Nature and End. The Metaphysical Foundations of Ethics in Aristotle and Aquinas and its Vindication in Recent Philosophy

Abstract

[eng] I study the metaphysical foundation of ethics in Aristotle and Aquinas. I conclude their ethical systems rest on an essentialist and teleological metaphysics, without which they collapse. Next, I go on to study the philosophical justification of said metaphysics, with arguments drawn from Aristotle and Aquinas and recent trends in contemporary English-speaking philosophy. I end exploring how an Aristotelian naturalist could use this metaphysical foundation of ethics to undercut a famous moral argument for God’s existence. I also propose a way for the Thomist to rebuild the moral argument, arguing from the metaphysical foundation of ethics to God.