goodness
For Aquinas, at it's heart, goodness is a measure of our self-actualization;
it is the degree to which we have become what we are drawn to
become. He thinks goodness is woven into the fabric of existence.
All created things are drawn to be themselves and will naturally
seek to grow into their own natures, and by doing so exhibit their
goodness.
For Aquinas, the ultimate good is to self-actualize. Now obviously,
we can be drawn (as TV psychologist Dr. Phil might say) to things
that aren't ultimately going to further our growth (e.g., booz,
overeating), even if they look quite attractive at the time. The
trick in human behavior for Dr. Phil (and also Aquinas) is to
replace the short-term good with the good that moves us closer
to what we should become, because that is what ultimately we most
desire and is the only thing will satisfy the yearning of the
soul.
The more we realize our inherent potential, unfold and grow into
what we should become, the more good we are. And the more good
we are the more attractive we become, since goodness is naturally
attractive. This inherent unfolding, this trueness to nature,
and this becoming is what he calls goodness. And this is how God
is good: not, like us, by going through the process, but by being
already there.
evil
If goodness is woven into the fabric of existence, how does Aquinas
account for the fact of evil? He sees evil basically not as something
that exists in its own right, but as something that ought to be
there but is not: a kind of non-being, a disfiguring of form,
a lack or a breakdown of growth, a failure to actualize. So rather
than asking why there is evil, Aquinas would ask why is there
less good.
Then he distinguishes two kinds of privation of good, one caused
by bad luck and the other caused by free will.
Evil suffered, the bad luck kind of evil, is a privation of good
caused as a result of another thing flourishing, such as a hurricane
or a virus. The victim gets nailed, but the thing causing it is
not evil itself.
Evil done is the free will kind of evil. It is a result of an
absence of goodness, a negligence, a falling short of what could
be, on the part of the perpetrator. In his book The Road Less
Traveled, M. Scott Peck defines evil as the choice to hurt
someone rather than undergo the pain of growth. Aquinas would
agree. And he would add that such evil damages not only the victim
but the evildoers themselves. More on this when we get to Aquinas
on Humans.
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"For everything, in as much as it exists, is actual and
therefore in some way perfect, all actuality being a sort of perfection.
Now ... anything perfect is desirable and good. It follows then
that, inasmuch as they exist, all things are good."
(1a. 5. 1)
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