First Decade, Chapter Seven
On the cognition of separated souls, concerning which four little questions will be resolved
Question One
Whether a separated soul knows itself, and how
It is asked whether separated souls, wherever they may be, know themselves, and concerning the manner in which they know themselves.
In answer to this, three things must be said.
First, separated souls, according to what the faith holds, know separated substances—that is, angels and demons—to whose society they are assigned. For it does not seem probable that the souls of the damned are ignorant of the demons to whose society they are assigned and who are said to be terrible in appearance to souls. And it is much less probable that the souls of the good are ignorant of the angels in whose society they rejoice.
Second, it must be said that separated souls, wherever they may be, know one another.
Gregory proves this from the Lord’s words in Luke 16, around the middle of Book IV of the Dialogues, where he says that the good know the evil. For Abraham and Lazarus, who were good, knew the rich banqueter. If they had not known him when he was placed in torments, they would by no means have said that he had received his good things in his life.
Likewise, the evil know the good. For the rich man prays, saying by name: “Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water.”
Likewise, the good know the good, for Abraham knew Lazarus.
Likewise, the evil know the evil. For the evil rich man would have known his evil brothers if they had descended into hell.
Likewise, the good know those whom they never saw in life. For Abraham knew Lazarus and the rich man, whom he had never seen in this life.
Third, something must be said concerning the manner in which souls know themselves.
To this it is said that, while the soul is united to the body, it understands through corporeal sensible things. For one who understands must contemplate phantasms,” according to Book III On the Soul.
But when it is separated from the body, it understands not by turning toward phantasms. For the soul’s act of understanding is corrupted when something interior is corrupted, namely through death, according to Book III On the Soul. Rather, it understands by turning toward those things which are simply intelligible, just as do other substances separated from a body.
Thus it understands those things outside itself which it never knew, not through innate species, through species which it then abstracts, through conserved species, through its own essence, or through the essence of the things understood, but through species participated from the influence of the divine majesty, of which the soul is made a participant just as are the other separated substances, although in an inferior manner.
Hence, when its turning toward the body ceases, the soul turns itself toward higher things, holding its gaze erect toward superior substances so that it may know from their influence.
And because it is common to every intelligible substance to know its own essence, and through the intuition of its own proper essence to know the essence of those things in which there is a likeness of itself, therefore the separated soul, by directly beholding its essence, perfectly knows other souls, since souls participate in the same manner of being because they are of the same species, and consequently possess the same manner of understanding.
It knows angels imperfectly, however, through the intuition of its own essence, since it is the lowest substance in the order of intelligible things.
Therefore it is sufficiently evident that separated souls know themselves through their own essences, perfectly and naturally; but they know angels imperfectly through likenesses divinely impressed upon them, because souls are by nature inferior to angels, as has been said.
Understand that the things we have said concern natural cognition, because the account of the cognition of glory is different.
These things are from Thomas, Part I, question 87, and the disputed questions On the Soul.