How does Aquinas include elements of both faith and reason in his ethics?
The correct answer and explanation is:
Thomas Aquinas integrates both faith and reason into his ethics by emphasizing that they are not opposed to each other, but rather complementary. According to Aquinas, human beings are naturally endowed with reason, which can help understand the natural world and discern moral truths. He believed that reason allows us to understand the natural law, which is the moral law known through human nature. This law is derived from the rational understanding of the purpose and order within creation, suggesting that human beings can act in accordance with their true nature through reason.
However, Aquinas also argued that reason alone is insufficient for understanding the ultimate purpose of human life and the path to salvation. He maintained that faith is essential for this. Faith, as a gift from God, reveals truths that are beyond the reach of human reason, such as the doctrines of the Christian faith and the teachings of Scripture. In Aquinas’s view, certain moral truths, such as the need for divine grace, can only be known through faith.
Aquinas’s ethics, therefore, involves the collaboration of both faith and reason. While reason provides the foundation for understanding natural law and moral behavior in the temporal world, faith elevates the individual’s moral understanding to achieve the ultimate end of human life, which is union with God. Aquinas believed that while natural law could guide ethical decision-making, the fullness of moral truth, including the knowledge of God’s will, requires revelation through faith. In this way, both elements work together in Aquinas’s ethics to guide individuals toward both a just life and the eternal good.