Good and Evil (Aquinas 101)

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“Whether for good or evil, each man lives by his love.” -St. Augustine of Hippo
What is the good? For St. Thomas Aquinas, this question is absolutely central. He begins by looking at the good as that which all men desire. In other words, every act of our freedom actually arises from our desire for the good. If we didn’t desire a good, we would never choose or will anything. Thus, the good is at the very origin of our freedom.
Good and Evil (Aquinas 101) - Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
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[@hamaralsilva]

"The good is what perfects something" - amazing

[@ThomisticInstitute]

Amen.

[@Hugowtum]

Why?

[@martatreibenreif4837]

Thank you so much for this great videos which are so useful for philosophical studies. Best regards from Italy

[@kristindreko3194]

Thank you for this video! May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you!

[@josephzammit8483]

St. John Bosco Guide, Teacher and Model for Priests kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6nRiqdvhpiMqqs

[@audreyandrea460]

This is so wonderful and GOOD. In both its technical presentation and in its aim. Thank you so much Father Legge, God bless you.

[@ThomisticInstitute]

Delighted to hear! Thank you for the encouragement!

[@somnathganapa5789]

It seems that in these two definitions of "good," 1) desirability 2) perfection of the species The second definition of good, perfection, is primary. Unless we know what is good for ourselves, our desires may be disordered. We may desire to be drunk, or lustful, or lie, even though these things hurt us.

[@ThomisticInstitute]

That's right. Fr. Dominic adds a third definition as well: final cause. Things shed lights on the first two. The final cause is the term or objective flourishing of the thing. We desire those things which promote our end, and those things are called perfect which bring the form to fuller and fuller expression en route to the ultimate realization in the end.

[@Hugowtum]

Why are them disordered? What is morally wrong with lust, or lying? Let's take this a bit further and ask: what is morally wrong with murder or theft?

[@PaulRezaei]

Thank you for putting out this type of content.

[@McRingil]

It`s so high-end it deserves thousands views. I know nothing about marketing but some good twitter retweets would do. Ask Classical Theist maybe. He has some audience and is an enthusiastic thomist.

[@lmratnapalan5069]

Good idea!

[@ThomisticInstitute]

Fr. Gregory just went on his podcast not too long ago. Hopefully that gets the attention of some listeners.

[@holysi8726]

🎎📮Jesusist say 🙏4 Only ☝️He truth is Thine Rights’ Among the wicked Lay’ҽ... Atuuuun Atoooon Whomever Reads Thysss... U Now Posses Thyne 1st Power/|\\|/: “Always Chose For They Too Loose👅🤖” 🇨🇭✝️🇻🇦 ~SaulPaulSaulPapLPaul

[@holysi8726]

👣 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bp6sp4itetlnp9E

[@SUZMIC1]

So wonderfully explained!!

[@ThomisticInstitute]

Thanks Suzanne!

[@daverigg4198]

Grace the, given to one by God, is then a further perfection of that person

[@ThomisticInstitute]

Indeed!

[@kj-my7se]

That's really wierd. Psychobabble, brainwashing?

[@boku5192]

Well laid out

[@fernandolh6538]

God bless the TI. Thanks a lot for your theaching sharing Saint Thomas. 1) Desirability (01:38-01:50): Since the good moves the appetite, we describe it in this way as WHAT ALL DESIRE. (...) every act of our FREEDOM actually arises from our original THIRST for desire for the good. (...), (2:13) because we UNDERSTAND our goal, and therefore order and CHOOSE our activity" 2) Perfection of species (02:50-03:20): human perfection connected with capacity to KNOW GOOD, TO CHOOSE IT, (perform could we say?, to put into act) and to LOVE IT, IN TRUTH, at all levels. 3) the GOOD remanins the END, the FINAL CAUSE (03:53) 4) The disctinctive of mankind (3:57-04:08), of humanity is that we are able to know the good with our minds, and so direct our actions to it. 5)... but!!!...(04:15) there's possibility, due to our freedom and limitation (ONLY APPARENT GOODS), of DISORDER (appetites), and SIN :(

[@lukeabbott3591]

Wonderful video, very helpful- but I was wondering particularly why Goodness is convertible with Being. Is this treated more specifically in another video?

