Loading...
Willful Wrongdoing:
McCluskey, Colleen
McCluskey, Colleen
Author(s)
Author(s) (Additional)
Illustrator(s)
Producer(s)
Contributor(s)
Contributor(s) (Other)
Editor(s)
Advisor(s)
Contact(s)
Data Collector(s)
Keywords
GE Subjects
Collections
Files
Loading...
WillfulWrongdoing.pdf
Adobe PDF, 188.65 KB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Online Access
Abstract
Thomas Aquinas argues for an account of human action that is rooted firmly within the eudemonistic tradition. On Aquinas’s account, human beings always act for the sake of an end that they consider a good. Furthermore, he argues that human beings always act in light of an ultimate end, which he defines as happiness. Ultimately, human beings do what they do because they believe that doing so will make them happy. This description of the motivation for action raises two major worries for Aquinas’s account. First, obviously, there are many, many situations where human beings perform actions that they clearly recognize as wrong and therefore not good. One wonders whether Aquinas is able to reconcile such cases with his basic account of action. Thus, he faces questions about the consistency of his account. Secondly, one wonders whether an explanation that is consistent with his basic account of action will satisfactorily account for wrongdoing. Thus, he faces questions about the adequacy of his account.
Note(s)
Topic
Type
Article
Date
2005
Identifier
ISBN
DOI
Copyright/License
With permission of the license/copyright holder