Summary
The first part of part 2 of the Summa,
consisting of 114 questions, offers an extensive
discussion of man, who is said to have been made in God’s image.
The first 5 questions, each of which is subdivided into
various Articles, deal with man’s last end, the things in which man’s
happiness consists, what happiness is, the things that are required
for happiness, and the attainment of happiness.
First, in contrast to irrational animals, man has the
faculty and will of reason. The will, also known as the rational
appetite, seeks to achieve both its end and the good, and so all
acts, being guided by the will, are for an end.
Second, man’s happiness does not consist of wealth, honor,
fame, glory, power, the goods of the body, or pleasure. In fact,
man’s happiness cannot consist in any created good at all, since
the ultimate object of man’s will, the universal good, cannot be
found in any creature but rather only in God, who is the source
of all good.
Third, happiness is man’s supreme perfection, and each
thing is perfect insofar as it is actual. Man’s final and complete
happiness can consist only in contemplating the Divine Essence,
although the possibility of this contemplation remains withheld
from us until we are in the world to come. As long as man desires
and seeks something, he remains unhappy. The intellect seeks the
essence of a thing. For example, knowing an effect, such as a solar
eclipse, the intellect is aroused and is unsatisfied until it discovers
the cause of the eclipse. Indeed, the intellect desires to understand
the essence of the cause. For this reason, the intellect is unsatisfied
to know merely that the First Cause, that is, God,
exists. The intellect seeks to penetrate farther to the very essence
of the First Cause itself.
Fourth, the things required for happiness must derive
from the way in which man is constituted and designed for a purpose,
since happiness consists in man’s attainment of that final purpose.
Perfect knowledge of the intelligible end, actual attainment of
the end, and delight in the presence of the end attained must all
coexist in happiness. Happiness in this life, which is necessarily
imperfect, requires rectitude of the will, the existence of the
body, and certain external goods and consists in the use of the
intellect either speculatively or practically (i.e., with respect
to morality). Perfect happiness, which is possible only in the life
to come, consists in contemplation of the Divine Essence, which
is goodness.
Finally, man is capable of attaining happiness, that is,
of seeing God, and one person can be happier than another insofar
as she is better inclined to enjoy him. Happiness excludes the presence
of evil, though, and since evil is present in this world, it is
impossible for man to be happy in this life. Furthermore, man cannot
attain perfect happiness because he is incapable of seeing God in
this life. Imperfect happiness can be lost, but perfect happiness
cannot. Neither man nor any creature can attain final happiness
through his natural powers. Since happiness is a good surpassing
anything that has been created, no creature, even an angel, is capable
of making man happy. Happiness is the reward for works of virtue.
Some people do not know what happiness consists in and thus do not
desire it.
