luca Tuninetti evaluated the distinction between science (scientia), faith (fides), and opinion (opinio). Tuninetti offered a brilliant historical insight regarding a long-standing translation error of the term formido (fear). In the Arabic tradition, this term referred to the possibility that a contrary proposition might be true. However, the Latin translation transformed this into a psychological condition of fear. This nuance is essential: for Aquinas, opinion is a state of cognitive instability where one fears they might be wrong.

Faith, however, bridges the gap between the lack of visual insight and the necessity of certitude. Unlike science, which requires a direct seeing of the truth, or opinion, which is haunted by the fear of error, faith possesses a firm assent. This certitude is grounded in the formal object of faith. Rather than believing something because we can prove it (the thing believed), we believe because of the reason for the belief: God’s own truthfulness. Tuninetti argued that this allows faith to occupy a unique space where the mind is as certain as a scientist, yet as blind as a commoner, participating in God’s own knowledge through revelation.

How does embodiment affect our ability to perceive the spiritual world?
Embodiment forces the intellect into a downward turn, restricting it to knowledge gained through fantasms (sensory images). This creates a natural necessity where the mind is focused exclusively on material agency, effectively shielding us from the direct experience of immaterial beings.

Is the human mind naturally incapable of Angelic knowledge?
No; the human intellect is capable of receiving knowledge from above, but this capacity is largely dormant during our wayfaring life. It is only when the soul is separated or supernaturally unplugged from the senses (as in cases of Rapture) that this mode becomes active, though it remains confused due to our limited intellectual light.

What is the core distinction between faith and opinion?
While both deal with things not visually perceived, they differ in the quality of their assent. Opinion is marked by the formido—a psychological fear or recognition of the possibility of error—whereas faith possesses a firmness of assent because it is grounded in Divine Revelation.

Why can’t we have direct spiritual vision and sensory experience at the same time?
According to the radio frequency metaphor, these two modes are in conflict. The material world is so bright to the embodied soul that it locks our vision; to face the Divine Essence requires a total withdrawal from sensory fantasms.

How can we eventually overcome these cognitive limits?
The ultimate resolution lies in the Thomistic view of Christology and the glorified state. Christ, as the Beholder, possessed total dominion over his body, allowing him to navigate both material and divine knowledge simultaneously. This mastery of the body is the hope of the resurrected life, where our faculties are perfected rather than discarded.

“We are familiar with the fact that our experience is filled up with material things like Chipmunks or stars… but other than that we don’t have any experience in a natural way of immaterial substances like Angels or God.” — Therese Cory.
“The soul of the wayfaring human needs to turn to fantasms because it is bound to the body and in a certain way subject to it and dependent on it.” — Therese Cory.
“We are just tuned into this channel to the senses and while we’re tuned in we can’t receive any other frequency.” — Therese Cory.
“In the case of believing, the ascent is as firm as in the case of knowing and understanding but the insight into the truth is lacking.” — Luca Tuninetti.
“Faith rests on the Divine truth even if science may be more certain than Faith from our point of view.” — Luca Tuninetti.

Cognition

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