Autor: Lonergan, Bernard J.F.

Buch: The Ontological and Psychological Constitution of Christ

Titel: The Ontological and Psychological Constitution of Christ

Stichwort: Person (Elemente d. Definition); Seiendes, Sein: Umfang: kollektiv, distributiv (im engen und weiten Sinn)

Kurzinhalt: In a stricter sense, being is that which is. Thus God, angels, humans, animals, plants, and minerals are beings in the stricter sense because they themselves are. More broadly speaking, a being is that which is in some way or other related to what is.

Textausschnitt: 5 Denotation of being (eü)

5 Now that we have dealt with the quiddity of being and its intending and intended intention, we must say a word about its extension or denotation.

15/1 With regard to its extension, being is understood either collectively or distributively. Collectively being denotes 'everything'; distributively it denotes 'the total reality of each single thing.' (15; Fs)

Moreover, if being is taken distributively, it can be understood in a stricter or a broader sense. (17; Fs)

16/1 In a stricter sense, being is that which is. Thus God, angels, humans, animals, plants, and minerals are beings in the stricter sense because they themselves are.

More broadly speaking, a being is that which is in some way or other related to what is. Thus the following are called beings in a wider sense: (1) the intrinsic principles of a finite being, (2) accidents, (3) things that are possible, (4) 'beings of reason,' beings that exist only in the mind. None of these is that which itself is, and yet all of these are in some way or other related to what is. For (1) the principles of being do not themselves exist, but something exists through them; (2) accidents do not exist, they inhere, exist-in; (3) possible beings do not exist but can exist; and (4) beings of reason have not a natural but only an intentional act of existence. (17; Fs)