1 Objection 1: It seems that goodness has not the aspect of a final cause, but rather of the other causes. For, as Dionysius says Div. Nom. iv), Goodness is praised as beauty. But beauty has the aspect of a formal cause. Therefore goodness has the aspect of a formal cause.
1 Ad quartum sic proceditur. Videtur quod bonum non habeat rationem causae finalis, sed magis aliarum. Ut enim dicit Dionysius, IV cap. de Div. Nom., bonum laudatur ut pulchrum. Sed pulchrum importat rationem causae formalis. Ergo bonum habet rationem causae formalis.
2 Objection 2: Further, goodness is self-diffusive; for Dionysius says Div. Nom. iv) that goodness is that whereby all things subsist, and are. But to be self-giving implies the aspect of an efficient cause. Therefore goodness has the aspect of an efficient cause.
2 Praeterea, bonum est diffusivum sui esse, ut ex verbis Dionysii accipitur, quibus dicit quod bonum est ex quo omnia subsistunt et sunt. Sed esse diffusivum importat rationem causae efficientis. Ergo bonum habet rationem causae efficientis.
3 Objection 3: Further, Augustine says De Doctr. Christ. i, 31) that we exist because God is good. But we owe our existence to God as the efficient cause. Therefore goodness implies the aspect of an efficient cause.
3 Praeterea, dicit Augustinus in I de Doctr. Christ., quod quia Deus bonus est, nos sumus. Sed ex Deo sumus sicut ex causa efficiente. Ergo bonum importat rationem causae efficientis.
4 On the contrary, The Philosopher says Phys. ii) that that is to be considered as the end and the good of other things, for the sake of which something is. Therefore goodness has the aspect of a final cause.
4 Sed contra est quod philosophus dicit, in II Physic., quod illud cuius causa est, est sicut finis et bonum aliorum. Bonum ergo habet rationem causae finalis.
5 I answer that, Since goodness is that which all things desire, and since this has the aspect of an end, it is clear that goodness implies the aspect of an end. Nevertheless, the idea of goodness presupposes the idea of an efficient cause, and also of a formal cause. For we see that what is first in causing, is last in the thing caused. Fire, for example, heats first of all before it reproduces the form of fire; though the heat in the fire follows from its substantial form. Now in causing, goodness and the end come first, both of which move the agent to act; secondly, the action of the agent moving to the form; thirdly, comes the form. Hence in that which is caused the converse ought to take place, so that there should be first, the form whereby it is a being; secondly, we consider in it its effective power, whereby it is perfect in being, for a thing is perfect when it can reproduce its like, as the Philosopher says Meteor. iv); thirdly, there follows the formality of goodness which is the basic principle of its perfection.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod, cum bonum sit quod omnia appetunt, hoc autem habet rationem finis; manifestum est quod bonum rationem finis importat. Sed tamen ratio boni praesupponit rationem causae efficientis, et rationem causae formalis. Videmus enim quod id quod est primum in causando, ultimum est in causato, ignis enim primo calefacit quam formam ignis inducat, cum tamen calor in igne consequatur formam substantialem. In causando autem, primum invenitur bonum et finis, qui movet efficientem; secundo, actio efficientis, movens ad formam; tertio advenit forma. Unde e converso esse oportet in causato, quod primum sit ipsa forma, per quam est ens; secundo consideratur in ea virtus effectiva, secundum quod est perfectum in esse quia unumquodque tunc perfectum est, quando potest sibi simile facere, ut dicit philosophus in IV Meteor.); tertio consequitur ratio boni, per quam in ente perfectio fundatur.
6 Reply to Objection 1: Beauty and goodness in a thing are identical fundamentally; for they are based upon the same thing, namely, the form; and consequently goodness is praised as beauty. But they differ logically, for goodness properly relates to the appetite goodness being what all things desire); and therefore it has the aspect of an end the appetite being a kind of movement towards a thing). On the other hand, beauty relates to the cognitive faculty; for beautiful things are those which please when seen. Hence beauty consists in due proportion; for the senses delight in things duly proportioned, as in what is after their own kind, because even sense is a sort of reason, just as is every cognitive faculty. Now since knowledge is by assimilation, and similarity relates to form, beauty properly belongs to the nature of a formal cause.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod pulchrum et bonum in subiecto quidem sunt idem, quia super eandem rem fundantur, scilicet super formam, et propter hoc, bonum laudatur ut pulchrum. Sed ratione differunt. Nam bonum proprie respicit appetitum, est enim bonum quod omnia appetunt. Et ideo habet rationem finis, nam appetitus est quasi quidam motus ad rem. Pulchrum autem respicit vim cognoscitivam, pulchra enim dicuntur quae visa placent. Unde pulchrum in debita proportione consistit, quia sensus delectatur in rebus debite proportionatis, sicut in sibi similibus; nam et sensus ratio quaedam est, et omnis virtus cognoscitiva. Et quia cognitio fit per assimilationem, similitudo autem respicit formam, pulchrum proprie pertinet ad rationem causae formalis.
7 Reply to Objection 2: Goodness is described as self-diffusive in the sense that an end is said to move.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod bonum dicitur diffusivum sui esse, eo modo quo finis dicitur movere.
8 Reply to Objection 3: He who has a will is said to be good, so far as he has a good will; because it is by our will that we employ whatever powers we may have. Hence a man is said to be good, not by his good understanding; but by his good will. Now the will relates to the end as to its proper object. Thus the saying, we exist because God is good has reference to the final cause.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod quilibet habens voluntatem, dicitur bonus inquantum habet bonam voluntatem, quia per voluntatem utimur omnibus quae in nobis sunt. Unde non dicitur bonus homo, qui habet bonum intellectum, sed qui habet bonam voluntatem. Voluntas autem respicit finem ut obiectum proprium, et sic, quod dicitur, quia Deus est bonus, sumus, refertur ad causam finalem.