In the theory developed by Spanish theologianDomingo Báñez and otherThomists of the 16th-centurysecond scholasticism,physical premotion (Latin:praemotio physica) is acausal influence ofGod into a secondary cause (especially into awill of a free agent) which precedes (metaphysically but not temporally) and causes the actual motion of its causal power (e.g. a will): it is the reduction of the power from potency to act. In this sense, it is a kind ofdivine concurrence, the so-calledconcursus praevius advocated by the Thomists.
More broadly, according to this Thomistic theory, physical premotion is the causal influence of any principal cause upon the respective instrumental cause (such as the influence of a scribe upon his pen) by which the instrumental cause is elevated so as to be capable of producing an effect which is beyond its natural powers (e.g., the pen is enabled to write a poem).
In Thomism, the theory of physical premotion helps to explaindivine providence (foreknowledge) and universal rulership; on the other hand, it is seen by its critics (chieflyJesuits defending the alternative theory ofMolinism) as leading totheological determinism. Because the proponents of physical premotion are, asCatholics, committed to thefreedom of will, their position can be viewed as a form ofcompatibilism. Whether they really aredeterminists depends on how strictly the necessity of the connection between a divine decree, the resulting premotion, and the ultimate free act is conceived. The proponents of the theory generally try to avoid resorting to unqualified necessity, their term of choice being "infallibility".
The theory ofpraemotio physica was applied 1) on the natural level, serving both as a theory ofconcursus ordinarius and as a theory ofinstrumental causality; 2) on the supernatural level, serving as a theory ofactual grace.
Although claimed by Báñez to have its roots in Aquinas, the theory was first explicitly formulated inDomingo Báñez'sApologia Fratrum Predicatorum (1595),[1] in reaction toLuis de Molina'sConcordia;[2] and it was further elaborated byDiego Álvarez in hisDe auxiliis.[3]
A violent controversy ensued between theDominicans and theJesuits, leading to apapal intervention). At first (1594) the Pope he simply enjoined silence on both parties so far as Spain was concerned; but ultimately, in 1598, he appointed theCongregatio de Auxiliis for the settlement of the dispute, which became more and more a party one. After holding very numerous sessions, the congregation was able to decide nothing, and in 1607 its meetings were suspended byPaul V, who in 1611 prohibited all further discussion of the questionDe auxiliis and of discussions about efficacious grace, and studious efforts were made to control the publication even of commentaries on Aquinas[citation needed]. Several regent Masters of theDominican College of St. Thomas, the futurePontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), were involved in the controversy. Two Dominican proponents of physical premotion,Diego Alvarez andTomas de Lemos, were given the responsibility of representing theDominican Order in debates beforePope Clement VIII andPope Paul V.[4]
In contemporary analytical philosophy, the opponents of Molinism (such asRobert Merrihew Adams orWilliam Hasker) typically do not subscribe to the Báñezian-Thomist theory ofpraemotio physica; instead, they maintain libertarian freedom but insist that it excludes the possibility of Molinistmiddle knowledge. The theory thus remains confined to the ranks of traditional Thomism.