MENDOZA, Elizabeth C.

FINAL EXAMINATIONS
Fr. Ernie Arceo, OP, Ph.D.

1. In relation to Aquinas’ claim on the principle that matter and form is proportionate, this
would have to mean that the soul started living at the same moment of conception or
fertilization. The body and the soul was birthed at the same time. Life started at this moment
of infusion. The material aspect of a person comes from his or her human parents while the
soul came from God. Furthermore, the dignity and the soul of a person remains the same
from the time of conception until it dies. Therefore, killing a 30 year old man is just the
same as killing a fetus because they have the same value of dignity and soul. There is no
difference between the severity of the two cases.
In addition to that, there is a hierarchy among beings which means that there are less perfect
and more perfect beings. It is said that humans have the highest prime matter and therefore
has the most dignity. And the corruption of the best is the worst. Killing a human is the
worst sin compared to killing other lesser beings. Existence is the most vital part of any
living being and removing it from a being is the greatest disgrace. Moreover, we also talked
about how abortion is the greatest discrimination in our age today because one kills not
only a human with a highest prime matter but also, one kills a defenseless human. A human
who, although has the instinct of self- preservation, does not yet have the capacity to do so.

2. According to my understanding, based on the principles established by Aquinas, he would

be against death penalty if he was alive by now. Again, his existence is the core of man. In
a way, it is what gives him value. It is his most important possession which is why people
and all other living being has the instinct of self preservation because existence is the first
thing one must prioritize to preserve. Which is why in our discussion, we talked about how
a live rat is better than a dead lion. Being is always better than nothing which could explain
why God permit children with abnormalities to have soul. Furthermore, annihilation or any
kind of murder is wrong because it would mean that God made a mistake in giving life to
one human. Death penalty is removing the decision away from to God’s hands and putting
in it man’s. Also, God is a balance between justice and mercy. Death penalty caters to
justice alone. Furthermore, God’s mercy is exclusive only to humans and not angels
because mercy is for those capable of repentance after reflection and angels, being spiritual
beings who have not experienced worldly suffering, does not have the grounds needed for
repentance. I would also like to add again the notion that since the human body is the most
dignified body, the corruption of it is the worst.
However, to try to contradict this claim, if one would base on the biblical scriptures, it was
also said that one should prevent a person from sinning at all cost. If he is a thief, better cut
his hand. If his eyes sin, better gauge it out. Death penalty, in a way, not only preserves the
safety of the majority, but also prevents the murderer from committing worse sins upon
other people.
3. Since Aquinas supports the guided evolution, he then believes that the body and the soul
are proportional. The human person’s basis of his dignity is his subject, agent, and
substance, all of which are not accidental development which means that these are defined
by God himself. The soul was from God himself thus it is not subject to accidental actions.
The actions belong to the person but not to the soul. Therefore, the dignity of the soul
remains the same and unaffected whatever crimes the person commits. The person, despite
his soul coming from God, still has his physical aspects that is subject to making mistakes
because of his mortal freedom. The soul and the body are united but they are not the same.
The body is imperfect because of his freedom to be in the world and is therefore prone to
mistakes which are against the nature of God. However, the soul which was directly from
God, has a constant dignity that a person gets to keep forever no matter the sins his physical
body has committed.

4. If one will base on Aquinas’ teaching, the most acceptable evolution is the guided
evolution. Guided evolution claims that a being evolves from a less perfect to a more
perfect being. Moreover, during this process of evolving, there is a higher power that guides
it. God is able to guide evolution through his power. The guided evolution contradicts many
other theories such as traducianism which claims that the soul of a child came from both
the soul of the parents. This cannot be since the soul cannot be divided to form another
soul. Transformism directly negates guided evolution as transformism claims that the soul
transforms by its own power. In addition to that, fixism is an evolution theory that claims
that there had been no evolution at all. All species are as they are from the start.
Materialistic and spontaneous evolution on the other hand contradicts guided evolution in
the way that they believe that evolution happened without a higher being overlooking or
guiding it. Although they share the same claim of the ascending movement of evolution.
In guided evolution, when an animal dies, it is reduced to its prime matter and this prime
matter cannot exist in itself.