Aquinas s Ethics - University of Notre Dame

1 Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, Colleen McCluskey, and Christina Van DykeUniversity of Notre Dame PressNotre Dame, IndianaMetaphysical Foundations, Moral Theory, and Theological ContextAquin as 4/6/09 10:47 AM Page iii 2009 University of Notre Dame PressCopyright 2009by University of Notre DameNotre Dame, Indiana Rights ReservedManufactured in the United States ofAmericaLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataDeYoung, Rebecca s Ethics : metaphysical foundations, moral theory, and theological context / Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, Colleen McCluskey,and Christina Van bibliographical references and :978-0-268-02601-1(pbk. : alk. paper)isbn-10:0-268-02601-7(pbk. : alk. paper)1. Thomas, Aquinas , Saint, 1225?

2 Ethics , McCluskey, Colleen, 1957 II. Dyke, Christina van, 1972 III. '.042092 dc222009006989 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity ofthe Council on Library 4/6/09 10:47 AM Page iv 2009 University of Notre Dame PressIntroductionSt. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25 1274) is a towering figure in thehistory of philosophy; few scholars can rival either the breadth or thedepth of his intellectual pursuits. Above and beyond his independentworks (including, most famously, the Summa theologiaeand the Summacontra gentiles), Aquinas also wrote extensive commentaries on most ofAristotle s treatises and on numerous books ofthe Bible.

3 In addition, heparticipated actively in the intellectual debates of his day, writing stronglyagainst philosophical and theological doctrines that he thought were er-roneous. His scholarly accomplishments have been renowned in philo-sophical and theological circles for over s reputation for brilliance is somewhat dulled, however, byhis reputation for tedious prose and meticulous attention to detail. In gen-eral, his style of careful argumentation, set in the question-and-answerformat that epitomizes high medieval scholarship, is often caricaturedas concerned primarily with abstract questions, such as how many angelscan dance on the head of a , as we will argue in this book, to thinkof Aquinas s philosophical project and, in particular, his Ethics as ir-relevant to modern life is to miss its central point.

4 When one takes thetime to fit the different pieces of his thought together, one is rewardedwith a richly integrated picture of the genuinely happy human life. 4/6/09 10:47 AM Page 1 2009 University of Notre Dame PressWhy is it, after all, that two people can live on the same street, workat the same job, and yet one person experiences constant frustration andanxiety in his life while the other flourishes? Is it better to become a ma-rine biologist or a day-care worker? Can anyone justify becoming a pro-fessional musician when people are starving throughout the world? Howare we to think about the ultimate purpose of our lives how are we,for example, to balance personal fulfillment with the demands of livingin community?

5 Aquinas s account of human nature and human flourishing turnsout to provide a meaningful framework in which to answer pressing lifequestions. While recognizing that each of us possesses unique talents andshortcomings, he describes a general picture of the flourishing life thatproves as provocative, challenging, and attractive today as it first did overseven hundred years ago. Our central goal in this book is to present thisrichpicture to readers who lack the time or technical expertise to under-take the project themselves. Aquinas develops his account of the genuinely happy life within acomplex metaphysical and theological framework; thus, a large part ofour task will be to examine his understanding of what human beings areand how and why they act.

6 With this foundation in place, we ll be ableto properly appreciate his conception of the good life human beings aremeant to live. Aquinas s own life underscores his beliefthat scholarly pursuitscan and perhaps should have practical as well as abstract or contem-plative results. When his politically-minded family pressured him to jointhe highly respected and well-established Benedictine monastic order, Aquinas did not object to the idea ofa religious career in and of of choosing the Benedictines, however, he insisted on joiningthe recently formed Dominican order, a religious order with considerablyless prestige and a radical social mission. Founded in 1217by St. Dominic,a leader with a strong desire to revitalize the church s mission and tore scue it from religious apathy and power-hungry clergy, the Domini-can order dedicated itself to a life that combined quiet prayer and con-templation with active Christian service.

7 Like the Franciscans (anotherrecently founded religious order), the Dominicans served as itinerantteachers and preachers, explicitly pursuing intellectual formation for the2 Aquinas s 4/6/09 10:47 AM Page 2 2009 University of Notre Dame Presssake ofspiritual formation. By joining this order, Aquinas was consciouslychoosing to integrate the work of his intellectual and spiritual contem-plation with an active life ofpreaching and readers can see this integration in Aquinas s developedaccount of human virtue. Instead of focusing purely on a theoretical un-derstanding of the nature of a good moral character, Aquinas also pro-vides practical instruction for living well. When he discusses virtues andvices in the Summa theologiae,for example, he addresses not just abstractquestions, such as how we should define virtue, but also practical issues,such as how to show gratitude toward someone who does us a favor weare too poor to repay.

8 This dual concern shows up repeatedly in his ethi-cal works and underscores his commitment to putting belief into s Connection to AristotleThe strategy of Aquinas s ethical theory closely mirrors aristotle s ap-proach in theNicomachean (384 322 ), whose workprofoundly influenced Aquinas s thought, has an explicitly practical aimin his Ethics : he wants to explain to people what the true nature of hap-piness is, so that they can work toward actually living the happy life. Ac-cording to both aristotle and Aquinas , every human being desires her orhis own happiness, and all human beings do what they do for the sake ofbecoming happy. Since both see happiness as the end goal of human lifeand the fulfillment of human nature, they approach Ethics as the studyofhow human beings can best fulfill their nature and obtain thus has a practical as well as a theoretical goal.

9 Its dual purposenaturally affects how we should undertake its study. In the same way thatthe point of going to the doctor with a persistent migraine is not simplyto learn more about the migraine but to actively rid oneself of the pain,so the point of reading Ethics and thinking about how we should live ourlives is to actually live our lives differently to live them and aristotle agree both that the study of Ethics should havea practical goal and that the life of happiness is the end goal for humanbeings. Because they begin with differing metaphysical and theologicalcommitments, however , they diverge when they approach the nature 4/6/09 10:47 AM Page 3 2009 University of Notre Dame Pressthis ultimate end.

10 aristotle stresses our status as rational animals and de-scribes the happy life rather broadly as the life of activity expressing rea-son well. 2 Aquinas , on the other hand, emphasizes our status as beingscreated by God; the point of the ethical life for Aquinas is, correspond-ingly, not just a life of flourishing rationality but, more specifically, a lifeof intimate union with God. Thus, while aristotle is highly interestedin moral education and character formation, Aquinas sees the deeperpurpose of moral education and character formation as preparing usfor union with God. aristotle believes that having the right moral char-acter is necessary for the flourishing human life, and that the right useof reason will show us what counts as the right sort of moral believes that we are created in God s image, and that we flourishmost when our likeness is closest to that image that is, when we mostclosely resemble God in the ways appropriate to human beings.