Philosophy 152 Philosophy of Human Nature Darwall Fall 1996 AQUINAS III For next time: read from in Abel, pp. 195-203,208-218 I Aquinas on why "man's happiness consists in the vision of the divine essence". A. It is of the nature of desire to seek the good. B. No "created" good fully satisfies desire. C. Therefore we must ultimately be seeking a perfect good which can satisfy us permanently. D. God is that perfect good. E. Therefore, the ultimate object of our desire must be God. II Here's a different route to the same conclusion: A. What we are essentially is minds. (E.g., you could lose various senses and still be a person, but you couldn't lose your mind and be one.) B. Our good must consist in something that can satisfy us essentially. C. Our good must consist in something that would satisfy our minds. D. The only thing that could satisfy our minds perfectly must be a perfect object of contemplation or comprehension. E. The best good for human beings is eternal "vision of the divine essence." III God and morality A. Morality as natural law. B. Does morality depend on God? i. How could it not? a. Morality as a law that transcends the laws of any earthly regime. b. A law requires a legislator. c. Morality must be a transcendent law issuing from a transcendent legislator. ii. How could it? a. Take a moral conviction in which you are very conficent, say, that it is wrong to torture innocents. b. Does it not strike you that it couldn't be false--that it is true simply by virtue of what torturing of innocents is? c. If so, how could that depend on its being legislated?