The Moral Philosophy of Lucretius and Aquinas: Competing Ends and Means

• Authors: Nehez Jason
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The author first explains wisdom and its importance to moral philosophy. Secondly, he follows with a consideration of the nature of things and the soul as told by Lucretius. Then he presents a brief summary on St. Thomas understanding of soul and how his faculty psychology is a superior explanation of moral philosophy. The author concludes by showing how Lucretius’ ethical system fails and to attain true happiness we must take up a faculty psychology aimed at virtue and the perfection of the soul, the principle form of the human person.

Keywords

EN

Lucretius; Thomas Aquinas; end; means; atomism; Thomism; wisdom; moral philosophy; human nature; soul; faculty psychology; ethics; happiness; virtue; human person

• Publisher: International Étienne Gilson Society
• Journal: Studia Gilsoniana
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 293-319

Dates

published

2021-06-30

Contributors

author

Nehez Jason

References

• Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima. Translated by Kenelm Foster, O.P., and Sylvester Humphries, O.P. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951.
• Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics. Translated by Richard J. Blackwell, Richard J. Spath & W. Edmund Thirlkel. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963.
• Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by C. I. Litzinger, O.P. Henry Regnery Company 1964.
• Lucretius. On the Nature of Things. Translated by William Ellery Leonard. Kindle Book. Available online at: http://classics.mit.edu//Carus/nature_things.html. Accessed Mar. 21, 2021.
• Redpath, Peter A. The Moral Psychology of St. Thomas Aquinas: An Introduction to Ragamuffin Ethics. St. Louis: En Route Books & Media, 2019, Kindle edition.

Notes

EN

DOI: 10.26385/SG.100212