Necessity
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Necessity, in a general way, denotes a strict connection between different beings, or the different elements of a being, or between a being and its existence. It is therefore a primary and fundamental notion, and it is important to determine its various meanings and applications in
philosophy
and
theology
.
In
Logic
, the
Schoolmen
, studying the mutual relations of concepts which form the matter of our judgments, divided the judgments or propositions into judgments in necessary matter (
in materia necessaria
), and judgments in contingent matter (
in materia contingenti
). (Cf. S. Thom., I Perihermen, lect. xiii.) The judgments in necessary matter were known as
propositiones per se
; they are called by modern
philosophers
"analytic", "rational", "pure", or "a priori" judgments. The
propositio per se
is defined by the
Schoolmen
as one the predicate of which is either a constitutive element or a natural
property
of the subject. Such is the case with primary
truths
, metaphysical, and mathematical principles. (Cf. S. Thom., "in I Anal.", lect. x and xxxv; "de Anima", II, lect. xiv.) It is by ignoring the last part of this definition and arbitrarily restricting the concept of analytic judgments to those of which the predicate is a constitutive element of the subject, that
Kant
invented the
false
notion of synthetic-
a priori
judgments.
Considered under its metaphysical aspect, being in its relation to existence is divided into necessary and contingent. A necessary being is one of which the existence is included in and identical with its very essence. The different beings which we observe in our daily experience are subject to beginning, to change, to perfection, and to destruction; existence is not essential to them and they have not in themselves the reason of their existence; they are contingent. Their existence comes to them from an external efficient cause. It is from the real existence of contingent beings that we arrive at the notion and prove the existence of a necessary being-one that produces them but is not produced, one whose existence is its own essence and nature, that is at the same time eternal, all-perfect,
infinite
, viz.,
God
(see CONTINGENCY). And so in relation to existence,
God
alone is absolutely necessary, all others are contingent.
When we consider the divers beings, not from the point of view of existence, but in relation to their constitution and activity, necessity may be classified as
metaphysical, physical
, and
moral.
- Metaphysical necessity
implies that a thing is what it is, viz., it has the elements essential to its specific nature. It is a metaphysical necessity for
God
to be
infinite
, man rational, an animal a living being. Metaphysical necessity is absolute.
- Physical necessity
exists in connection with the activity of the material beings which constitute the
universe
. While they are contingent as to their existence, contingent also as to their actual relations (for
God
could have created another order than the present one), they are, however, necessarily determined in their activity, both as to its exercises and its specific character. But this determination is dependent upon certain conditions, the presence of which is required, the absence of one or the other of them preventing altogether the exercise or normal exercise of this activity. The
laws
of nature should always be understood with that limitation: all conditions being realized. The
laws
of nature, therefore, being subject to physical necessity are neither absolutely necessary, as materialistic Mechanism asserts, nor merely contingent, as the partisans of the philosophy of contingency declare; but they are conditionally or hypothetically necessary. This hypothetical necessity is also called by some
consequent necessity.
- Moral necessity
is necessity as applied to the activity of free beings. We
know
that men under certain circumstances, although they are free, will act in such and such a way. It is morally necessary that such a man in such circumstances act honestly; it is morally necessary that several historians, relating certain facts, should tell the
truth
concerning them. This moral necessity is the basis of moral certitude in historical and moral
sciences
. The term is also used with reference to freedom of the will to denote any undue physical or moral influence that might prevent the will from freely choosing to act or not act, to choose one thing in preference to another. The derivatives, necessitation and necessarianism, in their
philosophical
signification express the
doctrine
that the will in all its activity is invariably determined by physical or psychical antecedent conditions (see
DETERMINISM
;
FREE WILL
).
In
theology
the notion of necessity is sometimes applied with special meaning.
Theologians
divide necessity into
absolute
and
moral.
A thing is said to be absolutely necessary when without it a certain end cannot possibly be reached. Thus revelation is absolutely necessary for man to
know
the mysteries of
faith
, and grace to perform any
supernatural
act. Something is said to be morally necessary when a certain end could, absolutely speaking, be reached without it, but cannot actually and properly be reached without it, under existing conditions. Thus, we may say that, absolutely speaking, man as such is able to
know
all the
truths
of the natural order or to observe all the
precepts
of the
natural law
; but considering the concrete circumstances of
human
life
in the present order, men as a whole cannot actually do so without revelation or grace. Revelation and grace are morally necessary to man to
know
sufficiently all the
truths
of the
natural law
(cf.
Summa Theologica, I:1:1
; "Contra Gentil.", I, iv).
Again, in relation to the means necessary to
salvation
theologians
divide necessity into
necessity of means
and
necessity of precept.
In the first case the means is so necessary to
salvation
that without it (absolute necessity) or its substitute (relative necessity), even if the omission is guiltless, the end cannot be reached. Thus
faith
and
baptism
of water are necessary by a necessity of means, the former absolutely, the latter relatively, for
salvation
. In the second case, necessity is based on a positive precept, commanding something the omission of which, unless culpable, does not absolutely prevent the reaching of the end.
Sources
MERCIER, Ontologie (Louvain, 1902), ii, 3; RICKABY, First Principles of Knowledge (London, 1902), I, v; IDEM, General Metaphysics (London, 1901), I, iv.
About this page
APA citation.
Sauvage, G.
(1911).
Necessity.
In
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10733a.htm
MLA citation.
Sauvage, George.
"Necessity."
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Vol. 10.
New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1911.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10733a.htm>.
Transcription.
This article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael T. Barrett.
Dedicated to Carmen Schmitz.
Ecclesiastical approbation.
Nihil Obstat.
October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.
Imprimatur.
+John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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