TRANSCENDENTALIJŲ TEORIJOS METMENYS TOMO AKVINIEČIO METAFIZIKOJE
An Outline of Transcendental Concepts Theory in Thomas Aquinas' Metaphysics

Summary/Abstract: In this article, the outline of Aquinas' theory of transcendental concepts is considered. The analysis focuses on the first article of the first question De veritate from the Quaestiones disputatae. It shows that on the basis of relations of being and by means of additional meanings, Aquinas distinguishes concepts of unlimited extension, which signify the universal ways (or aspects) of being. Concepts of a being, thing and one are based on the internal relations of form and the corresponding being of a being. Something, good and truth are based on external relations of beings. Of these three transcendental concepts, the first indicates the separateness of a being from other beings, the rest signifies the correspondence. The latter is possible on condition that a special being, which in a sense is everything, exists. Texts from De ente et essentia and Summa Theologiae are used as an auxiliary: from De ente in order to show the distinction between the separated (substantial) way of being and universal (transcendental) way of being; from Summa in order to explicate the transcendental nature of beauty. At the end, the article touches on the complicated question concerning the value of transcendental concepts.

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