Chapter 2
The Intellect As A Power
510. The human spirit intuits indeterminate-ideal being by nature. Such intuition constitutes not a human power or capacity but an act essential to the spirit. It is the intellect in so far as the intellect constitutes an element of human nature.
But if ideal being, present naturally to the human spirit, then acquires some relationship with the real world by means of sensations, the intellect in turn intuits ideal being furnished with some determinations. This new intellective act is that to which intellect is said to be in potency. In this sense we can speak of the power of intellect.(214) The intellect considered as a power will be understood better if we compare it with the other power of reason.
Notes
(214) The distinction we have indicated between the intellect as constituting human nature and the intellect considered as power seems to be noted by St. Thomas who says: `The intellect can be considered in two ways: as apprehending being and universal truth, and as some particular thing and power with its own particular act' (S.T., I, q. 82, art. 4, ad 1).