[@erichvazquez3758]

Hello! Goodness is convertible to Being because for St. Thomas, there are 4 Transcendental Values which are Being, Goodness, Truth and Beauty. What is True is what also has Being or Existence, and What has Being is also Good for the fact that is being. What is Good is also Beautiful because Beautify is a manifestation of the Logos as seen in the Nature. I seen other philosophers put the One has a fifth Transcendental Value

[@Enigmatic_philosopher]

Here is a philosophical critique of the video on Good and Evil by Aquinas 101: The video presents Aquinas' view that good and evil exist objectively, grounded in God's nature. Good aligns with God's purposes while evil contradicts them. This raises some issues: - Basing morality in God's nature makes ethics dependent on religion. Atheistic philosophers seek a secular grounding for morality. - If good is defined as that which aligns with God's purposes, then it becomes difficult to evaluate those purposes themselves as good or bad. This could lead to ethical issues. - Defining evil as a "lack" of good may minimize its perceived ontological status. Other views grant evil a more substantial existence. - There is no room for moral relativism or constructivism. Moral values are fixed in God's unchanging essence rather than contingent on cultural or individual subjective norms. Some alternatives that address these issues include: - Secular humanism - grounds ethics in human nature and well-being, without requiring a theological foundation. - Moral realism - proposes good and evil as objective but not dependent on God's commands. - Contractarian ethics - derives morality from social contracts between people. - Moral anti-realism - denies objective good/evil, citing cultural/individual subjectivity. - Moral relativism - good and evil depend on cultural or personal viewpoints. In sum, while Aquinas presents an influential theistic view of morality, secular and anti-realist perspectives may be more compelling for those unsatisfied with divine command ethics. Exploring alternatives allows constructive dialogue on this profound philosophical issue.

[@baseball2008]

Michael Knowles sent me here

[@paulstephen5416]

How about just 'the mystery of Good,' possibly?

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

It always suck and feed it own feeling and desire the longer the more you feed on the bigger it grows and over come your clarity control man

[@iqgustavo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🤔 The term "good" is central to St. Thomas Aquinas' philosophy, and it's analogical, meaning it has multiple related definitions. 01:23 💓 The good is what we desire, what arouses our love and drives our actions. It's at the core of our freedom, as every act stems from our original thirst for the good. 02:45 🌱 The good also represents what perfects something. Different beings seek different perfections. Human beings, in particular, seek not only physical but also spiritual perfections like love, justice, and truth. 03:42 🧠 Human beings have the unique ability to know the good with their minds and direct their actions toward it. However, this capacity also comes with the danger of misunderstanding or pursuing apparent goods, leading to sin and moral disorder. Made with HARPA AI

[@byron8657]

In the Beginning there’s only Good there is only God n Light and Love until some of the Angels sow darkness and rebel and hated God their Father and Creator! Then we got the Original Sin then out of Love for us Human Beings He sent His one Begotten Son through the Holy Spirit to Redeem us and invite us again to become once again heir to His Heavenly Kingdom k!

[@preasidium13]

According to this definition of good, how would a thomist explain the creation of seemingly “bad” things, such as defects and biological issues. In the case of humans, if a man is born in what appears to be “bad health” can he really be said to be made “good”? Would it not be better, to judge goodness not by a common end, but by a more individualized fulfillment of that things being?

[@ThomisticInstitute]

Excellent question. Good, in St. Thomas's understanding, denotes principally a relation to appetite of a metaphysical sort. So, it represents a kind of perfection or completion, not necessarily in the utmost sense, but in a basic entitative sense. This question (aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/st-ia-q-5#FPQ5OUTP1) gives a basic outline of St. Thomas's thoughts.

