Post to Discussion #5 on ‘Loving’ as a sign of the ‘spirituality of the soul’ in

Post to Discussion #5 on ‘Loving’ as a sign of the ‘spirituality of the soul’ in Aquinas–(no need to reply to others)
Gina M Martinez
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In the video on the ‘immortality of the soul’, the speaker from the Thomistic Institute talks about how St. Thomas Aquinas reasons out for the ‘immortality of the soul’. He said that knowing and loving–activities engaged in by the human intellect and will–are the two activities that show that the soul has a certain ‘spirituality’. In other words, these are the activities that cannot be fully explained by the workings of the physical organs/body even if these activities involve the body. Therefore these two highly spiritual activities powerfully point to the possibility of the ‘immortality of the soul.’
The speaker in the said video talks in detail about the act of knowing. I also talked about it, in detail, in Instructor’s Notes when I described the act of conceptualizing or forming ideas/universals. So you don’t need to focus on knowing for this discussion assignment.
But, I invite you here to think about the act of loving. Surely you have loved and have been loved, so you can pause over any one of your loving relationships (between you and your parents, you and your siblings, you and a friend, you and your partner, you and your spouse, you and your child, you and your fiancee, or you and your or girlfriend/boyfriend. You choose which to focus onto help you think about it.)
What to answer:
Using only the materials in this course, answer this:
How/in what way/s is the act of loving (in any of your loving relationships) something that cannot be fully explained by or traced to the workings of the physical organs? (How is loving not reducible to or limited by the body or the operations of the body? ) In other words, why is it an activity that shows the ‘spirituality of the soul’.
Write at least a paragraph (6 to 8 sentences) that aims to be persuasive that loving cannot be reduced to bodily processes and operations. More than one paragraph is ok, if that’s what it takes for you to write something substantive. You need not make any explicit reference to the Instructor’s Notes.
By the way, simply saying that love is an emotion and emotions come from the soul (or whatever you may claim is seated in the soul) is not yet persuasive. Another person could easily say: how are you sure that emotions, for example, do not come from the operations or processes of the body since the body also feels them? Also, a discussion of the different kinds of love in Aquinas’s work would not yet be persuasive, unless you can explain how they show the ‘spirituality of the soul.’ (Some students in past semesters tend to research this and already think that their discussion addresses the question. Honestly, is not necessary at all to do this research to address this question thoughtfully. Common human experiences are enough.
This is an invitation, mostly, to independent thought.
For this one, you are not required to reply to anyone unless you want to. You are highly encouraged to read other posts and are allowed to make additional posts after having read someone’s post and gaining a better insight. I will read your additional posts as well. Sometimes, other people help.
Proofread your writing. Make that a habit.
The breakdown of the grade for this particular Discussion Assignment:
Insight (evidence of having reflected on the matter)–30 possible points
Thought development– 20 possible points (The points brought up are well-developed so that I, as a reader, do not hear myself asking ‘what do you mean by that?’ or ‘what point are you trying to make?)
Writing (punctuation, spelling, capitalization, subject-verb agreement) –10 possible points
Persuasiveness– 10 possible points