Abstract

The importance of the concept of subsistence for Thomas Aquinas' metaphysics, and especially for his account of human nature, cannot be overstated. Yet few authors have attempted to give a systematic explanation of what subsistence is, often glossing it in terms of the ability of a thing to exist independently. This is unfortunate since this standard gloss on the concept of subsistence is, as an interpretation of Aquinas, demonstrably mistaken. In this paper, I propose a more defensible account of subsistence by first specifying its extension correctly, and then moving to a positive, conceptual explication. In doing so, I take seriously what Aquinas says about the subsistence and operation of both complete substances and subsistent parts of substances, including bodily organs and the human soul.