The goodness or badness of actions has not been properly determined as a result of the various different opinions of people throughout time. People have tried to determine what causes an action to be good or bad, and numerous different explanations have been given. Among these people, there were several philosophers and theologians who gave their statement to explain what it is that determines the morality of an action. I will introduce two theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas and Ockham, as well as present each of their opinions on how the goodness or badness of an action can be determined. Aquinas introduces his concept in Summa Theologia, Question 18 The Goodness and Badness of Human Acts in General, and Ockham proposes his explanation in “Ockham
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First of all, Ockham defines a good act differently. He identifies a good act as a virtuous act, or “a primary praiseworthy act in perfect circumstances, and act so virtuous that it cannot be rendered vicious.” For Ockham, a good act is one that contains no evil in it whatsoever; hence it is not vicious, but virtuous. Furthermore, the virtuousness and the perfect circumstance of a good action is to derive from a divine command, which Ockham mentions after giving his definition of a virtuous act. By this statement, he refers to God’s commands, or laws, because He is the only one who is divine and who sets the perfect circumstances and laws. His commands are considered the necessary goodness that humans should …show more content…
On the other hand, if an intention is evil, or bad, then the action done for that intention can be considered a bad action because it reflects the evilness in the intention. For example, if a person of influence donates money to help feed the homeless, then this will be considered as a good action for the reason that it is being done to benefit others, which is the good intention of the act. However, if a person were to donate money to any organization to boast about himself and his wealth, then this would be a bad action because his intention is to appear wealthy and superior than others, which is a bad intention. Therefore, according to Ockham, the intention, or the act of will, is itself virtuous or vicious since it helps determine if an action is good or
First of all, Ockham defines a good act differently. He identifies a good act as a virtuous act, or “a primary praiseworthy act in perfect circumstances, and act so virtuous that it cannot be rendered vicious.” For Ockham, a good act is one that contains no evil in it whatsoever; hence it is not vicious, but virtuous. Furthermore, the virtuousness and the perfect circumstance of a good action is to derive from a divine command, which Ockham mentions after giving his definition of a virtuous act. By this statement, he refers to God’s commands, or laws, because He is the only one who is divine and who sets the perfect circumstances and laws. His commands are considered the necessary goodness that humans should …show more content…
On the other hand, if an intention is evil, or bad, then the action done for that intention can be considered a bad action because it reflects the evilness in the intention. For example, if a person of influence donates money to help feed the homeless, then this will be considered as a good action for the reason that it is being done to benefit others, which is the good intention of the act. However, if a person were to donate money to any organization to boast about himself and his wealth, then this would be a bad action because his intention is to appear wealthy and superior than others, which is a bad intention. Therefore, according to Ockham, the intention, or the act of will, is itself virtuous or vicious since it helps determine if an action is good or