Saint Thomas Aquinas: Ethics, Natural Law, and Thomist Philosophy

Saint Thomas Aquinas: Man as a Moral Being

Ethics: Human actions seek the realization of the absolute good. While actions can be oriented toward the particular and contingent, the rational creature is free to choose. This capacity for choice is why man is a moral being.

The Absolute Moral Law

Thomas Aquinas argues that God's eternal law governs the universe and is realized through human and natural moral law. These laws are rationally deductible from human nature across three levels:

• Self-preservation: The tendency of any substance to remain in existence.
• Procreation: The natural tendency shared with animals to reproduce.
• Rationality and Social Life: The tendency toward the knowledge of truth in moral and reality-based fields, as well as the inclination toward social life.

Thomist Synthesis: Aristotle and St. Thomas

Saint Thomas incorporates several key Aristotelian ideas into his philosophy:

Structure of Reality

• Theory of Motion: The passage from potency to act, with act being superior to potency.
• Hylemorphism: The composition of natural substances.
• Substance and Accident: The fundamental distinction between the two.
• Four Causes: The teleological interpretation of nature.

Theology and Anthropology

• Theology: The Aristotelian demonstration of God's existence based on movement and the conception of God as a pure, immutable, and perfect act.
• Anthropology: Man is a single substance. Unlike Aristotle, who suggested the soul might be mortal, Thomas Aquinas maintained the immortality of the soul.
• Ethics: The ultimate end of man is happiness, which consists in contemplation. Human nature serves as the foundation of moral law.

Reason and Faith in Saint Thomas

The Role of Theology

Theology acts as an arbiter in cases where the conclusions of reason do not coincide with divine revelation.

Natural Theology

Natural theology compels reason to reach conclusions that align with revealed truth, utilizing the method of reason to explore truths that faith accepts but cannot prove.