The formal causality and being (esse) in the stages of the constitution of entity

This article aims to explain how the relationship between formal causality and esse in the stages of the constitution of the entity according to the thought of Thomas Aquinas is to be understood. Forma and esse, which are act in their respective order, are related as act and potency, which requires a detailed analysis that explains how this relation is and how its interpretation conditions the way of understanding the metaphysical constitution of the entity. We will carry out this purpose by dividing the article into two main sections: In the first we will deal with the relationship between forma and esse as Aquinas explains it in chapter fifty-four of the second book of the Summa contra gentiles. In the second we will attempt to articulate the causal relation between forma and esse from a metaphysical point of view on the basis of the teachings obtained in the previous section. Our aim is to provide a response that mediates between the two traditional positions that have interpreted Thomistic philosophy either by emphasizing the role of esse over form or, conversely, form over esse. This work enters into one of the most debated aspects in contemporary Thomism, which is the understanding of the causality of esse with respect to entity and form. The first thing he defends is that esse is true cause, something that Cornelio Fabro has only timidly brought to light. Then, after justifying this major thesis, he proposes concretely the way in which this causality must be understood, especially with respect to form. In short, it is a matter of an articulation between the two types of causality of forma and esse, saving the primacy that Aquinas gives to the latter.