Measuring, Judging and the Good Life: Aquinas and Kant

David Ross, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, at Studia Gilsoniana.

"For Jesus, knowing God was the way in which one lived the Good Life—the way one inherits eternal life, because, while the moral law is good, it is not man’s ultimate end. These two conclusions about man’s ultimate end—either living morally or knowing God—is one that plays out when we compare the work of Immanuel Kant with St. Thomas Aquinas. For Kant, man’s ultimate end is to live morally, while for St. Thomas, man’s ultimate end is to see and know God."

See Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volumes 19-20, and Great Books of the Western World (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volumes 17-18.

See Kant, Perpetual Peace, in Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 7; The Critique of Pure Reason, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Critique of Judgement, in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 42, and (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 39.