Ut induit rationem ideae. L’essenza divina e l’essere intelligibile: identità (e differenza) secondo Guglielmo di Alnwick

In the six questions debated de esse intelligibili, William of Alnwick’s ultimate goal is to determine the ontological status of divine ideas, demonstrating the thesis according to which the eternal intelligible being which belongs to the creature by virtue of the divine essence (esse intelligibile ab aeterno) is neither caused nor produced. Riserbato, analysing the first two questions (the second, in particular) which are the theoretical basis of all the subse- quent argumentation, defines the notion of esse intelligible as under- stood by William. The first quaestio examines the identity between representative form (forma repraesentans) and the represented being (esse repraesentatum) of the represented object and, in parallel, the identity of knowledge (cognitio) and the known being (esse cognitum) of the known object. William maintains that the represented being and the known being of an object cannot involve an entity distinct from both the representative species (or form) and from knowledge. From this theoretical premise, William claims – in the second quaestio – that if the eternal intelligible being were based on the creature and did not coincide with the divine being, the creature would exist from eternity not only according to its own existence (secundum quiddi- tatem) but also according to the existence of the effects themselves (sed etiam secundum existentiam), which clearly cannot be the case. Alnwick therefore maintains that the eternal intelligible being of the creature coincides with God