Spiritual Subject in de Finance

8/12/2019 Spiritual Subject in de Finance

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In order to delineate the specific difference of man as a spiritual subject, de

Finance begins with an analysis of the varying levels of being (del reale) accordingto the law: Each thing must reveal what it is and what it is worth in its action1.

The first level is that of material being. Seemingly deprived of interiority, itis a relative being that is completely oriented towards the exterior. Its metaphysical

condition is that of spatiality, characteristic of those beings which are innatelyoutside of themselves(fuori di s), possessing almost no axiological value.These considerations, however, do not presume to put into doubt its value on atranscendental level, merely that in this case its value is completely dependent on

its quantity and nothing more. Likewise, the negation of interiority is not to be

interpreted as absolute. In so far as an existing being, having its proper actuality,the individual material exercises an act that is truly its own; still this shadow of

interiority is entirely subordinated to the exteriority. It is a being-for-the-universe

(essere-per-luniverso), unable to act as an agent; rather, it must be activated by thesurrounding environment.

In the next level, a new orientation appears: endowed with a more secure

and intense interiority, living beings impose a certain order upon matter and itsmutation. Its individuality inaugurates a new sense of autonomy. One that is

certainly still dependent upon the totality of the physical word and its laws; yet

these are assumed and directed by a new order. More than an addition to thealready present physical-chemical energies, lifeunites, informs, and orientates

these according to its proper end, becoming, to a certain degree, cause of itself.

Now, as the intensity of interiority increase, so too does the efficiency of its

exterior orientation. On the one hand, the relationship between this inner unity andits end is to be called a tendency, or an appetite: the effort of being to maintain

and develop itself2. With natural appetite, we come upon an elementary form of

intentionality through which the being reaches out to that which is valuable in so

far as it fills an emptiness, the absence of desired perfection. On the other hand, inthe fact that they are capable of generation, livings beings exhibit a superior form

of transitivity which not only exercises an exterior effect (as possible in the case of

the mineral beings), but one that is in addition fruit of an interior exercise. Thegreater distinction between interiority and exteriority, in turn, forces us to

1De Finance J., Saggio sullagire umano, cit., p. 217: Ogni cosa deve, nel suo agire, rivelare

ciche e ciche vale.219


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recognize that there is more to know that what it is hic et nunc, and within we see a

sort of imitation of what will become characteristic of the spirit: a projectofitself [that goes] beyond itself3.

In the level that follows, the characteristics of immanence and autonomy areunderstood on completely superior level when applied to the sensibile

consciousness, the best defining characteristic of animality. The immanent anddirecting idea (idea immanente e direttrice) of the animal no longer merely informs

its material structure, diffusing its presents throughout; it rather distances itselfinteriorly from it, becoming both freer and more domineering, that is, more cause

of its actions. The faculty of movement offers a clear sign of this in its spatial

autonomy, unlike that of the vegetal being, and permits a greater dominion over itslife and environment.

As in the case of the living being, the animal is more than what it is, in thesense that it its greater than its realizations. Along with the characteristics of thenatural appetite and generation, here, we come across an original novelty in the

order of beings4: with the sensible consciousness appears a certain openness

towards others that allow them to be interiorized, to be interiorly present as objects.This in turn implies a certain subjectivity. As a new level of intentionality, the

objects are grasped not only as needs, but now as desired beings. The animal is

aware of his needs and experiments a certain prefigured absence of the desiredbeings, configuring a sort of affectivity intentionally oriented toward the other5.

To be precise, however, the animals semi-freedom is a very limited in so faras the superior psychological echelon is ironically oriented towards the inferior

biological finality. It is unaware and subject to its diverse psychological states andwhile its sensibile consciousness renders it more efficient in the acquisition of the

biological ends, the animal itself does not establish those ends Whats more, the

interior presence of the object is always reduced according to its empirical and

utilitarian dimensions. They are never grasped in themselves nor for themselves.As such, we have come across a high level of naturalistic determinism, yet have

yet to discover an interiority in proper sense that will only become manifest in the

subject, in the Iof man.

322

4See the principle of novelty, p. 24

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Finally, we arrive at the case of human being and one of the his specific

characteristics to which de Finance dedicates the entire first chapter: motivation.The intentionality which animates mans capacity to represent objects is

qualitatively superior in so far as it is exceeds to the need-based and sensibile

restrictions of the animalistic intentionality, possessing a deeper and rationalorientation towards being in itself. The subject-object relationship is thus defined

with greater precision and enriched. The object no longer exists in so far as itphysically responds to negatively inscribed desire, as in the case of the natural

appetite, nor is it something unconsciously desired as valuable, as in the case of thesensible appetite. The spiritual appetite is, instead, able to reflect and therefore

desire thematically its formal object6. Man is thus able to not only represent his

object of desire but also to realize why he desires it, the motivation for such desire.

