%0 Journal Article
%T How can Being be Limited?: W. Norris Clarke on Thomas¡¯s ¡°Limitation of Act by Potency¡±
%A Sarah Borden Sharkey
%J The Saint Anselm Journal
%D 2009
%I Institute for Saint Anselm Studies
%X Fr. Norris Clarke's 1952 paper on Thomas Aquinas's limitation of act by potency continues to be one of his key interpretive papers on Thomas. It articulates Thomas's position on being as a synthesis of the Neoplatonic and Aristotelian traditions, and gives a strong reading of the centrality of the act of existence in Thomistic metaphysics. Central to the account is Clarke's commitment to a 'thin essence' view, where essence is understood simply as potencies limiting act. Precisely what it means, however, for potencies (that is, a particular kind of non-being) to do anything is less than fully clear. This paper attempts to clarify Clarke's position by comparing it with Stein's alternative understanding of essential being¡ªin contrast to Thomistic potencies¡ªas limiting actual being.
%K Thomas Aquinas
%K being
%K existential Thomism
%K metaphysics
%K Neoplatonism
%U http://www.anselm.edu/Documents/Institute%20for%20Saint%20Anselm%20Studies/7.1BordenSharkey.pdf