| Disambiguation |
In Ethica, posse, potest is used in 2 senses, dealt with on
2
different notes pages. 1. Posse, potentia, potestas. Being with the range of some thing's power or ability. Dealt with on this page. 2. Posse, possibile. Being a logical possibility. See: 4d04 posse, possibile |
| Forms | posse, potest, potentia, potestas, actu |
| Meaning | Power, ability. Every
thing (res)
has power (cf. {3p06} and {3p28} quoted below). Negative of function:
impotentia, imbecillitas.
The actu^potentia distinction is between things in
action (strictly, in
Ethica's terms: in operation),
that is engaged in dynamic processes of change), and, on the other hand,
not concentrating on any particular process in
time ("duration"),
things in potentia,
not considering what they what they do in a certain point
in time but by what they are generally capable of, all
they can do, that is, by how and to
what extent they are capable of affecting
the operation of
other things in different circumstances. The distinction strongly
resembles (though they are historically only deviously related) to
Newton's distinction between potential and kinetic energy. "Non potest"
can only have sense 1 (power/ability) when referring to comparative
difference (stronger/weaker). Posse Potentia (sense 1) presupposes possibility (sense 2): "thing A is capable to something" means [mng eqv] "it is possible for that thing to do it". However, at loci NOT dealing with actions or operations (e.g. "in Euclidian geometry a triangle cannot cut a a circle at more than six points"), "potest" can NOT mean "potentia", thus at such loci "potest" definitely refers to possibility. But "concipere", "intelligere" are actions, and yet "non posse concipere/intelligere" surely is NO impotentia: the fresh insight into this "can not" even increases the adequacy of your knowledge, hence your "potentia", thus at such loci "potest" definitely refers to an impossibility. |
| Subsets (kinds) |
agendi potentia "corporis agendi potentia" "cogitandi potentia" actu existens |
| Mantras [what is] | coerceri potest "conatur [and other verbs] quantum potest". A thing's power has limits: 4p70s Dico quantum potest |
| Related concepts |
{4d08 virtus} pp3p06 conatus pp2p44 ratiocinare, ratio pp1d01 natura |
| Occurrence | [geomap] |
| NOT Linked |
"essentia actualis", a mantra, simply means "essentia" |
| 1p08s2 modificationum non existentium ... in non existant actu extra intellectum, the substring extra intellectum is redundant ... | |
| ... we may have true ideas of non-existent modifications [Lat: affectiones]; for, although they may have no actual existence apart from the conceiving intellect, yet their essence is so involved in something external to themselves that they may through it be conceived ... | ... modificationum non existentium veras ideas possumus [sense 2] habere quandoquidem quamvis non existant actu extra intellectum, earum tamen essentia ita in alio comprehenditur ut per idem concipi possint [sense 2] ... |
| {1p31 Intellectus naturatam naturantem} ... actu used in informal definition of intellect ... | |
| ... intellect in function, whether finite or infinite ... | ... Intellectus actu sive [excl exh] is finitus sit sive [excl exh] infinitus ... |
| ... By the intellect we (obviously) do not mean absolute thought, but only a certain mode of thinking, differing from other modes, such as love, desire, &c., and therefore ... requiring to be conceived through absolute thought ... | ... Per intellectum enim (ut per se notum) non intelligimus absolutam cogitationem sed certum tantum modum cogitandi, qui modus ab aliis scilicet cupiditate, amore, etc. differt adeoque ... per absolutam cogitationem concipi debet ... |
| 1p31s intellectu actu potentia ... potentia in the sense of actu^potentia ... | |
| ... ..I do not ... by speaking of intellect in function, admit that there is such a thing as intellect in potentiality: but, wishing to avoid all confusion, I desire to speak only of what is most clearly perceived by us, namely, of the very act of understanding [Lat no actio but: "de ipsa scilicet intellectione " BH], than which nothing is more clearly perceived. For we cannot perceive anything without adding to our knowledge of the act of understanding. | Ratio ... loquar de intellectu actu non est quia concedo ullum dari intellectum potentia sed quia omnem confusionem vitare cupio, nolui loqui nisi de re nobis quam clarissime percepta, de ipsa scilicet intellectione qua nihil nobis clarius percipitur. Nihil enim intelligere possumus quod ad perfectiorem intellectionis cognitionem non conducat. |
| 1p33s2 perfectissima ... a concession by all philosophers I have read.. | |
| ... all the philosophers whom I have read admit that God's intellect is entirely actual, and not at all potential; as they also admit that God's intellect, and God's will, and God's essence are identical ... | ... omnes quos vidi philosophi concedunt nullum in Deo dari intellectum potentia sed tantum actu; cum autem et ejus intellectus et ejus voluntas ab ejusdem essentia non distinguantur ut etiam omnes concedunt ... |
| {2p11 mentis humanae} ... Emphatical use ... | |
| ... the actual being of the human mind, is the idea of some particular thing actually existing. | ... actuale mentis ... esse ... idea rei alicujus singularis actu existentis. |
| {3p06 Unaquque in suo perseverare conatur} ... everything has conatus - which is potentia (see quotes of {3p28} below) ... | |
| ... Everything, in so far as it is in itself, endeavours to persist in its own being. | ... Unaquque res quantum in se est, in suo esse perseverare conatur. |
| Equivalence claims involving potentia^actu, potestas, posse | ||
| {1d02} [notes] | 1. finite in its kind 2, That thing which can be limited by another thing of the same nature. | 1. in suo genere finita 2. [Ea res] quae alia ejusdem naturae terminari potest. |
| {2p17} | [the human mind contemplates the external body as ... ] 1. actually existing 2. present to itself | [mens humana corpus externum contemplabitur ut ... ] 1. actu existens 2. sibi praesens |
| {2p45} | 1. body 2. singular thing in the actual state of existing | 1. corporis 2. rei singularis actu existentis |
| {3d03} [notes] | [About the human body] 1. [corporeal BH] emotion 2. the affections of the body, whereby the active power of the said body is increased or diminished, aided or constrained | [De corpori humani] 1. affectum [affectus-corpus] 2. corporis affectiones quibus ipsius corporis agendi potentia augetur vel [excl non-exh] minuitur, juvatur vel [excl non-exh] coercetur |
| {3d03} [notes] | [About the human mind] 1.
