Monday, May 10, 2010

1a 2ae q29 a5: Whether a man can hate the truth? Yes.

Sed in particulari nihil prohibet quoddam ens et quoddam verum odio haberi, inquantum habet rationem contrarii et repugnantis, quia contrarietas et repugnantia non adversatur rationi entis et veri, sicut adversatur rationi boni.

Nothing hinders some particular being or some particular truth being an object of hatred, insofar as it is considered under the formal aspect of being hurtful and repugnant, because hurtfulness and repugnance are not incompatible with the formal aspect of being and truth, as they are with the formal aspect of good.

Bonum et verum et ens sunt idem secundum rem, sed differunt ratione. Bonum enim habet rationem appetibilis, non autem ens vel verum, quia bonum est "quod omnia appetunt". Et ideo bonum, sub ratione boni, non potest odio haberi, nec in universali nec in particulari.

Good, true and being are the same in a thing, but differ in their formal aspect. For good has the formal aspect of something desirable, while being and true are not so considered, since the good is "what all things seek". Wherefore a good, considered under the formal aspect of good, cannot be the object of hatred, neither in general nor in particular.

Dicit Augustinus, in X Confess., quod homines "amant veritatem lucentem, oderunt eam redarguentem".

Augustine says (Confess. x, 23) that humans "love truth when it enlightens, they hate it when it reproves".

Cognoscere veritatem secundum se est amabile; propter quod dicit Augustinus quod amant eam lucentem. Sed per accidens cognitio veritatis potest esse odibilis, inquantum impedit ab aliquo desiderato.

The knowledge of truth is lovable in itself; hence Augustine says that men love it when it enlightens. But accidentally, the knowledge of truth may become hateful, insofar as it hinders one from accomplishing one's desire.

Philosophus dicit, in II Rhetoric., quod "homines amant non fictos".

The Philosopher says (Rhet. ii, 4) that "men love those who are straightforward".

Ex hoc procedit quod non ficti amantur, quod homo amat secundum se cognoscere veritatem, quam homines non ficti manifestant.

The reason why those who are straightforward are loved, is that a man loves the knowledge of the truth in itself, which is what is displayed by men who are straightforward.