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• Preface.
• Aquinas Ethicus, Or the Moral Teaching of St. Thomas. a Translation of the Principal Portions of the Second Part of the Summa Theologica, With Notes.: First Division of the Second Part, Commonly Called Prima Secundæ.
• Question I.: Of the Last End of Man In General.
• Question II.: Of the Object In Which Man’s Happiness Consists.
• Question III.: What Is Happiness?
• Question IV.: Of Things Requisite For Happiness.
• Question V.: Of the Attainment of Happiness.
• Question VI.: Of the Voluntary and the Involuntary.
• Question VII.: Of the Circumstances of Human Acts.
• Question VIII.: Of the Will and Its Objects.
• Question XII.: Of Intention.
• Question XIII.: Of Election, Or Choice of Means.
• Question XVIII.: Of the Good Or Evil of Human Acts In General.
• Question XIX.: Of the Good and Evil of the Interior Act of the Will.
• Question XX.: Of the Good and Evil of Exterior Human Acts.
• Question XXI.: Of the Properties Consequent Upon Human Acts Considered As Good Or Evil.
• Question XXII.: Of the Subject of the Passions.
• Question XXIII.: Of the Difference of Passions One From Another.
• Question XXIV.: Of Good and Evil In Passions.
• Question XXVI.: Of Love.
• Question XXVII.: Of the Cause of Love.
• Question XXVIII.: Of the Effects of Love.
• Question XXIX.: Of Hatred.
• Question XXX.: Of Desire.
• Question XXXI.: Of Delight, Or Pleasure.
• Question XXXII.: Of the Cause of Pleasure.
• Question XXXIII.: Of the Effects of Pleasure.
• Question XXXIV.: Of Good and Evil In Pleasures.
• Question XXXV.: Of Pain and Sorrow In Themselves.
• Question XXXVI.: Of the Causes of Pain.
• Question XXXVIII.: Of Remedies For Sorrow Or Pain.
• Question XXXIX.: Of the Good and Evil of Sorrow Or Pain.
• Question Xl.: of Hope.
• Question Xli.: of Fear In Itself.
• Question Xlii.: of the Object of Fear.
• Question Xliv.: of the Effects of Fear.
• Question Xlv.: of Fiery Daring.
• Question Xlvi.: of Anger As It Is In Itself.
• Question Xlvii.: of the Efficient Cause of Anger.
• Question Xlviii.: of the Effects of Anger.
• Question Xlix.: of Habits In General.
• Question L.: of the Subject of Habits.
• Question Li.: of the Generating Cause of Habits.
• Question Lii.: of the Increase of Habits.
• Question Liii.: of the Destruction and Diminution of Habits.
• Question Lv.: of Virtues In Their Essence.
• Question Lvi.: of the Subject of Virtue.
• Question Lvii.: of the Various Intellectual Virtues.
• Question Lviii.: of the Distinction of Moral Virtues From Intellectual.
• Question Lix.: of Moral Virtues In Their Relation to the Passions.
• Question Lxi.: of the Cardinal Virtues.
• Question Lxii.: of the Theological Virtues.
• Question Lxiii.: of the Cause of Virtues.
• Question Lxiv.: of the Mean of Virtues.
• Question Lxv.: of the Connexion of Virtue With Virtue.
• Question Lxxi.: of Vices and Sins In Themselves.
• Question Lxxii.: of the Distinction Between Sin and Sin.
• Question Lxxiii.: of the Comparison of Sin With Sin.
• Question Lxxiv.: of the Subject of Sins.
• Question Lxxv.: of the Causes of Sin In General.
• Question Lxxvi.: of the Causes of Sin In Particular.
• Question Lxxvii.: of the Cause of Sin On the Part of the Sensitive Appetite.
• Question Lxxviii.: of Malice As a Cause of Sin.
• Question Lxxxiv.: of One Sin Being the Cause of Another Sin.
• Question Lxxxvi.: of the Stain of Sin.
• Question Lxxxvii.: of Liability to Punishment.
• Question Lxxxviii.: of Venial and Mortal Sin.
• Question XC.: Of Laws.
• Question XCI.: Of the Variety of Laws.
• Question XCII.: Of the Effects of Law.
• Question XCIII.: Of the Eternal Law.
• Question XCIV.: Of the Natural Law.
• Question XCV.: Of Human Law.
• Question XCVI.: Of the Authority of Human Law.
• Question XCVII.: Of Change of Laws.
• Question C.: Of the Moral Precepts of the Old Law.
• Second Division, Or Secunda Secundæ.
• Question I.: Of Faith.
• Question II.: Of the Act of Faith.
• Question III.: Of the Exterior Act of Faith.
• Question IV.: Of the Virtue of Faith.
• Question V.: Of Persons Having Faith.
• Question VI.: Of the Cause of Faith.
• Question X.: Of Unbelief In General.
• Question XI.: Of Heresy.
• Question XII.: Of Apostasy.
• Question XIII.: Of the Sin of Blasphemy.
• Question XVII.: Of Hope.
• Question XVIII.: Of the Subject of Hope.
• Question XIX.: Of the Gift of Fear.
• Question XX.: Of Despair.
• Question XXI.: Of Presumption.
• Question XXIII.: Of Charity In Itself.
• Question XXIV.: Of the Subject of Charity.
• Question XXV.: Of the Object of Charity.
• Question XXVI.: Of the Order to Be Observed In Charity.
• Question XXVII.: Of the Principal Act of Charity, Which Is Love.
• Question XXVIII.: Of Joy.
• Question XXIX.: Of Peace.
• Question XXXI.: Of Doing Good to Others.
• Question XXXII.: Of Almsgiving.
• Question XXXIII.: Of Fraternal Correction.
• Question XXXIV.: Of Hatred.
• Question XXXV.: Of Sloth.
• Question XXXVI.: Of Envy.
• Question XXXVII.: Of Discord.
• Question Xl.: of War.
• Question Xli.: of Assault and Battery.
• Question Xlii.: of Sedition.
• Question Xliii.: of Scandal.
• Question Xliv.: of the Precepts of Charity. [st. Matt. XXII. 36—40.]
• Question Xlvi.: of Stupidity.

