Human intellect

Introduction Signs of intelligence in animals surprise us precisely because they arenot expected Intelligence as essential characteristic of abstraction and generalisation Man can explain expressions of intelligent actions through language

Brain The relationship between brain and the mind(intellect) is that of a physical organ at the service of spiritual power The brain is a biological machine, pre-programmed from conception in the genetic code. It serves as the control center for all physical, cognitive and emotional activities and spontaneous activities in the body

Independence of the mind Once the abstraction of the image is over, the mind can then function independently of the brain in the subsequent operations of judging and reasoning The mind is the rational part of a person while the brain is the physical or biological component.

Characteristics of a rational being Can think Can make personal decisions Somaticity- thinking being with a body Transcended Spirituality

Object of the intellect Truth is something principally attributed to judgements of our understanding Reality is the validating factor in truth Intellect enables one to understand reality, and the more the grasp of reality the more intelligent is the person

What is intellect Latin word intus-legere meaning to read into The intellect reads into the nature of things and ask what is this. Its is only humans who are capable of asking and seek to know the nature of things because they are intelligent beings

Proof for existence of intellectual knowledge Man has ideas of goodness, of virtue, sport, work, society which do not refer to anything material or concrete but something universal and abstract . Capacity to judge and reason (we get science whereby man knows how to coordinate his knowledge in systematic form)

Origin of intellective knowledge What is the source which generates ideas, makes judgments, reasons and orders groups of knowledge in our minds? Platonics- Received from superior source Aristotelians and kantians- fruit of action of human intellect

Process of understanding Thought begins as an act and remains and grows as a habit The thought process takes places in three levels Abstraction Judgement Reasoning

Abstraction It is the formation of concepts of ideas. Concepts are devoid of any materiality Numbers are abstract concepts Language is an expression of concepts and not the other way round

Application of concepts Universally- all men Particularity – these or some men Singularly – this man

Judgement In a judgement we compose or divide according to the real union of things and we affirm something is or isnot A judgement is noted by a subject and predicate We combine concepts

Reasoning It is the movement of the mind whereby starting with several judgements which we relate to one another, we arrive at a new judgement which necessarily follows from the preceding ones eg through syllogism

Knowledge In the act of understanding there is a certain possession of the known (the object) by the senses and the mind Knowledge is the possession of the known by the knower

Sensitive knowledge Is the knowledge of the senses My eyes possess color Each of the senses possess some knowledge

Conceptual knowledge Concept- interior representation of the thing/being and is possessed in the mind In this knowlegde idea is formed Idea- is an interior sign-word – of the being experinced Intelligence- the capacity to produce ideas

Reflexive knowledge (consciousness) Man is the only being who knows and can know that he knows. Man is aware about the thought process Reflexive is a way of attaining truth

What is truth? At the end of the thinking process truth is formed. The main aim of thinking is to know truth.

What is this?

Definition Truth is the conformance of the mind with reality-the beginning point of the reflexive process is reality. Truth expresses reality faithfully (Alvira, Clavell, & Melendo, 1982, p. 151).

Types of truth In the definition of truth, there is truth in the mind (logical truth) and reality (ontological truth).

Logical truth /rational The conformity of the intellect to things, conforming itself to that which they are, is logical truth or truth of the mind, for which we say that the mind is true. The logical truth in my mind agrees with reality

Ontological truth/in reality Ontological truth is the conformity of some beings to some intelligence. It is important to state that this type of truth does not depend on the fact that they be known. It should conform to the mind of the creator. The truth of the beauty of the Mona Lisa is fully known by its painter-its creator. Thus the painting, ontologically, needs to conform to the mind of the originator. Ontological truth is truth outside the subject, i.e. objective truth.

Immateriality of the intellect The actions which my mind performs are not material. The process of abstraction, judgment and reasoning are not physical actions. The thinking process is limitless. One cannot reach the end of thinking, neither can one say he knows enough and the mind is full of concepts

Immateriality of the intellect The perceived object is immaterial (nature of object) Can deny things it perceives – through reflection

The mind understands the intelligible aspects of being, the nature of beings. Apart from its limitless nature, the development of the mind is continuous and does not have any limit. The mind, as a rational faculty, can deny things that it perceives

Intelligence quotient IQ Intelligence quotient refers to the capacity of an individual to abstract and read into the nature of things, including his ability to analyze ideas.

Emotional intelligence Refers to competence to identify and express emotions , understand emotions, assimilate emotions in thought and regulate both positive and negative emotions in the self and others Roles- think in the right way - understand others, reason with others, network with others

A person with emotional intelligence is able not only to think in the right way, but is able to understand others (empathetic), can feel what they feel, can reason with others and can use this in making decisions which are mutually beneficial to all.

Emotional intelligence entails four aspects: i) identification of emotions ii) reflection on these emotions and how they impact thinking and relating with others iii) monitoring emotions iv) management of emotions through appraisal and expression of emotions in the right way.

Trends about truth People who tend to relativize truth can say that truth is an individual matter (liberalism), truth depends on what society defines truth to be (social constructivism), truth depends on the structures (structuralism) or truth comes from within and the categories I have (immanentism).

Current trends on truth and its objectivity Debate since Rene Descartes ‘ i think therefore i am’ Truth as a fad which changes with time Truth as social construct Truth as individual take

How we error Truth is what it is Error takes place in the perception of what a being is, and not in reality- nature of a being One can make an error in mind but nature remains what it is The nature of things should be the basis for objectivity and deciding the correctness of things