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For example, whether the likeness of two white things is
really distinct from their whiteness, and paternity from
generation.
Many Thomists, among them Capreolus, Cajetan,
Ferrariensis, John of St. Thomas, and Goudin,
admit at least a modal real distinction between the
relation and its foundation or basis; Suarez denies the
distinction and thus aligns himself with the Nominalists.
The Thomists prove their stand in the following way.
The predicamental relation is an accident whose whole
being is to be referred to something else. But the entity
of the foundation is not pure order to another but
something absolute, as, for example, quantity,
quality, and action. Therefore the entity of the
foundation of the relation is really distinct from the
predicamental relation. For this reason, Aristotle
conceived of quantity, quality, action, and relation as
distinct predicaments.
Confirmation. The predicamental relation disappears with
its terminus whereas the entity of the foundation of the
relation survives. When one of two similar things, for
instance, is destroyed, the relation to the other also
disappears. Moreover, even after the generation of the
son, he remains the son of his father.
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