The Constitution of Human Beings

Thomas Aquinas thinks of us as having intellect and will. He would be opposed to any view that thinks of human reason or intellect as differing from the animals just in degree. One of the things that distinguishes the human intellect from the operations of higher animals is that Aquinas thinks we have a concept of goodness in general. We can say, what do you ultimately want? I want goodness. It's goodness as such. That's what would make me happy. Those are some properties of our free will overall. The heroin addict choosing a life without heroin, without theft, without prostitution, that seems bad or seems impossible. That's why we would call that kind of slavery.