Ethical Views of Augustine and Aquinas

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Aquinas used similar ideas to Augustine regarding knowing the good. Through a definition of an individual or human being as a sound or rational creature to all aims and purposes, their spirit or soul ought to be perfected through the identification of genuine goods instead of perceived goods. These are then organized in based on the highest achievable good. Aquinas plainly characterized this as God himself as this is the main premise on which all different goods would be connected. In any case, Aquinas presented a particular contrast which identified with the route in which individuals had the capacity and ability to comprehend their own potential in connection to the ideas of better and worse. Aquinas also accepted that the methodology of doing the good was not just part of the love and virtue of God but at the same time was identified with the perfection of a person's naturally occurring forces. There is also the possibility to clarify particular ethics as either being of a learned or moral capacity and figure out if they occur naturally or would have to be infused. Regardless of the increased clarification and specification that Aquinas used to characterize virtue, he still utilized the same systems for their categorization as Augustine.

It is clear that there are similarities existing between the moral perspectives and considerations given by Augustine and Aquinas. Both are established on a Christian point of view yet the principal teachings of Augustine were not only evolved but also developed by Aquinas as a way representing human nature in a more balanced and detailed manner, which further serves to address moral questions. Therefore, I side with Aquinas.

References

Coward, H. G. (2012). The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought. SUNY Press.

Weithman, P. J. (1959). Augustine and Aquinas on Original Sin and the Function of Political Authority. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 353-376.