Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Q5 A6: Whether goodness is rightly divided into the virtuous, the useful and the pleasant?

Yes. Goodness is rightly divided into the virtuous, the useful and the pleasant because this division corresponds to the movement of appetite according to its proper formality.

Because of the form of the movement of appetite, goodness is predicated analogically:

1. chiefly of the virtuous (what is absolutely good as an end in itself)

2. then of the pleasant (a state of rest in the form of the end)

3. and lastly of the useful (what is relatively good as a means to an end)