A Plea to Study Metaphysics

Photo by Zhifei Zhou on Unsplash

Wisdom was created before all things, and prudent understanding from eternity.

Sirach 1:4

How important is an understanding of metaphysics for Catholics, but especially catechists? Here is one example.

The problem with the materialist world view is that it does not comport with our experiences. A theory asserting that a clump of atoms randomly assorted themselves into Socrates does not account for the individual and personal memories of Socrates. Neither does it account for personal responsibility, since atoms have neither conscience nor a system of morality. Finally, the materialist view cannot account for the unity of the individual across numerous changes, since each new assortment of atoms would be a completely new being. It would be impossible, then, for societies to form and associations to be made.

Quantity as an accident inhering in substances can be seen in the various quantities in a human being. For example, there is one human being with one head, two eyes, two ears, one mouth, two arms and two legs, two hands, two feet, ten fingers and ten toes. Forty-six chromosomes contain the genetic code of a human being. Quantity understood in this way, corresponding with the purpose of accidents according to St. Thomas Aquinas, delimits human beings from each other. Understood in the materialist world view, quantity is more or less meaningless, since the number of atoms necessary to make one human being is random.

Hence, the reason we, as Catholics, are not materialists. If we cannot understand the fallacies of the various philosophies current within our culture today, we stand very little chance of resisting their seeming allure and we certainly render ourselves incapable of educating cynical millennials and their parents in the faith.