Mowa i komunikacja substancji duchowych według Tomasza z Akwinu

The purpose of the article is to show the concept of speech and communication in spiritual substances. The point of reference is the texts of Thomas Aquinas. This medieval author developed his own concept of spiritual substances (immaterial nature), and consequently also developed a model of communication between them. In the article, attention is focused on analyzing excerpts from Commentary on Sentences, Disputed questions on truth, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians and Summa of Theology. Speech (locutio) in spiritual substances is the act of presenting, manifesting intellectual cognition to other spiritual substances. It can have two forms, ordinary speech and illumination. Spiritual substances do not have access to cognitive forms, to the inner words of the intellect other spiritual substances. The only cause of making cognition available is the will (voluntas). For this reason, the speech of the angels does not require the formulation of an additional sign to enable communication between spiritual substances (nutus), since an act of will is sufficient for this, assigning (ordinatio) the cognition of one angel to another. Communication between spiritual substances takes place by the power of the cognitive form found in their intellect (verbum). This form becomes the model for the word, which is also called the „word of the heart” assigned (directed) to other spiritual substances.