QUESTION FOUR

4. Aquinas is said to be a Christian with an Aristotlian bent. Explain how he is similar to Aristotle and how he is very different. Explain each philosopher and then compare/contrast them (write in three sections).

the main idea of aristotle's ethical theory is that of ends, that all actions are geared toward the realization of one final end. aristotle claims that this final end has to be something that everyone desires; that is, has to be self-sufficient, final, and attainable. being self-sufficient means that in it alone, it is desirable. being final means that it is not used to achieve something else. being attainable means, well, attainable; can be obtained with one's power. after all, if something is not attainable, how can everyone desire it? aristotle then comes to a conclusion that the only thing that fits in all three categories is happiness itself. that is, happiness is self-sufficient, final, and attainable. but how does one go about obtaining happiness? this is where the concept that most if not all philosophers incorporate in their theories comes in play: rationality. incorporating this idea on rationality, aristotle concludes that happiness can be obtained from the realization of rationality.

aquinas, who is a believer of god, incorporates aristotle's ethical theory into his own theory, but with a theological twist to it. for aquinas, while it is true that human beings desire happiness, and that happiness is the FINAL end ---meaning fulfilling the three categories aristotle has proposed--- but true happiness is a higher level happiness that cannot be obtained without knowledge of god. in other words, the happiness that aristotle defines as being desired by everyone, is not YET the highest level of happiness, and therefore is not YET the final end. the concept of rationality is also incorporated by aquinas to his theory. aquinas argues that one must use rationality to help oneself in realizing that there are two kinds of happiness in this world: one that can be obtained with human power and another one that cannot be obtained without the understanding of god.

in comparison, aquinas is not that much different from aristotle. all aquinas does is basically taking aristotle's ethical theory and incorporating the concept of god in it. of course, aristotle's ethical theory goes deep into explaining what virtue is since he claims that happiness has to be "in accordance with virtue," while aquinas barely touches the idea of virtue. also, aquinas goes deep into explaining will, an important concept in determining what choice one makes, which is something that aristotle barely touches. these two philosophers have differing idea on what concept should be emphasized, but even so, they both agree that human beings desire happiness and rationality must be incorporated in order to obtain true happiness. the definition of true happiness, however, differ slightly for these two philosophers, as well as the implementation of rationality. aquinas and aristotle essentially agree on what true happiness should be like, but aquinas adds the concept of god in it; that true happiness can only be found in god, since god is a higher being than humans and therefore happiness in god should also be higher than happiness in humans. with regards to incorporating rationality, aristotle claims that rationality must be applied when one makes choices since only rational actions can lead to happiness, while aquinas claims that rationality should be used to distinguish the kind of happiness one can receive from the world and the kind of happiness one can receive only in god.