St Thomas Aquinas
In Our Time
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Aquinas' Perspective on Innate Desire for God
Augustine believes in an innate desire for God within each human, while Aquinas disagrees, asserting that humans have a natural longing for their highest good, needing to discover what that good is through observation. Aquinas explains that humans, like all living beings, are impelled towards their completion. To determine the highest good, one must identify the highest principle in the world, starting with observing things and understanding what explains them. Aquinas does not focus on tracing things back to a first cause in terms of time but is interested in understanding that foundational question.
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