[@user-ug2hk3go6i]

The opening examples of this video have made me curious. How austere is the life of current day Dominican monk? Do they eat chocolate bars and watch football?

[@lindamarcarelli1843]

SSA ANN ARBOR?

[@lewis72]

Sinning is religion-specific... even denomination specific. What if you got the wrong God or the wrong religious denomination ?

[@ThomisticInstitute]

In St. Thomas's understanding, sinning will often mean an act contrary to the nature of the agent, which can be verified as sinful irrespective of religious tradition. There are further sins that can only be known by divine revelation or ecclesiastical law, but these are founded on a broader base of natural law consensus.

[@lewis72]

@@ThomisticInstitute Can you drink alcohol ? Christianity: Yes Islam: No God, assuming it exists, hasn't done a very good job of communicating what is or isn't sin, has he ? We've got old books, full of errors and that's it. No one has ever had a direct communication from something supposedly all-knowing, all-powerful and omni present. It doesn't stack up, does it ?

[@ThomisticInstitute]

@@lewis72 It's a good point. Members of the different faith traditions make the claim though that they are right and that others are wrong. Even though people disagree, there is general agreement that there is reality to be known and to which our minds need be made adequate. We shouldn't be surprised that we disagree given the limitations of the human mind and the negative effects of unnatural customs and bad habits. The Christian tradition attempts to marshal reasons in its defense. You might try watching these two videos. I think that they're pertinent on this point. 1. The Science of Theology: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4DLhZ-tnq2CgKs 2. The Principle of Non-Contradiction: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j33PaIeIe8SfaNk

[@lisabeaudet8589]

I think you implied that one definition of our perfection, of our flourishing as human beings is "to know the good and to seek it with our whole heart". But wasn't that what Adam & Eve were doing when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Did God not want us to be more like himself? He formed us in His image and we continue to strive after that -- and as you said, the key to our flourishing is "to know the good and to seek it with our whole heart". So what is the definition of sin in this context?

[@jonmkl]

He defines it in the video itself. We are capable of misunderstanding the good, or erring and thinking that a lesser or apparent good is a true “good” when it actually leads to destruction. Seeking knowledge of good and evil is a good, but seeking to take that knowledge for oneself in an act of theft, and in so doing _subvert_ God’s plan and order is a clear evil. That is why the serpents temptation was to impute to God an evil motive. By introducing distrust to God the serpent sought to inject fear into man, that man might miss out on some great good if he continued to trust God. This was obviously a lie, and is the lie at the root of all rebellion against good and God. All sin is rooted in seeking after a good, we would take no action without some good being our aim, but it is sin when one utilizes evil in order to do that seeking and it corrupts any good we might have attained in doing it. Think of it this way: Wealth is a good that can lead to a certain kind of human flourishing, but _taking_ that wealth by violence and evil will not lead to flourishing, only destruction. Knowledge is much the same.

[@namapalsu2364]

Don't do this! I can't have all my "like" videos consist of uploads from Thomistic Institute.

[@ThomisticInstitute]

: )

[@d.o.7784]

What is good for me is not necessarily good for you, each has his own “good”, and there is no universal definition as to what Good is.

[@larryprimeau5885]

Mish mash

[@kimsahl8555]

Evil excludes God.

[@Bryan-mt8ht]

Evil?

[@OhioFunny1000]

this is literally SO OHIO button -------------------------------- --------->

[@KhaosOfficialYT]

Lyceum time

[@SKF358]

Plants are better than people because plants put out oxygen, but people put out poop.

[@d.o.7784]

This approach of assuming that there are established facts and base the entire arguments on these assumed facts is not a solid philosophical approach.

[@Jack_Henderson]

Lol, what? I think I see your concern, but it isn't a reasonable one. This would deny the use of any axioms in philosophical discussion. Wouldn't that have to be an axiom itself? Is then your claim not based upon established fact? Besides, some things really are self-evident, like our existence and the principle of non-contradiction.

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

Evil are stupid animal impulse