Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    The analogy between intellection and vision is incomplete — Carmelics
    Home/Perception
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The analogy between intellection and vision is incomplete

    Consciousness & MindPerception
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Aquinas in De Anima commentary argues the agent intellect is internal to the soul, functioning analogously to the sun illuminating the visual field from within the cognitive system.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A disanalogy requires that the enabling condition be structurally alien to the faculty, but both light and agent intellect are intrinsic activating principles of their respective perceptual orders.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore the intelligibility-conferring act of the agent intellect mirrors rather than disrupts the structural logic of Aristotelian vision, preserving the analogy's core.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.In Aristotelian optics, vision requires an external medium (the transparent) to actualize color, so visible objects are not purely self-presenting.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If even physical vision depends on an enabling condition outside the object itself, the agent intellect's role marks a difference of degree, not a fundamental asymmetry that breaks the analogy.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.In vision, the visible object is visible in itself without requiring an external act to make it visible
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The quiddity in the sensory representation is not intelligible in itself but must be made intelligible by the agent intellect
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    PerceptionConsciousness & Mind

    Related

    A disanalogy requires that the enabling condition be structurally alien to the f...Aquinas in De Anima commentary argues the agent intellect is internal to the sou...If even physical vision depends on an enabling condition outside the object itse...In Aristotelian optics, vision requires an external medium (the transparent) to ...
    +3 moreShow less
    In vision, the visible object is visible in itself without requiring an external...The quiddity in the sensory representation is not intelligible in itself but mus...Therefore the intelligibility-conferring act of the agent intellect mirrors rath...

    Similar

    It is unclear how far the analogy between vision and audition can legi...79%The intellect is unable to cognize objects outside of itself without B...79%By analogy, Descartes' differential ability to doubt matter but not hi...78%The intellect is the likeness of the universe of beings not by its act...77%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: simon-faversham
    View source passageHide passage
    The agent intellect endows the quiddity with intelligibility: through its act of abstraction it makes universal and immaterial the material and particular quiddity in the sensory representation (In De an.: q.12 and q.16). Simon, however, wavers between different descriptions of the act of abstraction. On one hand, he describes it as similar to the act of illumination, so that just as light enables the eye to see and the visible object to be seen, so the agent intellect enables the possible intel
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit