Of God and His Creatures

That Intelligences subsisting apart know Material Things, that is to say, the Species of Things Corporeal

SINCE the mind of these intelligences is perfect with all natural endowments,* as being wholly actualised, it must comprehend its object, which is intelligible being, under all its aspects. Now under intelligible being are included the species also of things corporeal.

2. Since the species of things are distinguished like the species of numbers,* whatever is in the lower species must be contained somehow in the higher, as the larger number contains the smaller. Since then separately subsistent intelligences rank higher than corporeal substances, all properties that in a material way are in corporeal substances must be in these separately subsistent intelligences in an intelligible and spiritual way: for what is in a thing is in it according to the mode of the thing in which it is.*


2.98 : How one Separately Subsisting Intelligence knows another
2.100 : That Intelligences Subsisting apart know Individual Things