Monday, September 14, 2009

1a 2ae q2 a1: Whether man's happiness consists in wealth? No.

In divitiis beatitudo non consistit quia quaeruntur propter aliud, scilicet ad sustentandam naturam hominis; et ideo non possunt esse ultimus finis hominis, sed magis ordinantur ad hominem sicut ad finem.

Man's happiness does not consist in wealth because it is sought for the sake of something else, viz., as a support of human nature; consequently it cannot be man's last end, rather is it ordained to man as to its end.

Appetitus naturalium divitiarum non est infinitus, quia secundum certam mensuram naturae sufficiunt. Sed appetitus divitiarum artificialium est infinitus, quia deservit concupiscentiae inordinatae, quae non modificatur, ut patet per philosophum in I Polit.

The desire for natural riches is not infinite, because they suffice for nature in a certain measure. But the desire for artificial wealth is infinite, for it is the servant of disordered concupiscence, which is not curbed, as the Philosopher makes clear (Polit. i, 3).

Omnia corporalia obediunt pecuniae, quantum ad multitudinem stultorum, qui sola corporalia bona cognoscunt, quae pecunia acquiri possunt. Iudicium autem de bonis humanis non debet sumi a stultis, sed a sapientibus; sicut et iudicium de saporibus ab his qui habent gustum bene dispositum.

All material things obey money, so far as the multitude of fools is concerned, who know no other than material goods, which can be obtained for money. But we should take our estimation of human goods not from the foolish but from the wise; just as it is for a person whose sense of taste is in good order, to judge whether a thing is palatable.