Table Of ContentThomas Aquinas
Translated by Richard Regan
Edited with an Introduction and
Notes by Brian Davies
On Evil
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On Evil
Thomas Aquinas
Translated by
RICHARD REGAN
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by
BRIAN DAVIES
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2003
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 2oo3 by Brian Davies and Richard Regan
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274.
lQuaestiones disputatae de malo. English)
On evil / Thomas Aquinas ; translated by Richard Regan edited with
an introduction and notes by Brian Davies.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
i. Good and evil. 2. Sin. I. Regan, Richard J.
If. Davies, Brian, 1951- Ill. Title.
BJ225.T2 Q34 i3 20o3
',84- -dC21
2002155694
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
In memory of Vincent Potter S.J.
and with gratitude to Sara Penella
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Preface
Is anything objectively evil? Is anything objectively good? How does what is evil differ
from what is good? Can there be evil without good? Does evil have a cause? Does good-
ness have a cause? Do people have freedom of choice? Or is what they do always outside
their control? If people can act freely, under what conditions can they be rightly thought
to be responsible for what they do? And how is their behavior to be evaluated and
explained? Is there such a thing as sin? If so, what is it? And how does it arise? Does
it admit of degrees? Does it come from what is not human? Or does its source lie wholly
in us?
These are questions that Aquinas discussed at various times in his life. But he was
especially concerned with them when completing his Disputed Question De malo (On
Evil). Probably prepared for publication in the early to mid- 27os, this work repre-
sents some of Aquinas's most mature thinking on goodness, badness, and human
agency. Together with the Second Part of the Summa theologiae , it is one of his most
sustained contributions to moral philosophy and theology and ranks among his major
writings.
In the present work readers will find a new translation of the De malo based on the
authoritative 1982 edition provided by the Leonine Commission. They will also find a
detailed introduction designed to place the De malo in the context of Aquinas's life and
thought. At the end of the work there are notes on certain terms used in the De Malo, notes
on auhtors cited in it, and a list of texts referred to by Aquinas.
Some years ago I suggested to Father Vincent Potter S.J. that there was need for a
new English edition of the De malo. Even though he was suffering from severe medical
disabilities, Father Potter managed to complete a first-draft translation of the text just
before he died in 1994. This draft, however, was very much a preliminary one. Richard
Regan S.J. subsequently agreed to translate the De malo afresh, and it is his translation
that appears below.
In my editorial work for this volume I owe a huge debt to Sara Penella. She has
assisted me in all sort of ways, especially in the compilation of notes on authors and texts
referred to in the De malo.
V111 PREFACE
Quotations from the Surnma theologiae, which appear in my introduction, come from
the Blackfriars edition (London, 1964-8o). In quoting from other works of Aquinas I
have aimed, as far as possible, to use conveniently available translations of them and to
give references accordingly.
Brian Davies OP
Contents
Translator's Note xv
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 3
Question I, On Evil, 55
Articles
r. Is Evil an Entity? 55
Is There Evil in Good? 62
2.
3. Is Good the Cause of Evil? 68
4. Is Evil Suitably Divided into the Evil of Moral Wrong
and the Evil of Punishment? 75
5. Does Punishment or Moral Wrong Have
More of the Nature of Evil? 8o
Question II On Sins, 89
Articles
r. Is an Act Involved in Every Sin? 89
Does Sin Consist Solely of the Will's Act? 95
2.
3. Does Sin Consist Chiefly of Acts of the Will? too
4. Is Every Act Morally Indifferent? ro3
5. Are Some Acts Morally Indifferent? tog
6. Do Circumstances Specify Sins or Alter the Species of Sin
by Transferring Them into Different Kinds of Sin?
Description:The De Malo represents some of Aquinas' most mature thinking on goodness, badness, and human agency. In it he examines the full range of questions associated with evil: its origin, its nature, its relation to good, and its compatibility with the existence of an omnipotent, benevolent God. This editi
