Literature-Aquinas

What is a cause?

First in intention and brings about an action

What is formal?

Shape

What is final?

Purpose

What is efficient?

The agent/process/power that brings about something else

Human Action

Deliberate what is better for your wellbeing even if it goes against your natural inclination; the actions of a man

What gives human acts to their species and how?

determined through the will of an action, not the end. If the action is bad but the will is good, then the behavior is morally good. Example: murdering someone to defend a victim who is too vulnerable to fight their own battle.

What is rational appetite?

highest level of the soul

What is natural appetite?

natural inclination; it is what sets us apart from animals.

Is the end extrinsic or intrinsic?

extrinsic, and everything is specified by an intrinsic principle.

natural wealth

serves man for his ——- wants (food, drink, clothing, etc.),

If all things are below and humans are above, how can something below us, like wealth, be our source of happiness?

Happiness is indefinite, but the desire for money is not. Money is insufficient.

Why does Aquinas reject fame?

happiness is perfect. ——- is dependent on the opinions and knowledge of other fallen humans. Human knowledge is not perfect and can be false because humans are not perfect. ——- must be determined by an infallible source. God is the only infallible source. The reply to Objection 1 claims that —— comes from God and not from the actions of fallen men. —- is unstable, but happiness endures of itself and forever, so how can an unstable thing lead to something infinite?

Are honor and fame/glory intrinsic or extrinsic?

They are extrinsic. Since they depend on the opinions of other people, they cannot be the intrinsic “last end” of a person.

What does it mean that power has the nature of a principle, but happiness the nature of the end?

is a means or a “starting point” (principle) used to achieve something else. Happiness, however, is the final goal (end) for which everything else is done. Power can be used for both good and evil, whereas happiness is a perfect, self-sufficient good.

How is knowledge a cause?

it is a “material” or “dispositive” cause. To love or enjoy the final end, one must first know it. It is not the essence of happiness itself, but a necessary prerequisite for attaining it.

What is the principle?

The starting point used to achieve something else.

When is something proper?

when it is in accordance with its natural end.

What is essence?

It is the in-itself definition or nature of a thing. Example: white horse—white is accidental to the essence of horses. A horse is a horse regardless of its color.

What is delight?

It is an accidental occurrence that comes from happiness.

What is an accident?

a property or attribute of a substance that is contingent—it can be added, removed, or changed without altering the substance’s identity.

What is the end?

happiness. not merely a natural human good but a state of complete beauty and union of the human body with God.

What is intellect?

the cognitive power of the soul that enables understanding and grasping of truth.

What is extrinsic?

one that is not part of the essential nature or intrinsic form of a thing, but rather an external cause that influences or determines it from outside.

What is intrinsic?

An intrinsic principle is a power or habit that is in itself the cause of an act.

Act of man

the natural actions a being as unsophisticated as an animal can do

artificial wealth

invented for convenience because it keeps things stable.

Honor

the recognition of someone’s excellence by others

fame

“clear knowledge with praise” held by others