QUESTION LXXXVII.

OF LIABILITY TO PUNISHMENT.

Article I.—Is liability to punishment an effect of sin?

R. The rule passes from the domain of physical nature to human affairs, that what rises up against anything, suffers loss from the same. For we see in physics that of two contraries the one acts more violently when the other supervenes.1 Hence in men this is found in accordance with natural inclination, that every one tries to put down the man that rises up against him. But since sin is an inordinate act, it is manifest that whoever sins acts against some order, and consequently must be put down and degraded from that order, which degradation is punishment. Hence man may be punished with a threefold punishment, according to the three orders to which the human will is subject. Human nature is subject in the first place to the order of its own reason; secondly, to the order of human government, spiritual or temporal, political or domestic; thirdly, to the general order of divine government. Each of these orders is upset by sin, in that the sinner acts against reason and against human law and against divine law. Hence he incurs a triple penalty: one from himself, which is remorse of conscience; another from man, and a third from God.1

§ 3. On Augustine’s words, “Every inordinate mind is its own punishment,” it is to be said that this punishment, consisting in an inordinate mind, is due to sin, as sin is a perversion of the order of reason. But the sinner becomes liable to another punishment by his perversion of the order of divine or human law.

§ 4. It is said: “Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil.”2

Article III.—Does any sin make a man liable to everlasting punishment?

R. Sin incurs liability to punishment by this, that it is the subversion of some order. Now, while the cause remains, the effect remains; hence so long as the subversion of order remains, the liability to punishment must remain. But order is subverted sometimes reparably, sometimes irreparably. For in all cases a defect that means the withdrawal of a principle is irreparable; but if only the principle is safe, by virtue thereof other defects may be repaired. Thus, if the principle of sight is lost, the restoration of sight cannot take place but by the power of God alone; whereas if the principle of sight is kept, and some hindrances to vision occur, they may be set to rights by nature or by art. Now in every order there is some principle whereby one becomes partaker of that order. And therefore if by sin the principle of order be destroyed, whereby the human will is subject to God, an inordinateness will ensue of itself irreparable, though it can be repaired by the power of God. Now the principle of this order is the last end, whereunto man clings by charity. And therefore whatsoever sins turn men away from God by taking away charity, do of themselves bring on liability to everlasting punishment.

§ 1. In no court is it required that the punishment should be adapted to the fault in point of duration. For though adultery or murder is committed in a moment, it is not on that account punished with the penalty of a moment, but sometimes with perpetual imprisonment or exile, sometimes also with death: in which latter case we must consider, not the time taken in executing the offender, but the fact that he is cut off for all time to come from the fellowship of the living, and so represents after his fashion the eternity of punishment inflicted by God.

§ 2. Even the penalty that is inflicted according to human laws is not always medicinal to him that is punished, but to others, as when a robber is hung, not for his own amendment, but according to the text: “The wicked man being scourged, the fool shall be wiser.”1 So then also the everlasting punishments of the reprobate, inflicted by God, are medicinal to those who upon consideration of these punishments abstain from sins, according to the text: “Thou hast given a warning to them that fear thee, that they may flee from before the bow, that thy beloved may be delivered.”1

Article IV.—Is the punishment due to sin infinite in amount?

R. There are two elements in sin: one is the turning away from the good that perishes not; and that element is infinite: hence in this respect sin is infinite. The other is the inordinate turning to the good that perishes; and in this respect sin is finite, both because the good that perishes is itself finite, and because the act of turning to it is finite, for the acts of a creature cannot be infinite. On the part of the turning away then there answers to sin the pain of loss, which also is infinite: for it is the loss of the infinite good of God. But on the part of the inordinate turning to there answers to it the pain of sense, which is finite.

Article VI.—Does the liability to punishment remain after the sin?