This capacity to acknowledge the object in itself and its honest, objective

value, in addition to the reflective awareness of such value all the more human inso far as it is perceivedmeans that man reaches a new level of causalityconcerning his actions. The binds of determinism that constrict the biological and

psychological levels are broken, such that we can affirm an authentic finality in

mans action, highlighting his unique teleological character: This finality regardsthe complete dominion of human action, even when the end doesnt seem to be

proposed or wanted as such7. [Speak of the original intention, p. 63?]

This teleological character allows the will to remain faithful to it proper

projects. This is, however, conditioned and qualified by the demand, or appeal,

made of the subject by the appearance of a value. Recognizable only by theincarnate spirit, that which was considered to be merely pleasurable to lesser

beings is now attributed with an axiological status. Aware of its value, andappreciating it as such, man receives the appeal which mobilizes his forces in

view of putting the possible valenteinto existence8. This value is presented notonly as and object of desire in so far as it perfective, that is, capable of actuating

the perfectible subject. It is also presented as an object of love, possessing anintrinsic perfection9which justifies its own existence even without the appreciation

of the subject, an example being a beautiful piece of art10. The characteristic of

mobilization is to be understand analogically as type of efficient cause by which

650

759

875

9See p. 81

10See p. 75


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the good truly actsthrough and overabundance of his act of being11, imposing

itself upon the subject, actuating and specifying his originally impulse (slanico)12.[maestry of his own act? P. 107]

Thiscapacity to propose for himself a certain end to reach or a certain valueto realize is put into practice constantly by man, proposing not only one end, but

many. This wanting of another thing(volere-unaltra-cosa) takes place on twoaxises, one horizontal, designated by de Finance as the passage (passaggio), and

another vertical, or overcoming (superamento). While the animal is capable of the

passage, continually skipping from one object or value to another object, to

another value of the same order13, it is proper of man to give rise to new values,

situating himself on different levels of being14. Man is a restless being, impulsedto open himself up to ever greater horizons, undergoing the relentless experience of

the insufficiency offered by that which is passing and superficial. Albeit obscurely

in many cases, man, reflecting back on the nature and extent of his desire, fromsphere to sphere, elevates himself to the absolute sphere, where, the entire Idealposses by itself the proper moving virtue15. The desire of this Ideal, inscribed in

the structure of the voluntas ut natura, comes to constitute the primum movens of

human acting16.

What is, now, the meaning of this Ideal? The Ideal is to explained by de

Finance to be the finality towards which the subject tends and which has beeninteriorized with his being17. It is perfection in so far as absent, an absence,

however, that is lived and consciousness; one which resides in the consciouss

horizon as a perpetual invitation18. That said, it nevertheless is non-existing and asan object of loves adhesion there must be an Existent, from which such Idea

borrows its force of attraction19. At first glance, it seems to be an expression ofthe subject itself, but the subject completed, integrated and blossomed in the full

11100

12See p. 109.

13113: Perpassaggiointendiamo lo slittamento continuo da un oggetto o da un valore, ad un

alto oggetto, ad un altro valore dello stesso ordine.14

115: Al contrario, proprio delluomo far sorgere nuovi valori situandosi su differenti livellidi essere.15

117: Lo spirito, di sfera in sfera, si eleva fino alla sfera assoluta, dove, lIdeale intero

possiede da se stesso la propria virtmotivante.16

11617

p. 141: la sua finalitsi interiorizzata col suo essere.18

See p. 141-142.19

p. 142.


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actuation of his possibilities20. Still, inscribed in mans nature is his openness to

others, or whats more, his openness to Being (Essere). Therein lies a radicaltendency or impulse, previous to all desires, that pushes man beyond himself,

towards others, yes, but even further. He too, and much more so than the plants and

animals, isradically more than what he isfinitely21. This Existent, then, fromwhich the originario impulse (slancio) withdraws all its vigor can be non other than

God, the true Ideal and supreme motor of action.

20p. 157: LIdeale del soggetto, ancora il soggetto stesso, ma il soggetto compiuto, integrato,

sbocciato nella piena attuazione dei suoi possibili.21

See p. 180.

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Spiritual Subject in de Finance