ASSIGNMENT 1F

NATURE OF HUMAN ACTIONS

 Thomas Aquinas believed that human actions are classified into diverse types or species.
He classified human actions as good, evil, or indifferent, and further classified them as
almsgiving, murder, fraternal correction, or theft. From his earliest consideration of this
topic in the Commentary on the Sentences to his most recent in the Summa Theologiae,
he used five different terms to identify what gives species to human actions: end, object,
matter, circumstance, and motive. Some difficulties have been identified in his thinking
on this subject. One such difficulty is that his teaching on a few of these terms appears
inconsistent at times. Although Aquinas maintains in some texts that circumstances can
give species to human actions, he denies this in others. They may do so in other texts.
Furthermore, while he claims on some occasions that a remote end is irrelevant for the
specification of human actions, he appears to claim on others that a remote end is the
most important principle for such specification. It is difficult to see how these
contradictory statements can be true at the same time at first. Another difficulty is
understanding how end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive can all refer to what
defines human actions. Although there are some semantic similarities between them, no
term is a strict synonym of any other, ruling out an easy reconciliation. This monograph
investigates Aquinas' understanding of these five terms to resolve these difficulties are
addressed, and a coherent account of his teaching on the specification of human actions is
proposed.
Reflection:
Based on what I have read about the nature of human actions, Mr. Thomas Aquinas really
believed that humans are naturally good at anything, especially in perfection, and good acts
without the tendency to commit sinful acts towards someone or anything. I also believed in Mr.
Thomas Aquinas's point of view about this topic because he is not the only one who knows about
this one, we humans really know what he is talking about.
THE CARDINAL VIRTUES
▫ Prudence is the virtue that equips practical reason to discern our true good in all
circumstances, as well as the best means of achieving it; "The prudent man examines his
surroundings. "Remain sane and sober for your prayers." Prudence is "the right reason in
action." "St. Writes following Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas. It is not to be confused with
timidity, fear, or duplicity. Alternatively, dissimulation. It is known as auriga virtutum
the charioteer of the virtues, and it directs the other virtues by establishing rules and
measurements Prudence immediately guides the decision-making process of conscience.
The prudent man decides and directs his actions based on this judgment. We apply moral
principles to specific cases without error with the help of this virtue. And triumph doubts
about the good to be accomplished and the evil to be avoided. Prudence is one of the four
cardinal merits. Like the other three, it is a virtue that can be rehearsed by
anyone; unlike the theological merits, the cardinal merits are not, in themselves, the gifts
 of God through grace but the outgrowth of habit. Still, Christians can grow in the cardinal
merits through sanctifying grace, and therefore prudence can take on a supernatural
dimension as well as a natural bone.
▫ Temperance is one of the four cardinal merits. As similar, it can be rehearsed by anyone,
whether baptized or Un christened, Christian or not; the cardinal merits are the outgrowth
of habit, unlike the theological merits, which are the gifts of God through grace.
Temperance, as the Unqualified Encyclopedia notes, "is concerned with what's delicate
for a man, not as far as he's a rational being precisely, but rather as far as he's a beast. "In
other words, temperance is the virtue that helps us control our physical desire for
pleasure, which we partake with the creatures.
▫ Justice is the alternate cardinal virtue because it is concerned with the will. As Fr. John
A. Hardon notes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, it is " the constant and endless
determination to give everyone his or her due. "We say that" justice is eyeless," because
it should not count what we suppose of a particular person. However, we must repay
exactly what we owe If we owe him a debt. Justice is connected to the idea of rights.
While we frequently use justice in a negative sense ("He got what he merited"), justice in
its proper sense is positive. Injustice occurs when we as individuals or by law deprive
someone of that which he is owed. Legal rights can in no way outweigh natural bones.
Reflection:
According to Mr. Thomas Aquinas’s cardinal virtue, it is said that prudence is the most pivotal
virtue because he felt that it was directly connected with a person’s mind-affecting how they
perceive their studies. He stated that a lack of prudence is depicted when we choose to make
miscalculations while we know what is right. And for the temperance, he already stated that
temperance is decisive for good reason. One implication of this we have just seen is that
Aquinas's abstinence cannot be abused for evil or used to make immoral decisions. The integrity
of nature, a virtue of justice, also requires people to be social. As we have seen, rational men owe
them certain rights of their own kind that flow from their nature. The virtue to which these rights
are given is justice.