Theory Of Goodness Thomas Aquinas Summary

Christopher Hughes gives a deep exploration into Thomas Aquinas’ many-sided theory of goodness, which in general is that goodness can be found in all beings in some way. Despite the chapter being lengthy, Hughes explains that it was still a very partial exploration into the theory due to the fact that it’s too rich to explain in anything shorter than a monograph, but his use of metaphors allows for Aquinas’ very complex theory to be relatable in the modern world, and this essay will look at various key aspects of Hughes’ analysis.
Aquinas differentiates the different types of good, and what he defines as evil. He says the most universal type of goodness is the idea that everything is good as everything is a being, which is a type of metaphysical goodness, but that this goodness is only relevant in a certain way, and this is called secundum quid. The differentiation for Aquinas is the simpliciter, which is what is proper to it, and if something is lacking the good of what is proper to it, then it is evil. It’s a very complex theory, but Hughes uses obscure metaphors to explain it. For example, saying an Ethiopian is white is not strictly and literarily true because they have black skin, but it could be argued that it is true due to the fact that they have white teeth. It’s a different way of looking at anything, but in this instance, it pushes you to …show more content…
I figured human beings around the globe has good and evil within them, but how they chose to define this good or evil is what defines them as a person. For example, Adolf Hitler would be considered evil for his mass murder as the German leader of the Nazi party, while Mother Theresa would be considered good for devoting her life to helping the poor, the sick, the helpless and the