SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON ABSTRACTION AS THE BASIS OF THE DIVI- SION OF SPECULATIVE SCIENCES IN AQUINAS’ COMMENTARY ON BOE- THIUS’ DE TRINITATE: ONTOLOGISM VS EPISTEMOLOGY?

Abstract

Since the middle of the twentieth century, discussions on the criterion for the division of the speculative sciences according to Thomas Aquinas have centered their attention on the interpretation of the fifth question of his commentary on Boethius’ De Trinitate. There, in the third article, the friar enumerates a threefold way in which the intellect can distinguish, which is related to the tripartition of the speculative sciences presented by Aristotle and assumed by Boethius. Some authors consider this passage as the introduction of an epistemological criterion of division that would oppose the ontological criterion proposed by the Roman philosopher. This would mean that, while for the latter the degrees of immateriality would correspond to the things considered themselves, for Aquinas the degrees of immateriality (particularly those of the physical and mathematical sciences) would be objective and determined by the type of intellectual consideration. In view of this, this paper will review the famous commentary of Aquinas in order to determine whether such interpretations are correct. The thesis we hope to prove is that, beyond the introduction of intellectual operations, the immateriality of scientific objects continues to depend fundamentally on the nature of the thing considered and not on the way of consideration.