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Welcome to part 3 of the Guided Tour of the Summa! In this section, Aquinas lays out goodness, and its role in our understanding of God. While everyone uses the word “good,” trying to define it can actually be quite tricky. That is why I like this part of the Summa; it lays out an account of goodness that makes sense, coheres with our experience and helps clarify several points about what God is.
You know, just some basic questions.
As always, here are some resources you might find helpful as we move forward:
The Summa Theologiae itself. Buy Prima Pars here, and the whole Summa here. Read it for free here.
If you have never read the Summa, it can be a little intimidating. But I put together a roadmap so that anybody can read it and understand it. Get it here.
Here is the commentary I will be using from Walter Farrell, O.P.
Here is the commentary I will be using from Brian Davies, O.P.
Now, let’s dive into goodness and God.
Question 5: Goodness in General
Since Aquinas wants to describe God as “good,” he must first explain what it is to be good in the first place. Aquinas outlines his theory of goodness by addressing its relation to being, its relation in thought to individual beings, and the different kinds of goodness.
1. Are Being and Goodness the Same Thing?
Aquinas first asks a question that might sound crazy: are goodness and existence the same thing? Perhaps surprisingly, Aquinas answers in the affirmative, but with a catch. While, in reality, being and goodness are the same,1 Aquinas argues that they different in idea. That is, when we think of being and goodness, we think of two different ways to view a substance. When we consider being, we think of a substance as existing. When we consider goodness, we think of a substance as being desirable. But in reality, the two concepts cannot come apart. If you exist, you are good. And if you are good, you exist.
Walter Farrell, O.P. describes here how being and goodness differ in idea:
The notion of goodness adds nothing to being but the smack of desirability, that is, a thing can be good, desirable, only insofar as it is possible or thought to be possible; it can be pursued and enjoyed only insofar as it has being.2
I started Aquinas and Beyond to help everybody better understand Catholic philosophy. Free subscribers are getting weekly blogs on Catholic philosophy, but it is premium subscribers who are becoming thoughtful, well-formed Catholic intellectuals through:
A guided tour through the ENTIRETY of Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae (which you are reading right now)! Don’t miss out on forming your mind according to the Universal Doctor of the Church!
Blogs on the philosophy of religion (God, evil, free will, etc.) like this one about art and the problem of evil.
Reader’s Guides on the great works of Catholic philosophy, like this month’s guide on Jacques Maritain’s Art and Scholasticism.
It is not too late to jump in; anywhere is a good place to start with the Summa!
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