Now the first principle in practical matters, which are the object of practical reasoning, is the final end: and the final end of human life is happiness or blessedness. . . . Law must therefore attend especially to the ordering of things towards blessedness, [and particularly] in such a way as to secure the common happiness.
—Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae 1-2.90.2 in corp.
Perhaps the most well-known and highly regarded theologian and philosopher of the Catholic Church, Thomas Aquinas was born the youngest son to a Sicilian noble family in 1225. Although Aquinas was intended from a young age to become an abbot, Italian political and papal infighting redirected him to a university in Naples, where his studies,… [Read More]
Aquinas’ writings often attempt to achieve a synthesis between Greek philosophy and Christian theology, despite the obviously pagan character of classical thought. [Read More]
Ralph McInerny introduces Thomas Aquinas.