10. Whether Man Wills All Things for the Last End

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Whether all human desires and actions are ordered to the last end: Distinguishing between what appears true from ordinary experience versus philosophical truth
• The ordering of intermediate goods to the final end: How things sought “for their own sake” are still ordered to the complete good
• Speculative vs. practical sciences: How activities pursued intrinsically (like studying mathematics) still serve the ultimate human perfection
• Recreational and laughable actions: The status of leisure, play, and amusement within the hierarchy of human goods
• Implicit vs. explicit intention: Whether conscious awareness of the last end is necessary for actions to be truly ordered to it

Key Arguments #

First Argument: The Perfect Good as Measure #

• Whatever man wills, he wills under the notion (ratio) of the good
• If something is not desired as a perfect or complete good, it must be desired as tending toward a perfect good
• Just as natural and artificial things tend toward completion and perfection, all particular goods tend toward the consummate perfection found in the last end
• Therefore, all desires must be ordered to the last end

Second Argument: The Last End as Unmoved Mover #

• The last end holds the position of first mover (primum movens) in the order of desire, just as the unmoved mover functions in physics
• Second movers (intermediate goods) move the appetite only insofar as they are moved by the first mover (the last end)
• Just as secondary causes cannot move anything except as moved by the first cause, secondary desirables cannot move appetite except for the sake of the first desirable (the last end)
• This parallels how we think without explicitly considering the axioms: the first principles move all reasoning implicitly

Important Definitions #

• Seria (plural: seria): Serious things; actions and desires ordered to the last end. Also called utilia (useful things) when considered as tending toward the end
• Ridicula (plural: ridicula): Laughable or playful things; distinguished from serious things
• Per se ordering vs. per accidens ordering: Actions may be ordered per se (essentially, through themselves) or per accidens (accidentally); the lecture suggests serious actions are ordered per se, playful actions per accidens
• Delectatio: Pleasure or delight
• Requies: Rest; particularly relevant to understanding how recreation serves the ultimate good

Examples & Illustrations #

The Professor’s Motivation #

• Berquist recalls a professor of Arabic history who could not articulate why he learned Arabic or pursued his specialty—it seemed haphazard
• A scholar of Restoration England explained his choice merely as following an interesting professor
• These examples illustrate how people often act without conscious awareness of their ultimate motivation

Speculative Sciences as Desired for Their Own Sake #

• Studying arithmetic through Euclid’s books 7 and 8 is undertaken “for its own sake,” not immediately for human life’s ultimate end
• Yet this does not exempt it from ordering to the last end; rather, mathematical knowledge is part of the complete good of human existence
• Lower sciences are studied both for themselves and for the sake of higher sciences (ultimately to know God)

Laughable vs. Serious Actions #

• A play provides amusement and is thus “laughable,” distinguished from tragedy or serious drama
• Yet even recreation serves the good of the one acting by providing rest and refreshment
• This rest enables one to pursue more seriously the ultimate end
• Unlike someone who makes everything a joke and seems ordered to nothing beyond immediate pleasure, well-ordered recreation is subordinate to the consummate good

The Path and the Destination #

• When walking a path toward a destination, one does not consciously think about the destination with each step
• Yet the intention toward the destination remains operative, directing the journey
• Similarly, the power of intention regarding the last end remains in any particular desire, even when not explicitly thought about

Questions Addressed #

How can we reconcile ordinary experience with the claim that all action is ordered to the last end? #

• People often act without knowing why or without consciously intending the last end
• Yet Thomas argues that the power of intention toward the last end remains operative implicitly, like the axioms operative in all reasoning
• One need not think explicitly about the last end for actions to be truly ordered to it

Are speculative sciences (studied for their own sake) ordered to the last end? #

• Yes: They are ordered as part of the complete and perfect good of the one speculating
• The contemplative sciences contribute to human perfection and are included under the ultimate end
• They are both sought for themselves and for the sake of higher sciences

What is the status of playful and recreational actions? #

• Not directly ordered to an extrinsic end, but ordered to the good of the one acting
• They provide rest (requies) and pleasure, which serve to refresh and enable pursuit of the consummate good
• They are ordered to the complete good of man not as its primary goal, but as necessary means to sustaining pursuit of it

Why is explicit thinking about the last end not always necessary? #

• The first intention with respect to the last end remains in any desire or action, even when unthought
• This parallels how the axiom of non-contradiction underlies all thinking without being consciously considered in every thought
• The implicit ordering to the last end suffices; explicit reflection is not required for the ordering to be real

Notable Quotes #

“Whatever man wants or desires, he desires under the notion of the good.” — Thomas Aquinas (cited by Berquist)

“The end is what is desired for its own sake and not for the sake of something else, but everything else for the sake of it.” — Aristotle (quoted by Berquist via Augustine)

“To be or not to be, that is a question, because you cannot both be and not be.” — Berquist, connecting Shakespeare’s philosophical reflection to the axiom of non-contradiction