The Convertibility of Being and Goodness | Prof. Thomas Ward

Jun 13, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Thomas Ward, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University, delves into the intricate connection between being and goodness from a Thomistic perspective. He articulates how all beings inherently embody goodness, encouraging listeners to appreciate the value of creation. Ward also touches on the implications of recognizing this goodness in fostering hope. With expertise in medieval philosophy, he offers insightful reflections that connect historical thought to contemporary spirituality.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Evil as Lack of Goodness

The privation theory of evil sees evil as lack of goodness where goodness ought to be.
Everything that exists is good insofar as it exists, but goodness can come in degrees among types and individuals.

INSIGHT

Natures as Measures of Goodness

Things always have natures with distinctive features and characteristic activities.
These natures serve as standards to evaluate individuals as good or bad based on how well they realize their nature.

INSIGHT

Goodness and Perfection Linked

Goodness conceptually connects to perfection as completeness within a nature.
No individual fully actualizes its nature, so all are imperfect to some degree despite many being very good.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Prof. Thomas Ward explores the Thomistic concept of the convertibility of being and goodness, examining how the privation theory of evil and the essential natures of things underpin the intrinsic goodness of all that exists, drawing on insights from Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy.

This lecture was given on February 22nd, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Thomas M. Ward is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He specializes in the history of philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages and has contributed over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters to these fields of study. Ward is the author of After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher (Word on Fire, 2024), Ordered by Love: An Introduction to John Duns Scotus (Angelico, 2022), Divine Ideas (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and has translated, with commentary, John Duns Scotus’s Treatise on the First Principle (Hackett, 2024). He has been a NEH Fellow (2022) and Harvey Fellow (2009-2011), and is a past winner of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy Founder's Award (2013) and the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly Rising Scholar Essay Contest (2018). Before taking up his current post at Baylor, Ward taught in California at Azusa Pacific University (2011-2012) and Loyola Marymount University (2012-2017). He studied philosophy at Biola University (BA 2004) and theology at Oxford University (M.Phil 2006), where he was Head Resident at the Kilns, the former residence of C.S. Lewis. His PhD in philosophy is from UCLA (2011). Ward is married with six children and is a member of St. Peter Catholic Student Center in Waco.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Keywords: Aristotelianism, Convertibility Of Being And Goodness, Creation, Essence And Existence, Evil As Privation, Nature, Perfection, Teleology