Thomas Aquinas and Natural Law

<BODY><p align="justify">Man's life is a quest. A lifelong journey towards his goal which is inscribed in the utmost recesses of his being, of "that which makes him what he is", of his nature. The goal and the intermediary steps toward that goal reveal themselves in greater clarity to the wayfarer as he goes along. He is directed by his own nature to the goal. Movement toward the goal is good. </p> <p align="justify">Virtue is that which makes man good (I II, 55.4). The beginning of virtue, virtue's nursery, is obeying the law (I II, 63.1)</p> <p align="justify">The purpose of the Unity of Law and Virtue Project is to demonstrate the continuum between law and virtue in the development of the good person. To accomplish this we have chosen to use those parts of the Summa Theologicae of Thomas Aquinas which so closely parallel the Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle, i.e., the Treatise on Law (I-II 90 - 108) and the Treatise on Virtue (I II, 55-67). These sections comprise relatively few of the 3,108 articles of the Summa Theologicae. Much goes before and much more comes after.</p> <p align="justify">But let's start with Aristotle.</p> </font> <font size="3" face="times new roman"> <p align="justify">Everyone who has the power to live according to his own choice should set up for himself some object for the good life...since not to have one's life organized in view of some end is a sign of much folly. <i>Eudaimonean Ethics 1214b 6-10</i></p> </font> <font size="4" face="times new roman"> <p align="justify">Aristotle's ethic is teleological, (from '<i>telos</i>': a Greek word meaning end, goal, or purpose).</p> <p align="justify">The end is the starting point. What is the end? In considering man's purpose, Aristotle settled on <i>eudaimonia</i>, happiness. </p> </font> <font size="3" face="times new roman"> <p align="justify">Aristotle recognized that what he identified as our happiness only imperfectly realized the definition of happiness he himself set down in the Nichomachean Ethics. The account Aristotle gave of happiness - as self-sufficient, as such that, once had, it could not be lost, and so on - is of something that can be realized in this life only imperfectly.</p> </font> <font size="4" face="times new roman"> <p align="justify">Thomas concurs:</p> </font> <font size="3" face="times new roman"> <p align="justify">The imperfect happiness that can be had in this life, can be acquired by man by his natural powers, in the same way as virtue, in whose operation it consists. (I II 5.5)</p> </font> <font size="4" face="times new roman"> <p align="justify">Ralph McInerny is convinced that Thomas demonstrates that "it is possible to formulate true practical guidelines as to how in this life happiness can be acheived, and the truth of such precepts is independent of the truths that are held to be such only on the basis of divine faith." Ibid, p. 38.</p> <p align="justify">In other words, at the level of moral philosophy, there is no chasm between Aristotle and Thomas caused by the later's acceptance of revealed truths. In fact, at the crucial points, when answering such questions as "Whether man's happiness consists in the vision of the divine essence?" (I II 5,7) and "Whether any good works are necessary that man may receive happiness from God?" (I II 3,8), we find Thomas invoking Aristotle to prove his arguements!</p> <p>If you are viewing this text, your browser lacks the ability to read frames. Don't worry, you can still enjoy our site. All the pages can be viewed from this page. Come on in! <ul> <li><A href="q90.htm">Question 90</A> <li><A href="q91.htm">Question 91</A> <li><A href="q92.htm">Question 92</A> <li><A href="q93.htm">Question 93</A> <li><A href="q94.htm">Question 94</A> <li><A href="q95.htm">Question 95</A> <li><A href="q96.htm">Question 96</A> <li><A href="com90.htm">Commentary on Question 90</A> <li><A href="com91.htm">Commentary on Question 91</A> <li><A href="com92.htm">Commentary on Question 92</A> <li><A href="com93.htm">Commentary on Question 93</A> <li><A href="com94.htm">Commentary on Question 94</A> <li><A href="com95.htm">Commentary on Question 95</A> <li><A href="com96.htm">Commentary on Question 96</A> </BODY>