Part II-I - Prima Secundæ Partis

Human Acts and Morality

Part II-I - Prima Secundæ Partis

Human Acts and Morality

The first part of the Second Part deals with human acts in general, examining the principles of morality, the nature of human action, and the foundations of moral theology. This section establishes the framework for understanding human behavior in relation to God.

Topics Covered

Man’s Last End (Questions 1-5)

  • The ultimate purpose of human life
  • The nature of happiness
  • What constitutes true beatitude
  • The requirements for happiness

Human Acts (Questions 6-21)

  • Voluntary and involuntary acts
  • Circumstances of human acts
  • The goodness and malice of human acts
  • The consequences of human acts

Passions (Questions 22-48)

  • The nature of passions in general
  • Love and hatred
  • Desire and aversion
  • Joy and sadness
  • Hope and despair
  • Fear and daring
  • Anger and other emotions

Habits (Questions 49-89)

  • The nature of habits in general
  • The cause of habits
  • The increase and decrease of habits
  • The distinction of habits
  • Virtues in general
  • The cardinal virtues
  • The theological virtues
  • Vices and sins opposed to virtue

Vice and Sin (Questions 71-89)

  • The essence of sin
  • The distinction of sins
  • The comparison of one sin with another
  • The subject of sin
  • The cause of sin
  • Original sin
  • The effects of sin

Law (Questions 90-108)

  • The essence of law
  • The different kinds of law
  • The eternal law
  • The natural law
  • Human law
  • The power of human law
  • The change of human law
  • The Old Law
  • The ceremonial precepts
  • The judicial precepts

Grace (Questions 109-114)

  • The necessity of grace
  • The essence of grace
  • The division of grace
  • The cause of grace
  • The effects of grace
  • Merit

Available Questions

Question 1

Man's last end

Question 2

Things in which man's happiness consists

Question 3

What is happiness

Question 4

Things that are required for happiness

Question 5

The attainment of happiness

Question 6

The voluntary and the involuntary

Question 7

The circumstances of human acts

Question 8

The will, in regard to what it wills

Question 9

That which moves the will

Question 10

The manner in which the will is moved

Question 11

Enjoyment which is an act of the will

Question 12

Intention

Question 13

Choice, which is an act of the will with regard to the means

Question 14

Counsel, which precedes choice

Question 15

Consent, which is an act of the will in regard to the means

Question 16

Use, which is an act of the will in regard to the means

Question 17

The acts commanded by the will

Question 18

The good and evil of human acts, in general

Question 19

The goodness and malice of the interior act of the will

Question 20

Goodness and malice in external human affairs

Question 21

The consequences of human actions by reason of their goodness and malice

Question 22

The subject of the soul's passions

Question 23

How the passions differ from one another

Question 24

Good and evil in the passions of the soul

Question 25

The order of the passions to one another

Question 26

The passions of the soul in particular: and first, of love

Question 27

The cause of love

Question 28

The effects of love

Question 29

Hatred

Question 30

Concupiscence

Question 31

Pleasure considered in itself

Question 32

The cause of pleasure

Question 33

The effects of pleasure

Question 34

The goodness and malice of pleasures

Question 35

Pain or sorrow, in itself

Question 36

The causes of sorrow or pain

Question 37

The effects of pain or sorrow

Question 38

The remedies of sorrow or pain

Question 39

The goodness and malice of sorrow or pain

Question 40

The irascible passions, and first, of hope and despair

Question 41

Fear, in itself

Question 42

The object of fear

Question 43

The cause of fear

Question 44

The effects of fear

Question 45

Daring

Question 46

Anger, in itself

Question 47

The cause that provokes anger, and the remedies of anger

Question 48

The effects of anger

Question 49

Habits in general, as to their substance

Question 50

The subject of habits

Question 51

The cause of habits, as to their formation

Question 52

The increase of habits

Question 53

How habits are corrupted or diminished

Question 54

The distinction of habits

Question 55

The virtues, as to their essence

Question 56

The subject of virtue

Question 57

The intellectual virtues

Question 58

The difference between moral and intellectual virtues

Question 59

Moral virtue in relation to the passions

Question 60

How the moral virtues differ from one another

Question 61

The cardinal virtues

Question 62

The theological virtues

Question 63

The cause of virtues

Question 64

The mean of virtue

Question 65

The connection of virtues

Question 66

Equality among the virtues

Question 67

The duration of virtues after this life

Question 68

The gifts

Question 69

The beatitudes

Question 70

The fruits of the Holy Ghost

Question 71

Vice and sin considered in themselves

Question 72

The distinction of sins

Question 73

The comparison of one sin with another

Question 74

The subject of sin

Question 75

The causes of sin, in general

Question 76

The causes of sin, in particular

Question 77

The cause of sin, on the part of the sensitive appetite

Question 78

That cause of sin which is malice

Question 79

The external causes of sin

Question 80

The cause of sin, as regards the devil

Question 81

The cause of sin, on the part of man

Question 82

Original sin, as to its essence

Question 83

The subject of original sin

Question 84

The cause of sin, in respect of one sin being the cause of another

Question 85

The effects of sin, and, first, of the corruption of the good of nature

Question 86

The stain of sin

Question 87

The debt of punishment

Question 88

Venial and mortal sin

Question 89

Venial sin in itself

Question 90

The essence of law

Question 91

The various kinds of law

Question 92

The effects of law

Question 93

The eternal law

Question 94

The natural law

Question 95

Human law

Question 96

The power of human law

Question 97

Change in laws

Question 98

The old law

Question 99

The precepts of the old law

Question 100

The moral precepts of the old law

Question 101

The ceremonial precepts in themselves

Question 102

The causes of the ceremonial precepts

Question 103

The duration of the ceremonial precepts

Question 104

The judicial precepts

Question 105

The reason for the judicial precepts

Question 106

The law of the Gospel, called the New Law, considered in itself

Question 107

The new law as compared with the old

Question 108

Things that are contained in the New Law

Question 109

The necessity of grace

Question 110

The grace of God as regards its essence

Question 111

The division of grace

Question 112

The cause of grace

Question 113

The effects of grace

Question 114

Merit

“Every part naturally loves the common good of the whole more than its own particular good.” - St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-I, q. 109, a. 3