Analogy means that two things are partly the same, partly different in each case: strength of muscles—strength of will.  The universe of existing things is analogous because all things are different yet similar, different in their essence and yet similar in their existence.  Some examples are a table and a chair, similar in that they exist, but different in their essence, or an outlet and a cord, similar in their existence, but different in their essence.

An intrinsic unity (per se) is a unity within a being itself.  It controls all its actions from a single center of activity.  The parts act from a center of unity rather than as related to one another. E.g., the human person acts from its being a single person:  “I”.  An extrinsic unity (per accidens):  a unity kept together by means of extrinsic relations of many existing beings.  This unity is not within the being itself; rather it is a unity between distinct beings.  There are different kinds of extrinsic unities:  1) Relations of common purpose (e.g. an army), 2) Relations of common place (e.g. herd, city), 3) Human artifacts (e.g. chairs, tables, machines).  The rule of thumb to distinguish between the two is whether the parts continue to have the same properties or not outside the unity.

Material reductionism is the view that claims that everything above the lowest level of realities (atoms) are nothing but aggregates of atoms.  So what looks like a single intrinsically unified being is really only an aggregate of atoms.  Hence, things really only have extrinsic unity.

The problem of the one and the many between real existing things is how can one achieve a unified vision of reality as a whole whenever there are many different essences.  There must be both one and many in the reality of existing things because of the points that follow:  1) Every real being is like every other real being insofar as they exist, 2) Every real being is unlike every other insofar as there is this kind and not that kind (belong to a genus/specie), 3) Hence every real being is both like and unlike every other, 4) Like and Unlike are opposites.  Hence, they cannot have their sufficient reason from one common principle or cause, 5) Therefore, there must be two distinct but two correlative principles or causes, 6) These two distinct and correlative causes are existence and essence.  They make up the metaphysical composition of being on the level of existence.

Do a metaphysical analysis of existence and essence.  What are they?  What is their relationship to one another in terms of positive and negative principles, in terms of act and potency?

Existence is not the fact of being but that by which a being in fact exists.  The act of existence is an intrinsic cause of a thing’s existence.  They are two intrinsic principles that are not two beings or things added to each other, are two correlative principles that or causes in things themselves, and they are distinct but inseparable principles of being.  Existence and Essence are also positive and negative principles respectively.  Existence is the positive perfection given to a particular being, and essence limits the act of existence to this kind of being.  In terms of act and potency, existence is act and essence is potency.  Existence is act because it is the perfecting principle in a being making a being actually be and as a being’s intrinsic actuality, it is the source of all presence and action of a being.  Essence is potency because: 1) it is that which is able to take on a given actuality, 2) it is the limiting principle, 3) it is a relative non-being, i.e., non-being in relationship to some actuality.

You would argue from the principle of sufficient reason:  that every being must have a sufficient reason to exist either in itself or in another.

What is metaphysical monism?  Give an example.

Metaphysical monism or Radical Monism is the claim that being is radically one, that there is no diversity or change.  An example is Parmenides’ famous argument that runs thus:  Whatever is, is being.  Now if A and B are both real, and yet different from each other, they must differ by something real.  But then this, too, must be being.  Now it is impossible for two things to differ by what they have in common.  Two things equal to the same thing, being, are equal to each other.  Hence all things must really be one single being.  And since real change implies real difference before and after, there can be no real change either.

We can see that there are certain types of beings in the world yet within those certain types of beings they are all individuals.  Form is what makes the beings that type of being (what makes a gorilla a gorilla) but matter is what makes one being different from another being or one being not another being (one gorilla different from another gorilla or one gorilla not another gorilla).

On the level of essence, matter and form account for the many distinct individuals sharing the same species or essential mode of being.  Matter is a complementary opposite of form, that is the unformed or indeterminate but determinable “raw material” whose nature is to be molded by form.  It is the principle of individuation and the principle of division.  Form is the life principle, what shapes a thing, the unity and the whole of a thing, accounts for a being being of a particular species, its self-organization, the kind of functioning or activity of the being, and the persistence of the being in a change.  Form and matter are positive and negative principles respectively, and in terms of act and potency the form (act) limits the potency of undetermined matter.  

What is the nature of prime matter?  What role does it serve in a metaphysical analysis of matter and form?

The nature of prime matter is that:  1) It is unknowable.  2) It is ungenerated and imperishable.  3) It is pure potency.  4) It does not mean “not something” absolutely.  5) It lies between BEING AND NOTHING (not being which is something, i.e., an entity, and not pure nothing).

What is meant by the principle of individuation?  Designated matter?

Matter as the principle of individuation means it is that out of which something is made into this individual physical being in a kind.  It accounts for individual material characteristics and differences (accounts for this cat not being that cat).  Matter as designated matter is in itself indeterminate but open to being determined at each stage with a specific quantity.

Do a metaphysical analysis of substance and accidents.  What do they mean?  What is their relationship to one another in terms of positive and negative principles, in terms of act and potency?

A substance is that which exists in itself and not in another.  Accidents are those modes of being that exist in a substance.  In positive and negative principles, the principle of limitation is the substance itself:  the substance limits an accident to be the accident of this substance and not that substance and it limits the kind of accidents that a given substance can have.  In terms of act and potency, substance is potency (it is able to take on new actual accidental perfections) and accidents are act (they are actual perfections of a substance).