Book contents
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Aquinas on Individual Happiness
- Chapter 1 Three Kinds of Perfectionism
- Chapter 2 The Heart of Happiness
- Chapter 3 Perfect Happiness
- Chapter 4 Natural Imperfect Happiness
- Chapter 5 Graced Imperfect Happiness
- Part II Aquinas, Happiness, and the Unity of Ethics
- Bibliography of Works by Thomas Aquinas with Abbreviations
- General Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 3 - Perfect Happiness
from Part I - Aquinas on Individual Happiness
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2025
Book contents
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Aquinas on Individual Happiness
- Chapter 1 Three Kinds of Perfectionism
- Chapter 2 The Heart of Happiness
- Chapter 3 Perfect Happiness
- Chapter 4 Natural Imperfect Happiness
- Chapter 5 Graced Imperfect Happiness
- Part II Aquinas, Happiness, and the Unity of Ethics
- Bibliography of Works by Thomas Aquinas with Abbreviations
- General Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter argues for a fairly radical rethinking of Aquinas’s account of perfect happiness. In particular, it argues that, according to Aquinas, perfect happiness just is the fruitio of God, understood as a complex activity involving both the vision of God and maximal enjoyment of God. This fits very well with the Enjoying Good Activities Reading laid out in Chapter 2, since perfect happiness so understood clearly involves engaging in and enjoying a genuinely good activity. From there, the chapter explains what makes that perfect happiness so special, in part by comparing that happiness to God’s own happiness. After explaining the relationship between the fruitio of God and other heavenly goods, the chapter closes by showing how Aquinas makes sense of the idea that perfect happiness comes in degrees and how it is that resurrected bodies and other people are supposed to make us happier in heaven.
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- Aquinas and the Ethics of Happiness , pp. 60 - 96Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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