Abstract

Abstract The present work is a metaphysical analysis of the relation between the intellect and the will, starting from the solution offered by Saint Thomas Aquinas to the intellectualist and voluntarist proposals of his time. Through the application of the doctrine of the act and power discovered by Aristotle, and with the important elements that Christianity had contributed by the thirteenth century, St. Thomas solves the problem of the production of universal concepts in an environment of concrete material realities. The contribution of St. Thomas consists in having achieved a moderate intellectualism, granting each faculty the value and preeminence that corresponds to it, avoiding relativistic voluntarism and reaching a depth that is unique in metaphysical realism in the history of thought. Keywords Intellect – will – act – potential – intellectualism – voluntarism