Active intellectIn medieval philosophy, the active intellect (Latin: intellectus agens; also translated as agent intellect, active intelligence, active reason, or productive intellect) is the formal (morphe) aspect of the intellect (nous), according to the Aristotelian theory of hylomorphism. The nature of the active intellect was a major theme of late classical and medieval philosophy. Various thinkers sought to reconcile their commitment to Aristotle's account of the body and soul to their own theological commitments.
IntellectIn the study of the human mind, intellect is the ability of the human mind to reach correct conclusions about what is true and what is false in reality; and how to solve problems. Translated from the Ancient Greek philosophical concept nous, intellect derived from the Latin intelligere (“to understand”), from which the term intelligence in the French and English languages is also derived. The discussion of intellect can be divided into two areas that concern the relation between intelligence and intellect.
On the SoulOn the Soul (Greek: Περὶ Ψυχῆς, Peri Psychēs; Latin: De Anima) is a major treatise written by Aristotle c. 350 BC. His discussion centres on the kinds of souls possessed by different kinds of living things, distinguished by their different operations. Thus plants have the capacity for nourishment and reproduction, the minimum that must be possessed by any kind of living organism. Lower animals have, in addition, the powers of sense-perception and self-motion (action). Humans have all these as well as intellect.
NousNous, or Greek νοῦς (UKnaʊs, USnuːs), sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, is a concept from classical philosophy for the faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is true or real. Alternative English terms used in philosophy include "understanding" and "mind"; or sometimes "thought" or "reason" (in the sense of that which reasons, not the activity of reasoning). It is also often described as something equivalent to perception except that it works within the mind ("the mind's eye").
Summa TheologicaThe Summa Theologiae or Summa Theologica (), often referred to simply as the Summa, is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Catholic Church, intended to be an instructional guide for theology students, including seminarians and the literate laity. Presenting the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, topics of the Summa follow the following cycle: God; Creation, Man; Man's purpose; Christ; the Sacraments; and back to God.
Islamic philosophyIslamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (philosophy), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and physics; and Kalam (speech), which refers to a rationalist form of Scholastic Islamic theology which includes the schools of Maturidiyah, Ashaira and Mu'tazila.
