Goodness and Rightness in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae

232 Pages·1992·1.47 MB·English

by  James F. Keenan

title: Goodness and Rightness in Thomas Aquinas's Summa
Theologiae
author: Keenan, James F.
publisher: Georgetown University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0878405305
print isbn13: 9780878405305
ebook isbn13: 9780585240756
language: English
subject Thomas,--Aquinas, Saint,--1225?-1274.--Summa
theologica, Thomas,--Aquinas, Saint,--1225?-1274--
Ethics, Christian ethics--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500,
Good and evil, Right and wrong.
publication date: 1992
lcc: BX1749.T6K44 1992eb
ddc: 171/.2/092
subject: Thomas,--Aquinas, Saint,--1225?-1274.--Summa
theologica, Thomas,--Aquinas, Saint,--1225?-1274--
Ethics, Christian ethics--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500,
Good and evil, Right and wrong.
Page i
Goodness and Rightness in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae
Page ii
Page iii
Goodness and Rightness in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae
James F. Keenan, S.J.
Page iv
COVERILLUSTRATION:
Fromthecoverofthe3-volume
commemorativepublishedforthe
sixhundredthanniversaryofthe
canonizationofSaintThomasAquinas
(Rome,1925,S.Szab ,ed.);
courtesyofLauingerLibrary,
GeorgetownUniversity.
TITLE PAGE VERSO: Detail from the text page (reduced) of Question 21, Article 1 in the Prima Secundae
of the Summa Theologiae (Rome, 1793, S. Capponi A Porrecta, ed.); courtesy of Woodstock Theological
Library, at Georgetown University.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Keenan,JamesF.
GoodnessandRightnessinThomasAquinas'sSummaTheologiae/ James
F.Keenan.
p. cm.
1.Thomas,Aquinas,Saint,1225?1274.SummaTheologiae.2.Thomas,
Aquinas,Saint,1225?1274Ethics.3.ChristianethicsHistoryMiddle
Ages,6001500.4.Goodandevil.5.Rightandwrong.I.Title.
II.Title:GoodnessandRightnessinThomasAquinas'sSummaTheo-
logiae.
BX1749.T6K44 1992
171 .2 092dc20 92-3090
ISBN0-87840-530-5(pbk.)
Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. 20057-1079
1992 by Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1992
THIS VOLUME IS PRINTED ON ACID-FREE OFFSET BOOK PAPER.
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INTRODUCTION:
INITIATING A DIALOGUE
I began this work seven years ago, believing the simple presupposition that goodness describes persons
and rightness describes actions. When I read Thomas's Summa theologiae, however, I realized that
Thomas rarely if ever spoke of actions, per se, and rarely if ever talked about goodness. Instead Thomas
wrote about personal actions, intentions, ends, and virtues, but these concepts contributed less to the
description of good persons than to right behavior.
As my work progressed I learned three new insights. First, rightness requires other objects of description
than simple external acts. Second, the Summa theologiae cannot be parsed for goodness and rightness by
simply presuming that intention or end is synonymous with goodness, and external act or object with
rightness. Inasmuch as Thomas had other interests, I would have to find the primary concept that bears
moral description. That concept would be key for finding the distinction between goodness and rightness.
Third, virtue, which I had long considered as descriptive of personal goodness, began to appear as subject
to rational observation and measurement. Virtue, in Thomas's writings, belongs not to goodness language,
but to rightness language. Prompted by these insights, I began the investigation detailed in this book.
The book itself is divided into four parts. Part I introduces the work as a whole and treats the distinction of
goodness and rightness. Goodness and badness describe whether or not we strive to the extent we are able
to attain rightness in our lives and actions. Rightness and wrongness describe whether or not we attain the
end that reason dictates is proper and necessary for our lives and actions. Chapter One investigates the
origins of this distinction and its important applications to the topics of virtue and intention.
Part II establishes the legitimacy of this investigation by probing a significant shift in Thomas's writings.
During his second regency in Paris, precisely while writing De malo 6 and question nine of the Prima
secundae, Thomas develops a new position concerning the will's autonomy. The will's autonomy is a
necessary condition for under-
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toFrankandDolores
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CONTENTS
Introduction
Part 1: Goodness and Rightness
Chapter 1: The Distinction between Goodness and Rightness
A Brief History of Moral Description
Contemporary Descriptions of Goodness
Human Freedom, Virtue, and Intention
Moral Goodness and the Scriptures
Notes
Part 2: Choosing the Summa Theologiae
Chapter 2: Difficulties before the Prima Secundae
The Will's Autonomy
Reason As the Cause of the Will's Movement
Explaining Reason's Causality Analogically
The Difficulties in This Position
Evaluating the Position
Notes
Chapter 3: A Shift and a Distinction
Historical Considerations
Making the Shift
And the Distinction
Effects of the Shift
The Application of Thomas's Distinction to Contemporary Thought
Notes
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Part 3: Living Rightly
Chapter 4: Specification and the Object
To Will Is To Will Something
The Object As Specifying
The End As Specifying
The Object As Form and Materia Circa Quam
Other Concepts Related To Moral Action
Thomas's Concept of the Object and Contemporary Issues
Notes
Chapter 5: The Moral Virtues
The Nature and Kinds of Virtue
The Importance of Perfection and the Meaning of the Good
Prudence and Justice
Interpreting the Data: The Notion of Rightness
Contemporary Applications of Thomas's Moral Reasoning
Notes
Part 4: Being Good
Chapter 6: Charity: Moral Goodness?
Love, the First Movement
Charity As Union
Charity As Form, Command, and Measure
The Order and Relationship of Charity To Its Objects
Charity, the Goodness of the Heart
Charity As Goodness Itself
Notes
Chapter 7: The Evaluation
Centrality of the Object in the Treatise on Sin
Venial and Mortal Sin
The Methodology in the Writings Onsin
The Case of the Lying Midwives
Notes
The Dialogue Concludes
Chronology of Thomas Aquinas's Works
Bibliography
Index