Analogy of proportion

Analogy of proportion
Aquinas considered that the universe was inhabited by different orders of things

• They were hierarchical in sense of status - God would be considered to be above (and the source of) all crreation; humans were lower than God, but higher than animals, etc
• Each order possessed particular characteristics which were appropriate to itself, even though the same adjective may be applied to all orders
  • For example, what it means for a human to be intelligent is different to what it means for an animal to be intelligent - a human is intelligent in proportion to what it means for a human to be intelligent; a fox…