R. In sin there are two things to consider, the culpable act and the stain ensuing. It is plain that on the cessation of the act of sin liability to punishment remains. For an act of sin makes a man liable as a transgressor of the order of divine justice, to which order he returns not otherwise than by a certain penal compensation, which brings him back to the equilibrium of justice; so that he who has indulged his own will beyond due bounds, acting against the commandment of God, suffers according to the order of divine justice, either spontaneously or reluctantly, something contrary to what he would wish. And the same is observed also in injuries done to men. Hence it is clear that when the act of sin or of injury done is at an end, the debt of punishment still remains. But if we speak of the taking away of sin as to the stain of it, evidently the stain of sin cannot be taken away from the soul except by the soul being united to God; as it was in separation from Him that the soul incurred that loss of its own lustre which is the meaning of a stain. Now the soul is united to God by the will. Hence the stain of sin cannot be taken out of man, unless the will of man accepts the order of divine justice, by either spontaneously taking upon itself punishment in compensation for the past fault, or patiently bearing the punishment inflicted by God; for in both ways punishment bears the character of satisfaction. Now the fact of being satisfactory takes off something of the nature of punishment. For it is of the nature of punishment to be against the will. But satisfactory punishment, although, absolutely considered, it is against the will, yet is not actually against it as things actually stand; wherefore the punishment here is absolutely voluntary, but involuntary in a restricted sense.1 We must say then that after the removal of the stain of sin, there may remain a liability, not to punishment absolutely, but to punishment inasmuch as it is satisfactory.

§ 2. Punishment absolutely so called is not due to the virtuous: still there may be due to them punishment in its satisfactory aspect; for this is also a point of virtue to make satisfaction for offences to God or to man.

Article VII.—Is all punishment for some fault?

R. Satisfactory punishment is in some sort voluntary. And because those who differ in deservingness of punishment may be one in will by the union of love, it sometimes happens that one who has not sinned, voluntarily bears the punishment of another in his stead; as we see that sometimes one man takes upon himself another man’s debt. But if we speak of punishment absolutely so called, as bearing the proper character of punishment, then punishment always has reference to the sufferer’s own fault, sometimes his actual sin, and sometimes original sin. Primarily the punishment of original sin is that human nature is left to itself, deprived of the aid of original justice: consequently upon this come all the penalties that befall men from the defect and shortcoming of nature.

It is to be noted, however, that sometimes a thing wears the look of a penal infliction, and yet has not the absolute character of punishment. For punishment is a species of evil, that is, of privation of good. Now a man may suffer loss in a less good, to have increase in a greater; for instance, loss of money to gain health of body, or loss of both for salvation of his soul and the glory of God. The loss in that case is not absolutely an evil to the man, but only an evil in a restricted sense. Hence it has not the absolute character of punishment, but of medicine; for physicians also give bitter potions for the recovery of health. And because these sort of evils are not properly punishments, they are not reducible to any fault as their cause, except inasmuch as the mere necessity of the administration to human nature of medicinal inflictions arises from the corruption of nature, which is the punishment of original sin: for in the state of innocence it would not have been necessary to lead any one to advance in virtue by exercises that could be described as inflictions. Hence whatever there is of the character of a penal infliction here, is reducible to original sin as its cause.

§ 2. Temporal and material goods are indeed some good to man, but they are petty goods; the grand goods of man are spiritual. It is part of divine justice, therefore, to give spiritual goods to virtuous people; and of temporal goods or evils, so much as serves the purpose of virtue. For as Dionysius says: “It is the care of divine justice not to soften the fortitude of heroes by gifts of material things.” But with other men this very bestowal of temporal goods turns to their spiritual evil: hence the conclusion drawn, “Therefore pride hath held them fast.”1

Article VIII.—Is any one punished for another’s sin?

R. Loss of material goods, or even detriment to the body itself, is a manner of medicinal infliction ordained to the salvation of the soul. Hence there is nothing to hinder one being punished with such penalties for the sin of another either by God or man, as children for parents, and subjects for their lords and masters, in so far as they are in a manner the chattels of the same;1 yet so that if the son or subject be a partaker in the fault of his principal, this manner of penal deprivation bears the character of punishment for both parties; but if he is not a partaker in the fault, it bears the character of punishment as regards him for whom the other is punished, but as regards him who is punished, the character of medicine only.

[1 ]St. Thomas’s illustration here is from Aristotle, that “water freezes more after it has been warmed.” We might perhaps quote Newton’s law, that “action and reaction are equal.” (Trl.)

[1 ]Ethics and Natural Law, pp. 171, nn. 4, seq.

[2 ]Romans ii. 9.

[1 ]Prov. xix. 25.

[1 ]Psalm lix. 6.

[1 ]Cf. above, q. 6. art. 6. (Trl.)

[1 ]Psalm lxxii. 6.

[1 ]Filius est ves parentis was a maxim of the Roman law. On the doctrine of this and the preceding article, cf. II-II. q 108. art. 4. (Trl.)