[mental BH]
emotion 2. the ideas of the affections of the body,
whereby the active power of the said body is increased or diminished,
aided or constrained |
[De menti humani] 1. affectum [affectus-mens] 2. ideas corporis affection[um] quibus ipsius corporis agendi potentia augetur vel [excl non-exh] minuitur, juvatur vel [excl non-exh] coercetur |
| {3p05} | [About things] 1. agree together 2. can co-exist in the same object | [De rei] 1. inter se convenire 2. in eodem subjecto simul esse possent |
| {3p06} | [About contrary things] 1. it can be destroyed 2. can take away its existence | [ |
|
{3p07} and elswhere |
1. power 2. endeavour | 1. potentia 2. conatus |
| {3p07} | [About res] 1. wherefore the power of any given thing 2. the endeavour whereby, either alone or with other things, it acts, or endeavours to act 3. the power or endeavour, wherewith it endeavours to persist in its own being, 4. the given or actual essence of the thing in question. | [De rei] 1.quare cujuscunque rei potentia 2. conatus quo ipsa vel [excl exh] sola vel [excl exh] cum aliis quidquam agit vel [non-excl non-exh] agere conatur 3. potentia sive [mng eqv] conatus quo in suo esse perseverare conatur 4. ipsius rei datam sive [mng eqv] actualem essentiam. |
| {3p07} | [About res] 1. the given [essence] 2. the actual essence | [De rei] 1. datam [essentiam] 2. actualem essentiam |
| {3p28} | [Contemplating a thing as] 1. present 2. actually existing | [Contemplare res ut] 1. praesens 2. actu existens |
| {3p28} | [About the mind] 1. endeavour 2. power of thinking | [De menti] 1. conatus 2. potentia in cogitando |
| {3p28} | [About the human body] 1. endeavour 2. power to act | [De corpori humani] 1. conatu 2. potentia in agendo |
|
{3p54} and elsewhere |
1. endeavour 2. power | 1. conatus 2. potentia |
| {3p55} | 1. The essence of the mind only affirms that which the mind is, or can do 2. it is the mind's nature to imagine only such things as assert its power of activity | 1. Mentis essentia id tantum quod mens est et potest, affirmat 2. de natura mentis est ea tantummodo imaginari quae ipsius agendi potentiam ponunt |
| {3p55c2}and elsewhere | 1. power to act 2. endeavour | 1. agendi potentia 2. conatus |
| {3p55c2} | 1. power to act 2. endeavour | 1. agendi potentiam 2. virtutem |
| {3de25} | 1. Self-approval 2. pleasure arising from a man's contemplation of himself and his own power of action. | 1.Acquiescentia in se ipso 2. laetitia orta ex eo quod homo se ipsum suamque agendi potentiam contemplatur. |
| {3de26} | 1. Humility 2. pain arising from a man's contemplation of his own weakness of body or mind. | 1. Humilitas 2. tristitia orta ex eo quod homo suam impotentiam sive [mng eqv] imbecillitatem contemplatur. |
| {3de26} | 1. weakness of body 2. weakness of mind | 1. impotentiam 2. imbecillitatem |
|
{4d08}
[notes defective] |
1. virtue 2. power 2. a man's nature or essence, in so far as it has the power of effecting what can only be understood by the laws of that nature. | 1. virtutem 2. potentiam 3. ipsa hominis essentia seu [mng eqv] natura quatenus potestatem habet quaedam efficiendi quae per solas ipsius naturae leges possunt intelligi. |
| {4p35c2} | [About people] 1. seeks what is useful to him 2. endeavours to preserve himself 3. endowed with virtue 4. endowed with power to act according to the laws of his own nature 5. live in obedience to reason. | [De hominum] 1. utile quaerit 2. se conservare conatur 3. virtute praeditus [est] 4. potentia praeditus est ad agendum ex suae naturae legibus 5. [potentia praeditus est ad] vivendum ex ductu rationis |
| {4p52} | [About people] 1. power to act 2. virtue 3. reason | [De hominum] 1. agendi potentia 2. virtus 3. ratio |
| {4p53} | 1. understands himself 2. his power of activity is aided. | 1. se intelligit 2. ipsius agendi potentia juvatur. |
| {4p54} | [About people] 1. wretched 2. infirm | [About people] [De hominum] 1. miser 2. impotens |
| {4p60} | 1. force 2. power | 1. vim 2. potentiam |
| {4p61} | 1. human nature considered in itself alone would be able to exceed itself 2. would be able to do more than it can | 1. posset ergo humana natura in se sola considerata se ipsam excedere 2. plus posset quam potest |
| {5p06} | [About the mind] 1. has greater power over the emotions 2. is less subject thereto | [De menti] 1. majorem in affectus potentiam habet 2. minus ab iisdem patitur |
| {5p25} | 1. [the mind's highest] virtue 2 ... power ... 3 ... nature ... 4. ... endeavour ... 5. understand things by the third kind of knowledge. | 1. summa mentis virtus 2. [summa] mentis potentia. 3. [summa mentis] natura 4. summus conatus 5. res intelligere tertio cognitionis genere |