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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2021

Can Laurens Löwe
Affiliation:
Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities ‘Human Abilities’, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin
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Summary

The introductory chapter of this book offers a brief account of the relation between action theory and moral philosophy in Aquinas. It argues that Aquinas has a descriptive, metaphysical account of the human act, one that investigates the human act’s ontology as well as its aetiology, that is, respectively, what the human act is and how it is explained. This account brackets normative considerations about what acts are morally good or bad. The introduction specifies that the book deals with this descriptive theory, and it also motivates the book’s main textual focus, which is on one aspect of Aquinas’s Prima secundae discussion of the human act, namely, the phase leading from choice (electio) to the actual performance of the human act. Finally, the introduction states the main thesis of the book, which is that both choice and the human act that it explains are hylomorphically structured, for Aquinas. Choice is a composite of a volition and a preferential intentional structure inherited from a previous judgment, and the human act is a composite of a volition and a power-exercise caused by volition, such as a bodily movement.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Introduction
  • Can Laurens Löwe
  • Book: Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act
  • Online publication: 25 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108986120.001
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  • Introduction
  • Can Laurens Löwe
  • Book: Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act
  • Online publication: 25 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108986120.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Can Laurens Löwe
  • Book: Thomas Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Human Act
  • Online publication: 25 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108986120.001
Available formats
×