1 Objection 1: It seems that not every being is good. For goodness is something superadded to being, as is clear from Article 1. But whatever is added to being limits it; as substance, quantity, quality, etc. Therefore goodness limits being. Therefore not every being is good.
1 Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod non omne ens sit bonum. Bonum enim addit supra ens, ut ex dictis patet. Ea vero quae addunt aliquid supra ens, contrahunt ipsum, sicut substantia, quantitas, qualitas, et alia huiusmodi. Ergo bonum contrahit ens. Non igitur omne ens est bonum.
2 Objection 2: Further, no evil is good: Woe to you that call evil good and good evil Is. 5, 20). But some things are called evil. Therefore not every being is good.
2 Praeterea, nullum malum est bonum, Isaiae V, vae qui dicitis malum bonum, et bonum malum. Sed aliquod ens dicitur malum. Ergo non omne ens est bonum.
3 Objection 3: Further, goodness implies desirability. Now primary matter does not imply desirability, but rather that which desires. Therefore primary matter does not contain the formality of goodness. Therefore not every being is good.
3 Praeterea, bonum habet rationem appetibilis. Sed materia prima non habet rationem appetibilis, sed appetentis tantum. Ergo materia prima non habet rationem boni. Non igitur omne ens est bonum.
4 Objection 4: Further, the Philosopher notes Metaph. iii) that in mathematics goodness does not exist. But mathematics are entities; otherwise there would be no science of mathematics. Therefore not every being is good.
4 Praeterea, philosophus dicit, in III Metaphys., quod in mathematicis non est bonum. Sed mathematica sunt quaedam entia, alioquin de eis non esset scientia. Ergo non omne ens est bonum.
5 On the contrary, Every being that is not God is God's creature. Now every creature of God is good 1 Tim. 4, 4): and God is the greatest good. Therefore every being is good.
5 Sed contra, omne ens quod non est Deus, est Dei creatura. Sed omnis creatura Dei est bona, ut dicitur I ad Tim., IV cap., Deus vero est maxime bonus. Ergo omne ens est bonum.
6 I answer that, Every being, as being, is good. For all being, as being, has actuality and is in some way perfect; since every act implies some sort of perfection; and perfection implies desirability and goodness, as is clear from Article 1. Hence it follows that every being as such is good.
6 Respondeo dicendum quod omne ens, inquantum est ens, est bonum. Omne enim ens, inquantum est ens, est in actu, et quodammodo perfectum, quia omnis actus perfectio quaedam est. Perfectum vero habet rationem appetibilis et boni, ut ex dictis patet. Unde sequitur omne ens, inquantum huiusmodi, bonum esse.
7 Reply to Objection 1: Substance, quantity, quality, and everything included in them, limit being by applying it to some essence or nature. Now in this sense, goodness does not add anything to being beyond the aspect of desirability and perfection, which is also proper to being, whatever kind of nature it may be. Hence goodness does not limit being.
7 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod substantia, quantitas et qualitas, et ea quae sub eis continentur, contrahunt ens applicando ens ad aliquam quidditatem seu naturam. Sic autem non addit aliquid bonum super ens, sed rationem tantum appetibilis et perfectionis, quod convenit ipsi esse in quacumque natura sit. Unde bonum non contrahit ens.
8 Reply to Objection 2: No being can be spoken of as evil, formally as being, but only so far as it lacks being. Thus a man is said to be evil, because he lacks some virtue; and an eye is said to be evil, because it lacks the power to see well.
8 Ad secundum dicendum quod nullum ens dicitur malum inquantum est ens, sed inquantum caret quodam esse, sicut homo dicitur malus inquantum caret esse virtutis, et oculus dicitur malus inquantum caret acumine visus.
9 Reply to Objection 3: As primary matter has only potential being, so it is only potentially good. Although, according to the Platonists, primary matter may be said to be a non-being on account of the privation attaching to it, nevertheless, it does participate to a certain extent in goodness, viz. by its relation to, or aptitude for, goodness. Consequently, to be desirable is not its property, but to desire.
9 Ad tertium dicendum quod materia prima, sicut non est ens nisi in potentia, ita nec bonum nisi in potentia. Licet, secundum Platonicos, dici possit quod materia prima est non ens, propter privationem adiunctam. Sed tamen participat aliquid de bono, scilicet ipsum ordinem vel aptitudinem ad bonum. Et ideo non convenit sibi quod sit appetibile, sed quod appetat.
10 Reply to Objection 4: Mathematical entities do not subsist as realities; because they would be in some sort good if they subsisted; but they have only logical existence, inasmuch as they are abstracted from motion and matter; thus they cannot have the aspect of an end, which itself has the aspect of moving another. Nor is it repugnant that there should be in some logical entity neither goodness nor form of goodness; since the idea of being is prior to the idea of goodness, as was said in the preceding article.
10 Ad quartum dicendum quod mathematica non subsistunt separata secundum esse, quia si subsisterent, esset in eis bonum, scilicet ipsum esse ipsorum. Sunt autem mathematica separata secundum rationem tantum, prout abstrahuntur a motu et a materia, et sic abstrahuntur a ratione finis, qui habet rationem moventis. Non est autem inconveniens quod in aliquo ente secundum rationem non sit bonum vel ratio boni, cum ratio entis sit prior quam ratio boni, sicut supra dictum est.